<p class="poetry">the mighty men and warriors,p> <p class="poetry">judges and prophets,p> <p class="poetry">omen readers and leaders,<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">The leaders and the highly respected people<n id="1" /> are the head,p> <p class="poetry">the prophets who teach lies are the tail.p>

<p class="poetry">For the <sc>Lordsc> has poured out on youp> <p class="poetry">a strong urge to sleep deeply.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">He has shut your eyes (the prophets),p> <p class="poetry">and covered your heads (the seers).p>

<p class="poetry">Even these men<n id="1" /> stagger because of wine,p> <p class="poetry">they stumble around because of beer &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">priests and prophets stagger because of beer,p> <p class="poetry">they are confused<n id="2" /> because of wine,p> <p class="poetry">they stumble around because of beer;p> <p class="poetry">they stagger while seeing prophetic visions,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">they totter while making legal decisions.<n id="4" />p>

Eliakim the palace supervisor, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests,<n id="1" /> clothed in sackcloth, sent this message to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz:

<t /><p class="bodytext">In those days Hezekiah was stricken with a terminal illness.<n id="1" /> The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz visited him and told him, &#8220;This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says, &#8216;Give instructions to your household, for you are about to die; you will not get well.&#8217;&#8221;

Isaiah the prophet visited King Hezekiah and asked him, &#8220;What did these men say? Where do they come from?&#8221; Hezekiah replied, &#8220;They come from the distant land of Babylon.&#8221;