Isaiah 21–23

¹The burden of the wilderness of the sea. ‘Like hurricanes in the south for passing through, From the wilderness it hath come, From a fearful land. ²A hard vision hath been declared to me, The treacherous dealer is dealing treacherously, And the destroyer is destroying. Go up, O Elam, besiege, O Media, All its sighing I have caused to cease. ³Therefore filled have been my loins with great pain, Pangs have seized me as pangs of a travailing woman, I have been bent down by hearing, I have been troubled by seeing. ⁴Wandered hath my heart, trembling hath terrified me, The twilight of my desire He hath made a fear to me, ⁵Arrange the table, watch in the watch-tower, Eat, drink, rise, ye heads, anoint the shield, ⁶For thus said the Lord unto me: ‘Go, station the watchman, That which he seeth let him declare.’ ⁷And he hath seen a chariot—a couple of horsemen, The rider of an ass, the rider of a camel, And he hath given attention—He hath increased attention! ⁸And he crieth—a lion, ‘On a watch-tower my lord, I am standing continually by day, And on my ward I am stationed whole nights. ⁹And lo, this, the chariot of a man is coming, A couple of horsemen.’ And he answereth and saith: ‘Fallen, fallen hath Babylon, And all the graven images of her gods He hath broken to the earth. ¹⁰O my threshing, and the son of my floor, That which I heard from Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, I have declared to you!’

¹¹The burden of Dumah. Unto me is one calling from Seir ‘Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?’ ¹²The watchman hath said, ‘Come hath morning, and also night, If ye inquire, inquire ye, turn back, come.’

¹³The burden on Arabia. In a forest in Arabia ye lodge, O travellers of Dedanim. ¹⁴To meet the thirsty brought water have Inhabitants of the land of Tema, With his bread they came before a fugitive. ¹⁵For from the face of destructions they fled, From the face of a stretched-out sword, And from the face of a trodden bow, And from the face of the grievousness of battle. ¹⁶For thus said the Lord unto me: ‘Within a year, as years of a hireling, Consumed hath been all the honour of Kedar. ¹⁷And the remnant of the number of bow-men, The mighty of the sons of Kedar are few, For Jehovah, God of Israel, hath spoken!’

Chapter 22

¹The burden of the Valley of Vision. What—to thee, now, that thou hast gone up, All of thee—to the roofs? ²Full of stirs—a noisy city—an exulting city, Thy pierced are not pierced of the sword, Nor dead in battle. ³All thy rulers fled together from the bow, Bound have been all found of thee, They have been kept bound together, Afar off they have fled. ⁴Therefore I said, ‘Look ye from me, I am bitter in my weeping, Haste not to comfort me, For the destruction of the daughter of my people.’ ⁵For a day of noise, and of treading down, And of perplexity, is to the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, In the valley of vision, digging down a wall, And crying unto the mountain. ⁶And Elam hath borne a quiver, In a chariot of men—horsemen, And Kir hath exposed a shield. ⁷And it cometh to pass, The choice of thy valleys have been full of chariots, And the horsemen place themselves diligently at the gate.

⁸And one removeth the covering of Judah, And thou lookest in that day Unto the armour of the house of the forest, ⁹And the breaches of the city of David ye have seen, For they have become many, And ye gather the waters of the lower pool, ¹⁰And the houses of Jerusalem ye did number, And ye break down the houses to fence the wall. ¹¹And a ditch ye made between the two walls, For the waters of the old pool, And ye have not looked unto its Maker, And its Framer of old ye have not seen. ¹²And call doth the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, In that day, to weeping and to lamentation, And to baldness and to girding on of sackcloth, ¹³And lo, joy and gladness, slaying of oxen, And slaughtering of sheep, Eating of flesh, and drinking of wine, Eat and drink, for to-morrow we die. ¹⁴And revealed it hath been in mine ears, By Jehovah of Hosts: Not pardoned is this iniquity to you, Till ye die, said the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts.

¹⁵Thus said the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts: ‘Go, enter in unto this steward, Unto Shebna, who is over the house: ¹⁶What—to thee here? And who—to thee here? That thou hast hewn out to thee here—a sepulchre? Hewing on high his sepulchre, Graving in a rock a dwelling for himself. ¹⁷Lo, Jehovah is casting thee up and down, A casting up and down, O mighty one, ¹⁸And thy coverer covering, wrapping round, Wrappeth thee round, O babbler, On a land broad of sides—there thou diest, And there the chariots of thine honour Are the shame of the house of thy lord. ¹⁹And I have thrust thee from thy station, And from thine office he throweth thee down. ²⁰And it hath come to pass, in that day, That I have called to my servant, To Eliakim son of Hilkiah. ²¹And I have clothed him with thy coat, And with thy girdle I strengthen him, And thy garment I give into his hand, And he hath been for a father to the inhabitant of Jerusalem, And to the house of Judah. ²²And I have placed the key Of the house of David on his shoulder, And he hath opened, and none is shutting, And hath shut, and none is opening. ²³And I have fixed him a nail in a stedfast place, And he hath been for a throne of honour To the house of his father. ²⁴And they have hanged on him All the honour of the house of his father, The offspring and the issue, All vessels of small quality, From vessels of basins to all vessels of flagons. ²⁵In that day—an affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts, Moved is the nail that is fixed In a stedfast place, Yea, it hath been cut down, and hath fallen, And cut off hath been the burden that is on it, For Jehovah hath spoken!’

Chapter 23

¹The Burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish, For it hath been destroyed, Without house, without entrance, From the land of Chittim it was revealed to them. ²Be silent, ye inhabitants of the isle, Trader of Zidon, passing the sea, they filled thee. ³And in many waters is the seed of Sihor, The harvest of the brook is her increase, And she is a mart of nations. ⁴Be ashamed, O Zidon; for the sea spake, The strength of the sea, saying: ‘I have not been pained, nor have I brought forth, Nor have I nourished young men, nor brought up virgins.’ ⁵As at the report of Egypt they are pained, So at the report of Tyre. ⁶Pass over to Tarshish, howl, ye inhabitants of the isle, ⁷Is this your exulting one? From the days of old is her antiquity, Carry her do her own feet afar off to sojourn. ⁸Who hath counselled this against Tyre, The crowning one, whose traders are princes, Her merchants the honoured of earth?’ ⁹Jehovah of Hosts hath counselled it, To pollute the excellency of all beauty, To make light all the honoured of earth. ¹⁰Pass through thy land as a brook, Daughter of Tarshish, there is no more a girdle. ¹¹His hand He hath stretched out over the sea, He hath caused kingdoms to tremble, Jehovah hath charged concerning the merchant one, To destroy her strong places. ¹²And He saith, ‘Thou dost not add any more to exult, O oppressed one, virgin daughter of Zidon, To Chittim arise, pass over, Even there—there is no rest for thee.’ ¹³Lo, the land of the Chaldeans—this people was not, Asshur founded it for the Ziim, They raised its watch-towers, They lifted up her palaces,—He hath appointed her for a ruin! ¹⁴Howl, ye ships of Tarshish, For your strength hath been destroyed.

¹⁵And it hath come to pass, in that day, That forgotten is Tyre seventy years, According to the days of one king. At the end of seventy years there is to Tyre as the song of the harlot. ¹⁶Take a harp, go round the city, O forgotten harlot, play well, Multiply song that thou mayest be remembered. ¹⁷And it hath come to pass, At the end of seventy years Jehovah inspecteth Tyre, And she hath repented of her gift, That she committed fornication With all kingdoms of the earth on the face of the ground. ¹⁸And her merchandise and her gift have been holy to Jehovah, Not treasured up nor stored, For to those sitting before Jehovah is her merchandise, To eat to satiety, and for a lasting covering!

Chapter 24