Isaiah 18-22

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!'

Isaiah 20

¹In the year of the coming in of Tartan to Ashdod, when Sargon king of Asshur sendeth him, and he fighteth against Ashdod, and captureth it,

²at that time spake Jehovah by the hand of Isaiah son of Amoz, saying, ‘Go, and thou hast loosed the sackcloth from off thy loins, and thy sandal thou dost draw from off thy foot,' and he doth so, going naked and barefoot.

³And Jehovah saith, ‘As My servant Isaiah hath gone naked and barefoot three years, a sign and a wonder for Egypt and for Cush,

⁴so doth the king of Asshur lead the captivity of Egypt, and the removal of Cush, young and old, naked and barefoot, with seat uncovered -- the nakedness of Egypt;

⁵and they have been affrighted and ashamed of Cush their confidence, and of Egypt their beauty,

⁶and the inhabitant of this isle hath said in that day -- Lo, thus is our trust, Whither we have fled for help, To be delivered from the king of Asshur, And how do we escape -- we?'

Isaiah 21

¹The burden of the wilderness of the sea. ‘Like hurricanes in the south for passing through, From the wilderness it hath come, From a fearful land.

²A hard vision hath been declared to me, The treacherous dealer is dealing treacherously, And the destroyer is destroying. Go up, O Elam, besiege, O Media, All its sighing I have caused to cease.

³Therefore filled have been my loins with great pain, Pangs have seized me as pangs of a travailing woman, I have been bent down by hearing, I have been troubled by seeing.

⁴Wandered hath my heart, trembling hath terrified me, The twilight of my desire He hath made a fear to me,

⁵Arrange the table, watch in the watch-tower, Eat, drink, rise, ye heads, anoint the shield,

⁶For thus said the Lord unto me: ‘Go, station the watchman, That which he seeth let him declare.'

⁷And he hath seen a chariot -- a couple of horsemen, The rider of an ass, the rider of a camel, And he hath given attention -- He hath increased attention!

⁸And he crieth -- a lion, ‘On a watch-tower my lord, I am standing continually by day, And on my ward I am stationed whole nights.

⁹And lo, this, the chariot of a man is coming, A couple of horsemen.' And he answereth and saith: ‘Fallen, fallen hath Babylon, And all the graven images of her gods He hath broken to the earth.

¹⁰O my threshing, and the son of my floor, That which I heard from Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, I have declared to you!'

¹¹The burden of Dumah. Unto me is one calling from Seir ‘Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?'

¹²The watchman hath said, ‘Come hath morning, and also night, If ye inquire, inquire ye, turn back, come.'

¹³The burden on Arabia. In a forest in Arabia ye lodge, O travellers of Dedanim.

¹⁴To meet the thirsty brought water have Inhabitants of the land of Tema, With his bread they came before a fugitive.

¹⁵For from the face of destructions they fled, From the face of a stretched-out sword, And from the face of a trodden bow, And from the face of the grievousness of battle.

¹⁶For thus said the Lord unto me: ‘Within a year, as years of a hireling, Consumed hath been all the honour of Kedar.

¹⁷And the remnant of the number of bow-men, The mighty of the sons of Kedar are few, For Jehovah, God of Israel, hath spoken!'

Isaiah 22

¹The burden of the Valley of Vision. What -- to thee, now, that thou hast gone up, All of thee -- to the roofs?

²Full of stirs -- a noisy city -- an exulting city, Thy pierced are not pierced of the sword, Nor dead in battle.

³All thy rulers fled together from the bow, Bound have been all found of thee, They have been kept bound together, Afar off they have fled.

⁴Therefore I said, ‘Look ye from me, I am bitter in my weeping, Haste not to comfort me, For the destruction of the daughter of my people.'

⁵For a day of noise, and of treading down, And of perplexity, is to the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, In the valley of vision, digging down a wall, And crying unto the mountain.

⁶And Elam hath borne a quiver, In a chariot of men -- horsemen, And Kir hath exposed a shield.

⁷And it cometh to pass, The choice of thy valleys have been full of chariots, And the horsemen place themselves diligently at the gate.

⁸And one removeth the covering of Judah, And thou lookest in that day Unto the armour of the house of the forest,

⁹And the breaches of the city of David ye have seen, For they have become many, And ye gather the waters of the lower pool,

¹⁰And the houses of Jerusalem ye did number, And ye break down the houses to fence the wall.

¹¹And a ditch ye made between the two walls, For the waters of the old pool, And ye have not looked unto its Maker, And its Framer of old ye have not seen.

¹²And call doth the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, In that day, to weeping and to lamentation, And to baldness and to girding on of sackcloth,

¹³And lo, joy and gladness, slaying of oxen, And slaughtering of sheep, Eating of flesh, and drinking of wine, Eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.

¹⁴And revealed it hath been in mine ears, By Jehovah of Hosts: Not pardoned is this iniquity to you, Till ye die, said the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts.

¹⁵Thus said the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts: ‘Go, enter in unto this steward, Unto Shebna, who is over the house:

¹⁶What -- to thee here? And who -- to thee here? That thou hast hewn out to thee here -- a sepulchre? Hewing on high his sepulchre, Graving in a rock a dwelling for himself.

¹⁷Lo, Jehovah is casting thee up and down, A casting up and down, O mighty one,

¹⁸And thy coverer covering, wrapping round, Wrappeth thee round, O babbler, On a land broad of sides -- there thou diest, And there the chariots of thine honour Are the shame of the house of thy lord.

¹⁹And I have thrust thee from thy station, And from thine office he throweth thee down.

²⁰And it hath come to pass, in that day, That I have called to my servant, To Eliakim son of Hilkiah.

²¹And I have clothed him with thy coat, And with thy girdle I strengthen him, And thy garment I give into his hand, And he hath been for a father to the inhabitant of Jerusalem, And to the house of Judah.

²²And I have placed the key Of the house of David on his shoulder, And he hath opened, and none is shutting, And hath shut, and none is opening.

²³And I have fixed him a nail in a stedfast place, And he hath been for a throne of honour To the house of his father.

²⁴And they have hanged on him All the honour of the house of his father, The offspring and the issue, All vessels of small quality, From vessels of basins to all vessels of flagons.

²⁵In that day -- an affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts, Moved is the nail that is fixed In a stedfast place, Yea, it hath been cut down, and hath fallen, And cut off hath been the burden that is on it, For Jehovah hath spoken!'