Isaiah 23-28

Isaiah 23

¹The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Kittim it is revealed to them.

²Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle; thou whom the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished.

³And on great waters the seed of Shihor, the harvest of the Nile, was her revenue; and she was the mart of nations.

⁴Be thou ashamed, O Zidon: for the sea hath spoken, the strong hold of the sea; saying, I have not travailed, nor brought forth, neither have I nourished young men, nor brought up virgins.

⁵When the report cometh to Egypt, they shall be sorely pained at the report of Tyre.

⁶Pass ye over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the isle.

⁷Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days, whose feet carried her afar off to sojourn?

⁸Who hath purposed this against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth?

⁹The LORD of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth.

¹⁰Pass through thy land as the Nile, O daughter of Tarshish; there is no girdle about thee any more.

¹¹He hath stretched out his hand over the sea, he hath shaken the kingdoms: the LORD hath given commandment concerning Canaan, to destroy the strong holds thereof.

¹²And he said, Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed virgin daughter of Zidon: arise, pass over to Kittim; even there shalt thou have no rest.

¹³Behold, the land of the Chaldeans; this people is no more; the Assyrian hath appointed it for the beasts of the wilderness: they set up their towers, they overthrew the palaces thereof; he made it a ruin.

¹⁴Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strong hold is laid waste.

¹⁵And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years it shall be unto Tyre as in the song of the harlot.

¹⁶Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.

¹⁷And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall return to her hire, and shall play the harlot with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.

¹⁸And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.

Isaiah 24

¹Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.

²And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.

³The earth shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled; for the LORD hath spoken this word.

⁴The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the lofty people of the earth do languish.

⁵The earth also is polluted under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.

⁶Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are found guilty: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.

⁷The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merryhearted do sigh.

⁸The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth.

⁹They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it.

¹⁰The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in.

¹¹There is a crying in the streets because of the wine; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone.

¹²In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction.

¹³For thus shall it be in the midst of the earth among the peoples, as the shaking of an olive tree, as the grape gleanings when the vintage is done.

¹⁴These shall lift up their voice, they shall shout; for the majesty of the LORD they cry aloud from the sea.

¹⁵Wherefore glorify ye the LORD in the east, even the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, in the isles of the sea.

¹⁶From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, glory to the righteous. But I said, I pine away, I pine away, woe is me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.

¹⁷Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.

¹⁸And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth do shake.

¹⁹The earth is utterly broken, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.

²⁰The earth shall stagger like a drunken man, and shall be moved to and fro like a hut; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it, and it shall fall, and not rise again.

²¹And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.

²²And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.

²³Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed; for the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

Isaiah 25

¹O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things, even counsels of old, in faithfulness and truth.

²For thou hast made of a city an heap; of a defenced city a ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built.

³Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee.

⁴For thou hast been a strong hold to the poor, a strong hold to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.

⁵As the heat in a dry place shalt thou bring down the noise of strangers; as the heat by the shadow of a cloud, the song of the terrible ones shall be brought low.

⁶And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all peoples a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.

⁷And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering that is cast over all peoples, and the veil that is spread over all nations.

⁸He hath swallowed up death for ever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the reproach of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.

⁹And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

¹⁰For in this mountain shall the hand of the LORD rest, and Moab shall be trodden down in his place, even as straw is trodden down in the water of the dunghill.

¹¹And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst thereof, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim: and he shall lay low his pride together with the craft of his hands.

¹²And the fortress of the high fort of thy walls hath he brought down, laid low, and brought to the ground, even to the dust.

Isaiah 26

¹In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; salvation will he appoint for walls and bulwarks.

²Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth truth may enter in.

³Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

⁴Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is an everlasting rock.

⁵For he hath brought down them that dwell on high, the lofty city: he layeth it low, he layeth it low even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust.

⁶The foot shall tread it down; even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy.

⁷The way of the just is uprightness: thou that art up right dost direct the path of the just.

⁸Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; to thy name and to thy memorial is the desire of our soul.

⁹With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

¹⁰Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness will he deal wrongfully, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD.

¹¹LORD, thy hand is lifted up, yet they see not: but they shall see thy zeal for the people, and be ashamed; yea, fire shall devour thine adversaries.

¹²LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou hast also wrought all our works for us.

¹³O LORD our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us; but by thee only will we make mention of thy name.

¹⁴They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.

¹⁵Thou hast increased the nation, O LORD, thou hast increased the nation; thou art glorified: thou hast enlarged all the borders of the land.

¹⁶LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.

¹⁷Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been before thee, O LORD.

¹⁸We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.

¹⁹Thy dead shall live; my dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast forth the dead.

²⁰Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.

²¹For, behold, the LORD cometh forth out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.

Isaiah 27

¹In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the swift serpent, and leviathan the crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.

²In that day: A vineyard of wine, sing ye unto it.

³I the LORD do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.

⁴Fury is not in me: would that the briers and thorns were against me in battle! I would march upon them, I would burn them together.

⁵Or else let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; yea, let him make peace with me.

⁶In days to come shall Jacob take root; Israel shall blossom and bud: and they shall fill the face of the world with fruit.

⁷Hath he smitten him as he smote those that smote him? or is he slain according to the slaughter of them that were slain by him?

⁸In measure, when thou sendest her away, thou dost contend with her; he hath removed her with his rough blast in the day of the east wind.

⁹Therefore by this shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged, and this is all the fruit of taking away his sin; when he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder, so that the Asherim and the sun-images shall rise no more.

¹⁰For the defenced city is solitary, an habitation deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness: there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and consume the branches thereof.

¹¹When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off; the women shall come, and set them on fire: for it is a people of no understanding; therefore he that made them will not have compassion upon them, and he that formed them will shew them no favour.

¹²And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall beat off his fruit, from the flood of the River unto the brook of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel.

¹³And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great trumpet shall be blown; and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and they that were outcasts in the land of Egypt; and they shall worship the LORD in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.

Isaiah 28

¹Woe to the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley of them that are overcome with wine!

²Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one; as a tempest of hail, a destroying storm, as a tempest of mighty waters overflowing, shall he cast down to the earth with the hand.

³The crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim shall be trodden under foot:

⁴and the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be as the firstripe fig before the summer; which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up.

⁵In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people:

⁶and for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn back the battle at the gate.

⁷But these also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are gone astray; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are gone astray through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.

⁸For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.

⁹Whom will he teach knowledge? and whom will he make to understand the message? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts?

¹⁰For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little.

¹¹Nay, but by men of strange lips and with another tongue will he speak to this people:

¹²to whom he said, This is the rest, give ye rest to him that is weary; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.

¹³Therefore shall the word of the LORD be unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little; that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

¹⁴Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem:

¹⁵Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us; for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:

¹⁶therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone of sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

¹⁷And I will make judgment the line, and righteousness the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

¹⁸And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.

¹⁹As often as it passeth through, it shall take you; for morning by morning shall it pass through, by day and by night: and it shall be nought but terror to understand the message.

²⁰For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it; and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.

²¹For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon; that he may do his work, his strange work, and bring to pass his act, his strange act.

²²Now therefore be ye not scorners, lest your bands be made strong: for a consummation, and that determined, have I heard from the Lord, the LORD of hosts, upon the whole earth.

²³Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech.

²⁴Doth the plowman plow continually to sow? doth he continually open and break the clods of his ground?

²⁵When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and put in the wheat in rows and the barley in the appointed place and the spelt in the border thereof?

²⁶For his God doth instruct him aright, and doth teach him.

²⁷For the fitches are not threshed with a sharp threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod.

²⁸Bread corn is ground; for he will not ever be threshing it: and though the wheel of his cart and his horses scatter it, he doth not grind it.

²⁹This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in wisdom.