<p class="poetry">But where, oh where, are your wise men?<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Let them tell you, let them find outp> <p class="poetry">what the <sc>Lordsc> who commands armies has planned for Egypt.p>

<p class="poetry">This is what the sovereign master, the <sc>Lordsc> who commands armies, says:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Go visit this administrator, Shebna, who supervises the palace,<n id="1" /> and tell him:<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">He said,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;You will no longer celebrate,p> <p class="poetry">oppressed<n id="1" /> virgin daughter Sidon!p> <p class="poetry">Get up, travel to Cyprus,p> <p class="poetry">but you will find no relief there.&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Go, my people! Enter your inner rooms!p> <p class="poetry">Close your doors behind you!p> <p class="poetry">Hide for a little while,p> <p class="poetry">until his angry judgment is over!<n id="1" />p>

Certainly you will not refuse one of my master&#8217;s minor officials and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen.<n id="1" />

<n id="1" /><p class="bodytext">&#8220;This will be your reminder that I have spoken the truth:<n id="2" /> This year you will eat what grows wild,<n id="3" /> and next year<n id="4" /> what grows on its own. But the year after that<n id="5" /> you will plant seed and harvest crops; you will plant vines and consume their produce.<n id="6" />

Isaiah replied,<n id="1" /> &#8220;This is your sign from the <sc>Lordsc> confirming that the <sc>Lordsc> will do what he has said:

<p class="poetry">you whom I am bringing back<n id="1" /> from the earth&#8217;s extremities,p> <p class="poetry">and have summoned from the remote regions &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">I told you, &#8220;You are my servant.&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">I have chosen you and not rejected you.p>

<p class="poetry">I will give you hidden treasures,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">riches stashed away in secret places,p> <p class="poetry">so you may recognize that I am the <sc>Lordsc>,p> <p class="poetry">the one who calls you by name, the God of Israel.p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;Sit silently! Go to a hiding place,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">O daughter of the Babylonians!p> <p class="poetry">Indeed,<n id="2" /> you will no longer be called &#8216;Queen of kingdoms.&#8217;p>

<p class="poetry">Both of these will come upon youp> <p class="poetry">suddenly, in one day!p> <p class="poetry">You will lose your children and be widowed.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">You will be overwhelmed by these tragedies,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">despite<n id="3" /> your many incantationsp> <p class="poetry">and your numerous amulets.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">I announced them to you beforehand;p> <p class="poetry">before they happened, I predicted them for you,p> <p class="poetry">so you could never say,p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;My image did these things,p> <p class="poetry">my idol, my cast image, decreed them.&#8217;p>

<p class="poetry">Look all around you!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">All of them gather to you.p> <p class="poetry">As surely as I live,&#8221; says the <sc>Lordsc>,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;you will certainly wear all of them like jewelry;p> <p class="poetry">you will put them on as if you were a bride.p>

<p class="poetry">Behind the door and doorpost you put your symbols.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Indeed,<n id="2" /> you depart from me<n id="3" /> and go upp> <p class="poetry">and invite them into bed with you.<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">You purchase favors from them,<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">you love their bed,p> <p class="poetry">and gaze longingly<n id="6" /> on their genitals.<n id="7" />p>

<p class="poetry">Your perpetual ruins will be rebuilt;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">you will reestablish the ancient foundations.p> <p class="poetry">You will be called, &#8216;The one who repairs broken walls,p> <p class="poetry">the one who makes the streets inhabitable again.&#8217;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Look all around you!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">They all gather and come to you &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">your sons come from far awayp> <p class="poetry">and your daughters are escorted by guardians.p>

<p class="poetry">Then you will look and smile,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">you will be excited and your heart will swell with pride.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">For the riches of distant lands<n id="3" /> will belong to youp> <p class="poetry">and the wealth of nations will come to you.p>

<p class="poetry">All the sheep of Kedar will be gathered to you;p> <p class="poetry">the rams of Nebaioth will be available to you as sacrifices.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">They will go up on my altar acceptably,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and I will bestow honor on my majestic temple.p>

<p class="poetry">The children of your oppressors will come bowing to you;p> <p class="poetry">all who treated you with disrespect will bow down at your feet.p> <p class="poetry">They will call you, &#8216;The City of the <sc>Lordsc>,p> <p class="poetry">Zion of the Holy One of Israel.&#8217;<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">Your sun will no longer set;p> <p class="poetry">your moon will not disappear;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">the <sc>Lordsc> will be your permanent source of light;p> <p class="poetry">your time<n id="2" /> of sorrow will be over.p>