I will denounce your so-called righteousness and your deeds, but they will not help you.

So look, the sovereign master is bringing up against them the turbulent and mighty waters of the Euphrates River – the king of Assyria and all his majestic power. It will reach flood stage and overflow its banks.

But the chief adviser said, “My master did not send me to speak these words only to your master and to you. His message is also for the men who sit on the wall, for they will eat their own excrement and drink their own urine along with you!”

Eliakim the palace supervisor, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests, clothed in sackcloth, sent this message to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz:

Whom are you worried about? Whom do you fear, that you would act so deceitfully and not remember me or think about me? Because I have been silent for so long, you are not afraid of me.

I will perform a mighty act among them and then send some of those who remain to the nations – to Tarshish, Pul, Lud (known for its archers), Tubal, Javan, and to the distant coastlands that have not heard about me or seen my splendor. They will tell the nations of my splendor.

At that time the sovereign master will remove their beautiful ankle jewelry, neck ornaments, crescent shaped ornaments,

They say, “Let’s attack Judah, terrorize it, and conquer it. Then we’ll set up the son of Tabeel as its king.”

The people did not return to the one who struck them, they did not seek reconciliation with the Lord who commands armies.

Indeed, the cries of distress echo throughout Moabite territory; their wailing can be heard in Eglaim and Beer Elim.

The officials of Zoan are fools, the officials of Memphis are misled; the rulers of her tribes lead Egypt astray.

The Lord will strike Egypt, striking and then healing them. They will turn to the Lord and he will listen to their prayers and heal them.

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.

My heart palpitates, I shake in fear; the twilight I desired has brought me terror.

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.

They removed the defenses of Judah. At that time you looked for the weapons in the House of the Forest.

The earth will be completely devastated and thoroughly ransacked. For the Lord has decreed this judgment.

Turn aside from the way, stray off the path. Remove from our presence the Holy One of Israel.”

Your mind will recall the terror you experienced, and you will ask yourselves, “Where is the scribe? Where is the one who weighs the money? Where is the one who counts the towers?”

This is what the king says: ‘Don’t let Hezekiah mislead you, for he is not able to rescue you!