Isaiah 17-19

Isaiah 17

¹The burden of Damascus. Lo, Damascus is taken away from being a city, And it hath been a heap -- a ruin.

²Forsaken are the cities of Aroer, For droves they are, and they have lain down, And there is none troubling.

³And ceased hath the fortress from Ephraim, And the kingdom from Damascus, And the remnant of Aram are as the honour of the sons of Israel, The affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts!

⁴And it hath come to pass, in that day, Wax poor doth the honour of Jacob, And the fatness of his flesh doth wax lean.

⁵And it hath come to pass, As the gathering by the reaper of the standing corn, And his arm the ears reapeth, And it hath come to pass, As the gathering of the ears in the valley of Rephaim,

⁶And left in him have been gleanings, As the compassing of an olive, Two -- three berries on the top of a branch, Four -- five on the fruitful boughs, The affirmation of Jehovah, God of Israel!

⁷In that day doth man look to His Maker, Yea, his eyes to the Holy One of Israel look,

⁸And he looketh not unto the altars. The work of his own hands, And that which his own fingers made He seeth not -- the shrines and the images.

⁹In that day are the cities of his strength As the forsaken thing of the forest, And the branch that they have left, Because of the sons of Israel, It also hath been a desolation.

¹⁰Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, And the rock of thy strength hast not remembered, Therefore thou plantest plants of pleasantness, And with a strange slip sowest it,

¹¹In the day thy plant thou causest to become great, And in the morning thy seed makest to flourish, A heap is the harvest in a day of overflowing, And of mortal pain.

¹²Wo to the multitude of many peoples, As the sounding of seas they sound; And to the wasting of nations, As the wasting of mighty waters they are wasted.

¹³Nations as the wasting of many waters are wasted, And He hath pushed against it, And it hath fled afar off, And been pursued as chaff of hills before wind, And as a rolling thing before a hurricane.

¹⁴At even-time, lo, terror, before morning it is not, This is the portion of our spoilers, And the lot of our plunderers!

Isaiah 18

¹Ho, land shadowed with wings, That is beyond the rivers of Cush,

²That is sending by sea ambassadors, Even with implements of reed on the face of the waters, -- Go, ye light messengers, Unto a nation drawn out and peeled, Unto a people fearful from its beginning and onwards, A nation meeting out by line, and treading down, Whose land floods have spoiled.

³All ye inhabitants of the world, And ye dwellers of earth, At the lifting up of an ensign on hills ye look, And at the blowing of a trumpet ye hear.

⁴For thus said Jehovah unto me, ‘I rest, and I look on My settled place, As a clear heat on an herb. As a thick cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.

⁵For before harvest, when the flower is perfect, And the blossom is producing unripe fruit, Then hath one cut the sprigs with pruning hooks, And the branches he hath turned aside, cut down.

⁶They are left together to the ravenous fowl of the mountains, And to the beast of the earth, And summered on them hath the ravenous fowl, And every beast of the earth wintereth on them.

⁷At that time brought is a present to Jehovah of Hosts, A nation drawn out and peeled. Even of a people fearful from the beginning hitherto, A nation meting out by line, and treading down, Whose land floods have spoiled, Unto the place of the name of Jehovah of Hosts -- mount Zion!'

Isaiah 19

¹The burden of Egypt. Lo, Jehovah is riding on a swift thick cloud, And He hath entered Egypt, And moved have been the idols of Egypt at His presence, And the heart of Egypt melteth in its midst.

²And I armed Egyptians against Egyptians, And they fought, each against his brother, And each against his neighbour, City against city, kingdom against kingdom.

³And emptied out hath been in its midst the spirit of Egypt. And its counsel I swallow up, And they have sought unto the idols, And unto the charmers, And unto those having familiar spirits, And unto the wizards.

⁴And I have delivered the Egyptians Into the hand of a hard lord, And a strong king doth rule over them, An affirmation of the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts.

⁵And failed have waters from the sea, And a river is wasted and dried up.

⁶And they have turned away the flowings, Weak and dried up have been brooks of the bulwark, Reed and flag have withered.

⁷Exposed things by the brook, by the edge of the brook, And every sown thing of the brook, hath withered, It hath been driven away, and is not.

⁸And lamented have the fishers, And mourned have all casting angle into a brook, And those spreading nets on the face of the waters have languished.

⁹And ashamed have been makers of fine flax, And weavers of net-works.

¹⁰And its foundations have been smitten, All making wages are afflicted in soul.

¹¹Only, fools are the princes of Zoan, The counsel of the wise ones of the counsellors of Pharaoh hath become brutish. How say ye unto Pharaoh, ‘A son of the wise am I, a son of kings of antiquity?'

¹²Where are they now, thy wise ones? Yea, let them tell to thee, I pray thee, And they know what Jehovah of Hosts hath counselled against Egypt!

¹³Foolish have been princes of Zoan, Lifted up have been princes of Noph, And they have caused Egypt to err, The chief of her tribes.

¹⁴Jehovah hath mingled in her midst A spirit of perverseness, And they have caused Egypt to err in all its work, As a drunkard erreth in his vomit.

¹⁵And there is no work to Egypt, That head or tail, branch or reed, may do.

¹⁶In that day is Egypt like women, And it hath mourned, and been afraid, Because of the waving of the hand of Jehovah of Hosts, That He is waving over it.

¹⁷And the land of Judah hath been to Egypt for a cause of staggering, Every one who doth mention it, for himself feareth, Because of the counsel of Jehovah of Hosts, That He is counselling against it.

¹⁸In that day there are five cities in the land of Egypt, Speaking the lip of Canaan, And swearing to Jehovah of Hosts, ‘The city of destruction,' is said of one.

¹⁹In that day there is an altar to Jehovah In the midst of the land of Egypt, And a standing pillar near its border to Jehovah,

²⁰And it hath been for a sign and for a testimony, To Jehovah of Hosts in the land of Egypt, For they cry unto Jehovah from the face of oppressors, And He sendeth to them a saviour, Even a great one, and hath delivered them.

²¹And known hath been Jehovah to Egypt, And the Egyptians have known Jehovah in that day, And done sacrifice and present, And vowed a vow to Jehovah, and completed it.

²²And Jehovah hath smitten Egypt, smiting and healing, And they have turned back unto Jehovah, And He hath been entreated of them, And hath healed them.

²³In that day is a highway out of Egypt to Asshur, And come in have the Assyrians to Egypt, And the Egyptians into Asshur, And the Egyptians have served with the Assyrians.

²⁴In that day is Israel third, After Egypt, and after Asshur, A blessing in the heart of the earth.

²⁵In that Jehovah of Hosts did bless it, saying, ‘Blessed is My people -- Egypt, And the work of My hands -- Asshur, And Mine inheritance -- Israel!'