Isaiah 18-22

Isaiah 18

¹Ha! land shadowing with wings, which art beyond the rivers of Cush,

²that sendest ambassadors over the sea, and in vessels of papyrus upon the waters, saying, Go, swift messengers, to a nation scattered and ravaged, to a people terrible from their existence and thenceforth; to a nation of continued waiting and of treading down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!

³All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, when a banner is lifted up on the mountains, see ye, and when a trumpet is blown, hear ye!

⁴For thus hath Jehovah said unto me: I will take my rest, and I will observe from my dwelling-place like clear heat upon herbs, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.

⁵For before the harvest, when the blossoming is over, and the flower becometh a ripening grape, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning-knives, and take away and cut down the branches.

⁶They shall be left together unto the mountain birds of prey, and to the beasts of the earth; and the birds of prey shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.

⁷In that time shall a present be brought unto Jehovah of hosts of a people scattered and ravaged, -- and from a people terrible from their existence and thenceforth, a nation of continued waiting and of treading down, whose land the rivers have spoiled, ... to the place of the name of Jehovah of hosts, the mount Zion.

Isaiah 19

¹The burden of Egypt. Behold, Jehovah rideth upon a swift cloud, and cometh to Egypt; and the idols of Egypt are moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt melteth in the midst of it.

²And I will incite the Egyptians against the Egyptians; and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, kingdom against kingdom.

³And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst of it, and I will destroy the counsel thereof; and they shall seek unto the idols and unto the conjurers, and unto the necromancers, and unto the soothsayers.

⁴And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord, and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts.

⁵And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up;

⁶and the rivers shall stink, and the streams of Egypt shall be diminished and drain away: the reeds and sedges shall wither.

⁷The meadows by the Nile, on the banks of the Nile, and everything sown by the Nile, shall be dried up, be driven away, and be no more.

⁸And the fishers shall mourn, and all they that cast fish-hook into the Nile shall lament, and they that spread net upon the waters shall languish.

⁹And they that work in fine flax, and they that weave white stuffs shall be ashamed.

¹⁰And her pillars shall be broken in pieces, and all workers for hire shall be sad of soul.

¹¹They are but fools, the princes of Zoan, the wise counsellors of Pharaoh: their counsel is become senseless. How say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?

¹²Where are they then, thy wise men? Let them now tell thee, and let them make known what Jehovah of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt.

¹³The princes of Zoan are become foolish, the princes of Noph are deceived; and the corner-stones of its tribes have caused Egypt to err.

¹⁴Jehovah hath mingled a spirit of perverseness in the midst thereof; and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunkard staggereth in his vomit.

¹⁵Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which the head or tail, palm-branch or rush, may do.

¹⁶In that day shall Egypt be like unto women; and it shall tremble and fear because of the shaking of the hand of Jehovah of hosts, which he shaketh over it.

¹⁷And the land of Judah shall be a dismay unto Egypt: every one that thinketh of it shall be afraid for himself, because of the counsel of Jehovah of hosts, which he hath purposed against it.

¹⁸In that day shall there be five cities in the land of Egypt speaking the language of Canaan, and swearing by Jehovah of hosts: one shall be called, The city of Heres.

¹⁹In that day shall there be an altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to Jehovah:

²⁰and it shall be for a sign and for a witness to Jehovah of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they shall cry unto Jehovah because of the oppressors, and he will send them a saviour and defender, who shall deliver them.

²¹And Jehovah shall be known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians shall know Jehovah in that day, and shall serve with sacrifice and oblation; and they shall vow a vow unto Jehovah, and perform it.

²²And Jehovah will smite Egypt; he will smite and heal: and they shall return to Jehovah, and he will be entreated of them, and will heal them.

²³In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria; and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria; and Egypt shall serve with Assyria.

²⁴In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth;

²⁵whom Jehovah of hosts will bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance!

Isaiah 20

¹In the year that Tartan came to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him, (and he fought against Ashdod and took it,)

²at that time spoke Jehovah by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy sandal from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.

³And Jehovah said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years, a sign and a wonder concerning Egypt and concerning Ethiopia,

⁴so shall the king of Assyria lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Ethiopia, young and old, naked and barefoot, and with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.

⁵And they shall be terrified and ashamed of Ethiopia their confidence, and of Egypt their boast.

⁶And the inhabitants of this coast shall say in that day, Behold, such is our confidence, whither we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria; and how shall we escape?

Isaiah 21

¹The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south pass through, so it cometh from the desert, from a terrible land.

²A grievous vision is declared unto me: the treacherous dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, Elam! besiege, Media! All the sighing thereof have I made to cease.

³Therefore are my loins filled with pain; anguish hath taken hold upon me, as the anguish of a woman in travail: I am bowed down so as not to hear, I am dismayed so as not to see.

⁴My heart panteth, horror affrighteth me: the night of my pleasure hath he turned into trembling unto me.

⁵Prepare the table, appoint the watch; eat, drink: arise, ye princes, anoint the shield.

⁶For thus hath the Lord said unto me: Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth.

⁷And he saw chariots, horsemen by pairs, a chariot with asses, a chariot with camels; and he hearkened diligently with much heed.

⁸And he cried as a lion, Lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights.

⁹-- And behold, there cometh a chariot of men; horsemen by pairs. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground.

¹⁰O my threshing, and the corn of my floor! What I have heard of Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared unto you.

¹¹The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?

¹²The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will inquire, inquire; return, come.

¹³The burden against Arabia. In the forest of Arabia shall ye lodge, ye caravans of Dedanites.

¹⁴Bring ye water to meet the thirsty! The inhabitants of the land of Tema come forth with their bread for him that fleeth.

¹⁵For they flee from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war.

¹⁶For thus hath the Lord said unto me: Within a year, according to the years of a hired servant, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail;

¹⁷and the residue of the number of the archers, the mighty men of the sons of Kedar, shall be diminished: for Jehovah, the God of Israel, hath spoken.

Isaiah 22

¹The burden of the valley of vision. What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops?

²Thou that wast full of stir, a town of tumult, a joyous city: thy slain men are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle.

³All thy rulers have fled together, they are taken prisoners without the bow: all that are found of thee are made prisoners together; they were fleeing far off.

⁴Therefore said I, Look away from me; let me weep bitterly: labour not to comfort me, because of the spoiling of the daughter of my people.

⁵For it is a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity, from the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, in the valley of vision; a day of breaking down the wall, and of crying to the mountain:

⁶-- Elam beareth the quiver with chariots of men and horsemen; and Kir uncovereth the shield.

⁷And it shall come to pass that thy choicest valleys shall be full of chariots, and the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate.

⁸And he uncovereth the covering of Judah: and thou didst look in that day to the armour in the house of the forest;

⁹and ye have seen the breaches of the city of David, that they are many; and ye have gathered together the waters of the lower pool;

¹⁰and ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and have broken down the houses to fortify the wall;

¹¹and ye have made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool: but ye have not had regard unto the maker thereof, neither have ye looked unto him that fashioned it long ago.

¹²And in that day did the Lord Jehovah of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth;

¹³and behold joy and rejoicing, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: -- Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.

¹⁴And it was revealed in mine ears by Jehovah of hosts: Assuredly this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts.

¹⁵Thus saith the Lord Jehovah of hosts: Go, get thee in unto this steward, unto Shebna, who is over the house, and say,

¹⁶What hast thou here? and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewn thee out a sepulchre here, as he that heweth out his sepulchre on high, cutting out in the rock a habitation for himself?

¹⁷Behold, Jehovah will hurl thee with the force of a mighty man, and will cover thee entirely.

¹⁸Rolling thee up completely, he will roll thee as a ball into a wide country: there shalt thou die, and there shall be the chariots of thy glory, O shame of thy lord's house!

¹⁹And I will drive thee from thine office, and from thy station will I pull thee down.

²⁰And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkijah;

²¹and I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand; and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah.

²²And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; and he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.

²³And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a throne of glory to his father's house:

²⁴and they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the issue, all the small vessels, as well the vessels of cups as all the vessels of flagons.

²⁵In that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in a sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall; and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off: for Jehovah hath spoken.