“I made myself available to those who did not ask for me; ¹  I appeared to those who did not look for me. ²  I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’ to a nation that did not invoke ³  my name.

Listen, O heavens, pay attention, O earth! ¹  For the Lord speaks: “I raised children, ²  I brought them up, ³  but ⁴  they have rebelled ⁵  against me!

The Lord who commands armies told me this: ¹  “Many houses will certainly become desolate, large, impressive houses will have no one living in them. ² 

I have given orders to my chosen soldiers; ¹  I have summoned the warriors through whom I will vent my anger, ²  my boasting, arrogant ones. ³ 

“Bring a plan, make a decision! ¹  Provide some shade in the middle of the day! ²  Hide the fugitives! Do not betray ³  the one who tries to escape!

He said, “You will no longer celebrate, oppressed ¹  virgin daughter Sidon! Get up, travel to Cyprus, but you will find no relief there.” ² 

Who is the Lord ¹  trying to teach? To whom is he explaining a message? ²  Those just weaned from milk! Those just taken from their mother’s breast! ³ 

Pay attention, Lord, and hear! Open your eyes, Lord, and observe! Listen to this entire message Sennacherib sent and how he taunts the living God! ¹ 

“I will go before you and level mountains. ¹  Bronze doors I will shatter and iron bars ²  I will hack through.

“Listen to me, O family of Jacob, ¹  all you who are left from the family of Israel, ²  you who have been carried from birth, ³  you who have been supported from the time you left the womb. ⁴ 

“I announced events beforehand, ¹  I issued the decrees and made the predictions; ²  suddenly I acted and they came to pass.

Ephraim’s leader is Samaria, and Samaria’s leader is the son of Remaliah. If your faith does not remain firm, then you will not remain secure.” ¹ 

For this is what the Lord has told me: “I will wait ¹  and watch from my place, like scorching heat produced by the sunlight, ²  like a cloud of mist ³  in the heat ⁴  of harvest.” ⁵ 

I have received a distressing message: ¹  “The deceiver deceives, the destroyer destroys. Attack, you Elamites! Lay siege, you Medes! I will put an end to all the groaning!” ² 

¹ Certainly you must have heard! ²  Long ago I worked it out, in ancient times I planned ³  it, and now I am bringing it to pass. The plan is this: Fortified cities will crash into heaps of ruins. ⁴ 

“Speak kindly to ¹  Jerusalem, ²  and tell her that her time of warfare is over, ³  that her punishment is completed. ⁴  For the Lord has made her pay double ⁵  for all her sins.”

Who is like me? Let him make his claim! ¹  Let him announce it and explain it to me – since I established an ancient people – ²  let them announce future events! ³ 

You are tired out from listening to so much advice. ¹  Let them take their stand – the ones who see omens in the sky, who gaze at the stars, who make monthly predictions – let them rescue you from the disaster that is about to overtake you! ² 

Those whom the Lord has ransomed will return; they will enter Zion with a happy shout. Unending joy will crown them, ¹  happiness and joy will overwhelm ²  them; grief and suffering will disappear. ³ 

Having suffered, he will reflect on his work, he will be satisfied when he understands what he has done. ¹  “My servant ²  will acquit many, ³  for he carried their sins. ⁴