13:1
13:2
shout to them,
wave your hand,
so they might enter the gates of the princes!
13:3 I have given orders to my chosen soldiers;
I have summoned the warriors through whom I will vent my anger,
my boasting, arrogant ones.
13:4
it sounds like a large army!
There is great commotion among the kingdoms
nations are being assembled!
The Lord who commands armies is mustering
forces for battle.
13:5 They come from a distant land,
from the horizon.
It is the Lord with his instruments of judgment,
coming to destroy the whole earth.
13:6 Wail, for the Lord’s day of judgment
it comes with all the destructive power of the sovereign judge.
13:7 For this reason all hands hang limp,
every human heart loses its courage.
13:8 They panic –
cramps and pain seize hold of them
like those of a woman who is straining to give birth.
They look at one another in astonishment;
their faces are flushed red.
13:9 Look, the Lord’s day of judgment
it is a day of cruelty and savage, raging anger,
destroying
and annihilating its sinners.
13:10 Indeed the stars in the sky and their constellations
no longer give out their light;
the sun is darkened as soon as it rises,
and the moon does not shine.
13:11
and wicked people for their sin.
I will put an end to the pride of the insolent,
I will bring down the arrogance of tyrants.
13:12 I will make human beings more scarce than pure gold,
and people more scarce
13:13 So I will shake the heavens,
and the earth will shake loose from its foundation,
because of the fury of the Lord who commands armies,
in the day he vents his raging anger.
13:14 Like a frightened gazelle
or a sheep with no shepherd,
each will turn toward home,
each will run to his homeland.
13:15 Everyone who is caught will be stabbed;
everyone who is seized
13:16 Their children will be smashed to pieces before their very eyes;
their houses will be looted
and their wives raped.
13:17 Look, I am stirring up the Medes to attack them;
they are not concerned about silver,
nor are they interested in gold.
13:18 Their arrows will cut young men to ribbons;
they have no compassion on a person’s offspring,
they will not
13:19 Babylon, the most admired
the Chaldeans’ source of honor and pride,
will be destroyed by God
just as Sodom and Gomorrah were.
13:20 No one will live there again;
no one will ever reside there again.
No bedouin
no shepherds will rest their flocks
13:21 Wild animals will rest there,
the ruined
Ostriches will live there,
wild goats will skip among the ruins.
13:22 Wild dogs will yip in her ruined fortresses,
jackals will yelp in the once-splendid palaces.
Her time is almost up,
her days will not be prolonged.
14:1 The Lord will certainly have compassion on Jacob;
“Look how the oppressor has met his end!
Hostility
14:5 The Lord has broken the club of the wicked,
the scepter of rulers.
14:6 It
with unceasing blows.
It angrily ruled over nations,
oppressing them without restraint.
14:7 The whole earth rests and is quiet;
they break into song.
14:8 The evergreens also rejoice over your demise,
as do the cedars of Lebanon, singing,
‘Since you fell asleep,
no woodsman comes up to chop us down!’
14:9 Sheol
ready to meet you when you arrive.
It rouses
all the former leaders of the earth;
it makes all the former kings of the nations
rise from their thrones.
14:10 All of them respond to you, saying:
‘You too have become weak like us!
You have become just like us!
14:11 Your splendor
as well as the sound of your stringed instruments.
You lie on a bed of maggots,
with a blanket of worms over you.
14:12 Look how you have fallen from the sky,
O shining one, son of the dawn!
You have been cut down to the ground,
O conqueror
14:13 You said to yourself,
“I will climb up to the sky.
Above the stars of El
I will set up my throne.
I will rule on the mountain of assembly
on the remote slopes of Zaphon.
14:14 I will climb up to the tops
I will make myself like the Most High!”
14:15 But you were brought down
to the remote slopes of the pit.
14:16 Those who see you stare at you,
they look at you carefully, thinking:
“Is this the man who shook the earth,
the one who made kingdoms tremble?
14:17 Is this the one who made the world like a desert,
who ruined its
and refused to free his prisoners so they could return home?”’
14:18
all of them
each in his own tomb.
14:19 But you have been thrown out of your grave
like a shoot that is thrown away.
You lie among
among those who have been slashed by the sword,
among those headed for
as if you were a mangled corpse.
14:20 You will not be buried with them,
because you destroyed your land
and killed your people.
The offspring of the wicked
will never be mentioned again.
14:21 Prepare to execute
for the sins their ancestors have committed.
They must not rise up and take possession of the earth,
or fill the surface of the world with cities.”
14:22 “I will rise up against them,”
says the Lord who commands armies.
“I will blot out all remembrance of Babylon and destroy all her people,
including the offspring she produces,”
says the Lord.
14:23 “I will turn her into a place that is overrun with wild animals
and covered with pools of stagnant water.
I will get rid of her, just as one sweeps away dirt with a broom,”
says the Lord who commands armies.
14:24
“Be sure of this:
Just as I have intended, so it will be;
just as I have planned, it will happen.
14:25 I will break Assyria
I will trample them
Their yoke will be removed from my people,
the burden will be lifted from their shoulders.
14:26 This is the plan I have devised for the whole earth;
my hand is ready to strike all the nations.”
14:27 Indeed,
and who can possibly frustrate it?
His hand is ready to strike,
and who can possibly stop it?
14:28 In the year King Ahaz died,
14:29 Don’t be so happy, all you Philistines,
just because the club that beat you has been broken!
For a viper will grow out of the serpent’s root,
and its fruit will be a darting adder.
14:30 The poor will graze in my pastures;
the needy will rest securely.
But I will kill your root by famine;
it will put to death all your survivors.
14:31 Wail, O city gate!
Cry out, O city!
Melt with fear,
For out of the north comes a cloud of smoke,
and there are no stragglers in its ranks.
14:32 How will they respond to the messengers of this nation?
Indeed, the Lord has made Zion secure;
the oppressed among his people will find safety in her.
15:1 Here is a message about Moab:
Indeed, in a night it is devastated,
Ar of Moab is destroyed!
Indeed, in a night it is devastated,
Kir of Moab is destroyed!
15:2 They went up to the temple,
the people of Dibon went up to the high places to lament.
Because of what happened to Nebo and Medeba,
Every head is shaved bare,
every beard is trimmed off.
15:3 In their streets they wear sackcloth;
on their roofs and in their town squares
all of them wail,
they fall down weeping.
15:4 The people of
their voices are heard as far away as Jahaz.
For this reason Moab’s soldiers shout in distress;
their courage wavers.
15:5 My heart cries out because of Moab’s plight,
and for the fugitives
For they weep as they make their way up the ascent of Luhith;
they loudly lament their demise on the road to Horonaim.
15:6 For the waters of Nimrim are gone;
the grass is dried up,
the vegetation has disappeared,
and there are no plants.
15:7 For this reason what they have made and stored up,
they carry over the Stream of the Poplars.
15:8 Indeed, the cries of distress echo throughout Moabite territory;
their wailing can be heard in Eglaim and Beer Elim.
15:9 Indeed, the waters of Dimon
Indeed, I will heap even more trouble on Dimon.
A lion will attack
and the people left in the land.
16:1 Send rams as tribute to the ruler of the land,
from Sela in the desert
to the hill of Daughter Zion.
16:2 At the fords of the Arnon
the Moabite women are like a bird
that flies about when forced from its nest.
16:3 “Bring a plan, make a decision!
Provide some shade in the middle of the day!
Hide the fugitives! Do not betray
16:4 Please let the Moabite fugitives live
Hide them
Certainly
the destroyer will come to an end,
those who trample will disappear
16:5 Then a trustworthy king will be established;
he will rule in a reliable manner,
this one from David’s family.
He will be sure to make just decisions
and will be experienced in executing justice.
16:6 We have heard about Moab’s pride,
their great arrogance,
their boasting, pride, and excess.
But their boastful claims are empty!
16:7 So Moab wails over its demise
they all wail!
Completely devastated, they moan
about what has happened to the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth.
16:8 For the fields of Heshbon are dried up,
as well as the vines of Sibmah.
The rulers of the nations trample all over its vines,
which reach Jazer and spread to the desert;
their shoots spread out and cross the sea.
16:9 So I weep along with Jazer
over the vines of Sibmah.
I will saturate you
for the conquering invaders shout triumphantly
over your fruit and crops.
16:10 Joy and happiness disappear from the orchards,
and in the vineyards no one rejoices or shouts;
no one treads out juice in the wine vats
I have brought the joyful shouts to an end.
16:11 So my heart constantly sighs for Moab, like the strumming of a harp,
my inner being sighs
16:12 When the Moabites plead with all their might at their high places,
and enter their temples to pray, their prayers will be ineffective!
16:13 This is the message the Lord previously announced about Moab.
16:14 Now the Lord makes this announcement: “Within exactly three years
17:1 Here is a message about Damascus:
“Look, Damascus is no longer a city,
it is a heap of ruins!
17:2 The cities of Aroer are abandoned.
They will be used for herds,
which will lie down there in peace.
17:3 Fortified cities will disappear from Ephraim,
and Damascus will lose its kingdom.
The survivors in Syria
will end up like the splendor of the Israelites,”
says the Lord who commands armies.
17:4 “At that time
Jacob’s splendor will be greatly diminished,
and he will become skin and bones.
17:5 It will be as when one gathers the grain harvest,
and his hand gleans the ear of grain.
It will be like one gathering the ears of grain
in the Valley of Rephaim.
17:6 There will be some left behind,
like when an olive tree is beaten –
two or three ripe olives remain toward the very top,
four or five on its fruitful branches,”
says the Lord God of Israel.
17:7 At that time
they will depend on
17:8 They will no longer trust in
or depend on the Asherah poles and incense altars their fingers made.
17:9 At that time
like the abandoned summits of the Amorites,
which they abandoned because of the Israelites;
there will be desolation.
17:10 For you ignore
you pay no attention to your strong protector.
So this is what happens:
You cultivate beautiful plants
and plant exotic vines.
17:11 The day you begin cultivating, you do what you can to make it grow;
the morning you begin planting, you do what you can to make it sprout.
Yet the harvest will disappear
and incurable pain.
17:12 The many nations massing together are as good as dead,
those who make a commotion as loud as the roaring of the sea’s waves.
The people making such an uproar are as good as dead,
those who make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves.
17:13 Though these people make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves,
when he shouts at
driven before the wind like dead weeds on the hills,
or like dead thistles
17:14 In the evening there is sudden terror;
by morning they vanish.
This is the fate of those who try to plunder us,
the destiny of those who try to loot us!
18:1 The land of buzzing wings is as good as dead,
the one beyond the rivers of Cush,
18:2 that sends messengers by sea,
who glide over the water’s surface in boats made of papyrus.
Go, you swift messengers,
to a nation of tall, smooth-skinned people,
to a people that are feared far and wide,
to a nation strong and victorious,
whose land rivers divide.
18:3 All you who live in the world,
who reside on the earth,
you will see a signal flag raised on the mountains;
you will hear a trumpet being blown.
18:4 For this is what the Lord has told me:
“I will wait
like scorching heat produced by the sunlight,
like a cloud of mist
18:5 For before the harvest, when the bud has sprouted,
and the ripening fruit appears,
he will cut off the unproductive shoots
he will prune the tendrils.
18:6 They will all be left
and the wild animals;
the birds will eat them during the summer,
and all the wild animals will eat them during the winter.
18:7 At that time
tribute will be brought to the Lord who commands armies,
by a people that are tall and smooth-skinned,
a people that are feared far and wide,
a nation strong and victorious,
whose land rivers divide.
The tribute
19:1 Here is a message about Egypt:
Look, the Lord rides on a swift-moving cloud
and approaches Egypt.
The idols of Egypt tremble before him;
the Egyptians lose their courage.
19:2 “I will provoke civil strife in Egypt,
brothers will fight with each other,
as will neighbors,
cities, and kingdoms.
19:3 The Egyptians will panic,
and I will confuse their strategy.
They will seek guidance from the idols and from the spirits of the dead,
from the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, and from the magicians.
19:4 I will hand Egypt over to a harsh master;
a powerful king will rule over them,”
says the sovereign master,
19:5 The water of the sea will be dried up,
and the river will dry up and be empty.
19:6 The canals
the streams of Egypt will trickle and then dry up;
the bulrushes and reeds will decay,
19:7 along with the plants by the mouth of the river.
All the cultivated land near the river
will turn to dust and be blown away.
19:8 The fishermen will mourn and lament,
all those who cast a fishhook into the river,
and those who spread out a net on the water’s surface will grieve.
19:9 Those who make clothes from combed flax will be embarrassed;
those who weave will turn pale.
19:10 Those who make cloth
all the hired workers will be depressed.
19:11 The officials of Zoan are nothing but fools;
Pharaoh’s wise advisers give stupid advice.
How dare you say to Pharaoh,
“I am one of the sages,
one well-versed in the writings of the ancient kings?”
19:12 But where, oh where, are your wise men?
Let them tell you, let them find out
what the Lord who commands armies has planned for Egypt.
19:13 The officials of Zoan are fools,
the officials of Memphis
the rulers
19:14 The Lord has made them undiscerning;
they lead Egypt astray in all she does,
so that she is like a drunk sliding around in his own vomit.
19:15 Egypt will not be able to do a thing,
head or tail, shoots and stalk.
19:16 At that time
19:18 At that time five cities
19:23 At that time there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will visit Egypt, and the Egyptians will visit Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together.
20:1 The Lord revealed the following message during the year in which King Sargon of Assyria sent his commanding general to Ashdod, and he fought against it and captured it.
21:1 Here is a message about the Desert by the Sea:
Like strong winds blowing in the south,
one invades from the desert,
from a land that is feared.
21:2 I have received a distressing message:
“The deceiver deceives,
the destroyer destroys.
Attack, you Elamites!
Lay siege, you Medes!
I will put an end to all the groaning!”
21:3 For this reason my stomach churns;
cramps overwhelm me
like the contractions of a woman in labor.
I am disturbed
horrified by what I see.
21:4 My heart palpitates,
I shake in fear;
the twilight I desired
has brought me terror.
21:5 Arrange the table,
lay out
eat and drink!
Get up, you officers,
smear oil on the shields!
21:6 For this is what the sovereign master
“Go, post a guard!
He must report what he sees.
21:7 When he sees chariots,
teams of horses,
riders on donkeys,
riders on camels,
he must be alert,
very alert.”
21:8 Then the guard
“On the watchtower, O sovereign master,
I stand all day long;
at my post
I am stationed every night.
21:9 Look what’s coming!
A charioteer,
a team of horses.”
When questioned, he replies,
“Babylon has fallen, fallen!
All the idols of her gods lie shattered on the ground!”
21:10 O my downtrodden people, crushed like stalks on the threshing floor,
what I have heard
from the Lord who commands armies,
the God of Israel,
I have reported to you.
21:11 Here is a message about Dumah:
Someone calls to me from Seir,
“Watchman, what is left of the night?
Watchman, what is left of the night?”
21:12 The watchman replies,
“Morning is coming, but then night.
If you want to ask, ask;
come back again.”
21:13 Here is a message about Arabia:
In the thicket of Arabia you spend the night,
you Dedanite caravans.
21:14 Bring out some water for the thirsty.
You who live in the land of Tema,
bring some food for the fugitives.
21:15 For they flee from the swords –
from the drawn sword
and from the battle-ready bow
and from the severity of the battle.
21:16 For this is what the sovereign master
22:1 Here is a message about the Valley of Vision:
What is the reason
that all of you go up to the rooftops?
22:2 The noisy city is full of raucous sounds;
the town is filled with revelry.
Your slain were not cut down by the sword;
they did not die in battle.
22:3
they fled to a distant place;
all your refugees
they were captured without a single arrow being shot.
22:4 So I say:
“Don’t look at me!
I am weeping bitterly.
Don’t try
concerning the destruction of my defenseless people.”
22:5 For the sovereign master,
has planned a day of panic, defeat, and confusion.
In the Valley of Vision
and cry out to the hill.
22:6 The Elamites picked up the quiver,
and came with chariots and horsemen;
the men of Kir
22:7 Your very best valleys were full of chariots;
horsemen confidently took their positions
22:8 They
At that time
for the weapons in the House of the Forest.
22:9 You saw the many breaks
in the walls of the city of David;
you stored up water in the lower pool.
22:10 You counted the houses in Jerusalem,
and demolished houses so you could have material to reinforce the wall.
22:11 You made a reservoir between the two walls
for the water of the old pool –
but you did not trust in
you did not depend on
22:12 At that time the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, called for weeping and mourning,
for shaved heads and sackcloth.
22:13 But look, there is outright celebration!
You say, “Kill the ox and slaughter the sheep,
eat meat and drink wine.
Eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”
22:14 The Lord who commands armies told me this:
22:15 This is what the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, says:
“Go visit this administrator, Shebna, who supervises the palace,
22:16 ‘What right do you have to be here? What relatives do you have buried here?
Why
He chisels out his burial site in an elevated place,
he carves out his tomb on a cliff.
22:17 Look, the Lord will throw you far away,
He will wrap you up tightly.
22:18 He will wind you up tightly into a ball
and throw you into a wide, open land.
There you will die,
and there with you will be your impressive chariots,
which bring disgrace to the house of your master.
22:19 I will remove you from
you will be thrown down
22:20 “At that time
22:25 “At that time,”
23:1 Here is a message about Tyre:
Wail, you large ships,
for the port is too devastated to enter!
From the land of Cyprus
23:2 Lament,
you merchants of Sidon
whose agents sail over
23:3 the deep waters!
Grain from the Shihor region,
crops grown near the Nile
she is the trade center
23:4 Be ashamed, O Sidon,
for the sea
“I have not gone into labor
or given birth;
I have not raised young men
or brought up young women.”
23:5 When the news reaches Egypt,
they will be shaken by what has happened to Tyre.
23:6 Travel to Tarshish!
Wail, you residents of the coast!
23:7 Is this really your boisterous city
whose origins are in the distant past,
and whose feet led her to a distant land to reside?
23:8 Who planned this for royal Tyre,
whose merchants are princes,
whose traders are the dignitaries
23:9 The Lord who commands armies planned it –
to dishonor the pride that comes from all her beauty,
to humiliate all the dignitaries of the earth.
23:10 Daughter Tarshish, travel back to your land, as one crosses the Nile;
there is no longer any marketplace in Tyre.
23:11 The Lord stretched out his hand over the sea,
he shook kingdoms;
he
to destroy Canaan’s fortresses.
23:12 He said,
“You will no longer celebrate,
oppressed
Get up, travel to Cyprus,
but you will find no relief there.”
23:13 Look at the land of the Chaldeans,
these people who have lost their identity!
The Assyrians have made it a home for wild animals.
They erected their siege towers,
demolished
and turned it into a heap of ruins.
23:14 Wail, you large ships,
for your fortress is destroyed!
23:15 At that time
23:16 “Take the harp,
go through the city,
forgotten prostitute!
Play it well,
play lots of songs,
so you’ll be noticed!”
23:17 At the end of seventy years
24:1 Look, the Lord is ready to devastate the earth
and leave it in ruins;
he will mar its surface
and scatter its inhabitants.
24:2 Everyone will suffer – the priest as well as the people,
the master as well as the servant,
the elegant lady as well as the female attendant,
the seller as well as the buyer,
the borrower as well as the lender,
the creditor as well as the debtor.
24:3 The earth will be completely devastated
and thoroughly ransacked.
For the Lord has decreed this judgment.
24:4 The earth
the world shrivels up and withers;
the prominent people of the earth
24:5 The earth is defiled by
for they have violated laws,
disregarded the regulation,
and broken the permanent treaty.
24:6 So a treaty curse
its inhabitants pay for their guilt.
This is why the inhabitants of the earth disappear,
and are reduced to just a handful of people.
24:7 The new wine dries up,
the vines shrivel up,
all those who like to celebrate
24:8 The happy sound
the revelry of those who celebrate comes to a halt,
the happy sound of the harp ceases.
24:9 They no longer sing and drink wine;
the beer tastes bitter to those who drink it.
24:10 The ruined town
all of the houses are shut up tight.
24:11 They howl in the streets because of what happened to the wine;
all joy turns to sorrow;
celebrations disappear from the earth.
24:12 The city is left in ruins;
the gate is reduced to rubble.
24:13 This is what will happen throughout
among the nations.
It will be like when they beat an olive tree,
and just a few olives are left at the end of the harvest.
24:14 They
they praise
24:15 So in the east
along the seacoasts extol
24:16 From the ends of the earth we
the Just One is majestic.
But I
Deceivers deceive, deceivers thoroughly deceive!”
24:17 Terror, pit, and snare
are ready to overtake you inhabitants of the earth!
24:18 The one who runs away from the sound of the terror
will fall into the pit;
the one who climbs out of the pit,
will be trapped by the snare.
For the floodgates of the heavens
and the foundations of the earth shake.
24:19 The earth is broken in pieces,
the earth is ripped to shreds,
the earth shakes violently.
24:20 The earth will stagger around
it will sway back and forth like a hut in a windstorm.
Its sin will weigh it down,
and it will fall and never get up again.
24:21 At that time
the heavenly forces in the heavens
and the earthly kings on the earth.
24:22 They will be imprisoned in a pit,
locked up in a prison,
and after staying there for a long time,
24:23 The full moon will be covered up,
the bright sun
for the Lord who commands armies will rule
on Mount Zion in Jerusalem
in the presence of his assembly, in majestic splendor.
25:1 O Lord, you are my God!
I will exalt you in praise, I will extol your fame.
For you have done extraordinary things,
and executed plans made long ago exactly as you decreed.
25:2 Indeed,
the fortified town into a heap of ruins;
the fortress of foreigners
it will never be rebuilt.
25:3 So a strong nation will extol you;
the towns of
25:4 For you are a protector for the poor,
a protector for the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the rainstorm,
a shade from the heat.
Though the breath of tyrants
25:5 like heat
you humble the boasting foreigners.
Just as the shadow of a cloud causes the heat to subside,
so he causes the song of tyrants to cease.
25:6 The Lord who commands armies will hold a banquet for all the nations on this mountain.
At this banquet there will be plenty of meat and aged wine –
tender meat and choicest wine.
25:7 On this mountain he will swallow up
the shroud that is over all the peoples,
the woven covering that is over all the nations;
25:8 he will swallow up death permanently.
The sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from every face,
and remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth.
Indeed, the Lord has announced it!
25:9 At that time they will say,
“Look, here
We waited for him and he delivered us.
Here
Let’s rejoice and celebrate his deliverance!”
25:10 For the Lord’s power will make this mountain secure.
Moab will be trampled down where it stands,
as a heap of straw is trampled down in
25:11 Moab
just as a swimmer spreads his hands to swim;
the Lord
25:12 The fortified city (along with the very tops of your
he will bring it down, he will throw it down to the dusty ground.
26:1 At that time
“We have a strong city!
The Lord’s
26:2 Open the gates so a righteous nation can enter –
one that remains trustworthy.
26:3 You keep completely safe the people who maintain their faith,
for they trust in you.
26:4 Trust in the Lord from this time forward,
even in Yah, the Lord, an enduring protector!
26:5 Indeed,
he brings down an elevated town;
he brings it down to the ground,
he throws it down to the dust.
26:6 It is trampled underfoot
by the feet of the oppressed,
by the soles of the poor.”
26:7
the path of the righteous that you make is straight.
26:8 Yes, as your judgments unfold,
O Lord, we wait for you.
We desire your fame and reputation to grow.
26:9 I
my spirit within me seeks you at dawn,
for when your judgments come upon the earth,
those who live in the world learn about justice.
26:10 If the wicked are shown mercy,
they do not learn about justice.
Even in a land where right is rewarded, they act unjustly;
they do not see the Lord’s majesty revealed.
26:11 O Lord, you are ready to act,
but they don’t even notice.
They will see and be put to shame by your angry judgment against humankind,
yes, fire will consume your enemies.
26:12 O Lord, you make us secure,
for even all we have accomplished, you have done for us.
26:13 O Lord, our God,
masters other than you have ruled us,
but we praise your name alone.
26:14 The dead do not come back to life,
the spirits of the dead do not rise.
That is because
you wiped out all memory of them.
26:15 You have made the nation larger,
you have made the nation larger and revealed your splendor,
you have extended all the borders of the land.
26:16 O Lord, in distress they looked for you;
they uttered incantations because of your discipline.
26:17 As when a pregnant woman gets ready to deliver
and strains and cries out because of her labor pains,
so were we because of you, O Lord.
26:18 We were pregnant, we strained,
we gave birth, as it were, to wind.
We cannot produce deliverance on the earth;
people to populate the world are not born.
26:19
your corpses will rise up.
Wake up and shout joyfully, you who live in the ground!
For you will grow like plants drenched with the morning dew,
and the earth will bring forth its dead spirits.
26:20 Go, my people! Enter your inner rooms!
Close your doors behind you!
Hide for a little while,
until his angry judgment is over!
26:21 For look, the Lord is coming out of the place where he lives,
to punish the sin of those who live on the earth.
The earth will display the blood shed on it;
it will no longer cover up its slain.
27:1 At that time
with his destructive,
Leviathan the fast-moving
Leviathan the squirming serpent;
he will kill the sea monster.
27:2 When that time comes,
sing about a delightful vineyard!
27:3 I, the Lord, protect it;
I water it regularly.
I guard it night and day,
so no one can harm it.
27:4 I am not angry.
I wish I could confront some thorns and briers!
Then I would march against them
I would set them
27:5 unless they became my subjects
and made peace with me;
let them make peace with me.
27:6 The time is coming when Jacob will take root;
Israel will blossom and grow branches.
The produce
27:7 Has the Lord struck down Israel like he did their oppressors?
Has Israel been killed like their enemies?
27:8 When you summon her for divorce, you prosecute her;
he drives her away
27:9 So in this way Jacob’s sin will be forgiven,
and this is how they will show they are finished sinning:
They will make all the stones of the altars
like crushed limestone,
and the Asherah poles and the incense altars will no longer stand.
27:10 For the fortified city
it is a deserted settlement
and abandoned like the desert.
Calves
they lie down there
and eat its branches bare.
27:11 When its branches get brittle,
women come and use them for kindling.
For these people lack understanding,
therefore the one who made them has no compassion on them;
the one who formed them has no mercy on them.
27:12 At that time
28:1 The splendid crown of Ephraim’s drunkards is doomed,
the withering flower, its beautiful splendor,
situated
the crown of those overcome with wine.
28:2 Look, the sovereign master
With the force of a hailstorm or a destructive windstorm,
with the might of a driving, torrential rainstorm,
he will knock that crown
28:3 The splendid crown of Ephraim’s drunkards
will be trampled underfoot.
28:4 The withering flower, its beautiful splendor,
situated at the head of a rich valley,
will be like an early fig before harvest –
as soon as someone notices it,
he grabs it and swallows it.
28:5 At that time
and a splendid diadem for the remnant of his people.
28:6 He will give discernment to the one who makes judicial decisions,
and strength to those who defend the city from attackers.
28:7 Even these men
they stumble around because of beer –
priests and prophets stagger because of beer,
they are confused
they stumble around because of beer;
they stagger while seeing prophetic visions,
they totter while making legal decisions.
28:8 Indeed, all the tables are covered with vomit;
no place is untouched.
28:9 Who is the Lord
To whom is he explaining a message?
Those just weaned from milk!
Those just taken from their mother’s breast!
28:10 Indeed, they will hear meaningless gibberish,
senseless babbling,
a syllable here, a syllable there.
28:11 For with mocking lips and a foreign tongue
he will speak to these people.
28:12 In the past he said to them,
“This is where security can be found.
Provide security for the one who is exhausted!
This is where rest can be found.”
But they refused to listen.
28:13 So the Lord’s word to them will sound like
meaningless gibberish,
senseless babbling,
a syllable here, a syllable there.
As a result, they will fall on their backsides when they try to walk,
and be injured, ensnared, and captured.
28:14 Therefore, listen to the Lord’s word,
you who mock,
you rulers of these people
who reside in Jerusalem!
28:15 For you say,
“We have made a treaty with death,
with Sheol
When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by
it will not reach us.
For we have made a lie our refuge,
we have hidden ourselves in a deceitful word.”
28:16 Therefore, this is what the sovereign master, the Lord, says:
“Look, I am laying
an approved
set in place as a precious cornerstone for the foundation.
The one who maintains his faith will not panic.
28:17 I will make justice the measuring line,
fairness the plumb line;
hail will sweep away the unreliable refuge,
the floodwaters will overwhelm the hiding place.
28:18 Your treaty with death will be dissolved;
your agreement
When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by,
you will be overrun by it.
28:19 Whenever it sweeps by, it will overtake you;
indeed,
it will come through during the day and the night.”
When this announcement is understood,
it will cause nothing but terror.
28:20 For the bed is too short to stretch out on,
and the blanket is too narrow to wrap around oneself.
28:21 For the Lord will rise up, as he did at Mount Perazim,
he will rouse himself, as he did in the Valley of Gibeon,
to accomplish his work,
his peculiar work,
to perform his task,
his strange task.
28:22 So now, do not mock,
or your chains will become heavier!
For I have heard a message about decreed destruction,
from the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, against the entire land.
28:23 Pay attention and listen to my message!
Be attentive and listen to what I have to say!
28:24 Does a farmer just keep on plowing at planting time?
Does he keep breaking up and harrowing his ground?
28:25 Once he has leveled its surface,
does he not scatter the seed of the caraway plant,
sow the seed of the cumin plant,
and plant the wheat, barley, and grain in their designated places?
28:26 His God instructs him;
he teaches him the principles of agriculture.
28:27 Certainly
nor is the wheel of a cart rolled over cumin seed.
Certainly caraway seed is beaten with a stick,
and cumin seed with a flail.
28:28 Grain is crushed,
though one certainly does not thresh it forever.
The wheel of one’s wagon rolls over it,
but his horses do not crush it.
28:29 This also comes from the Lord who commands armies,
who gives supernatural guidance and imparts great wisdom.
29:1 Ariel is as good as dead
Ariel, the town David besieged!
Keep observing your annual rituals,
celebrate your festivals on schedule.
29:2 I will threaten Ariel,
and she will mourn intensely
and become like an altar hearth
29:3 I will lay siege to you on all sides;
I will besiege you with troops;
I will raise siege works against you.
29:4 You will fall;
while lying on the ground
from the dust where you lie, your words will be heard.
Your voice will sound like a spirit speaking from the underworld;
from the dust you will chirp as if muttering an incantation.
29:5 But the horde of invaders will be like fine dust,
the horde of tyrants
It will happen suddenly, in a flash.
29:6 Judgment will come from the Lord who commands armies,
accompanied by thunder, earthquake, and a loud noise,
by a strong gale, a windstorm, and a consuming flame of fire.
29:7 It will be like a dream, a night vision.
There will be a horde from all the nations that fight against Ariel,
those who attack her and her stronghold and besiege her.
29:8 It will be like a hungry man dreaming that he is eating,
only to awaken and find that his stomach is empty.
It will be like a thirsty man dreaming that he is drinking,
only to awaken and find that he is still weak and his thirst unquenched.
So it will be for the horde from all the nations
that fight against Mount Zion.
29:9 You will be shocked and amazed!
You are totally blind!
They are drunk,
they stagger,
29:10 For the Lord has poured out on you
a strong urge to sleep deeply.
He has shut your eyes (the prophets),
and covered your heads (the seers).
29:11 To you this entire prophetic revelation
29:13 The sovereign master
“These people say they are loyal to me;
they say wonderful things about me,
but they are not really loyal to me.
Their worship consists of
nothing but man-made ritual.
29:14 Therefore I will again do an amazing thing for these people –
an absolutely extraordinary deed.
Wise men will have nothing to say,
the sages will have no explanations.”
29:15 Those who try to hide their plans from the Lord are as good as dead,
who do their work in secret and boast,
“Who sees us? Who knows what we’re doing?”
29:16 Your thinking is perverse!
Should the potter be regarded as clay?
Should the thing made say
Or should the pottery say about the potter, “He doesn’t understand”?
29:17 In just a very short time
Lebanon will turn into an orchard,
and the orchard will be considered a forest.
29:18 At that time
and the eyes of the blind will be able to see through deep darkness.
29:19 The downtrodden will again rejoice in the Lord;
the poor among humankind will take delight
29:20 For tyrants will disappear,
those who taunt will vanish,
and all those who love to do wrong will be eliminated
29:21 those who bear false testimony against a person,
who entrap the one who arbitrates at the city gate
and deprive the innocent of justice by making false charges.
29:22 So this is what the Lord, the one who delivered Abraham, says to the family of Jacob:
“Jacob will no longer be ashamed;
their faces will no longer show their embarrassment.
29:23 For when they see their children,
whom I will produce among them,
they will honor
They will honor the Holy One of Jacob;
they will respect
29:24 Those who stray morally will gain understanding;
those who complain will acquire insight.
30:1 “The rebellious
“those who make plans without consulting me,
who form alliances without consulting my Spirit,
and thereby compound their sin.
30:2 They travel down to Egypt
without seeking my will,
seeking Pharaoh’s protection,
and looking for safety in Egypt’s protective shade.
30:3 But Pharaoh’s protection will bring you nothing but shame,
and the safety of Egypt’s protective shade nothing but humiliation.
30:4 Though his
and his messengers arrive at Hanes,
30:5 all will be put to shame
because of a nation that cannot help them,
who cannot give them aid or help,
but only shame and disgrace.”
30:6 This is a message
Through a land of distress and danger,
inhabited by lionesses and roaring lions,
by snakes and darting adders,
they transport
their riches on the humps of camels,
to a nation that cannot help them.
30:7 Egypt is totally incapable of helping.
For this reason I call her
‘Proud one
30:8 Now go, write it
inscribe it on a scroll,
so that it might be preserved for a future time
as an enduring witness.
30:9 For these are rebellious people –
they are lying children,
children unwilling to obey the Lord’s law.
30:10 They
and to the seers, “Don’t relate messages to us about what is right!
Tell us nice things,
relate deceptive messages.
30:11 Turn aside from the way,
stray off the path.
Remove from our presence the Holy One of Israel.”
30:12 For this reason this is what the Holy One of Israel says:
“You have rejected this message;
you trust instead in your ability to oppress and trick,
and rely on that kind of behavior.
30:13 So this sin will become your downfall.
You will be like a high wall
that bulges and cracks and is ready to collapse;
it crumbles suddenly, in a flash.
30:14 It shatters in pieces like a clay jar,
so shattered to bits that none of it can be salvaged.
Among its fragments one cannot find a shard large enough
to scoop a hot coal from a fire
or to skim off water from a cistern.”
30:15 For this is what the master, the Lord, the Holy One of Israel says:
“If you repented and patiently waited for me, you would be delivered;
if you calmly trusted in me you would find strength,
but you are unwilling.
30:16 You say, ‘No, we will flee on horses,’
so you will indeed flee.
You say, ‘We will ride on fast horses,’
so your pursuers will be fast.
30:17 One thousand will scurry at the battle cry of one enemy soldier;
at the battle cry of five enemy soldiers you will all run away,
until the remaining few are as isolated
as a flagpole on a mountaintop
or a signal flag on a hill.”
30:18 For this reason the Lord is ready to show you mercy;
he sits on his throne, ready to have compassion on you.
Indeed, the Lord is a just God;
all who wait for him in faith will be blessed.
30:19 For people will live in Zion;
in Jerusalem
When he hears your cry of despair, he will indeed show you mercy;
when he hears it, he will respond to you.
30:20 The sovereign master
and suffering to drink;
but your teachers will no longer be hidden;
your eyes will see them.
30:21 You
“This is the correct
whether you are heading to the right or the left.
30:22 You will desecrate your silver-plated idols
and your gold-plated images.
You will throw them away as if they were a menstrual rag,
saying to them, “Get out!”
30:23 He will water the seed you plant in the ground,
and the ground will produce crops in abundance.
At that time
30:24 The oxen and donkeys used in plowing
will eat seasoned feed winnowed with a shovel and pitchfork.
30:25 On every high mountain
and every high hill
there will be streams flowing with water,
at the time of
30:26 The light of the full moon will be like the sun’s glare
and the sun’s glare will be seven times brighter,
like the light of seven days,
when the Lord binds up his people’s fractured bones
and heals their severe wound.
30:27 Look, the name
in raging anger and awesome splendor.
He speaks angrily
and his word is like destructive fire.
30:28 His battle cry overwhelms like a flooding river
that reaches one’s neck.
He shakes the nations in a sieve that isolates the chaff;
he puts a bit into the mouth of the nations and leads them to destruction.
30:29 You will sing
as you do in the evening when you are celebrating a festival.
You will be happy like one who plays a flute
as he goes to the mountain of the Lord, the Rock who shelters Israel.
30:30 The Lord will give a mighty shout
and intervene in power,
with furious anger and flaming, destructive fire,
with a driving rainstorm and hailstones.
30:31 Indeed, the Lord’s shout will shatter Assyria;
he will beat them with a club.
30:32 Every blow from his punishing cudgel,
with which the Lord will beat them,
will be accompanied by music from the
and he will attack them with his weapons.
30:33 For
it has been made deep and wide for the king.
The firewood is piled high on it.
The Lord’s breath, like a stream flowing with brimstone,
will ignite it.
31:1 Those who go down to Egypt for help are as good as dead,
those who rely on war horses,
and trust in Egypt’s many chariots
and in their many, many horsemen.
But they do not rely on the Holy One of Israel
and do not seek help from the Lord.
31:2 Yet he too is wise
he does not retract his decree.
He will attack the wicked nation,
and the nation that helps
31:3 The Egyptians are mere humans, not God;
their horses are made of flesh, not spirit.
The Lord will strike with
the one who helps will stumble
and the one being helped will fall.
Together they will perish.
31:4 Indeed, this is what the Lord says to me:
“The Lord will be like a growling lion,
like a young lion growling over its prey.
Though a whole group of shepherds gathers against it,
it is not afraid of their shouts
or intimidated by their yelling.
In this same way the Lord who commands armies will descend
to do battle on Mount Zion and on its hill.
31:5 Just as birds hover over a nest,
so the Lord who commands armies will protect Jerusalem.
He will protect and deliver it;
as he passes over
31:6 You Israelites! Return to the one against whom you have so blatantly rebelled!
31:8 Assyria will fall by a sword, but not one human-made;
a sword not made by humankind will destroy them.
They will run away from this sword
and their young men will be forced to do hard labor.
31:9 They will surrender their stronghold
their officers will be afraid of the Lord’s battle flag.”
This is what the Lord says –
the one whose fire is in Zion,
whose firepot is in Jerusalem.
32:1 Look, a king will promote fairness;
officials will promote justice.
32:2 Each of them
and a refuge from a rainstorm;
like streams of water in a dry region
and like the shade of a large cliff in a parched land.
32:3 Eyes
and ears
32:4 The mind that acts rashly will possess discernment
and the tongue that stutters will speak with ease and clarity.
32:5 A fool will no longer be called honorable;
a deceiver will no longer be called principled.
32:6 For a fool speaks disgraceful things;
his mind plans out sinful deeds.
He commits godless deeds
and says misleading things about the Lord;
he gives the hungry nothing to satisfy their appetite
and gives the thirsty nothing to drink.
32:7 A deceiver’s methods are evil;
he dreams up evil plans
to ruin the poor with lies,
even when the needy are in the right.
32:8 An honorable man makes honorable plans;
his honorable character gives him security.
32:9 You complacent
get up and listen to me!
You carefree
pay attention to what I say!
32:10 In a year’s time
you carefree ones will shake with fear,
for the grape
and the fruit harvest will not arrive.
32:11 Tremble, you complacent ones!
Shake with fear, you carefree ones!
Strip off your clothes and expose yourselves –
put sackcloth on your waist!
32:12 Mourn over the field,
over the delightful fields
and the fruitful vine!
32:13 Mourn
which is overgrown with thorns and briers,
and over all the once-happy houses
in the city filled with revelry.
32:14 For the fortress is neglected;
the once-crowded
Hill
are permanently uninhabited.
Wild donkeys love to go there,
and flocks graze there.
32:15 This desolation will continue until new life is poured out on us from heaven.
Then the desert will become an orchard
and the orchard will be considered a forest.
32:16 Justice will settle down in the desert
and fairness will live in the orchard.
32:17 Fairness will produce peace
and result in lasting security.
32:18 My people will live in peaceful settlements,
in secure homes,
and in safe, quiet places.
32:19 Even if the forest is destroyed
and the city is annihilated,
32:20 you will be blessed,
you who plant seed by all the banks of the streams,
you who let your ox and donkey graze.
33:1 The destroyer is as good as dead,
you who have not been destroyed!
The deceitful one is as good as dead,
the one whom others have not deceived!
When you are through destroying, you will be destroyed;
when you finish
33:2 Lord, be merciful to us! We wait for you.
Give us strength each morning!
Deliver us when distress comes.
33:3 The nations run away when they hear a loud noise;
the nations scatter when you spring into action!
33:4 Your plunder
they swarm over it like locusts!
33:5 The Lord is exalted,
indeed,
he fills Zion with justice and fairness.
33:6 He is your constant source of stability;
he abundantly provides safety and great wisdom;
he gives all this to those who fear him.
33:7 Look, ambassadors
messengers sent to make peace
33:8 Highways are empty,
there are no travelers.
Treaties are broken,
witnesses are despised,
human life is treated with disrespect.
33:9 The land
the forest of Lebanon shrivels up
Sharon
Bashan and Carmel
33:10 “Now I will rise up,” says the Lord.
“Now I will exalt myself;
now I will magnify myself.
33:11 You conceive straw,
you give birth to chaff;
your breath is a fire that destroys you.
33:12 The nations will be burned to ashes;
like thorn bushes that have been cut down, they will be set on fire.
33:13 You who are far away, listen to what I have done!
You who are close by, recognize my strength!”
33:14 Sinners are afraid in Zion;
panic
They say,
Who among us can coexist with unquenchable
33:15 The one who lives
and speaks honestly;
the one who refuses to profit from oppressive measures
and rejects a bribe;
the one who does not plot violent crimes
and does not seek to harm others
33:16 This is the person who will live in a secure place;
he will find safety in the rocky, mountain strongholds;
he will have food
and a constant supply of water.
33:17 You will see a king in his splendor;
you will see a wide land.
33:18 Your mind will recall the terror you experienced,
and you will ask yourselves,
Where is the one who weighs the money?
Where is the one who counts the towers?”
33:19 You will no longer see a defiant
whose language you do not comprehend,
whose derisive speech you do not understand.
33:20 Look at Zion, the city where we hold religious festivals!
You
a peaceful settlement,
a tent that stays put;
its stakes will never be pulled up;
none of its ropes will snap in two.
33:21 Instead the Lord will rule there as our mighty king.
Rivers and wide streams will flow through it;
no war galley will enter;
no large ships will sail through.
33:22 For the Lord, our ruler,
the Lord, our commander,
the Lord, our king –
he will deliver us.
33:23 Though at this time your ropes are slack,
the mast is not secured,
and the sail
at that time you will divide up a great quantity of loot;
even the lame will drag off plunder.
33:24 No resident of Zion
the people who live there will have their sin forgiven.
34:1 Come near, you nations, and listen!
Pay attention, you people!
The earth and everything it contains must listen,
the world and everything that lives in it.
34:2 For the Lord is angry at all the nations
and furious with all their armies.
He will annihilate them and slaughter them.
34:3 Their slain will be left unburied,
their corpses will stink;
the hills will soak up their blood.
34:4 All the stars in the sky will fade away,
the sky will roll up like a scroll;
all its stars will wither,
like a leaf withers and falls from a vine
or a fig withers and falls from a tree.
34:5 He says,
Look, it now descends on Edom,
on the people I will annihilate in judgment.”
34:6 The Lord’s sword is dripping with blood,
it is covered
it drips
and is covered
For the Lord is holding a sacrifice
a bloody
34:7 Wild oxen will be slaughtered
as well as strong bulls.
Their land is drenched with blood,
their soil is covered with fat.
34:8 For the Lord has planned a day of revenge,
a time when he will repay Edom for her hostility toward Zion.
34:9 Edom’s
and her soil into brimstone;
her land will become burning pitch.
34:10 Night and day it will burn;
its smoke will ascend continually.
Generation after generation it will be a wasteland
and no one will ever pass through it again.
34:11 Owls and wild animals
all kinds of wild birds
The Lord
the measuring line of ruin
and the plumb line
34:12 Her nobles will have nothing left to call a kingdom
and all her officials will disappear.
34:13 Her fortresses will be overgrown with thorns;
thickets and weeds will grow
Jackals will settle there;
ostriches will live there.
34:14 Wild animals and wild dogs will congregate there;
wild goats will bleat to one another.
Yes, nocturnal animals
and make for themselves a nest.
34:15 Owls
they will hatch them and protect them.
Yes, hawks
each with its mate.
34:16 Carefully read the scroll of the Lord!
Not one of these creatures will be missing,
none will lack a mate.
For the Lord has issued the decree,
and his own spirit gathers them.
34:17 He assigns them their allotment;
he measures out their assigned place.
They will live there
they will settle in it through successive generations.
35:1 Let the desert and dry region be happy;
let the wilderness
35:2 Let it richly bloom;
let it rejoice and shout with delight!
It is given the grandeur
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon.
They will see the grandeur of the Lord,
the splendor of our God.
35:3 Strengthen the hands that have gone limp,
steady the knees that shake!
35:4 Tell those who panic,
“Be strong! Do not fear!
Look, your God comes to avenge!
With divine retribution he comes to deliver you.”
35:5 Then blind eyes will open,
deaf ears will hear.
35:6 Then the lame will leap like a deer,
the mute tongue will shout for joy;
for water will flow
streams in the wilderness.
35:7 The dry soil will become a pool of water,
the parched ground springs of water.
Where jackals once lived and sprawled out,
grass, reeds, and papyrus will grow.
35:8 A thoroughfare will be there –
it will be called the Way of Holiness.
The unclean will not travel on it;
it is reserved for those authorized to use it
fools
35:9 No lions will be there,
no ferocious wild animals will be on it
they will not be found there.
Those delivered from bondage will travel on it,
35:10 those whom the Lord has ransomed will return that way.
They will enter Zion with a happy shout.
Unending joy will crown them,
happiness and joy will overwhelm
grief and suffering will disappear.
36:1 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign,
36:4 The chief adviser said to them, “Tell Hezekiah: ‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: “What is your source of confidence?
36:11 Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the chief adviser, “Speak to your servants in Aramaic,
36:13 The chief adviser then stood there and called out loudly in the Judahite dialect,
36:22 Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace supervisor, accompanied by Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary, went to Hezekiah with their clothes torn in grief
37:5 When King Hezekiah’s servants came to Isaiah,
37:6 Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master this: ‘This is what the Lord says: “Don’t be afraid because of the things you have heard – these insults the king of Assyria’s servants have hurled against me.
37:8 When the chief adviser heard the king of Assyria had departed from Lachish, he left and went to Libnah, where the king was campaigning.
37:14 Hezekiah took the letter
37:21 Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘Because you prayed to me concerning King Sennacherib of Assyria,
“The virgin daughter Zion
despises you – she makes fun of you;
daughter Jerusalem
shakes her head after you.
37:23 Whom have you taunted and hurled insults at?
At whom have you shouted
and looked so arrogantly?
At the Holy One of Israel!
37:24 Through your messengers you taunted the sovereign master,
‘With my many chariots I climbed up
the high mountains,
the slopes of Lebanon.
I cut down its tall cedars
and its best evergreens.
I invaded its most remote regions,
its thickest woods.
37:25 I dug wells
and drank water.
With the soles of my feet I dried up
all the rivers of Egypt.’
37:26
Long ago I worked it out,
in ancient times I planned
and now I am bringing it to pass.
The plan is this:
Fortified cities will crash
into heaps of ruins.
37:27 Their residents are powerless;
they are terrified and ashamed.
They are as short-lived as plants in the field
or green vegetation.
They are as short-lived as grass on the rooftops
when it is scorched by the east wind.
37:28 I know where you live
and everything you do
and how you rage against me.
37:29 Because you rage against me
and the uproar you create has reached my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose,
and my bridle between your lips,
and I will lead you back
the way you came.”
37:30
37:32 “For a remnant will leave Jerusalem;
survivors will come out of Mount Zion.
The intense devotion of the Lord who commands armies
37:33 So this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria:
‘He will not enter this city,
nor will he shoot an arrow here.
He will not attack it with his shielded warriors,
nor will he build siege works against it.
37:34 He will go back the way he came –
he will not enter this city,’ says the Lord.
37:35 I will shield this city and rescue it for the sake of my reputation and because of my promise to David my servant.”’”
37:36 The Lord’s messenger
38:1 In those days Hezekiah was stricken with a terminal illness.
38:4 The Lord told Isaiah,
38:9 This is the prayer of King Hezekiah of Judah when he was sick and then recovered from his illness:
38:10 “I thought,
‘In the middle of my life
I am deprived
38:11 “I thought,
‘I will no longer see the Lord
I will no longer look on humankind with the inhabitants of the world.
38:12 My dwelling place
like a shepherd’s tent.
I rolled up my life like a weaver rolls cloth;
from the loom he cuts me off.
You turn day into night and end my life.
38:13 I cry out
like a lion he shatters all my bones;
you turn day into night and end my life.
38:14 Like a swallow or a thrush I chirp,
I coo
my eyes grow tired from looking up to the sky.
O sovereign master,
help me!
38:15 What can I say?
He has decreed and acted.
I will walk slowly all my years because I am overcome with grief.
38:16 O sovereign master, your decrees can give men life;
may years of life be restored to me.
Restore my health
38:17 “Look, the grief I experienced was for my benefit.
You delivered me
For you removed all my sins from your sight.
38:18 Indeed
death does not
Those who descend into the pit do not anticipate your faithfulness.
38:19 The living person, the living person, he gives you thanks,
as I do today.
A father tells his sons about your faithfulness.
38:20 The Lord is about to deliver me,
and we will celebrate with music
for the rest of our lives in the Lord’s temple.”
39:1 At that time Merodach-Baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been ill and had recovered.
39:2 Hezekiah welcomed