Isaiah 17–23

Oracle of Judgment on Damascus

17An oracle of Damascus:

“Look! Damascus will cease being a city

and will become a heap of ruins.

²The cities of Aroer will be deserted;^a

they will be for the flocks,

and they will lie down and no one will frighten^b them.

³And the fortified city will disappear from Ephraim,

and the kingdom from Damascus;

and the remnant of Aram will be like the glory of the children of Israel,”

declares^c Yahweh of hosts.

⁴“And this shall happen:

On that day, the glory of Jacob will be brought low,

and the fat of his flesh will become lean.

⁵And it shall be as when a reaper gathers^d standing grain

and he reaps grain with his arm,

and it shall be like one who gathers ears of grain

in the valley of Rephaim.

⁶And gleanings will be left over in it, as when an olive tree is beaten,^e

two or three ripe olive berries in the top of a branch,

four or five on its fruitful branches,”

declares^f Yahweh, the God of Israel.

⁷On that day, mankind will look to its maker,

and its eyes will look to the holy one of Israel;

⁸it will not look to the altars,

the work of its hands,

and it will not see what its fingers made

and the poles of Asherah worship and the incense altars.

⁹On that day, its fortified cities^g will be like the abandonment of the wooded place and the summit,^h which they deserted because of the children of Israel; and there will be desolation.

¹⁰For you have forgotten the God of your salvation,

and you have not remembered the rock of your refuge;

therefore you plant plants of pleasantness,

and you plantⁱ a vine of a foreigner.

¹¹On your planting day you make them grow,

and in the morning of your sowing you bring them into bloom,

yet the harvest will flee^j in a day of sickness and incurable pain.

The Roar of the Peoples

¹²Ah! The noise of many peoples, they make a noise like the noise of the seas!

And the roar of nations, they roar like the roar of mighty waters!

¹³The nations roar like the roar of many waters,

but he will rebuke him, and he will flee far away.

And they are chased like chaff of the mountains before the wind

and like tumbleweed before the storm.

¹⁴At the time of evening, and look, terror!

Before morning he is no more.

This is the fate of those who plunder us

and the lot of those who plunder us.

Oracle of Judgment on Cush

18Ah! land of the whirring of wings,

which is beyond the rivers of Cush,

²that sends messengers by the sea

and in vessels of papyrus on the surface of the waters!

Go, swift messengers, to a tall^a and smooth^b nation,

to a people feared near and far,^c

a mighty, mighty^d and trampling^e nation,

whose land rivers divide.

³All you inhabitants of the world

and dwellers of the earth,

when a signal is raised on the^f mountains, you must look,

and when a trumpet is blown,^g you must listen!

⁴For Yahweh said this to me:

“I will be quiet,

and I will look from my dwelling place

like clear heat because of light,^h

like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”

⁵For before the harvest, when the blossom is completeⁱ

and a blossom becomes ripening fruit,

and one cuts off the shoots with pruning hooks,

and one removes, tears away the tendrils.

⁶They shall all be left^j for birds^k of prey of the mountains

and for the animals^l of the earth.

And the birds^m of prey will pass the summer on it,

and every animal of the earth will winter on it.

⁷At that time, a giftⁿ will be brought to Yahweh of hosts

from a tall^o and smooth^p people,

and from a people feared near and far,

a mighty, mighty and trampling nation,

whose land the rivers divide,

to the place of the name of Yahweh of hosts,

the mountain of Zion.

Oracle of Judgment on Egypt

19An oracle of Egypt:

Look! Yahweh is riding on a swift cloud

and is coming to Egypt.

And the idols of Egypt will tremble in front of him,

and the heart of Egypt melts in his inner parts.

²“And I will stir up Egyptians^a against Egyptians,^b

and each one will fight against his brother

and each one against his neighbor,

city against city, kingdom against kingdom.

³And the spirit of the Egyptians^c will be disturbed in his midst,

and I will confuse^d his plans,^e

and they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead,

and the ghosts and the spiritists.

⁴And I will hand over the Egyptians^f into the hand of a hard master,

and a powerful king will rule over them,”

declares^g the Lord Yahweh of hosts.

⁵And the waters will be dried up from the sea,

and the river will be parched and dry.

⁶And the rivers will become foul-smelling;

the branches of the Nile of Egypt will become little and dry up;

reed and rush will wither.

⁷Bare places by the Nile will be dried up,

by the edge of the Nile and all the sown land of the Nile;

it will be driven about, and it will be no more.^h

⁸And the fishers will mourn,

and all of those who cast fishhooksⁱ in the Nile will lament,

and those who spread out fishing nets^j on the surface^k of the water will languish.

⁹And the workers of combed flax will be ashamed,

and those who weave white linen.

¹⁰And her weavers will be crushed;

all the hired workers^l will be grieved of heart.

¹¹Surely the princes of Zoan are foolish;

the wise of the counselors of Pharaoh give senseless counsel.

How can you say to Pharaoh,

“I myself am a son of sages,

a descendant^m of ancient kings”?

¹²Where are your sages then?

Now, let them tell you,

and let them know what Yahweh of hosts has planned against Egypt.

¹³The princes of Zoan have become foolish;

the princes of Memphis are deceived;

the leaders of her tribes have led Egypt astray.

¹⁴Yahweh has mixed a spirit of confusion into her midst,

and they have caused Egypt to stagger in all of its doings,

as when a drunkard staggersⁿ in his vomit.

¹⁵And there will be nothing for Egypt to do,^o

head or tail, palm branch or reed.

The Future Blessing of Egypt, Assyria, and Egypt

¹⁶On that day, Egypt will be like women, and will tremble and be afraid before the waving hand of Yahweh of hosts that he is waving against it. ¹⁷And the land of Judah will become a terror to Egypt, everyone to whom one mentions it will be afraid in himself because of the plan of Yahweh of hosts that he is planning against him.

¹⁸On that day, there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language^p of Canaan and swear an oath to Yahweh of hosts. One will be called “City of the Sun.”

¹⁹On that day, there will be an altar for Yahweh in the middle of the land of Egypt, and a stone pillar for Yahweh at her border. ²⁰And it will be a sign and a witness to Yahweh of hosts in the land of Egypt; when they cry out to Yahweh because of oppressors, he will send them a savior and a defender,^q and he will deliver them. ²¹And Yahweh will make himself known to Egypt, and Egypt will know Yahweh on that day, and they will worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows^r to Yahweh, and they will fulfill them. ²²And Yahweh will strike Egypt, striking and healing; and they will return to Yahweh, and he will respond to their prayer, and he will heal them.

²³On that day, there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and Egypt will worship together with Assyria.

²⁴On that day, Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, ²⁵whom Yahweh of hosts blessed, saying, “May Egypt my people be blessed, and Assyria, the work of my hands, and my inheritance, Israel.”

A Sign regarding Egypt and Cush

20In the year the commander-in-chief came^a to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him, and he fought against Ashdod and he took it, ²at that time, Yahweh had spoken by the hand of Isaiah son of Amoz, saying,

“Go and loosen the sackcloth from your loins,

and take off your sandals^b from your feet,”

and he had done so, walking naked and barefoot.

³Then^c Yahweh said, “Just as my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush, ⁴so shall the king of Assyria lead the captives^d of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old, naked and barefoot, with bared buttocks,^e the shame of Egypt.

⁵And they shall be dismayed,

and they shall be ashamed

because of Cush, their hope,

and because of Egypt, their pride.

⁶And the inhabitant^f of the coastland will say this on that day:

‘Look! This is our hope to whom we fled for help, to be delivered from^g the king of Assyria, and how shall we escape?’ ”

The Fall of Babylon

21The oracle of the wilderness of the sea:

As storm winds passing over in the Negev,

it comes^a from the desert,

from a frightful land.

²A hard revelation is told to me;

the treacherous deals treacherously,

and the destroyer destroys.

Go up, Elam;

lay siege, Media!

I put an end to all of her sighing.

³Therefore my loins are filled with anguish;

pangs have seized me, like the pangs of a woman giving birth.

I am too bent to hear,^b

I am too dismayed to see.^c

⁴My mind^d staggers; fear terrifies me;

the twilight I desired^e brought^f me fear.

⁵Set out the table in order!

Spread out the rugs!^g

Eat! drink!

Rise up, commanders;

smear^h the shield!

⁶For the Lord said this to me:

“Go, set a watchman in position.

He must announce what he sees.

⁷Whenⁱ he sees riders,^j

a pair of horsemen,

riders^k of donkeys,^l

riders^m of camels,ⁿ

then^o he must listen attentively,

paying attention, paying special^p attention.”

⁸Then^q the watchman^r called,

“Lord, I am standing on the watchtower continually by day,

and I am standing at my post throughout^s the night.

⁹And look at this! A man’s chariot is coming,

a pair of horsemen!”

Then^t he responded and said,

“It has fallen! Babylon has fallen!

And all the images of her gods are^u smashed on the ground!”

¹⁰My downtrodden people

and the son of my threshing floor,

I will announce to you what I have heard from Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel.

Oracle regarding Dumah

¹¹The oracle of Dumah:

One is calling to me from Seir,

“Watchman, what of^v the night?

Watchman, what of^w the night?”

¹²The watchman says,

“Morning comes,

and also the night.

If you will inquire,…