\v 1 The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz that Yahweh showed him about Judah and Jerusalem during the years of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
\v 18 At the time that the Lord does that, he will also cause others to take away from the women of Jerusalem all of the beautiful things they like to wear—the ornaments on their ankles and their headbands, their crescent necklaces,
\v 11 Terrible things will happen to those who get up early each morning
\q2 to begin drinking alcoholic drinks,
\q1 and who stay awake until late at night drinking a lot more wine
\q2 until they are completely drunk.
\q1
\v 12 They have big parties and provide lots of wine.
\q2 At their parties, there are people playing harps and lyres and tambourines and flutes,
\q1 but they never think about what Yahweh does
\q2 or appreciate what he has created.
\s5
\q1
\v 13 So my people will be exiled far away
\q2 because they do not know about me.
\q1 Those who are now very important and honored will starve,
\q2 and the other people will die from thirst.
\q1
\v 14 It is as though the place where the dead people are is eagerly looking for more Israelite people,
\q2 opening its mouth to swallow them,
\q1 and a huge number of people will be thrown into that place,
\q2 including their leaders as well as a noisy crowd of people who enjoy living in Jerusalem.
\s5
\q1
\v 15 Yahweh will humble everyone;
\q2 he will humble everyone who is proud.
\q1
\v 16 But everyone will honor Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, the Holy One, because he has acted justly.
\q2 God will show that he is holy by doing righteous deeds.
\q1
\v 17 Then sheep and lambs will be able to find good grass to eat;
\q2 they will pass through the ruined places to eat the grass.
\s5
\q1
\v 18 Some people who are working hard to sin,
\q2 working as hard as if they were dragging behind them the wrong and useless things that they are doing.
\q1 Terrible things will happen to them!
\q1
\v 19 They make fun of God and say to him,
\q2 "Quickly do something to punish us!
\q2 We want to see what you will do.
\q1 You, the Holy One of Israel, should do what you are planning to do,
\q2 because we want to know what it is."
\s5
\q1
\v 20 Terrible things will happen to those who say
\q2 that evil is good, and that good is evil,
\q1 that darkness is light and that light is darkness,
\q2 that what is bitter is sweet and what is sweet is bitter.
\q1
\v 21 Terrible things will happen to those who think that they are wise
\q2 and that they are very clever.
\s5
\q1
\v 22 Terrible things will happen to those who think that they are heroes
\q2 because they are able to drink lots of wine,
\q2 and who boast about being able to mix good alcoholic drinks.
\q1
\v 23 If people offer these corrupt judges money so they will not punish the wicked,
\q2 they accept that money.
\q2 These same judges punish innocent people.
\s5
\q1
\v 24 Therefore, just like fires burn up stubble
\q2 and dry grass shrivels up and quickly burns in flames,
\q1 it will be as though those people have roots that will rot
\q2 and have flowers that will wither.
\q1 That will happen because they rejected the laws of Yahweh, commander of the angel armies;
\q2 they have despised the messages of the Holy One of Israel.
\s5
\q1
\v 25 That is why Yahweh is extremely angry with his people;
\q2 it is as though his hand is raised and he is ready to smash them.
\q1 When he does that, the mountains will shake,
\q2 and the corpses of people will be scattered in the streets like manure.
\q1 But even when that happens, Yahweh will still be very angry;
\q2 he will be ready to punish his people again.
\s5
\q1
\v 26 Yahweh will send a signal to summon armies of nations far away;
\q2 it is as though he will whistle to those soldiers who are in very remote places on the earth.
\q1 They will come very swiftly toward Jerusalem.
\s5
\q1
\v 27 They will not get tired or stumble.
\q2 They will not stop to rest or to sleep.
\q1 None of their belts will be loose,
\q1 and none of them will have sandals with broken straps,
\q2 so they will all be ready to fight in battles.
\q1
\v 28 Their arrows will be sharp,
\q2 and their bows will be ready to shoot those arrows in a battle.
\q1 Because their horses pull the chariots fast, sparks will shoot out from their hooves,
\q2 and the wheels of the chariots will spin like whirlwinds.
\s5
\q1
\v 29 They will roar like fierce lions
\q2 that growl and then pounce on the animals they want to kill;
\q1 they will carry them off,
\q2 and no one will be able to rescue them.
\q1
\v 30 Similarly, your enemies will roar over the people they are about to kill,
\q2 like the sea roars.
\q1 On that day, if someone looks across the land,
\q2 he will see only people who are in darkness and distress;
\q2 it will be as though even the sunlight is hidden by dark clouds.
\s5
\c 6
\p
\v 1 During the year that King Uzziah died, Yahweh showed me a vision. In the vision, I saw Yahweh sitting on a throne, high above everyone else. He was wearing a very long robe that covered the floor of the temple.
\v 2 Above him were hovering several winged creatures. Each of them had six wings. They covered their faces with two of their wings, they covered their feet with two of their wings, and they flew using two of their wings.
\s5
\v 3 They were calling to each other, saying,
\q1 "Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, is holy;
\q2 he is completely holy!
\q1 The entire earth is filled with his glory."
\s5
\m
\v 4 When they spoke, the sound of their cries caused the foundation beneath the doorposts of the temple to shake, and the temple was filled with smoke.
\p
\v 5 Then I said, "Terrible things will happen to me, because everything that I say is sinful, and I live among people who constantly say sinful things. I will be destroyed because I have seen Yahweh, commander of the angel armies!"
\s5
\p
\v 6 Then one of the winged creatures took a hot coal from the altar, using a pair of tongs. He flew to me
\v 7 and touched my lips with the coal. Then he said, "Look, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is ended, and your sins are forgiven."
\s5
\p
\v 8 Then I heard Yahweh asking, "Whom shall I send to be a messenger to my people? Who will go and speak for us?" I replied, "I am here. Send me!"
\p
\v 9 Then he said,
\q1 "You will go and say to the people of Israel,
\q2 'Listen carefully to what I say, but you will not understand it.
\q1 You will look very carefully,
\q2 but you will not understand.'
\s5
\q1
\v 10 I will cause you people to be unable to care;
\q2 and I will cause you people to not be able to hear,
\q2 and you would care deeply and with understanding,
\q2 and you would turn to me so I might save you and not punish you."
\s5
\p
\v 11 Then I said, "How long do you want me to continue to do that?"
\q1 He replied, "Do it until their cities are ruined by their enemies,
\q2 until no one is living in their houses,
\q1 do it until all the crops are stolen from their fields
\q2 and the fields are ruined.
\q1
\v 12 Do it until Yahweh has exiled everyone far away,
\q2 and the whole land of Israel is deserted.
\s5
\q1
\v 13 If even one tenth of the people survive and stay there,
\q2 their enemies will invade the land again and burn everything.
\q1 But just like when they cut down an oak tree and leave a stump, and new shoots grow from that,
\q2 the people who remain in this land will be a group that is set apart for me."
\s5
\c 7
\p
\v 1 Ahaz was the son of Jotham and grandson of Uzziah. During the time that Ahaz was the king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and King Pekah of Israel marched with their armies to attack Jerusalem. But they could not conquer it.
\p
\v 2 Before they attacked, everyone in the palace in Jerusalem heard news that Aram and Israel were now allies. So King Ahaz and the people over whom he ruled were extremely afraid; they were shaking like trees shake in a windstorm.
\s5
\p
\v 3 Then Yahweh said to me, "Take your son Shear-Jashub, and go to talk with King Ahaz. He is at the end of the aqueduct that brings water into the upper reservoir, near the road to the place where women wash clothes.
\v 4 Tell Ahaz to stop worrying. Tell him that he does not need to be afraid of those two kings, Rezin and Pekah. They are very angry with Judah, but they are unable to harm his country any more than completely burned-out coals could harm him.
\s5
\v 5 Yes, they are planning against him and saying,
\v 6 'We will attack Judah and conquer it. Then we will appoint Tabeel's son to be the king of Judah.'
\s5
\v 7 But this is what Yahweh, the Lord, says:
\q1 'It will not happen;
\q2 They will not conquer Jerusalem!
\q1
\v 8 The capital of Aram is Damascus,
\q2 but Damascus is ruled only by its unimportant King Rezin.
\q1 And as for Israel, within sixty-five years it will be conquered and completely destroyed.
\q1
\v 9 Israel's capital is Samaria, and Samaria is ruled only by its insignificant King Pekah.
\q2 So you do not need to be afraid of those two countries!
\q1 But you must trust me, because if you do not trust me firmly,
\q2 you will be defeated.'"
\s5
\p
\v 10 Later, Yahweh gave me another message to tell to King Ahaz.
\v 11 He said to tell him, "Request me, Yahweh your God, to do something that will enable you to be sure that I will help you. What you request can be in a place that is as high as the sky or as low as the place where the dead people are."
\p
\v 12 But when I told that to the king, he refused. He said, "No, I will not ask Yahweh to do something to prove that he will help us."
\s5
\p
\v 13 Then I said to him, "You people who are descendants of King David, listen! You are causing me to be tired of being patient. Are you also going to cause my God to stop being patient with you?
\v 14 Yahweh himself will do something for you to prove that he will help you. Listen to this: A young woman will become pregnant and give birth to a son. She will name him Immanuel, which means 'God is with us.'
\v 15 By the time that child is old enough to eat curds and honey, he will be able to reject what is evil and choose what is good.
\s5
\v 16 And before that child is old enough to do that, the lands of the two kings that you are very afraid of will be deserted.
\v 17 But then Yahweh will cause you and your family and your entire nation to experience terrible disasters. Those disasters will be worse than any disasters that have occurred since the country of Israel separated from Judah. Yahweh will cause the army of the king of Assyria to attack you!"
\s5
\p
\v 18 At that time, it will be as though Yahweh will whistle to summon the army from the south of Egypt as well as the army of Assyria. They will come and surround your country like flies and bees.
\v 19 They will all come and settle everywhere—in the narrow valleys and caves in the rock cliffs, on land where there are thornbushes as well as on the fertile land.
\s5
\v 20 At that time Yahweh will hire the king of Assyria to come with his army from east of the Euphrates River. They will get rid of everything in your land—the crops and the people. They will destroy everything thoroughly; it will be like a barber shaving not only a man's hair but his beard and the hair on his legs.
\v 21 When that happens, a farmer will be able to keep alive only one young cow and two goats.
\v 22 However, those animals will give plenty of milk, with the result that the farmer will have curds to eat. And because there will not be many people left in the land, all the people who remain there will have plenty of milk and honey.
\s5
\v 23 Now there are many areas where there are vineyards that are worth one thousand pieces of silver, but at that time there will be only briers and thorns in those fields.
\v 24 There will be only briers and thorns in the entire land, and wild animals, with the result that men will take their bows and arrows and go there to hunt and kill animals.
\v 25 No one will go to where there previously were gardens on fertile hillsides, because briers and thorns will cover those hillsides. They will be areas where only a few cattle and sheep and goats wander around searching for something to eat.
\s5
\c 8
\p
\v 1 Then Yahweh said to me, "Make a large signboard. And write clearly on it, 'Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz' which means 'quickly plunder and steal everything'."
\v 2 So I requested Uriah the high priest and Jeberekiah's son Zechariah, men who were both honest witnesses, to watch me as I was doing that.
\s5
\p
\v 3 Then I slept with my wife, who was a prophetess, and she became pregnant and then gave birth to a son. Then Yahweh said to me, "Give him the name Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz,
\v 4 because before he is old enough to say 'papa' or 'mama', the king of Assyria will come with his army and take away all the valuable things in Damascus and in Samaria."
\s5
\p
\v 5 Yahweh spoke to me again and said, "Tell the people of Judah:
\q1
\v 6 I have taken good care of you people,
\q2 but you have rejected that, thinking that my help was very small,
\q1 like the small canal through which water flows from the spring of Gihon into Jerusalem.
\q2 Instead, you have been happy to request help from King Rezin and King Pekah.
\q1
\v 7 Therefore, I, the Lord, will soon cause the powerful army of the king of Assyria, which will be like a great flood from the Euphrates River, to attack the people of Judah.
\q2 Their soldiers will be everywhere in your country, like a river that overflows all its banks.
\s5
\q1
\v 8 Those soldiers will go all over Judah,
\q2 like a river whose water rises as high as a person's neck.
\q1 Their army will spread over the land quickly, like an eagle,
\q2 and they will cover your entire land!
\q1 But I, your God, will be with you!"
\s5
\q1
\v 9 Listen, all you people in distant countries!
\q2 You can prepare to attack Judah.
\q1 You can prepare for battle, and shout your war cries,
\q2 but your armies will be crushed!
\q1
\v 10 You can prepare for what you will do to attack Judah,
\q2 but what you plan to do will be useless!
\q1 You will not succeed,
\q2 because God is with us!
\s5
\p
\v 11 Yahweh strongly warned me not to act like the other people in Judah did. He said to me,
\q1
\v 12 "Do not say that everything that people do is conspiring against the government,
\q2 like other people say,
\q1 and do not be afraid of the things that other people are afraid of.
\q1
\v 13 I, Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, am the one you should consider to be holy.
\q2 I am the one you should fear,
\q2 the one you must give an account to.
\s5
\q1
\v 14 Yahweh will protect you.
\q1 But as for the other people in Israel and Judah,
\q2 Yahweh will be like a stone that causes people to stumble,
\q2 like a rock that causes them to fall down.
\q1 And as for the people of Jerusalem,
\q2 he will be like a trap or a snare.
\q1
\v 15 Many people will stumble and fall down
\q2 and never get up again.
\q1 They will experience great troubles;
\q2 they will be captured by their enemies."
\s5
\q1
\v 16 So I say to you who are my disciples, seal up this scroll
\q2 on which I have written the messages that God has given to me,
\q1 and give his instructions to others who have accompanied me.
\q1
\v 17 I will wait to see what Yahweh will do.
\q1 He has rejected the descendants of Jacob,
\q2 but I will confidently expect him to help me.
\q1
\v 18 I and the children that Yahweh has given to me are like signs to warn the people of Israel;
\q2 we are warnings from Yahweh, commander of the angel armies,
\q2 the one who lives in his temple on Mount Zion in Jerusalem.
\s5
\p
\v 19 Some people may urge you to consult those who talk with the spirits of dead people or with those who say that they receive messages from those spirits. They whisper and mutter about what we should do in the future. But God is the one whom we should ask to guide us! It is ridiculous for people who are alive to request spirits of dead people to tell us what we should do!
\v 20 Pay attention to God's instructions and teaching! If people do not say things that agree with what God teaches us, what they say is worthless. It is as though those people are in darkness.
\s5
\v 21 They will wander through the land, worried and hungry. And when they become very hungry, they will become very angry. They will look up toward heaven and curse God and will also curse their king.
\v 22 They will look around the land and see only trouble and darkness and things that cause them to despair. And then they will be thrown into very black darkness.
\s5
\c 9
\p
\v 1 However, those in Judah who were distressed will not continue to suffer. Previously, Yahweh humbled the people in the land where the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali live. But in the future he will honor the people who live in the region of Galilee, along the road between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, where many foreigners live.
\q2 and their clothing which has stains of blood on them
\q1 will all be burned up;
\q2 they will be fuel for a big fire.
\s5
\q1
\v 6 Another reason that we will rejoice is that a special child will be born for us,
\q2 a woman will give birth to a son,
\q2 and he will be our ruler.
\q1 And his names will be 'Wonderful Counselor,' 'Mighty God,' 'Our Everlasting Father,' and 'King who causes us to have Peace.'
\q1
\v 7 His rule and the peace that he brings will never end.
\q2 He will rule fairly and justly,
\q1 like his ancestor King David did.
\q2 This will happen because Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, greatly desires that it happen.
\s5
\q1
\v 8 The Lord has warned the descendants of Jacob;
\q2 he has said that he will punish Israel.
\q1
\v 9-10 And all the people in Samaria and other places in Israel will know that,
\q2 but they are now very proud and arrogant.
\q1 They said, "Our city has been destroyed,
\q2 but we will take away the broken bricks from the ruins
\q2 and replace them with carefully cut stones.
\q1 Our sycamore fig trees have been cut down by our enemies,
\q2 but we will plant cedar trees in their place."
\s5
\q1
\v 11 But Yahweh will bring the armies of Assyria, the enemies of King Rezin of Aram, to fight against Israel
\q2 and incite other nations to attack Israel.
\q1
\v 12 The army of Aram will come from the east,
\q2 and the army of Philistia will come from the west,
\q1 and they will destroy Israel
\q2 like a wild animal tears another animal apart and devours it.
\q1 But even after that happened, Yahweh will still be very angry with them.
\q2 He will be ready to strike them with his fist again.
\s5
\q1
\v 13 But even though Yahweh will punish his people like that,
\q2 they still will not return to him and worship him.
\q1 They still will not request Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, to assist them.
\q1
\v 14 Therefore, in one day Yahweh will get rid of those who are like Israel's head and those who are like its tail;
\q2 the ones who are like the top of the palm tree and the ones who are like the bottom.
\q1
\v 15 The leaders of Israel are the head,
\q2 and the prophets who tell lies are the tail.
\s5
\q1
\v 16 The leaders of the people have misled them;
\q2 they have caused the people that they are ruling to be confused.
\q1
\v 17 For that reason, Yahweh is not pleased with the young men of Israel,
\q2 and he does not even act mercifully toward the widows and orphans,
\q1 because they are all ungodly and wicked,
\q2 and they all say things that are foolish.
\q1 But Yahweh still is angry with them;
\q2 he is ready to strike them with his fist again.
\s5
\q1
\v 18 When people do wicked things,
\q2 it is like a brush fire that spreads rapidly.
\q1 It burns up not only briers and thorns;
\q1 it starts a big fire in the forests
\q2 from which clouds of smoke will rise.
\q1
\v 19 It is as though the whole land is burned black
\q2 because Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, is extremely angry with the Israelite people.
\q1 They will become like fuel for that great fire,
\q2 and no one will try to rescue even his own brother from that fire.
\s5
\q1
\v 20 The Israelite people will attack their neighbors who live in houses at the right to get food from them,
\q2 but they will still be hungry.
\q1 They will kill and eat the flesh of those who live in houses at the left,
\q2 but their stomachs will still not be full.
\q2
\v 21 Israelites of the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim will attack each other,
\q2 and then they will both attack the people of Judah.
\q1 But even after that happens, Yahweh will still be very angry with them;
\q2 He will be ready to strike them with his fist again.
\s5
\c 10
\q1
\v 1 Terrible things will happen to you judges who are unjust
\q2 and who make unfair laws.
\q1
\v 2 You refuse to help poor people,
\q2 and you do not allow them to get the things that they should get.
\q1 You allow people to steal things from widows
\q2 and do unfair things to children without fathers.
\s5
\q1
\v 3 When I punish you
\q2 by sending people from distant lands to cause you disasters,
\q1 to whom will you run to get help?
\q2 Your valuable possessions will certainly not be safe anywhere.
\q1
\v 4 You will be able only to stumble along as your enemies take you away with other prisoners,
\q2 or else your corpses will lie on the ground with others who have been killed.
\q1 But even after that happens,
\q2 Yahweh will still be very angry with you.
\q1 He will still be ready to strike you again with his fist.
\s5
\q1
\v 5 Yahweh says, "Terrible things will happen to Assyria.
\q2 It is true that their army is like a rod or a club with which I punish other nations
\q2 because I am very angry with those nations.
\q1
\v 6 Sometimes I send the Assyrians to attack a godless nation,
\q2 to fight against other people who have caused me to be angry.
\q1 I send them to capture people and to seize and take away their possessions,
\q2 and to trample them like people walk on mud in the streets.
\s5
\q1
\v 7 But the king of Assyria does not understand;
\q2 he does not realize that he is only like a weapon in my hand.
\q1 He only wants to destroy people,
\q2 to get rid of many nations.
\q1
\v 8 He says, 'All of my army commanders will soon be kings of these nations that I conquer!
\q2
\v 9 We destroyed the city of Kalno as we destroyed the city of Carchemish.
\q1 We destroyed the city of Hamath as we destroyed the city of Arpad;
\q2 we destroyed Samaria just like we destroyed Damascus.
\s5
\q1
\v 10 We were able to destroy all those kingdoms that were full of the images of their gods,
\q2 kingdoms whose gods were stronger than the gods in Jerusalem and Samaria.
\q1
\v 11 So we will defeat Jerusalem and destroy the images of gods that are there,
\q2 just as we destroyed Samaria and the images that were there!'
\s5
\p
\v 12 But I am the Lord, and after I have used Assyria to finish what I want to do to punish the people in Jerusalem, I will punish the king of Assyria because he has been very proud and arrogant.
\q1
\v 13 He says, 'By my own great power I have done these things.
\q2 I have been able to do them because I am very wise and very intelligent.
\q1 My army removed the barriers at the borders of nations
\q2 and carried away all their valuable things.
\q1 My mighty army has humiliated all their people.
\s5
\q1
\v 14 Like someone who reaches into a bird's nest to take away the eggs,
\q2 we have taken away the treasures of other countries.
\q1 The people were not like birds that would have flapped their wings or chirp loudly to protest about their eggs being stolen;
\q2 the people did not object at all to their treasures being stolen.'
\s5
\q1
\v 15 But I am Yahweh, and I say that an ax certainly cannot boast about being stronger than the person who uses it,
\q2 and a saw is not greater than the person who uses it.
\q1 A rod cannot control the one who holds it,
\q2 and a wooden club cannot lift up a person.
\q1 So the king of Assyria should not boast that he has done these things with his own wisdom and strength.
\q1
\v 16 I am the Lord Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, who will send a plague among the best soldiers of Assyria;
\q2 it will be like a fire that will kill them and get rid of their glory.
\s5
\q1
\v 17 Yahweh is like a light for the people of Israel, like a fire;
\q2 the Holy One who rules Israel is like a flame.
\q1 The soldiers of Assyria are like thorns and briers,
\q2 and Yahweh will burn them up in one day.
\q1
\v 18 There are glorious forests and fertile farmlands in Assyria, but Yahweh will completely destroy them;
\q2 they will be like a very sick person who shrivels up and then dies.
\q1
\v 19 There will be very few trees left in those forests;
\q2 even a child will be able to count them."
\s5
\q1
\v 20 In the future there will be only a few people left in Israel;
\q2 not many descendants of Jacob will still be alive.
\q1 But they will no longer rely on the king of Assyria,
\q2 the king of the nation that tried to destroy them.
\q1 Instead, they will faithfully trust in Yahweh, the Holy One who rules Israel.
\q1
\v 21 Those Israelites will return to their mighty God.
\s5
\q1
\v 22 Now, the people of Israel are as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore,
\q2 but only a few of them will return from the countries to which they will be exiled.
\q1 Yahweh has decided to destroy most of the Israelites,
\q2 and that is what he must do because he is completely just.
\q1
\v 23 Yes, the Lord Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, has already decided to destroy the entire land of Israel.
\s5
\p
\v 24 This is what the Lord Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, says:
\q1 "My people in Jerusalem, do not be afraid of the army of Assyria when they beat you with rods and clubs,
\q2 like the men of Egypt did to your ancestors long ago.
\q1
\v 25 Soon I will no longer be angry with you,
\q2 and then I will be angry with the people of Assyria and destroy them!"
\s5
\q1
\v 26 Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, will strike them with his whip.
\v 11 Yahweh says, "I will punish everyone in the world for the evil things that they do;
\q2 I will punish the wicked people for the sins that they have committed.
\q1 I will stop arrogant people from being proud,
\q2 and I will stop cruel people from being so arrogant.
\q1
\v 12 And because I will cause most people to die,
\q2 people will be harder to find than gold,
\q1 harder to find than fine gold from Ophir in Arabia.
\s5
\q1
\v 13 I will shake the sky,
\q2 and the earth will also move out of its place.
\q1 That will happen when I, Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, punish wicked people,
\q2 when I show them that I am extremely angry with them.
\q1
\v 14 All the foreigners in Babylon will run around like deer that are being hunted,
\q2 like sheep that do not have a shepherd.
\q1 They will try to find other people from their countries,
\q2 and then they will escape from Babylon and return to their own countries.
\s5
\q1
\v 15 Anyone who is captured in Babylon
\q2 will be killed by their enemies' swords.
\q1
\v 16 Their little children will be dashed to pieces on the rocks while their parents watch;
\q2 their enemies will steal everything valuable from their houses and will force their wives to sleep with them.
\s5
\q1
\v 17 Look! I am going to incite the people of Media to attack Babylon.
\q2 The army of Media will attack Babylon, even if they are offered silver or gold if they promise to not attack it.
\q1
\v 18 With their arrows, the soldiers of Media will shoot the young men of Babylon;
\q2 they will not even act mercifully toward infants or children!"
\s5
\q1
\v 19 Babylon has been a very beautiful city;
\q2 all the people of Babylonia have been very proud of Babylon, their capital city;
\q1 but God will destroy Babylon,
\q2 like he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
\q1
\v 20 No one will ever live in Babylon again.
\q2 It will be deserted forever.
\q1 Nomads will refuse to set up their tents there;
\q2 shepherds will not bring their flocks of sheep to rest there.
\s5
\q1
\v 21 Animals that live in the desert will be there;
\q2 jackals will live in the ruins of the houses.
\q1 Owls will live in the ruins,
\q2 and ostriches and wild goats will romp around there.
\q1
\v 22 Hyenas will howl in the ruined towers,
\q2 and jackals will make their dens in the ruins of the palaces that were previously very beautiful.
\q1 The time when Babylon will be destroyed is very near;
\q2 Babylon will not exist much longer.
\s5
\c 14
\p
\v 1 But Yahweh will act mercifully toward the Israelite people; he will choose the people of Israel to be his people again, and he will allow them to return here and live in their own land again. Then people from many other countries will come here and unite with the Israelite people.
\v 2 People of other nations will help them to return to their own land, and those who come from other countries will work for the Israelite people. Those who captured people of Israel will be captured by Israelite soldiers, and the people of Israel will rule over the people who previously oppressed them.
\q1 because there will be no more raisin cakes in the city of Kir Hareseth.
\q2 But more than the cakes, they mourn for the people who lived there, who were all killed.
\s5
\q1
\v 8 The crops in the fields of Heshbon will wither,
\q2 and the vineyards of Sibmah will wither also.
\q1 The armies of other nations will destroy Moab,
\q2 which is like a beautiful grapevine
\q1 whose branches spread north to Jazer,
\q2 and east to the desert.
\q1 Its branches spread very far west,
\q2 to the west side of the Dead Sea.
\s5
\q1
\v 9 So I will weep for Jazer
\q2 and for the grapevines of Sibmah.
\q1 I will shed tears for all of you.
\q1 I will cry because people will no longer shout joyfully, like they usually do
\q2 when they gather the fruit that ripens in the summer and the other crops.
\q1
\v 10 People will no longer be glad at harvest time.
\q2 No one will sing in the vineyards;
\q1 no one will shout joyfully.
\q2 No one will tread on grapes to get grape juice for wine;
\q2 there will be nothing to shout about joyfully.
\s5
\q1
\v 11 I cry in my inner being for Moab;
\q2 my groaning is like a sad song played on a harp.
\q1 I am sad in my inner being for Kir Hareseth.
\q1
\v 12 The people of Moab will go and pray at their high places,
\q2 but that will not help them.
\q1 They will cry out to their gods in their temples,
\q2 but no one will be able to rescue them.
\s5
\p
\v 13 Yahweh has already spoken those things about Moab.
\v 14 But now he says that exactly three years from now, he will destroy all the things that the people of Moab have been proud of. Even though they have a huge number of people in Moab now, only a few people will remain alive, and they will be weak.
\s5
\c 17
\p
\v 1 Isaiah received this message from Yahweh about Damascus, the capital of Aram:
\q1 "Listen carefully! Damascus will no longer be a city;
\q2 it will be only a heap of ruins!
\q1
\v 2 The towns near the city of Aroer will be abandoned.
\q2 Flocks of sheep will eat grass in the streets and lie down there,
\q2 and there will be no one to chase them away.
\q1
\v 3 The cities in Israel will not have walls around them to protect them.
\q2 The power of the kingdom of Damascus will be ended,
\q2 and the few people who will remain in Aram will be disgraced like the people in Israel were disgraced."
\q1 That is what Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, says.
\s5
\q1
\v 4 "At that time, Israel will become insignificant.
\q2 It will be like a fat person who has become very thin.
\q1
\v 5 The entire land will be like a field where the harvesters have cut all the grain;
\q2 there will be nothing left,
\q2 like the fields in the Valley of Rephaim after all the crops have been harvested.
\s5
\q1
\v 6 Only a few of the Israelite people will remain,
\q2 like the few olives that remain on the top of a tree after the workers have shaken all the other olives to the ground.
\q1 There will be only two or three olives in the top branches,
\q2 or four or five olives on the other branches."
\q1 That is what Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, says.
\q1
\v 7 Then at that time, you people of Israel will trust in God, your creator,
\q2 the Holy One of Israel.
\s5
\q1
\v 8 You will no longer seek to get help from your idols
\q2 or worship the idols that you have made with your own hands.
\q1 You will never again bow down in front of the poles where you worshiped the goddess Asherah.
\q2 You will never again worship at the high places that you have built to burn incense to idols.
\v 9 The largest cities in Israel will be abandoned, like the land that the Hiv and Amor peoples abandoned when the Israelites attacked them long ago. No people will live there.
\q2 because of the withering and rotting reeds and bulrushes.
\s5
\q1
\v 7 All the plants along the river and all the crops in the fields bordering the river will dry up;
\q2 then they will blow away and disappear.
\q1
\v 8 The fishermen will throw into the river lines with hooks on them and nets,
\q2 and then they will groan and be very discouraged;
\q2 they will be sad because there will be no fish in the river.
\s5
\q1
\v 9 Those who weave cloth from flax will not know what to do
\q2 because there will be no thread for them to weave.
\q1
\v 10 They will all despair
\q2 and be very discouraged.
\s5
\q1
\v 11 The officials in the city of Zoan in northern Egypt are foolish.
\q2 The advice that they gave to the king was worthless.
\q1 Why do they continue to tell the king that they are wise,
\q2 that they are descendants of wise kings who lived long ago ?
\q1
\v 12 King, where are your wise advisors now?
\q2 If you had any wise advisors, they could tell you what Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, has planned to do to Egypt!
\s5
\q1
\v 13 Yes, the officials of Zoan have become foolish,
\q2 and the leaders in the city of Memphis in northern Egypt have deceived themselves.
\q1 All the leaders of the people have caused their people to do wrong things.
\q1
\v 14 Yahweh has caused them to be very foolish,
\q2 with the result that in everything that they do, it is as though the people of Egypt stagger
\q2 like a drunken person staggers and slips in his own vomit.
\q1
\v 15 There is no one in Egypt, rich or poor, important or unimportant, who will be able to help them.
\s5
\p
\v 16 At that time, the people of Egypt will be as helpless as women. They will tremble, being terrified because they know that Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, has raised his fist, intending to strike them.
\v 17 The people of Egypt will be afraid of the people of Judah, and anyone who mentions Judah to them will cause them to be terrified, because that will remind them of what Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, is planning to do to them.
\s5
\p
\v 18 At that time, people in five cities in Egypt will solemnly declare that they will serve Yahweh. They will learn to speak the Hebrew language. One of those cities will be called "City of the Sun."
\s5
\p
\v 19 At that time, there will be an altar for worshiping Yahweh in the center of Egypt, and there will be a pillar to honor Yahweh at the border between Egypt and Israel.
\v 20 That will be a sign to indicate that Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, is worshiped in the land of Egypt. And when the people cry out to Yahweh to help them because others are oppressing them, he will send to them someone who will defend and rescue them.
\s5
\v 21 Yahweh will enable the people of Egypt to know who he is. At that time they will admit that he is God. They will worship him and bring to him offerings of grain and other sacrifices. They will solemnly promise to do things for Yahweh, and they will do what they promise.
\v 22 After Yahweh has punished Egypt, he will cause their troubles to end. The people of Egypt will turn to Yahweh, and he will listen when they plead to him for help, and he will cause their troubles to cease.
\s5
\p
\v 23 At that time, there will be a highway between Egypt and Assyria. As a result, the people of Egypt will be able to travel easily to Assyria, and the people of Assyria will be able to travel easily to Egypt. And the people of both countries will worship Yahweh.
\s5
\v 24 And Israel will be their ally. All three nations will be friendly to each other, and the people of Israel will be a blessing to the people of the entire world.
\v 25 Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, will bless them; he will say, "You people of Egypt are now my people. You people of Assyria, I have established your country. You people of Israel are the people whom I have chosen to belong to me."
\s5
\c 20
\p
\v 1 One year King Sargon of Assyria sent the chief commander of his army to take his soldiers to capture the city of Ashdod in Philistia. At that time,
\v 2 Yahweh told Isaiah, "Take off the rough sackcloth that you have been wearing and take off your sandals." So Isaiah did that, and then he walked around naked and barefoot for three years.
\s5
\p
\v 3 Then Yahweh said this to the people of Judah: "My servant Isaiah has been walking around naked and barefoot for the past three years. That is to show the terrible disasters that I will cause the people of Egypt and Ethiopia to experience.
\v 4 What will happen is that the army of the king of Assyria will invade those countries and capture many of the people and take them away as their prisoners. They will force all of them, including both the young ones and the old ones, to walk naked and barefoot. They will also force them to have no clothes around their buttocks, which will cause the people of Egypt to be ashamed.
\s5
\v 5 Then the people of other countries who trusted that the armies of Egypt and Ethiopia would be able to help them will be very dismayed and afraid.
\v 6 They will say, 'We thought that the armies of Egypt and Ethiopia would help us and defend us, but they have been destroyed, so there is no way that we can escape from being destroyed by the army of the king of Assyria!'"
\s5
\c 21
\p
\v 1 Yahweh gave this message about a land soon to become a desert:
\q1 An army will soon come from the southern Judean wilderness to invade that land;
\q2 they are an army that causes their enemies to be terrified,
\q2 an army that will come sweeping through the wilderness from a terrible land.
\q1
\v 2 Yahweh showed me a terrifying vision:
\q1 In the vision I saw an army
\q2 that will betray people and steal their possessions after they conquer them.
\q1 Yahweh said, "You armies from Elam and Media, surround Babylon and prepare to attack it!
\q2 I will cause the groaning and suffering that Babylon caused to cease!"
\s5
\q1
\v 3 Because of that, my body is full of pain;
\q2 my pain is like the pain that women who are giving birth experience.
\q1 When I hear about and see what God is planning to do,
\q2 I am shocked.
\q1
\v 4 My heart shakes within me, and I tremble with fear.
\q2 but now terror has taken over and I am afraid.
\s5
\q1
\v 5 In the vision I saw that the leaders of Babylonia were preparing a great feast.
\q2 They had spread rugs for people to sit on;
\q2 everyone was eating and drinking.
\q1 But you should get up and prepare your shields, you princes of Babylon,
\q2 because you are about to be attacked!
\s5
\p
\v 6 Then Yahweh said to me,
\q1 "Put a watchman on the wall of Jerusalem,
\q2 and tell him to shout what he sees.
\q1
\v 7 Tell him to watch for chariots pulled by pairs of horses,
\q2 and men riding camels and donkeys, coming from Babylon.
\q1 Tell the watchman to watch and listen carefully!"
\s5
\p
\v 8 So I did that, and one day the watchman called out,
\q1 "Day after day I have stood on this watchtower,
\q2 and I have continued to watch during the day and during the night.
\q1
\v 9 A man comes riding in a chariot pulled by two horses.
\q2 I called out to him, and he answered,
\q1 'Babylon has been destroyed!
\q2 All the idols in Babylon lie in pieces on the ground!'"
\s5
\q1
\v 10 My people in Judah, the army of Babylon has caused you to suffer greatly
\q2 as though you were grain that was threshed and winnowed.
\q1 But now I have told you what Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, whom we Israelites worship, told me about Babylon.
\s5
\p
\v 11 Yahweh gave this message about Edom:
\q1 Someone from Edom has been calling to me saying,
\q2 "Watchman, how long will it be before the night is over?"
\q1
\v 12 The watchman, replied,
\q2 "It will soon be morning, but after that, it will soon be night again.
\q1 If you want to ask your question, then ask it now,
\q2 and then come back again."
\s5
\p
\v 13 Yahweh gave this message about Arabia:
\q1 Give this message to people traveling in caravans from the town of Dedan in northwest Arabia, travelers who camp in the scrub there.
\q1 Tell them to bring water for those who are thirsty.
\q2
\v 14 And you people who live in the city of Tema in northwest Arabia,
\q2 must bring food for the refugees who are fleeing from their enemies.
\q1
\v 15 They are fleeing in order not to be killed by their enemies' swords
\q2 and not to be shot in battles by arrows.
\s5
\p
\v 16 Yahweh said to me,
\q1 "Exactly one year from now,
\q2 all the greatness of the region of Kedar in Arabia will end.
\q1
\v 17 Only a few of their soldiers who know well how to shoot arrows will remain alive.
\q1 That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it."
\s5
\c 22
\p
\v 1 Yahweh gave this message about Jerusalem, about the valley where Yahweh showed me this vision.
\q1 Why is everyone foolishly running up to their flat rooftops?
\q1
\v 2 Everyone in the city seems to be shouting.
\q2 There are a lot of corpses in the city,
\q1 but they were not killed by their enemies' swords.
\q2 They did not die in battles;
\q2 instead, they died from diseases and hunger.
\s5
\q1
\v 3 All the leaders of the city fled.
\q2 But then they were captured because they did not have bows and arrows to defend themselves.
\q1 Your soldiers tried to flee while the enemy army was still far away,
\q2 but they also were captured.
\q1
\v 4 That is why I said, "Allow me to cry alone;
\q2 do not try to comfort me about my people being slaughtered."
\s5
\q1
\v 5 Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, has chosen a time when there will be a great uproar, soldiers marching, and people being terrified
\q2 in the valley where I received this vision.
\q1 It will be a time when our city walls will be battered down
\q2 and the people's cries for help will be heard in the mountains.
\q1
\v 6 The armies from Elam and Kir in Media will attack,
\q2 driving chariots and carrying shields.
\q1
\v 7 Our beautiful valleys will be filled with our enemies' chariots,
\q2 and the men who drive the chariots will stand outside our city gates.
\s5
\q1
\v 8 God will cause the walls that protect the cities in Judah to fall down.
\q2 You people of Jerusalem will run to get the weapons that are stored in the building called "the Hall of the Forest."
\q1
\v 9 You will see that there are many breaks in the walls of Jerusalem.
\q2 You will store water in the lower pool in the city.
\s5
\q1
\v 10 You will inspect the houses in Jerusalem,
\q2 and some of them you will tear down to use the stones to repair the city wall.
\q1
\v 11 Between the walls of the city you will build a reservoir to store water from the old pool.
\q1 But you will never request help from the one who made the city;
\q2 you have never depended on Yahweh, who planned this city long ago.
\s5
\q1
\v 12 Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, told you to weep and mourn;
\q2 he told you to shave your heads and to wear rough sackcloth
\q1 to show that you were sorry for the sins that you had committed.
\q1
\v 13 But instead of doing that, you were happy and celebrated;
\q1 you slaughtered cattle and sheep
\q2 in order to cook their meat and eat it and drink wine.
\q1 You said, "Let us eat and drink all that we want to,
\q2 because it is possible that we will die tomorrow!"
\p
\v 14 So Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, revealed this to me: "I will never forgive my people for sinning like this!"
\s5
\p
\v 15 Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, said this to me: "Go to Shebna, the official who supervises the workers in the palace, and give this message to him:
\q1
\v 16 'Who do you think you are?
\q2 Who gave you the authority to build a beautiful tomb where you will be buried,
\q2 chiseling it out of the rocky cliff high above this valley?'"
\s5
\q1
\v 17 You think that you are a great man, but Yahweh is about to hurl you away.
\q2 It will be as though he had seized you,
\q1
\v 18 rolled you into a ball,
\q2 and thrown you away in a large distant land.
\q1 You will die and be buried there,
\q2 and your beautiful chariots will stay there in the hands of your enemies.
\q2 And because of what happens to you, your master, the king, will be very ashamed.
\q1
\v 19 Yahweh says, "I will force you to quit working in the palace;
\q2 you will be forced out from your important position.
\s5
\p
\v 20 Then I will summon Hilkiah's son Eliakim, who has served me well, to replace you.
\v 21 I will make him wear your robe and fasten your sash around him, and I will give to him the authority that you had. He will be like a father to the people of Jerusalem and all the other towns in Judah.
\v 22 I will give to him authority over what happens in the palace where King David lived; when he decides something, no one will be able to oppose it; when he refuses to do something, no one will be able to force him to do it.
\s5
\v 23 I will cause his family to be greatly respected, because I will put him firmly in his position as supervisor of the workers in the palace, like a nail that is firmly hammered into a wall.
\v 24 Others will enable him to have much responsibility, with the result that all the members of his family, even the most insignificant ones, will be honored.
\s5
\p
\v 25 Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, also says, "Shebna is like a peg that is firmly fastened to the wall. But there will be a time when I will remove him from his position; he will lose his power, and everything that he promoted will fail." That will surely happen because Yahweh has said it.
\s5
\c 23
\p
\v 1 I, Isaiah, received this message from Yahweh for you, the people in the city of Tyre:
\q1 You sailors on ships from Tarshish,
\q2 weep, because the harbor of Tyre and all the houses in the city have been destroyed.
\q2 The reports that you heard in the Island of Cyprus about Tyre are true.
\q1
\v 2 You people who live along the coast, you merchants of the city of Sidon, mourn silently.
\q2 Your sailors went across the seas to make you rich, there in Tyre.
\q1
\v 3 They sailed across deep seas
\q2 to buy grain in Egypt, grain from the Valley of Shihor.
\q2 This wealth came down the Nile River, and you, Tyre, were the place where the people of all nations traded.
\s5
\q1
\v 4 But now you people in Sidon should be ashamed,
\q2 because you trusted in Tyre, which has been a strong fortress on an island in the sea.
\q1 Tyre is like a woman who is saying,
\q2 "Now it is as though I have not given birth to any children,
\q2 or raised any sons or daughters."
\q1
\v 5 When the people of Egypt hear what has happened to Tyre,
\v 6 Sail to Tarshish and tell them what happened;
\q2 weep, you people who live along the coast.
\q1
\v 7 The people in the very old city of Tyre were previously joyful.
\q2 Traders from Tyre established colonies in many distant nations.
\s5
\q1
\v 8 People from Tyre appointed kings over other places;
\q2 their traders were wealthy;
\q1 they were as powerful and wealthy as kings.
\q2 Who caused the people of Tyre to experience this disaster?
\q1
\v 9 It was Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, who did it;
\q2 he did it in order to cause you people in Tyre to not be proud anymore,
\q2 to humiliate you men who are honored all over the world.
\s5
\q1
\v 10 You people of Tarshish, you must grow crops in your land instead of trading;
\q2 spread out over your land like the Nile River spreads over the land of Egypt when it floods,
\q2 because there is no harbor in Tyre for your ships now.
\q1
\v 11 It is as though Yahweh stretched out his hand over the sea
\q2 and shook the kingdoms of the earth.
\q1 He commanded that in Phoenicia
\q2 all its fortresses must be destroyed.
\q1
\v 12 He said to the people of Sidon,
\q2 "You will never rejoice again, because you will be crushed;
\q1 even if you flee to the island of Cyprus,
\q2 you will not escape from troubles; you will have no peace."
\s5
\q1
\v 13 Think about what happened in Babylonia:
\q2 the people who were in that land have disappeared.
\q1 The armies of Assyria have caused that land to become a place where wild animals from the desert live.
\q1 They built dirt ramps to the top of the walls of the city of Babylon;
\q2 then they entered the city and tore down the palaces
\q2 and caused the city to become a heap of rubble.
\q1
\v 14 So wail, you sailors on the ships of Tarshish,
\q2 because the harbor in Tyre where your ships stop is destroyed!
\s5
\p
\v 15 For seventy years, which is as long as kings usually live, people will forget about Tyre. But then it will be rebuilt. What will happen there will be like what happened to a prostitute in this song:
\q1
\v 16 You harlot, whom people had forgotten,
\q2 play your harp well,
\q1 and sing many songs,
\q2 in order that people will remember you again.
\s5
\p
\v 17 It is true that after seventy years Yahweh will restore Tyre. Their merchants will again earn a lot of money by buying things from and selling things to many other nations.
\q1
\v 18 But their profits will be given to Yahweh.
\q2 The merchants will not hoard their money;
\q1 instead, they will give it to Yahweh's people, for they will live in his presence,
\q2 in order that they can buy food and nice clothes.
\q2 and those in the world who were our enemies did not fall in battle.
\s5
\q1
\v 19 But Yahweh's people who have died will become alive again,
\q2 their corpses will become alive!
\q1 You whose bodies lie in graves, rise and shout joyfully!
\q1 His light will be like dew that falls on you, his people who have died,
\q2 you who are now in the place where the dead people are;
\q2 he will cause you to live again.
\s5
\q1
\v 20 But now, my fellow Israelites, go home
\q2 and lock your doors!
\q1 Hide for a short time,
\q2 until Yahweh is no longer angry.
\q1
\v 21 Listen to this: Yahweh will come from heaven
\q2 to punish all the people on the earth for the sins that they have committed.
\q1 People will be able to see the blood of those who have been murdered;
\q2 everyone will at last know all the crimes of murder that have been committed."
\s5
\c 27
\q1
\v 1 At that time, Yahweh will punish Leviathan,
\q2 the swift-moving monster,
\q1 that coiling serpent that lives in the sea.
\q1 Yahweh will kill it with his sharp, huge, and powerful sword.
\p
\v 2 At that time, Yahweh will say,
\q1 "You Israelite people, who are like a fruitful vineyard, must sing!
\q2
\v 3 I will protect you
\q2 like a farmer waters his crops carefully in order that they will grow well.
\q1 I will guard you day and night, in order that no one harms you.
\s5
\q1
\v 4 I am no longer angry with my people;
\q1 if any of your enemies try to injure you like briers and thorns injure people,
\q2 I will attack them in battle;
\q2 I will get rid of them completely,
\q1
\v 5 unless they request me to protect them;
\q2 I strongly invite them to make peace with me!"
\s5
\q1
\v 6 There will be a time when the descendants of Jacob will prosper like a plant that has good roots;
\q2 they will be like trees that bud and blossom and bear a lot of fruit;
\q2 what they do will bless all the people in the world.
\s5
\q1
\v 7 Has Yahweh punished us Israelites
\q2 like he punished our enemies?
\q1 Has he punished us as much as he punished them?
\q1
\v 8 No, he has not done that,
\q2 but he did punish us Israelite people and exiled us;
\q2 we were taken away from our land
\q2 as though we were struck by a windstorm from the east.
\s5
\q1
\v 9 Yahweh did that in order to punish us for our sins
\q2 and remove our guilt.
\q1 As a result of our being exiled, all the altars to other gods in Israel will be demolished,
\q2 and we will be forgiven for the sins that we have committed.
\q1 There will be no more poles for worshiping the goddess Asherah or altars for burning incense to other gods;
\q2 they will all be torn down and smashed to bits.
\s5
\q1
\v 10 The cities that have strong walls around them will be empty;
\q2 like the desert, they will have no one living in them.
\q1 The houses will be abandoned,
\q2 and the streets will be full of weeds.
\q1 Calves will eat grass there and lie down there;
\q2 they will chew up all the leaves on the trees.
\q1
\v 11 The Israelite people are like dry branches on a tree;
\q2 women break them off and use them to make fires under their cooking pots.
\q1 Our Israelite people do not have any sense;
\q2 so Yahweh, who created them, will not act mercifully toward them
\q2 or be kind to them.
\s5
\p
\v 12 However, there will be a time when Yahweh will gather them together again; he will separate them from the people who have conquered them, like people separate wheat from chaff. He will bring them back to Israel, one by one, from the land between the Euphrates River in the northeast and the brook at the border of Egypt in the southwest.
\v 13 At that time, a trumpet will be blown very loudly. And those who were exiled to Assyria and Egypt and who almost died there will return to Jerusalem, to worship Yahweh on Zion, his holy hill.
\s5
\c 28
\q1
\v 1 Terrible things will happen to the city of Samaria, the capital of Israel!
\q2 It is on a hill above a fertile valley;
\q1 the people who live there, who get drunk by drinking too much wine, are very proud;
\q2 but caraway is beaten with a stick, and the cumin with a rod.
\q1
\v 28 And grain for baking bread is crushed easily,
\q2 so the farmers do not continue to pound it for a long time.
\q2 They sometimes cause their horses to pull a cart over it to thresh it,
\q1 but doing that does not grind the grain.
\s5
\q1
\v 29 Yahweh, commander of the angel armies,
\q2 gives us wonderful advice about how to do things; he gives us great wisdom.
\q1 So what the farmers do is very smart, but what your leaders are doing is very stupid.
\s5
\c 29
\p
\v 1 This is a message from Yahweh:
\q1 Terrible things will happen to Jerusalem, the city where King David lived.
\q2 You people continue to celebrate your festivals each year.
\q1
\v 2 But I will cause you to experience a great disaster,
\q2 and when that happens,
\q2 people will weep and lament very much.
\q1 Your city will become like an altar to me
\q2 where people are burned as sacrifices.
\s5
\q1
\v 3 I will cause your enemies to come and camp all around your city;
\q2 they will surround it by building towers
\q2 and putting in place other things with which to attack you.
\q1
\v 4 Then you will talk as though you were buried deep in the ground;
\q2 it will sound like someone whispering from under the ground,
\q1 like a ghost speaking from a grave.
\s5
\q1
\v 5 But suddenly your enemies will be blown away like dust;
\q1 their armies will disappear
\q2 like chaff that is blown away by the wind.
\q1 It will happen very suddenly:
\q1
\v 6 Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, will come to help you
\q1 with thunder and an earthquake and a very loud noise,
\q2 with a strong wind and a big storm and a fire that will burn up everything.
\s5
\q1
\v 7 Then the armies of all the nations that will be attacking Jerusalem will quickly disappear like a dream in the night.
\q2 Those who will be attacking Jerusalem will suddenly vanish.
\q1
\v 8 People who are asleep dream about eating food,
\q2 but when they wake up, they are still hungry.
\q1 People who are thirsty dream about drinking something,
\q2 but when they wake up they are still thirsty.
\q1 It will be like that when your enemies come to attack Mount Zion;
\q2 they will dream about conquering you, but when they wake up,
\q2 they will realize that they have not succeeded.
\s5
\q1
\v 9 You people of Jerusalem, be amazed and surprised about this!
\q2 Do not believe what I have said!
\q1 And continue to be blind about what Yahweh is doing.
\q2 You are stupid, but it is not because you have drunk a lot of wine.
\q2 You stagger, but not from drinking alcoholic drinks.
\q1
\v 10 Because Yahweh has prevented the prophets from understanding and telling you his messages,
\q2 it is as though he had made you go fast asleep.
\s5
\p
\v 11 Yahweh gave me visions; but for you, they are only words on a scroll that is sealed shut. If you give it to those who can read and request they read it, they will say, "We cannot read it because the scroll is sealed."
\v 12 When you give it to others who cannot read, they will say, "We cannot read it because we do not know how to read."
\s5
\p
\v 13 So the Lord says, "These people pretend to worship me.
\q1 They say good things to pretend to honor me,
\q2 but they do not think about what I desire.
\q1 When they worship me,
\q2 all they do is recite rules that people have made and that they have memorized.
\q1
\v 14 Therefore, again I will do something to amaze these people;
\q2 I will perform many miracles.
\q1 And I will show that the people who tell others that they are wise are not really wise,
\q2 and I will show that the people who tell others that they are intelligent are not really intelligent.
\s5
\q1
\v 15 Terrible things will happen to those who try to conceal from me, Yahweh,
\q2 the evil things that they plan to do;
\q1 they do those deeds in the darkness
\q2 and they think, 'Yahweh certainly cannot see us;
\q2 he cannot know what we are doing!'
\s5
\q1
\v 16 They are extremely foolish!
\q2 They act as though they were the potters and I were the clay!
\q1 Something that was created should certainly never say to the one who made it,
\q2 'You did not make me!'
\q1 A jar should never say,
\q2 'The potter who made me did not know what he was doing!'"
\s5
\q1
\v 17 Soon the forests in Lebanon will become fertile fields,
\q2 and abundant crops will grow in those fields,
\q2 and that will happen very soon.
\q1
\v 18 At that time, deaf people will be able to hear;
\q2 they will be able to hear when someone reads from a book;
\q1 and blind people will be able to see;
\q2 they will be able to see things when it is gloomy and even when it is dark.
\q1
\v 19 Yahweh will enable humble people to be very joyful again.
\q2 Poor people will rejoice about what the Holy One of Israel has done.
\s5
\q1
\v 20 There will be no more people who ridicule others
\q2 and no more arrogant people.
\q2 And those who plan to do evil things will be executed.
\q1
\v 21 Those who testify falsely in order to persuade judges to punish innocent people will vanish.
\q2 Similar things will happen to those who by lying in court persuade the judges to make unjust decisions.
\s5
\p
\v 22 That is why Yahweh, who rescued Abraham, says about the people of Israel,
\q1 "My people will no longer be ashamed;
\q2 no longer will they show on their faces that they are ashamed.
\q1
\v 23 When they see that I have blessed them by giving them many children, and all that I have done for them,
\q2 they will honor the holy name of the Holy One of Israel,
\q2 and they will revere me, the God to whom they, the descendants of Jacob, belong.
\q1
\v 24 When that happens, those who are not able to think well will think clearly,
\q2 and those who complain about what I am doing will accept what I am teaching them."
\s5
\c 30
\q1
\v 1 Yahweh says, "Terrible things will happen to you, my people who rebel against me.
\q2 You make plans, but what you plan is not what I want.
\q1 You have made an alliance with the rulers of Egypt,
\q2 but you did not ask my Spirit if that was what you should do.
\q2 By doing that, you have increased the number of your sins.
\q1
\v 2 You went to Egypt to ask their rulers for help,
\q2 without asking for my advice.
\q1 You have trusted in the army of the king of Egypt to protect you;
\q1 you have trusted in them
\q2 like people sit in the shade to protect themselves from the sun.
\s5
\q1
\v 3 But the result of your trusting in the king of Egypt is that you will be disappointed and disgraced;
\q2 because you trust in him, you will be humiliated.
\q1
\v 4 Officials from Judah have gone to the cities of Zoan and Hanes in Egypt to make treaties,
\q1
\v 5 but all those who trust in the king of Egypt will be humiliated,
\q2 because that nation will not be able to help you;
\q1 the treaty that you have made requesting help from them will be useless;
\q2 instead, the result will be that you will be humiliated and disgraced."
\s5
\p
\v 6 Isaiah received from Yahweh this message about the animals in the southern part of Judah, the desert part:
\q1 That area is one where people experience a lot of troubles and difficulties,
\q2 an area where there are male and female lions
\q2 and various kinds of poisonous snakes.
\q1 Caravans go through that area
\q2 taking donkeys and camels loaded with valuable goods.
\q1 They are taking them to Egypt because they hope that the army of Egypt will protect them,
\q2 but it will be useless.
\q2
\v 7 The promises made by the king of Egypt are worthless;
\q1 therefore I call Egypt 'Useless Rahab, the sea monster that does nothing.'
\s5
\q1
\v 8 Yahweh told me to write on a scroll a message,
\q2 in order that it would be a witness to the people of Judah
\q1 that would endure forever.
\q1
\v 9 It would remind them that that they are deceitful and always rebelling against Yahweh,
\q2 and that they refuse to pay attention to what he tells them.
\s5
\q1
\v 10 They tell the people who see visions from Yahweh,
\q2 "Stop seeing visions!"
\q1 They tell the prophets,
\q2 "Do not reveal to us what is right!
\q1 Tell us pleasant things;
\q2 do not tell us visions about things that are true!
\q1
\v 11 Stop doing what you have been doing;
\q2 stop telling us what the Holy One of Israel says to us!"
\s5
\p
\v 12 Therefore, this is what the Holy One of Israel says:
\q1 "You have rejected my message,
\q2 and you are relying on those who oppress and deceive others.
\q1
\v 13 Therefore, the result of your sin of rejecting me will be that you will suddenly experience disasters;
\q2 what will happen to you will be like a cracked wall that suddenly collapses on you."
\s5
\q1
\v 14 You will be smashed like a clay jar is smashed when it is dropped
\q1 and shatters completely, with the result that there is not one piece big enough
\q2 to sweep out cinders from a stove
\q2 or to carry a little bit of water from a well.
\s5
\p
\v 15 Yahweh, our God, the Holy One of Israel, also says this:
\q1 "I will rescue you from your enemies only if you repent and trust in what I will do for you;
\q2 you will be strong only if you quit worrying and trust in me.
\q1 But you do not want to do that.
\q1
\v 16 You said, 'No, we will escape on horses that the army of Egypt will give us!'
\q2 So you will try to escape.
\q1 You said, 'We will escape from the army of Assyria by riding on swift horses!'
\q2 But those who pursue you will also ride swiftly.
\s5
\q1
\v 17 As a result, a thousand of you will flee when only one of them pursues you!
\q1 When five of their soldiers threaten to kill you,
\q2 all of you will flee.
\q1 Only a few of you will be left, like a single flagpole on top of a mountain,
\q2 or like one single signal flag on a hilltop."
\s5
\q1
\v 18 But Yahweh wants to act kindly toward you;
\q2 he is great because he desires to act mercifully.
\q1 Do not forget he is a God who acts justly;
\q2 Yahweh is pleased with those who patiently trust in him.
\v 19 You people who live in Jerusalem, none of you will not cry anymore. Yahweh will be kind to you when you call out to him for help. He will answer you as soon as he hears you call.
\v 20 Although now Yahweh has brought poverty on you, he, your teacher, will not hide himself from you. He will teach you many things clearly.
\v 21 And you will hear him speak to you to guide you. Right behind you he will say, "This is the road on which you should walk; walk on this road!"
\s5
\v 22 When that happens, you will destroy all your idols that are covered with silver or gold. You will throw them away like you throw away a filthy rag, and you will say to them, "We do not need you anymore!"
\s5
\p
\v 23 If you do that, Yahweh will bless you by giving you good rain at the time that you plant your crops. You will have good harvests and plenty of big fields with grass for your cattle to eat.
\v 24 After the wind blows away the chaff, the oxen and donkeys that pull the plow over your ground will have good grain to eat.
\s5
\v 25 At that time, when your enemies have been slaughtered and their towers have collapsed, there will be streams flowing down every hill and mountain in Judah.
\v 26 The moon will seem to shine as brightly as the sun, and the sun will seem to shine seven times as brightly as previously. That is what it will be like when Yahweh causes the suffering of his people to cease; it will be as though he is putting bandages on their wounds and healing them.
\s5
\q1
\v 27 It is as though we see Yahweh coming from far away;
\q2 he is extremely angry,
\q1 and there are thick clouds of smoke around him.
\q2 By what he says he shows that he is angry;
\q2 what he says is like a devastating fire.
\q1
\v 28 His breath is like a flood that covers his enemies up to their necks.
\q2 He will separate the nations in order to destroy some of them;
\q2 it is as though he will put horses' bridles on them so he can lead them away to destruction.
\s5
\q1
\v 29 But his people will sing joyfully
\q2 like they sing during the nights when they celebrate a holy festival.
\q1 They will be very joyful,
\q2 like a large group of his people are joyful when they go up to Mount Zion in Jerusalem,
\q1 along with men playing flutes
\q when they are all going there to worship Yahweh.
\q2 He is like a huge rock on top of which we Israelite people are safe.
\s5
\q1
\v 30 And Yahweh will enable us to hear him speaking powerfully.
\q2 He will show us that he is very powerful.
\q1 We will see him smash his enemies.
\q2 Being very angry, he will descend with a big rainstorm and thunder and hail to punish them.
\s5
\q1
\v 31 The soldiers of Assyria will be terrified when they hear the voice of Yahweh
\q2 and when he strikes them with his rod.
\q1
\v 32 And while Yahweh strikes them to punish them,
\q2 his people will celebrate by playing tambourines and harps.
\q1 It will be as though Yahweh will lift up his powerful hand and defeat the Assyrian army in battle.
\s5
\q1
\v 33 The Valley of Topheth outside Jerusalem has been prepared for a long time;
\q2 it is ready for the king of Assyria;
\q1 the funeral pyre for burning his body is wide and high,
\q2 and it will be as though Yahweh will light the fire with his breath,
\q2 which will come out like a stream of burning sulfur.
\s5
\c 31
\q1
\v 1 Terrible things will happen to those who rely on Egypt to help them,
\q2 trusting in their soldiers' horses and their many chariots and their many chariot drivers,
\q1 instead of trusting that Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, will help them.
\q1
\v 2 Yahweh is very wise,
\q2 but he also causes people to experience disaster!
\q1 And when he decides to do that,
\q2 he does not change his mind!
\q1 He will strike the wicked people
\q2 and all those who help them.
\s5
\q1
\v 3 The soldiers of Egypt that you people of Judah are relying on are humans, not God!
\q2 And their horses are only horses; they are not powerful spirits!
\q1 So when Yahweh raises his fist
\q2 to strike the soldiers of Egypt whom you thought would help you,
\q2 he will also strike you who thought that you would be helped,
\q2 and you and they will stumble and fall down;
\q2 all of you will die together.
\s5
\p
\v 4 But this is what Yahweh said to me:
\q1 "When a lion stands and growls over the body of a sheep that he has killed,
\q2 even if a large group of shepherds comes to chase away the lion,
\q1 even if they shout loudly,
\q2 the lion will not be afraid and will not leave.
\q1 Similarly, I, Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, will come down
\q2 to fight my enemies on Mount Zion,
\q2 and nothing will stop me.
\s5
\q1
\v 5 Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, will protect Jerusalem
\q2 like a mother bird hovers over the baby birds in her nest.
\q1 He will defend the city
\q2 and rescue it from its enemies."
\p
\v 6 My people, even though you have greatly rebelled against Yahweh, return to him.
\v 7 When you do that, each of you will throw away the idols that you have made in sin, idols that are covered with silver and gold.
\s5
\q1
\v 8 The Assyrian soldiers will be killed,
\q2 but not by swords that men use.
\q2 They will be destroyed by the sword of God;
\q1 and those who are not killed will panic and flee.
\q2 And some of them will be captured and forced to become slaves.
\q1
\v 9 Even their very strong soldiers will be terrified;
\q2 their leaders will abandon all hope and run away from Yahweh's power!
\q1 Yahweh's presence on Mount Zion is like a fire,
\q2 like a furnace that blazes in Jerusalem.
\q2 This is what Yahweh says about the Assyrian army!
\q2 the desert will rejoice and flowers will blossom.
\q1 Like the rose,
\q1
\v 2 the desert will produce flowers abundantly;
\q2 it will be as though everything is rejoicing and singing!
\q1 The deserts will become as beautiful as the trees in Lebanon,
\q2 as fertile as the plains of the Sharon and the area of Carmel.
\q1 There people will see the glory of Yahweh;
\q2 they will see that he is magnificent.
\s5
\q1
\v 3 So encourage those who are tired and weak.
\q1
\v 4 Say to those who are afraid,
\q1 "Be strong and do not be afraid,
\q2 because our God is going to come to get revenge on his enemies;
\q1 he will pay them back for what they have done,
\q2 and he will rescue you."
\s5
\q1
\v 5 When he does that, he will enable blind people to see
\q2 and enable deaf people to hear.
\q1
\v 6 Lame people will leap like deer,
\q2 and those who have been unable to speak will sing joyfully.
\q1 Water will gush out from springs in the desert,
\q2 and streams will flow in the desert.
\q1
\v 7 The very hot and dry ground will become a pool of water,
\q2 and springs will provide water for the dry land.
\q1 Grass and reeds and papyrus will grow in places where the jackals lived previously.
\s5
\q1
\v 8 There will be a highway through that land;
\q2 it will be called 'the Holy Highway.'
\q1 People who are not acceptable to God will not walk on that road;
\q2 it will be only for those who conduct their lives as God wants them to,
\q2 and no wicked fools will walk on that road.
\q1
\v 9 There will not be any lions there
\q2 or any other dangerous animals along that road.
\q1 Only those whom Yahweh has set free will walk on it.
\s5
\q2
\v 10 Those whom Yahweh has freed will return to Jerusalem;
\q1 they will sing as they enter the city,
\q2 and they will be extremely joyful forever.
\q1 No longer will they be sad or mourn;
\q2 they will be completely joyful and glad.
\s5
\c 36
\p
\v 1 When King Hezekiah had been ruling Judah for almost fourteen years, King Sennacherib of Assyria came with his army to attack the cities in Judah that had walls around them. They did not conquer Jerusalem, but they conquered all the other cities.
\v 2 Then the king of Assyria sent a large army with some of his important officials from the city of Lachish to persuade King Hezekiah to surrender. When they arrived at Jerusalem, they stood alongside the aqueduct in which water flows into the upper pool into Jerusalem, near the road to the field where the women wash clothes.
\v 3 The Israelite officials who went out of the city to talk with them were Hilkiah's son Eliakim, the palace administrator, Shebna the king's secretary, and Asaph's son Joah, who wrote down the government decisions.
\s5
\p
\v 4 Then one of Sennacherib's important officials told them to take a message to Hezekiah
\p from the king of Assyria, the great king. In the message, the king said to the people of Jerusalem, "What are you trusting in to rescue you?
\v 5 You say that you have weapons to fight us and that some other nation has promised to help you, but that is only talk. Who do you think will help you to rebel against my soldiers from Assyria?
\s5
\v 6 Listen to me! You are relying on the army of Egypt. But that is like when a man tries to walk while leaning on a broken reed for a walking stick. But it would pierce the hand of anyone who would lean on it! That is what the king of Egypt is like for anyone who relies on him for help.
\v 7 But perhaps you will say to me that you are relying on Yahweh your God to help you. In that case, I would answer that Yahweh is the one whom Hezekiah insulted by tearing down his high places and altars and forcing everyone in Jerusalem and other places in Judah to worship only in front of the altar in Jerusalem."
\s5
\p
\v 8 The Assyrian official talking in front of the city continued: "So I suggest that you make a deal with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you two thousand horses, but I do not think that you can find two thousand of your own men who can ride on them!
\s5
\v 9 You are expecting the king of Egypt to send chariots and men riding horses to assist you. But they certainly would not be able to resist even the most insignificant official in the army of Assyria!
\v 10 Furthermore, do not think that we have come here to attack and destroy this land without Yahweh's orders! It is Yahweh himself who told us to come here and destroy this land!"
\s5
\p
\v 11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the official from Assyria, "Please speak to us in your Aramaic language, because we understand it. Do not speak to us in our Hebrew language, because the people who are standing on the wall will understand it and become frightened."
\p
\v 12 But the official replied, "Do you think that my master sent me to say these things only to you, and not to the people standing on the wall? If you reject this message, the people in this city will soon need to eat their own dung and drink their own urine, just as you will, because you will have nothing else to eat. "
\s5
\p
\v 13 Then the official stood up and shouted in the Hebrew language to the people sitting on the wall. He said, "Listen to this message from the great king, the king of Assyria!
\v 14 He says, 'Do not allow Hezekiah to deceive you! He will not be able to rescue you!
\v 15 Do not allow him to persuade you to trust in Yahweh, saying that Yahweh will rescue you, and that the army of the king of Assyria will never capture this city!
\s5
\p
\v 16 Do not pay attention to what Hezekiah says! This is what the king of Assyria says: "Come out of the city and surrender to me. If you do that, I will arrange for each of you to drink the wine from your own grapevines and to eat figs from your own trees, and to drink water from your own well.
\v 17 You will be able to do that until we come and take you to a land that is like your land—a land where there is grain to make bread and vineyards to produce grapes for making new wine and, where we make plenty of bread."
\s5
\p
\v 18 Do not allow Hezekiah to trick you by saying, "Yahweh will rescue us." The gods that people of other nations worship have never rescued any of them from the power of the king of Assyria!
\v 19 Why were the gods of Hamath and Arpad cities, and the gods of Sepharvaim unable to rescue Samaria from my power ?
\v 20 No, no god of any nation which our armies have attacked has been able to rescue their people from me. So why do you think that Yahweh will rescue you people of Jerusalem from my power?"
\s5
\p
\v 21 But the Hebrew soldiers who were listening were silent. No one said anything, because King Hezekiah had commanded them, "When the official from Assyria talks to you, do not answer him."
\p
\v 22 Then Eliakim and Shebna and Joah returned to Hezekiah with their clothes torn because they were extremely distressed. They told him what the official from Assyria had said.
\s5
\c 37
\p
\v 1 When King Hezekiah heard what they reported, he tore his clothes and put on clothes made of rough sackcloth because he was very distressed. Then he went into the temple of Yahweh and prayed.
\v 2 Then he sent Eliakim, Shebna, and the older priests, who were also wearing clothes made of rough sackcloth, to talk to Isaiah the prophet, son of Amoz.
\s5
\v 3 They told him, "Say this to Isaiah: 'King Hezekiah says that this is a day when we have great distress. Other nations are insulting and shaming us. We are like a woman who is about to give birth to a baby, but she does not have the strength that she needs to do it.
\v 4 But perhaps Yahweh our God has heard what the official from Assyria said. Perhaps God knows that the king of Assyria has sent his official to insult him, the all-powerful God. Perhaps Yahweh will punish the king of Assyria for what he said. And I, Hezekiah, request that you pray for the few of us who are still alive here in Jerusalem.'"
\s5
\p
\v 5 After those men gave Isaiah that message,
\v 6 he told them to say to the king that Yahweh says: "Those lackeys from the king of Assyria have said evil things about me. But do not let them worry you.
\v 7 Listen to this: I will make Sennacherib hear some news from his own country that will worry him very much. So he will go back there, and I will make other men to assassinate him with their swords."
\s5
\p
\v 8 The official from Assyria learned that his king and the army of Assyria had left the city of Lachish and were now attacking Libnah, a nearby city. So the official left Jerusalem and went to Libnah to report to the king what had happened in Jerusalem.
\p
\v 9 Soon after that, King Sennacherib received a report that King Tirhakah of Ethiopia was leading his army to attack them. So he sent other messengers to Hezekiah with a letter. In the letter he wrote this to Hezekiah:
\p
\v 10 "Do not allow your god, on whom you are relying, to deceive you by promising that he will keep my army from capturing Jerusalem."
\s5
\v 11 You have certainly heard what the armies of the kings of Assyria before me did to all the other countries; our armies destroyed them completely. So you really do not think that you will escape from me, do you?
\v 12 Did the gods of those nations rescue them? Did they rescue the region of Gozan, or the cities of Haran and Rezeph in northern Aram, or the people of the region of Eden in the city of Tel Assar?
\v 13 What happened to the king of Hamath and the king of Arpad? What happened to the kings of the cities of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Did their gods rescue them?"
\s5
\p
\v 14 Hezekiah received the letter that the messengers gave him, and he read it. Then he went up to the temple and spread out the letter in front of Yahweh.
\v 15 Then Hezekiah prayed this:
\v 16 "Yahweh, Commander of the angel armies, the God to whom we Israelites belong, you are seated on your throne above the statues of the cherubim, above the sacred chest. Only you are truly God. You rule all the kingdoms on this earth. You are the one who created everything on the earth and in the sky.
\s5
\v 17 So, Yahweh, please listen to what I am saying, and look at what is happening! And listen to what Sennacherib has said to insult you, the all-powerful God!
\p
\v 18 Yahweh, it is true that the armies of the kings of Assyria have completely destroyed many nations and ruined their land.
\s5
\v 19 And they have thrown all the idols of those nations into fires and burned them. But they were not really gods. They were only idols made of wood and stone, and that is why they were able to be destroyed.
\v 20 So now, Yahweh our God, please rescue us from the power of the king of Assyria, in order that the people in all the kingdoms of the world may know that you, Yahweh, are the only one who is truly God."
\s5
\p
\v 21 Then Isaiah sent a message to tell Hezekiah that Yahweh, whom the Israelites worshiped, said this to him: "Because you prayed about what King Sennacherib of Assyria said,
\v 22 this is what I say to him:
\q1 'The people of Jerusalem despise you and make fun of you.
\q2 They will wag their heads to mock you while you flee from here.
\q1
\v 23 Who do you think you have been despising and ridiculing?
\q2 Who do you think you were shouting at?
\q1 Who do you think you were looking at very proudly?
\q2 It was I, the Holy One whom the Israelites worship!
\s5
\q1
\v 24 The messengers whom you sent made fun of me.
\q1 You said, "With my many chariots I have gone to the highest mountains,
\q2 to the highest mountains in Lebanon.
\q1 We have cut down its tallest cedar trees
\q2 and its nicest pine trees.
\q1 We have been to the most distant peaks
\q2 and to its densest forests.
\q1
\v 25 We have dug wells in many countries and drunk water from them.
\q1 And by marching through the streams of Egypt,
\q2 we dried them all up!"
\s5
\q1
\v 26 But I reply to him, 'Have you never heard that long ago I determined those things;
\q1 I planned it long ago,
\q2 and now I have been causing it to occur.
\q1 I planned that your army would destroy cities
\q2 and cause them to become piles of rubble.
\q1
\v 27 The people in those cities have no power,
\q2 and as a result they are dismayed and discouraged.
\q1 They are as frail as grass and plants in the fields,
\q2 as frail as grass that grows on the roofs of houses
\q2 and is scorched by the hot east wind.
\s5
\q1
\v 28 But I know everything about you;
\q2 I know when you are in your house and when you go outside;
\q2 I also know that you are raging against me.
\q1
\v 29 So because you have raged against me
\q2 and because I have heard you speak very proudly,
\q1 it will be as though I will put a hook in your nose
\q2 and an iron bit in your mouth in order that I can take you where I wish,
\q1 and I will force you to return to your own country,
\q2 on the same road on which you came here, without conquering Jerusalem.'"
\s5
\p
\v 30 "This will prove to you, Hezekiah that it is I, Yahweh, who will make all this happen:
\q1 This year, you will eat only the crops that grow by themselves,
\q2 and next year the same thing will happen.
\q1 But in the third year you will plant crops and harvest them;
\q2 you will take care of your vineyards and eat the grapes.
\s5
\q1
\v 31 You people who are still here in Judah,
\q2 will be strong and prosper again.
\q1
\v 32 A small number of my people will survive,
\q2 and they will spread out from Jerusalem.
\p That will happen because Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, is desiring very much to accomplish it."
\s5
\p
\v 33 "This is what Yahweh says about the king of Assyria:
\q1 'His armies will not enter Jerusalem;
\q2 they will not even shoot a single arrow into it.
\q1 His soldiers will not bring one shield up to Jerusalem,
\q2 and they will not build high mounds of dirt against the walls of the city
\q2 to enable them to attack the city.
\q1
\v 34 Instead, their king will return to his own country
\q2 on the same road on which he came here.
\q1 He will not enter this city!
\p That will happen because I, Yahweh, have said it!
\s5
\q1
\v 35 For the sake of my own reputation and because of what I promised King David, who served me well,
\q2 I will defend this city and prevent it from being destroyed.'"
\s5
\p
\v 36 That night, an angel from Yahweh went out to where the army of Assyria had set up their tents and killed 185,000 of their soldiers. When the rest of the soldiers woke up the next morning, they saw that there were corpses everywhere.
\v 37 Then King Sennacherib left and returned home to Nineveh in Assyria and stayed there.
\s5
\p
\v 38 One day, when he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his two sons, Adrammelek and Sharezer, killed him with their swords. Then they escaped and went to the region of Ararat northwest of Nineveh. And another of Sennacherib's sons, Esarhaddon, became the king of Assyria.
\s5
\c 38
\p
\v 1 About that time, Hezekiah became very ill and was close to dying. So Isaiah went to see him and gave him this message: "This is what Yahweh says: 'You should tell the people in your palace what you want them to do after you die because you will not recover from this illness. You are going to die'"
\p
\v 2 Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed this:
\v 3 "Yahweh, do not forget that I have always served you faithfully with all my inner being, and I have done things that pleased you!" Then Hezekiah started to cry loudly.
\s5
\p
\v 4 Then Yahweh gave Isaiah this message:
\v 5 "Go back to Hezekiah and tell him that this is what I, the God to whom your ancestor King David belonged, say: 'I have heard what you prayed, and I have seen you crying. So listen: I will enable you to live fifteen years more.
\v 6 And I will rescue and this city from the power of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city.
\s5
\p
\v 7 And this is what I will do to prove that I will do what I have just now promised.
\v 8 I will cause the shadow of the sun to move ten steps backward on the stairs that were built by King Ahaz.'" So the shadow of the sun on the stairs moved backward ten steps.
\s5
\p
\v 9 When King Hezekiah was almost well again, he wrote this:
\q2 or be with others who now are alive in this world.
\s5
\q1
\v 12 It is as if my life had been taken away
\q2 like a tent whose pegs have been pulled up by a shepherd and taken away.
\q1 I have to roll up my life like a weaver,
\q2 like a piece of cloth that a weaver cuts and rolls up, Yahweh has cut off my life."
\q2 Between morning and evening he will kill me off.
\q1
\v 13 I waited patiently all during the night,
\q2 but my pain was as though I were being torn apart by lions.
\q2 Between morning and evening he will kill me off.
\s5
\q1
\v 14 I was delirious; I chirped like a swift or a swallow
\q2 and moaned like a dove.
\q1 My eyes became tired looking up toward heaven for help.
\q2 I cried out, 'Yahweh, help me, because I am distressed!'
\q1
\v 15 But there was really nothing that I could say and ask him to reply to me,
\q2 because it was Yahweh who sent this illness.
\q1 So now I will live humbly during my remaining years
\q2 because I am very anguished within myself.
\s5
\q1
\v 16 Yahweh, the sufferings that you give are good,
\q2 because what you do and what you say bring new life and health to me.
\q1 And you have restored me
\q2 and allowed me to continue to live!
\q1
\v 17 Truly, my suffering was good for me;
\q2 you loved me,
\q1 and as a result you have rescued me from dying
\q2 and have also forgiven all my sins.
\s5
\q1
\v 18 Dead people cannot praise you;
\q2 they cannot sing to praise you.
\q1 Those who have descended to their graves
\q2 cannot expect you to faithfully do things for them.
\q1
\v 19 Only people who are still alive, like I am, can praise you.
\q1 Fathers tell their children how you are faithful,
\q2 and if I remain alive, I will do the same thing.
\s5
\q1
\v 20 Yahweh will fully heal me,
\q2 so we will sing praise to him
\q1 while others praise him playing musical instruments.
\q2 We will do that every day of our lives in the temple of Yahweh."
\s5
\p
\v 21 Isaiah had previously said to Hezekiah's servants, "Prepare an ointment from mashed figs, and spread it on his boil, and then he will recover." So they did that, and Hezekiah recovered.
\p
\v 22 And Hezekiah had previously asked, "What will Yahweh do to prove that I will recover and be able to go to his temple?"
\s5
\c 39
\p
\v 1 Soon after that, Baladan's son Marduk-Baladan, the king of Babylon, heard a report that Hezekiah had been very sick but that he had recovered. So he wrote some letters and gave them to some messengers to take to Hezekiah, along with a gift.
\v 2 When the messengers arrived, Hezekiah welcomed them gladly. Then he showed them everything that was in his treasure houses—the silver, the gold, the spices, and the nice-smelling olive oil. He also took them to see the place where they kept their soldiers' weapons, and he showed them the other valuable things that were in the storehouses. Hezekiah showed them everything that was in the palace or in other places.
\v 3 Then Isaiah went to King Hezekiah and asked him, "Where did those men come from, and what did they want?"
\p He replied, "They came from the far away land of Babylon."
\p
\v 4 Isaiah asked him, "What did they see in your palace?"
\p Hezekiah replied, "They saw everything. I showed them absolutely everything that I own—all my valuable things."
\s5
\p
\v 5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Listen to this message from Yahweh, commander of the angel armies:
\v 6 There will be a time when everything in your palace, all the valuable things that your ancestors stored there up until the present time, will be carried away to Babylon. Yahweh says that there will be nothing left.
\s5
\v 7 Furthermore, some of your sons will be forced to go to Babylon. They will be castrated in order that they can become servants in the palace of the king of Babylon."
\p
\v 8 Then Hezekiah replied to Isaiah, "The message from Yahweh that you have given to me is good." He said that because he was thinking, "Even if that happens, there will be peace and safety here during the time that I am alive."
\s5
\c 40
\q1
\v 1 Our God says, "Encourage my people!
\q2 Encourage them!
\q1
\v 2 Speak kindly to the people of Jerusalem;
\q2 tell them that their suffering is ended
\q1 Yahweh has forgiven them for the sins that they have committed.
\q2 He has fully punished them for their sins."
\s5
\q1
\v 3 Someone is shouting,
\q1 "In the desert plain make the way straight for Yahweh to come to you;
\q2 make a smooth road for our God.
\q1
\v 4 Fill in the valleys;
\q2 flatten every hill and every mountain.
\q1 Make the uneven ground smooth,
\q2 and make the rough places smooth.
\q1
\v 5 If you do that, it will become known that Yahweh is glorious,
\q2 and all people will realize it at the same time.
\q1 Those things will surely happen because it is Yahweh who has said it."
\s5
\q1
\v 6 Someone said to me, "Shout!"
\q2 I replied, "What should I shout?"
\q1 He replied, "Shout that people are like grass;
\q2 their faithfulness fades as quickly as flowers in the field.
\q1
\v 7 Grass withers and flowers dry up
\q2 when Yahweh causes a hot wind from the desert to blow on them.
\q2 He forced you to drink every drop out of that large cup, down to the bottom of the bowl. And that drink made you stagger like you had drunk strong wine. This strong wine represents the anger of God, and you are to drink all of it!
\v 23 Instead, I will cause those who have tormented you to suffer;
\q2 I will severely punish those who said to you,
\q2 'Lie down in order that we may walk on you;
\q1 lie down on your stomachs
\q2 in order that your backs will be like streets that we can walk on.'"
\s5
\c 52
\q1
\v 1 You people who live in the holy city of Jerusalem, wake up!
\q2 Be strong again!
\q1 Show that your city is beautiful and glorious;
\q2 uncircumcised foreigners, those who do not honor Yahweh, will never again enter your city to attack you.
\s5
\q1
\v 2 People of Jerusalem, get up from where you have been sitting in the dust,
\q2 and sit down properly!
\q1 You people who have returned from being exiled,
\q2 take off from your neck the chains that the Babylonians fastened around your necks,
\p
\v 3 because this is what Yahweh says:
\q1 "When you were sent as captives to Babylonia,
\q2 no one paid to make that happen.
\q1 So now you will be brought back,
\q2 and no money will be paid to anyone for your release."
\s5
\p
\v 4 Yahweh our Lord also says this:
\q1 "Long ago, my people went to Egypt to live there.
\q2 Later the soldiers of Assyria oppressed them.
\s5
\p
\v 5 But now think about what is happening:
\q1 My people are being forced to be slaves again, this time by the people of Babylonia. They have taken my people away, but they never declared any just reason for taking them captive.
\q2 And the rulers of Babylon boast and make fun of them (as I, Yahweh, have said they would do),
\q2 I caused him to be a leader and commander over the people of many nations.
\s5
\q1
\v 5 And similarly, you will summon people of other nations to come to you,
\q1 nations that previously you have not heard about,
\q2 and they had not heard about you;
\q1 and they will come to you quickly
\q2 because they will have heard that I, Yahweh, your God, the Holy One of Israel, have honored you.
\s5
\q1
\v 6 Seek to know Yahweh while it is still possible for you to do that;
\q2 call to Yahweh while he is near!
\q1
\v 7 Wicked people should abandon their wicked behavior,
\q2 and evil people should stop thinking what is evil.
\q1 They should turn to Yahweh,
\q2 and if they do that, he will act mercifully toward them;
\q1 they should turn to Yahweh, their God,
\q2 because he will fully pardon them for all the wicked things that they have done.
\s5
\q1
\v 8 Yahweh declares that what he thinks is not the same as what you think,
\q2 and what he does is very different from what you do.
\q1
\v 9 Just as you people on the earth can never reach the sky,
\q2 the thoughts of Yahweh are that much higher than the way you think.
\q1 His ways are always different from what you do.
\q1 And so, you can be sure that you can never fully understand the way Yahweh thinks or know the reasons for what Yahweh does.
\s5
\q1
\v 10 Yahweh sends the rain and snow down from the sky,
\q2 and they water the ground.
\q1 When the ground becomes moist, it causes plants to sprout and grow,
\q2 with the result that the soil produces seed for the farmer to plant and grain to produce flour to make bread for people to eat.
\q1
\v 11 And similarly, the things that I promise to do, I will always cause to happen;
\q2 my promises will always come true.
\q1 They will accomplish the things for which I spoke them.
\s5
\q1
\v 12 This is why you will leave Babylon joyfully;
\q2 you will have peace as Yahweh leads you out.
\q1 It will be as though the hills and mountains sang joyfully,
\q2 and the trees in the fields clapped their hands.
\q1
\v 13 Instead of thornbushes and briers,
\q2 pine trees and myrtle trees will grow in your land.
\q1 As a result of that, people will honor Yahweh much more;
\q2 and what Yahweh does will cause everyone to remember what he has promised, and they will honor him."
\s5
\c 56
\p
\v 1 Yahweh says to all the people of Judah,
\q1 "Do the things that are fair and right,
\q2 because I will soon come to rescue you; I will soon show everyone that you have been right to trust me.
\q1
\v 2 I will bless those who faithfully obey my laws about the Sabbath days.
\q1 I will bless those who keep sacred my Sabbath days,
\q2 and who do not do any work on those days,
\q2 and who refrain from doing anything that is evil.
\s5
\q1
\v 3 Foreigners who have believed in me should not say,
\q2 'Yahweh will surely not allow me to belong to his people.'
\q1 And eunuchs should not say,
\q2 'Because I am deformed and unable to have children, I cannot belong to Yahweh;
\q2 I am like a tree that has completely withered.'
\s5
\q1
\v 4 They should not say that, because I, Yahweh, say this to the eunuchs
\q2 who obey my laws about the Sabbath,
\q1 and who choose to do the things that please me,
\q2 and who obey all the other laws of the covenant that I made with the Israelite people:
\q1
\v 5 I will cause people to put inside the walls of my temple a monument to them;
\q2 because of that monument, they will be honored more than they would have if they had children;
\q1 they will be honored forever.
\s5
\q1
\v 6 I will also bless those who are not Israelites
\q2 who join themselves to me,
\q1 who serve me and worship and love me,
\q2 who obey my laws about the Sabbath,
\q1 and who faithfully obey all the other laws of the covenant that I made with the Israelite people.
\q1
\v 7 I will bring them to my sacred hill in Jerusalem,
\q2 and cause them to be very joyful in my temple where people pray to me,
\q1 and I will accept the sacrifices that they burn on my altar and other sacrifices that they offer,
\q2 because my temple will be a building where people of all nations pray to me.
\s5
\q1
\v 8 I, Yahweh, the Lord, the one who will bring back the people of Israel who have been forced to go to other countries, say this:
\q I will bring from other countries many more people to join those Israelites whom I have brought back."
\s5
\q1
\v 9 "You surrounding nations have armies that are like animals in the forest;
\q2 come and attack Israel!
\q1
\v 10 The Israelite leaders should be like watchdogs to protect the people,
\q2 but it is as though they were blind.
\q1 They understand nothing.
\q2 They are all like dogs that cannot bark.
\q1 Good watchdogs bark when strangers approach,
\q2 but the Israelite leaders do not warn the people that their enemies are coming.
\q1 Instead, they just want to lie down and sleep and dream.
\s5
\q1
\v 11 And they are like greedy dogs;
\q2 they never get all that they want.
\q1 They are supposed to lead the people, like good shepherds lead their flocks,
\q2 but they are ignorant,
\q2 and they each do whatever they want to do.
\q1
\v 12 They say to each other, 'Come, let us go and get some wine and other alcoholic drinks,
\q2 and let us become drunk!
\q1 And tomorrow we will enjoy drinking even more!'"
\s5
\c 57
\q1
\v 1 Righteous people die,
\q2 and no one is concerned about it.
\q1 Godly people die,
\q2 and no one understands why.
\q1 God takes them away in order that they will not endure more calamities,
\q2
\v 2 and now they have peace.
\q1 They lived righteously,
\q2 and now they rest peacefully in their graves.
\s5
\q1
\v 3 Yahweh says, "But you who practice sorcery, come here!
\q2 You who worship idols,
\q2 listen to me!
\q1
\v 4 Do you realize whom you are ridiculing,
\q2 and whom you are insulting?
\q2 Do you realize to whom you are sticking out your tongues?
\q1 You are insulting me, Yahweh!
\q2 You are always rebelling against me and always lying, just like your ancestors.
\s5
\q1
\v 5 You are eager to sleep together under every tall green tree where you worship your gods.
\q1 You kill your children as sacrifices to your idols in the dry riverbeds,
\q2 and offer them as sacrifices to your idols in the rocky caves.
\s5
\q1
\v 6 You take big smooth stones from the riverbeds
\q2 and worship them as your gods.
\q1 You pour out wine to be an offering to them,
\q2 and you bring grain to burn for an offering to them.
\q1 Do you think that I enjoy all those things?
\s5
\q1
\v 7 You sleep with idols' prostitutes on every hill and mountain,
\q2 and you go there to offer sacrifices to your gods.
\q1
\v 8 You have put charms behind your doors and doorposts,
\q2 and you have deserted me.
\q1 You have taken off your clothes
\q2 and climbed into your bed,
\q1 and invited more of your lovers to come to bed with you.
\q1 You have paid them to sleep with you,
\q2 and you have looked at their private parts.
\s5
\q1
\v 9 You have given fragrant oil and lots of perfume to kings,
\q2 and you sent representatives to distant countries to look for other gods to worship;
\q1 you even tried to send messengers to the place of the dead to search for new gods.
\q1
\v 10 You became weary because of doing all those things,
\q2 but you never said, 'It is useless for us to do that.'
\q1 You found new strength for worshiping idols,
\q2 so you continued to do so.
\s5
\q1
\v 11 Was it because you were afraid of those idols more than you were afraid of me that you lied about what you were doing,
\q2 and you do not even think about me?
\q1 Was it because I did not punish you for a long time that you are not afraid of me ?
\q1
\v 12 You think that the things that you have done are right,
\q2 but I will tell you the truth:
\q1 It will not help you to do any of those things.
\s5
\q1
\v 13 When you cry out for help to your collection of idols,
\q2 they will not rescue you.
\q1 The wind will blow them away; a single breath will carry them all away.
\q2 But those who trust in me will live in the land of Israel,
\q1 and they will worship me on Zion, my sacred hill."
\s5
\p
\v 14 Yahweh will say, "Prepare yourselves to receive me,
\q2 like people build and prepare a road for a king to come on.
\q1 Get rid of the things that are causing you to sin.
\q1
\v 15 Because this is what I say—I, Yahweh, who am holy and honored more than anyone else, and who live forever:
\q1 I live in the highest heaven, where everything is holy,
\q2 but I also am with those who are humble and who are sorry for the sinful things that they have done.
\q1 I will greatly encourage those who have repented.
\s5
\q1
\v 16 I will not accuse people forever;
\q2 I will not always be angry with them,
\q1 because if I did that, people would become weak;
\q2 all the people whom I created and caused to live would die.
\q1
\v 17 I was angry with my people because they sinned by taking with force what belonged to others.
\q2 Because I was angry, I punished them and turned away from them,
\q2 but they continued sinning.
\s5
\q1
\v 18 I have seen the evil things that they continually do,
\q2 but I will restore them and lead them.
\q1 I will encourage them.
\q2 As for those who are mourning,
\q2
\v 19 I will enable them to sing songs to praise me.
\q1 I will restore all my people, those who live near Jerusalem and those who live far away,
\q2 and I will cause things to go well for them.
\s5
\q1
\v 20 Wicked people do not have peace in their inner beings;
\q2 they are like a sea whose waves are always churning up mud,
\q1
\v 21 and I, Yahweh, say that things will never go well for those who are evil."
\s5
\c 58
\p
\v 1 Yahweh said to me,
\q1 "Shout loudly!
\q2 Shout like a loud trumpet!
\q1 Shout to warn my Israelite people about their sins!
\q1
\v 2 They worship me every day;
\q2 they come to my temple because they say that they are eager to know what I want them to do.
\q1 They act as though they were a nation that does things that are righteous,
\q2 that would never abandon the commands of me, their God.
\q1 They request me to decide matters justly,
\q2 and they are eager that I should come to them.
\s5
\q1
\v 3 They say, 'We have fasted to please you,
\q2 but you did not notice our doing that.
\q1 We humbled ourselves,
\q2 but you did not pay any attention!'
\q1 I will tell you why I did not pay attention.
\q2 It is because when you fast,
\q1 you do it only to please yourselves,
\q2 and you act cruelly toward all your workers.
\s5
\q1
\v 4 You fast, but you also quarrel and fight with each other with your fists.
\q2 Doing things like that while you fast will certainly not cause me to hear your prayers where I am, high in heaven.
\q1
\v 5 You bow your heads
\q2 like the tops of reeds bend when the wind blows,
\q1 and you wear rough clothes and cover your heads with ashes like people do when they are grieving.
\q1 That is what you do when you are fasting,
\q2 but do you really think that will please me?
\s5
\q1
\v 6 No, that is not the kind of fasting that I desire.
\q1 Instead you should seek to free those who have been unjustly put in prison,
\q2 and encourage those who are treated cruelly;
\q2 and free those who have been oppressed in any way.
\q1
\v 7 Share your food with those who are hungry
\q2 and to allow those who have no houses to stay in your houses.
\q1 Give clothes to those who do not have clothes,
\q2 and do not hide yourself from your relatives who need help from you.
\s5
\q1
\v 8 If you do those things,
\q1 what you do for others will be like a light that shines when it dawns.
\q2 The troubles that have been caused by your sins will end quickly.
\q1 Others will know about your righteous behavior,
\q2 and the glorious presence of Yahweh will protect you from behind
\q2 like I protected the Israelite people when they left Egypt.
\s5
\q1
\v 9 Then you will call out to me,
\q2 and I will quickly answer and say, 'I am here to help you.'
\q1 Stop oppressing people;
\q2 stop falsely accusing people;
\q2 and stop saying evil things about people.
\q1
\v 10 Give food to those who are hungry,
\q2 and give to people who are afflicted the things that they need.
\q1 Your doing that will be like a light that shines in the darkness;
\q2 instead of doing evil to people, the good things you do for people will be like the sunshine at noontime.
\s5
\q1
\v 11 Yahweh will guide you continually,
\q2 and he will give you good things to satisfy you.
\q2 He will enable you to remain strong and healthy.
\q1 You will be like a garden that is well watered,
\q2 like a spring that never dries up.
\s5
\q1
\v 12 Your people will rebuild the cities that were destroyed long ago;
\q2 they will build houses on top of the old foundations.
\q1 People will say that you are the ones who are repairing the holes in the city walls,
\q2 and who are repairing the streets where people live.
\s5
\q1
\v 13 Do not travel on the Sabbath days,
\q2 and on Sabbath days do not do only the things that you delight to do.
\q1 Enjoy the Sabbath days, and consider them to be delightful.
\q2 The Sabbath days are my holy days.
\q2 Honor me, Yahweh, in everything that you do on the Sabbath days.
\q1 Do not talk about and do things to please yourselves.
\q2 If you do all the things that I have just now told you to do; listen, and I will tell you what I will do for you.
\s5
\q1
\v 14 I will enable you to be joyful.
\q2 I will greatly honor you;
\q1 it will be as though you were riding with me above the highest mountains!
\q2 I will give to you the blessings that I gave to your ancestor Jacob.
\q1 Those things will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it."
\s5
\c 59
\q1
\v 1 Listen to this! Yahweh's power is not too little to rescue you.
\q2 He has not become deaf; he can still hear you when you call to him for help.
\q1
\v 2 But you have separated yourselves from your God by the sins that you have committed.
\q1 Because of your sins, he has turned away from you,
\q2 with the result that he does not pay attention to what you request him to do.
\s5
\q1
\v 3 You do violent things to others,
\q2 with the result that your hands are stained with their blood.
\q1 You constantly tell lies,
\q2 and you say evil things about others.
\q1
\v 4 When you accuse someone in court, what you say is not fair and it is not true.
\q2 You accuse people falsely; you depend on the lies you tell.
\q1 You are constantly planning to cause trouble for others,
\q2 and then you do those evil things that you planned.
\s5
\q1
\v 5 What you plan to do to harm people is like the eggs a poisonous snake lays, like a web that a spider catches its victims in.
\q2 Cobras will hatch from those eggs,
\q2 and insects will fall into the spider's web.
\q1
\v 6 You cannot hide the evil deeds that you have done.
\q1 You are constantly acting violently.
\s5
\q1
\v 7 You are very quick to go and do evil deeds,
\q2 and you hurry to murder people who are innocent.
\q1 You are continually thinking about sinning.
\q2 Wherever you go, you destroy things and cause people to suffer.
\q1
\v 8 You do not know how to act peacefully or to treat others fairly.
\q1 You always are dishonest,
\q2 and those who imitate your behavior never have any peace within themselves.
\s5
\q1
\v 9 Because of that, God does not rescue us from our enemies,
\q2 it seems that he is not acting fairly toward us.
\q1 We expect God to give us light,
\q2 but all he gives us is darkness.
\q1
\v 10 We are like blind people who have to feel along the wall to be able to walk anywhere.
\q2 We stumble and trip at noontime like we would when it is dark.
\q1 We are like dead people who are among healthy people.
\s5
\q1
\v 11 We growl like hungry bears;
\q2 we continually moan like doves.
\q1 We ask God to do what is just,
\q2 but nothing happens.
\q1 We want God to rescue us,
\q2 but it seems that he is far away.
\s5
\q1
\v 12 But these things are happening because it is as though our sins are piled high in the presence of God,
\q2 and it is they that testify against us.
\q1 We cannot deny it;
\q2 we know that we have done many wrong things.
\q1
\v 13 We know that we have rebelled against Yahweh;
\q2 we have turned away from him.
\q1 We oppress people by what we testify against them;
\q2 we do not allow them to get what they have a right to get.
\q1 We think about the lies that we can tell,
\q2 and then we tell them.
\s5
\q1
\v 14 In our courts, the judges do not decide cases fairly;
\q2 no one is acting righteously.
\q1 In plazas where people gather together, no one tells the truth;
\q2 it seems that people are not allowed to say what is true.
\q1
\v 15 No one tells the truth,
\q2 and people try to ruin the reputations of those who quit doing evil.
\q1 Yahweh looked around, and he saw that no one was doing what is just;
\q2 he was very displeased.
\s5
\q1
\v 16 He was disgusted when he saw that no one tried to help those who were being treated cruelly.
\q2 So he used his own power to rescue them;
\q1 it is because he is always righteous that he did that.
\s5
\q1
\v 17 It is as though he were a soldier who put on his armor and a helmet;
\q2 his continually doing what is right is like his armor, and his ability to rescue people is like his helmet.
\q1 His being extremely angry and his being ready to get revenge on those who do evil are like his robes.
\q1
\v 18 He will repay his enemies for the evil things that they have done.
\q2 He will severely punish even those who live far from Jerusalem.
\s5
\q1
\v 19 When that happens, people everywhere, from the east to the west, will respect and honor Yahweh,
\q2 because he will come like a rushing river that is pushed along by the strong wind that Yahweh sent.
\q1
\v 20 And Yahweh says that he will come to Jerusalem to free his people;
\q2 he will come to rescue those in Judah who have stopped doing sinful things.
\s5
\p
\v 21 This is what Yahweh says to his people: "This is the covenant that I will make with you: My Spirit will not leave you, and you will always have my message. You will be able to declare it, and your children and grandchildren will be able to declare it forever."
\v 11 This is the message that Yahweh has sent to the people of every nation.
\q2 Tell the people of Israel, "The one who will rescue you is coming!
\q1 Look! He will be bringing to you your reward;
\q2 those whom he has rescued will be going ahead of him."
\q1
\v 12 They will be called: "Yahweh's own people,
\q2 and ones whom he rescued."
\q1 And Jerusalem will be known as: "The city that Yahweh loves,"
\q2 and "The city that is no longer abandoned."
\s5
\c 63
\q1
\v 1 I ask, "Who is this who is coming from the city of Bozrah in Edom,
\q2 whose clothes are stained red from blood?
\q1 Who is this who is wearing beautiful robes?"
\q2 He replies, "It is I, Yahweh, declaring that I have defeated your enemies,
\q1 and I am able to rescue you!"
\q1
\v 2 I ask him, "What are those red spots on your clothes?
\q2 It appears that you have been treading on grapes to make wine."
\s5
\q1
\v 3 He replies, "I have been treading on my enemies, not on grapes.
\q2 I did it myself; no one helped me.
\q1 I punished them because I was very angry with them,
\q2 and my clothes became stained with their blood.
\q1
\v 4 I did that because it was time for me to get revenge;
\q2 it was time to rescue my people from those who had oppressed them.
\s5
\q1
\v 5 I searched for someone who would enable me to help my people,
\q2 but I was amazed that there was no one to help me.
\q1 So I defeated their enemies with my own power;
\q2 I was able to do that because I was very angry.
\q1
\v 6 Because I was extremely angry, I punished the nations;
\q2 I caused them to stagger like drunk men,
\q1 and I caused their blood to pour out on the ground."
\s5
\q1
\v 7 I will tell about all the things that Yahweh has done for his people because of his faithful love for them,
\q2 and I will praise him for all that he has done.
\q1 Yahweh has done good things for us people of Israel;
\q2 he has acted mercifully toward us
\q2 and he has steadfastly and faithfully loved us.
\q1
\v 8 Yahweh said, "These are my people;
\q2 they will not deceive me";
\q2 so he rescued us.
\s5
\q1
\v 9 When we had many troubles,
\q2 he was sad also.
\q1 He sent his angel from before his presence to rescue us.
\q2 Because he loved us and was merciful to us,
\q2 he saved us;
\q2 it was as though he had picked our ancestors up and carried them all those years during which they were oppressed in Egypt.
\s5
\q1
\v 10 But we rebelled against him,
\q2 and we caused his Holy Spirit to be sad.
\q1 So he became like an enemy
\q2 who fought against us.
\s5
\q1
\v 11 Then we thought about what happened long ago,
\q2 during the time when Moses led our ancestors out of Egypt.
\q1 We cried out, "Where is the one who brought our ancestors through the Sea of Reeds
\q2 while Moses led them?
\q1 Where is the one who sent his Holy Spirit
\q2 to be among our ancestors?
\s5
\q1
\v 12 Where is the one who showed his glorious power
\q2 and caused the water to separate when Moses lifted his arm above it,
\q1 with the result that he will be honored forever?
\q1
\v 13 Where is the one who led our ancestors while they walked through the seabed?
\q2 They were like horses that were racing along and never stumbled.
\s5
\q1
\v 14 They were like cattle that walk down into a valley to rest,
\q2 and the Spirit of Yahweh enabled them to go to a place where they could rest.
\q1 Yahweh, you led your people,
\q2 and you caused yourself to be praised."
\s5
\q1
\v 15 "Yahweh, look down from heaven;
\q2 look down on us from your holy and glorious home.
\q1 You were previously very concerned about us, and you acted powerfully to help us.
\q2 But it seems that you do not act mercifully and zealously for us anymore.
\q1
\v 16 You are our father, even if
\q2 Abraham does not know what is happening to us,
\q2 and Jacob is not concerned about us, either,
\q1 but Yahweh, you are our father;
\q2 you rescued us long ago.
\s5
\q1
\v 17 Yahweh, why did you cause us to wander away from your road?
\q2 Why did you cause us to be stubborn in our inner beings,
\q2 with the result that we no longer honor you?
\q1 Help us like you did previously,
\q2 because we are the people who serve you and belong to you.
\s5
\q1
\v 18 We, your holy people, possessed your sacred temple for only a short time,
\q2 and now our enemies have destroyed it.
\q1
\v 19 Now it seems as though we never were ruled by you,
\q2 as though we never belonged to you."
\s5
\c 64
\q1
\v 1 "Yahweh, I wish that you had come down from the sky;
\q2 you would have caused the mountains to shake with fear.
\q1
\v 2 It would have been like fire burning up dead wood,
\q2 or like fire making water to boil.
\q1 Come down in order that your enemies will know who you are,
\q2 and so that the people of other nations will tremble in your presence.
\s5
\q1
\v 3 You did awesome things that we were not expecting you to do;
\q2 the mountains shook when you came down onto Mount Sinai.
\q1
\v 4 Since long ago no one has ever seen or heard about a God like you;
\q2 you help those who depend on you.
\s5
\q1
\v 5 You help those who joyfully do what is right,
\q2 those who conduct their lives as you want them to.
\q1 But we did not do that; we continued to sin,
\q2 and so you became angry with us.
\q1 We have been sinning for a long time.
\q2 It is only if we continually do what you want us to do that you will save us.
\s5
\q1
\v 6 We have all become people who are not fit to worship you;
\q2 all of the good things that we have done are only like bloodstained rags.
\q1 Because of our sins, we are all like leaves that dry up
\q2 and are blown away by the wind.
\q1
\v 7 None of our people worships you,
\q2 and no one really tries to persuade you to help him.
\q1 You have turned away from us.
\q2 It is as though you have abandoned us, so that we keep sinning and become more and more guilty.
\s5
\q1
\v 8 But even so, Yahweh, you are our father.
\q2 We are like clay that a potter uses,
\q2 and you created us, like a potter creates pottery.
\q1
\v 9 Yahweh, do not continue to be angry with us;
\q2 do not keep thinking about our sins forever.
\q1 Do not forget that we are all your people.
\s5
\q1
\v 10 All of your towns in Judah have become like the wilderness;
\q2 even Jerusalem has been destroyed.
\q1
\v 11 Your glorious temple on Mountain Zion, where our ancestors worshiped you,
\q2 has been completely burned up.
\q2 And all our other beautiful things have been ruined.
\q1
\v 12 Yahweh, you see all those things, but it seems that you refuse to do anything to help us.
\q2 It seems that you will cause us to suffer much more."
\s5
\c 65
\p
\v 1 This is what Yahweh said:
\q1 "I was ready to reply to my people,
\q2 but no one requested me to help them.
\q1 I was ready to help even those who did not call out to me.
\q2 I continued to say, 'I am here to help you!'
\q1
\v 2 It is as though I had continually held out my arms to show that I was ready to help my people who rebelled against me,
\q2 and who continually did the evil things that they wanted to do.
\s5
\q1
\v 3 They boldly continue to do things that cause me to be angry:
\q2 they offer sacrifices to their idols in their gardens,
\q1 and they burn incense to them on altars made of bricks and tiles.
\q1
\v 4 They remain awake at night in cemeteries,
\q2 talking with the spirits of dead people.
\q1 They eat the meat of pigs,
\q2 and their pots are full of the broth of meat that is unacceptable to me.
\s5
\q1
\v 5 Then they say to others,
\q2 'Stay away from me; do not come near me,
\q1 because I am very holy,
\q2 with the result that you should not touch me.'
\q1 People like that are like smoke in my nose
\q2 from a fire that burns continually.
\s5
\q1
\v 6 I have written a record of all the evil things that they have done.
\q2 And I will not remain silent about all those things;
\q1 I will certainly punish these people
\q2
\v 7 for the sins that they and their ancestors have committed.
\q1 They have mocked me by burning incense to their idols on the hilltops.
\q2 So I will punish them like they deserve for doing those things."
\s5
\p
\v 8 This is also what Yahweh said:
\q1 "When there is a cluster of nice grapes on a vine,
\q1 people do not throw them away,
\q2 because they know that there is good juice in those grapes.
\q1 Similarly, because there are some people in Judah who faithfully serve me,
\q2 I will not get rid of all of them.
\s5
\q1
\v 9 I will spare some of the descendants of Jacob
\q2 who are living on the hills of Judah.
\q1 I have chosen them, and they will possess that land;
\q2 they will worship me, and they will live there.
\q1
\v 10 Then all the land from the Plain of Sharon near the Mediterranean Sea and as far east as the Valley of Achor near Jericho will become pastureland,
\q2 where their cattle and sheep will rest.
\s5
\q1
\v 11 But it will be different for you who have abandoned me,
\q2 you who do not worship me on Zion, my sacred hill,
\q1 you who worship Gad and Meni, the gods who you say will bring you good luck and good fortune.
\s5
\q1
\v 12 It is I, not Meni, who will decide what will happen to you;
\q2 you will all be slaughtered by swords.
\q1 That will happen because you did not answer
\q2 when I called out to you.
\q1 I spoke to you,
\q2 but you did not pay attention.
\q1 Instead, you did things that I said are evil;
\q2 you chose to do things that do not please me.
\s5
\q1
\v 13 I, Yahweh the Lord, will give to those who worship and obey me things to eat and drink,
\q2 and they will be happy;
\q1 but all you evil people will be hungry and thirsty,
\q2 and you will be sad and disgraced.
\q1
\v 14 Those who worship and obey me will sing joyfully,
\q but you evil people will wail loudly
\q2 because you will be suffering in your inner beings.
\s5
\q1
\v 15 Those whom I have chosen will use your names when they curse people;
\q1 I, Yahweh the Lord, will get rid of you.
\q2 But I will give to those who worship and obey me a new name.
\q1
\v 16 The people in this land have had many troubles,
\q2 but I will cause those troubles to occur no more.
\q1 Therefore those who request me to bless them and those who solemnly promise to do something
\q2 should never forget that I am God, who faithfully do what I promise to do.
\v 6 At that time, you will listen to the noise in the city.
\q2 You will hear the shouting in the temple.
\q1 It will be the sound of Yahweh paying back his enemies.
\s5
\q1
\v 7 No one ever heard that a woman gave birth to a baby
\q2 when she was just starting to have birth pains.
\q1
\v 8 Certainly no one ever heard about such a thing happening,
\q2 and no one has ever seen it happen.
\q1 Similarly, no one ever heard that a nation was created in one instant,
\q2 not in one day.
\q1 But Jerusalem is like a woman who gives birth to children
\q2 as soon as she starts to have birth pains.
\s5
\q1
\v 9 Women certainly do not bring infants to the time when they are ready to be born and then do not allow them to be born.
\q2 Similarly, Yahweh will do for Jerusalem what he has promised to do:
\q1 he will cause Jerusalem to be full of people again.
\q2 That will happen because Yahweh has said it.
\s5
\q1
\v 10 You people in Jerusalem, rejoice!
\q2 And all you people who love Jerusalem should also be happy.
\q1 You people who were sad because of what happened to Jerusalem,
\q2 you should now be glad.
\q1
\v 11 You people in Jerusalem will have everything that you need,
\q2 like a baby that gets all it needs from its mother's breasts.
\q1 You will enjoy all the abundant and glorious things in the city.
\s5
\p
\v 12 Yahweh has promised,
\q1 "I will cause Jerusalem to be full of valuable things that come from other nations;
\q2 those things will pour into Jerusalem; it will be like a big flood.
\q1 I will take care of the people of Jerusalem
\q2 like women care for the babies that they nurse.
\q1
\v 13 I will comfort you people in Jerusalem like mothers comfort their children."
\s5
\q1
\v 14 When you see those things happen,
\q2 you will rejoice.
\q1 Your old bones will become strong again
\q2 like in the springtime, when the grass grows.
\q1 When that happens, everyone will know that Yahweh has power to help those who worship and obey him,
\q2 but that he is angry with his enemies.
\s5
\q1
\v 15 Yahweh will come down with flames of fire,
\q2 and his chariots will come down like a whirlwind;
\q1 he will be extremely angry,
\q2 and he will punish his enemies by burning them in a fire.
\q1
\v 16 It is as though Yahweh had a big sword,
\q2 and he will judge and execute many people.
\s5
\p
\v 17 Yahweh says, "Some of you will prepare yourselves to enter the garden of idols by washings and special diets and clothing, and you follow into that place, those who eat the meat of pigs and mice, and other things that I have forbidden you to eat. I promise you, I will stop them and they will not do this any more!"
\s5
\p
\v 18 I know all the evil things that they all think and do. It is now time for me to gather together the people who live in all nations and who speak all languages, and to show them that I am very great.
\p
\v 19 I will do something among them to show everyone who they are, and those whom I have spared will go to various distant countries: To Tarshish, Put, Lud (home of archers), Meshech, Tubal, Javan, and to distant islands. I will send them to proclaim to nations that have never heard about me that I am very great and glorious.
\s5
\v 20 Then they will bring back here your relatives who have been exiled, like the offerings that my Israelite people used to bring in the correct manner to the temple. They will travel to Jerusalem, where my holy mountain is; they will come on horses and in chariots, in wagons, on mules and on camels.
\v 21 I solemnly promise that I will appoint some of them to be priests, and others to do other work in my temple. That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.
\s5
\p
\v 22 I also promise that just like the new heaven and the new earth will last forever, you will always have descendants, and you will always be honored.
\v 23 At every festival to celebrate the Sabbath each week and the new moon each month, everyone will come and worship me. That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.
\s5
\v 24 Then they will go out of Jerusalem and look at the corpses of those who rebelled against me. The maggots in those corpses will never die, the fire will never stop burning them, and everyone who sees their corpses will detest them."
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