Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹The [mournful, inspired] oracle ( a burden to be carried) concerning Damascus [capital of Aram (Syria), and Israel's defense against Assyria]. "Listen carefully, Damascus will cease to be a city And will become a fallen ruin.

²"The cities of Aroer [east of the Jordan] are deserted; They will be [only a refuge] for flocks to lie down in, And there will be no one to make them afraid.

³"The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim, And the kingdom from Damascus And the remnant of Aram (Syria); They will be like the [departed] glory of [her ally] the children of Israel," Declares the LORD of hosts.

⁴"Now in that day the [former] glory of Jacob [Israel—his might, his population, his prosperity] will fade, And the fatness of his flesh will become lean.

⁵"And it will be like the reaper gathering the standing grain, As his arm harvests the ears of grain; Yes, it will be like one gleaning ears of grain In the [fertile] Valley of Rephaim.

⁶"Yet gleanings will be left in the land [of Israel] like the shaking of the olive tree, Two or three olives on the topmost branch, Four or five on the [outermost] branches of the fruitful tree," Declares the LORD, the God of Israel.

⁷In that day man will have regard for his Maker, And his eyes will regard the Holy One of Israel [with awe-inspired reverence].

⁸And he will not have regard for the [idolatrous] altars, the work of his hands, Nor will he look to that which his fingers have made, Neither the Asherim (symbols of the goddess Asherah) nor the incense altars.

⁹In that day the strong cities of Aram and Israel will be like deserted places in the forest, Or like branches which they abandoned before the children of Israel; And the land will be a desolation.

¹⁰Because you [Judah] have forgotten the God of your salvation And have not remembered the Rock of your Stronghold— Therefore you plant lovely plants And set the grounds with vine slips of a strange god,

¹¹In the day that you plant it you carefully fence it in, And in the morning you bring your seed to blossom; Yet [promising as it is] the harvest will be a heap [of ruins that passes away] In the day of sickness and incurable pain.

¹²Oh, the uproar of many peoples Who roar like the roaring of the seas, And the noise of nations Who roar like the rumbling of mighty waters!

¹³The nations roar on like the roaring of many waters, But God will rebuke them and they will flee far away, And be chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind, Or like whirling dust before the storm.

¹⁴At evening time, now look, sudden terror! Before morning the Assyrians are no more. This is the portion (fate) of those who plunder us, And the lot of those who pillage us.

¹Woe (judgment is coming) to the land of whirring wings Which is beyond the rivers of Cush (Ethiopia),

²Which sends ambassadors by the sea, Even in vessels of papyrus on the surface of the waters. Go, swift messengers, to a nation [of people] tall and smooth (clean shaven), To a people feared far and wide, A powerful and oppressive nation Whose land the rivers divide.

³All you inhabitants of the world, you who dwell on the earth, When a banner is raised on the mountains, you will see it! When a trumpet is blown, you will hear it!

⁴For this is what the LORD has said to me, "I will be quiet and I will look on from My dwelling place, Like shimmering heat above the sunshine, Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest."

⁵For before the harvest, when the blossom is over And the flower becomes a ripening grape, He will cut off the sprigs [without buds] with pruning knives, And [He will] remove and cut away the spreading branches.

⁶They (warriors) will be left together for the mountain birds of prey, And for the beasts of the earth; And the birds of prey will [spend the] summer feeding on them, And all the beasts of the earth will spend harvest time on them.

⁷At that time a gift of homage will be brought to the LORD of hosts From a people tall and smooth (clean shaven), From a people feared far and wide, A powerful and oppressive nation, Whose land the rivers divide— To the place [of worship] of the name of the LORD of hosts, to Mount Zion [in Jerusalem].

¹The [mournful, inspired] oracle ( a burden to be carried) concerning Egypt: Listen carefully, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt; The idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence, And the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.

²"So I will provoke Egyptians against Egyptians; And they will fight, each one against his brother and each one against his neighbor, City against city, kingdom against kingdom.

³"Then the spirit of the Egyptians will become exhausted within them and emptied out; And I will confuse their strategy, So that they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead, And mediums and soothsayers.

⁴"And I will hand over the Egyptians to a hard and cruel master, And a mighty king will rule over them," declares the Lord GOD of hosts.

⁵The waters from the sea will dry up, And the river will be parched and dry.

⁶The canals will become foul-smelling, The streams of Egypt will thin out and dry up, The reeds and the rushes will rot away.

⁷The meadows by the Nile, by the edge of the Nile, And all the sown fields of the Nile Will become dry, be blown away, and be no more.

⁸The fishermen will lament (cry out in grief), And all those who cast a hook into the Nile will mourn, And those who spread nets upon the waters will languish.

⁹Moreover, those who make linen from combed flax And those who weave white cloth will be ashamed.

¹⁰[Those who are] the pillars and foundations of Egypt will be crushed; And all those who work for wages will be grieved in soul.

¹¹The princes of Zoan are complete fools; The counsel of the Pharaoh's wisest advisors has become stupid. How can you say to Pharaoh, "I am a son of the wise, a son of ancient kings?"

¹²Where then are your wise men? Please let them tell you, And let them understand what the LORD of hosts Has purposed against Egypt [if they can].

¹³The princes of Zoan have acted like fools, The princes of Memphis are deluded [and entertain false hope]; Those who are the cornerstone of her tribes Have led Egypt astray.

¹⁴The LORD has mixed a spirit of distortion within her; Her leaders have caused Egypt to stagger in all that she does, As a drunken man staggers in his vomit.

¹⁵There will be no work for Egypt Which head or tail, [high] palm branch or [low] bulrush, may do.

¹⁶In that day the Egyptians will become like [helpless] women, and they will tremble and be frightened because of the waving of the hand of the LORD of hosts, which He is going to wave over them.

¹⁷The land of Judah [Assyria's ally] will become a terror to the Egyptians; everyone to whom Judah is mentioned will be in dread of it, because of the purpose of the LORD of hosts which He is planning against Egypt.

¹⁸In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of [the Hebrews of] Canaan and swear allegiance to the LORD of hosts. One [of them] will be called the City of Destruction.

¹⁹In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a memorial stone to the LORD near its border.

²⁰It will become a sign and a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the LORD because of oppressors, and He will send them a Savior, a [Great] Defender, and He will rescue them.

²¹And so the LORD will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know [heed, honor, and cherish] the LORD in that day. They will even worship with sacrifices [of animals] and offerings [of produce]; they will make a vow to the LORD and fulfill it.

²²The LORD will strike Egypt, striking but healing it; so they will return to the LORD, and He will respond to them and heal them.

²³In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria; and the Egyptians will worship and serve [the LORD] with the Assyrians.

²⁴In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and with Assyria [in a Messianic league], a blessing in the midst of the earth,

²⁵whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, "Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My heritage."

¹In the year that the Tartan [the Assyrian commander in chief] came to Ashdod [in Philistia], when Sargon king of Assyria sent him and he fought against Ashdod and captured it,

²at that time the LORD spoke through Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, "Go, untie the sackcloth from your hips and take your sandals off your feet." And he did so, walking around stripped [to his loincloth] and barefoot.

³And the LORD said, "Even as My servant Isaiah has walked stripped and barefoot for three years as a sign and forewarning concerning Egypt and Cush (Ethiopia),

⁴in the same way the king of Assyria will lead away the Egyptian captives and the Cushite exiles, young and old, stripped and barefoot, even with buttocks uncovered—to the shame of Egypt.

⁵Then they will be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope and Egypt their boast.

⁶So the inhabitants of this coastland [the Israelites and their neighbors] will say in that day, 'Look what has happened to those in whom we hoped and trusted and to whom we fled for help to be spared from the king of Assyria! But we, how will we escape [captivity and exile]?'"

¹The [mournful, inspired] oracle ( a burden to be carried) concerning the Desert of the Sea (the seasonally flooded plains just south of Babylon): As windstorms in the Negev (the South) sweep through, So it (God's judgment) comes from the desert, from [the hostile armies of] a terrifying land.

²A harsh vision has been shown to me; The treacherous one deals treacherously, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, Elam! Lay siege, Media! All the groaning [caused by Babylon's ruthless oppressions] I [the LORD] have brought to an end.

³Therefore [continues Isaiah] my loins are filled with anguish; Pains have seized me like the pains of a woman in childbirth; I am so bent and bewildered that I cannot hear, I am so terrified that I cannot see.

⁴My mind reels, horror overwhelms me; The twilight I longed for has been turned into fear and trembling for me.

⁵They set the table [for the doomed banquet], they spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink; "Rise up, captains [of Belshazzar's court], oil your shields [for battle, for your enemy is at the gates]!"

⁶This is what the Lord says to me, "Go, station the lookout, let him report what he sees.

⁷"When he sees a chariot, horsemen in pairs, A train of donkeys and a train of camels, Let him pay attention and listen closely, very closely."

⁸And the lookout called like a lion, "O Lord, I stand continually on the watchtower by day, And I am stationed every night at my guard post.

⁹"Now look! Here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs." And one said, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon; And all the carved images of her gods are shattered on the ground."

¹⁰O my threshed people [Judah, who must be judged and trampled down by Babylon], my afflicted of the threshing floor. What I have heard from the LORD of hosts, The God of Israel, I have [joyfully] announced to you [that Babylon is to fall].

¹¹The [mournful, inspired] oracle ( a burden to be carried) concerning Dumah (Edom): Someone keeps calling to me from Seir (Edom), "Watchman, what is left of the night [of Assyrian oppression]? Watchman, what is left of the night? [How long until morning?]"

¹²The watchman says, "The morning comes [only briefly], but also [comes] the night [of Babylonian oppression]. If you would ask [of me then], ask [again, if Edom really wishes to know]; Come back again."

¹³The [mournful, inspired] oracle ( a burden to be carried) concerning Arabia: In the thickets of Arabia you must spend the night, Caravans of Dedanites.

¹⁴Bring water for the thirsty [Dedanites], O inhabitants of the land of Tema [in Arabia]; Meet the fugitive with bread.

¹⁵For they have fled from the swords, From the drawn sword, from the bent bow And from the press of battle and grief of war.

¹⁶For the Lord has said this to me, "Within a year, according to the years of a hired man [who will work no longer than was agreed], all the splendor of [the tribe of] Kedar will end;

¹⁷and the remainder of the number of archers, the mighty men of the sons of Kedar, will be few; for the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken."

¹The [mournful, inspired] oracle ( a burden to be carried) concerning the Valley of Vision: What is the matter with you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops,

²You [Jerusalem] who were full of noise, A tumultuous city, a joyous and exuberant city; Your slain were not slain [in a glorious death] with the sword, Nor did they die in battle.

³All your leaders have fled together [with your king], And have been captured without the bow [which they had thrown away]; All of you who were found were taken captive together, Though they had fled far away.

⁴Therefore I say, "Look away from me; Let me weep bitterly. Do not try to comfort me over the destruction of the daughter of my people."

⁵For the Lord GOD of hosts has a day of panic and of tumult, of trampling, of confusion In the Valley of Vision, A [day of] breaking down walls And a crying [for help] to the mountain.

⁶Elam took up the quiver With the chariots, infantry and horsemen; And Kir uncovered the shield.

⁷And it came to pass that your choicest valleys were full of chariots, And the horsemen took their fixed positions [in an offensive array] at the gate [of Jerusalem].

⁸Then God removed the [protective] covering of Judah; And in that day you looked to the weapons of the House of the Forest (Solomon's armory).

⁹You saw that the breaches In the wall of the City of David [the citadel of Zion] were many; You collected [within the city's walls] the waters of the Lower Pool (Siloam).

¹⁰Then you counted the houses of Jerusalem And you tore down the houses [to get materials] to fortify the city wall [by extending it].

¹¹You also made a reservoir between the two walls For the waters of the Old Pool, But you did not look to its Maker, Nor did you recognize Him who planned it long ago.

¹²Therefore in that day the Lord GOD of hosts called you to weeping, to mourning, To shaving the head and to wearing sackcloth [in humiliation].

¹³Instead, there is joy and jubilation, Killing of oxen and slaughtering of sheep, Eating meat and drinking wine, saying, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die."

¹⁴But the LORD of hosts revealed Himself in my ears, "This sin absolutely will not be forgiven you Until you die," says the Lord GOD of hosts.

¹⁵For the Lord GOD of hosts says this, "Go to this [contemptible] steward, To Shebna, who is in charge of the royal household [but is building himself a tomb worthy of a king, and say to him],

¹⁶'What business do you have here? And whom do you have here, That you have hewn out a tomb here for yourself, You who hew a sepulcher on the height, You who carve a resting place for yourself in the rock?

¹⁷'Listen carefully, the LORD is about to hurl you away violently, O man; And He is about to grasp you firmly

¹⁸And roll you up tightly like a ball And toss you into a vast country; There you will die And there your splendid chariots will be, You shame of your master's house.'

¹⁹"I will depose you from your office, And you will be pulled down from your position [of importance].

²⁰"Then it will come to pass in that day That I will summon My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah.

²¹"And I will clothe him with your tunic [of distinction] And tie your sash securely around him. I will entrust him with your authority; He will become a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.

²²"Then I will set on his shoulder the key of the house of David; When he opens no one will shut, When he shuts no one will open.

²³"I will drive him like a peg in a firm place, And he will become a throne of honor and glory to his father's house.

²⁴"So they will hang on him all the honor and glory [the complete responsibility] of his father's house, offspring and issue [of the family, high and low], all the least of the articles, from the bowls to all the jars.

²⁵In that day," declares the LORD of hosts, "the peg (Eliakim) that was driven into the firm place will give way; it will even break off and fall, and the burden hanging on it will be cut off, for the LORD has spoken."

¹The [mournful, inspired] oracle ( a burden to be carried) concerning Tyre: Wail, O ships of Tarshish, For Tyre is destroyed, without house, without harbor; It is reported to them from the land of Cyprus (Kittim).

²Be silent, you inhabitants of the coastland, You merchants of Sidon; Your messengers crossed the sea

³And they were on great waters. The grain of the Shihor, the harvest of the Nile River, was Tyre's revenue; And she was the market of nations.

⁴Be ashamed, O Sidon [mother-city of Tyre, now like a widow bereaved of her children]; For the sea speaks, the stronghold of the sea, saying, "I have neither labored nor given birth [to children]; I have neither brought up young men nor reared virgins."

⁵When the report reaches Egypt, They will be in agony at the report about Tyre.

⁶Cross over to Tarshish [to seek safety as exiles]; Wail, O inhabitants of the coastland [of Tyre].

⁷Is this your jubilant city, Whose origin dates back to antiquity, Whose feet used to carry her [far away] to colonize distant places?

⁸Who has planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, Whose merchants were princes, whose traders were the honored of the earth?

⁹The LORD of hosts has planned it, to defile the pride of all beauty, To bring into contempt and humiliation all the honored of the earth.

¹⁰Overflow your land like [the overflow of] the Nile, O Daughter of Tarshish; There is no more restraint [on you to make you pay tribute to Tyre].

¹¹He has stretched out His hand over the sea, He has shaken the kingdoms; The LORD has given a command concerning Canaan to destroy her strongholds and her fortresses [like Tyre and Sidon].

¹²He has said, "You shall never again exult [in triumph], O crushed Virgin Daughter of Sidon. Arise, cross over to Cyprus; even there you will find no rest."

¹³Now look at the land of the Chaldeans (Babylonia)—this is the people which was not; the Assyrians allocated Tyre for desert creatures—they set up their siege towers, they stripped its palaces, they made it a ruin.

¹⁴Wail, O ships of Tarshish, For your stronghold [of Tyre] is destroyed.

¹⁵Now in that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, like the days of one king. At the end of seventy years it will happen to Tyre as in the prostitute's song:

¹⁶Take a harp, walk around the city, O forgotten prostitute; Play the strings skillfully, sing many songs, That you may be remembered.

¹⁷It will come to pass at the end of seventy years that the LORD will remember Tyre. Then she will return to her prostitute's wages and will play the [role of a] prostitute [by trading] with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth.

¹⁸But her commercial gain and her prostitute's wages will be dedicated to the LORD; it will not be treasured or stored up, but her commercial gain will become sufficient food and stately clothing for those who dwell (minister) in the presence of the LORD.

¹Behold, the LORD lays waste to the earth, devastates it, twists and distorts its face and scatters its inhabitants.

²And the people will be like the priest, the servant like his master, the maid like her mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the borrower, the creditor like the debtor [as God's impartial judgment of sin comes on all].

³The earth will be completely laid waste and utterly pillaged, for the LORD has spoken this word.

⁴The earth dries up and crumbles away, the world dries out and crumbles away, the exalted of the people of the earth fade away.

⁵The earth also is polluted by its inhabitants, because they have transgressed laws, violated statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant.

⁶Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live on it suffer the punishment of their guilt. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned [under the curse of God's wrath], and few people are left.

⁷The new wine mourns, The vine decays; All the merry-hearted sigh and groan.

⁸The mirth of the timbrels (tambourines) ceases, The noise of those who rejoice ends, The joy of the harp ceases.

⁹They do not drink wine with a song; Strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.

¹⁰The city of chaos is broken down; Every house is shut up so that no one may enter.

¹¹There is an outcry in the streets concerning the wine; All jubilation is darkened, The joy of the earth is banished.

¹²Horrible desolation is left in the city, And the gate is battered into ruins.

¹³For so it will be in the midst of the earth among the peoples, As the shaking of an olive tree, As the gleanings when the grape harvest is over [and only a little of the fruit remains].

¹⁴They [who have escaped and remain] raise their voices, they shout for joy; They rejoice from the [Mediterranean] Sea in the majesty of the LORD.

¹⁵Therefore honor and glorify the LORD in the east [in the region of light], The name of the LORD, the God of Israel [honor His name], In the coastlands and islands of the [Mediterranean] Sea.

¹⁶From the ends of the earth we hear songs, "Glory and honor to the Righteous One," But I say, "I waste away, I waste away. Woe to me! The treacherous deal treacherously, Indeed, the treacherous deal very treacherously."

¹⁷Terror and pit [of destruction] and snare Confront you, O inhabitant of the earth.

¹⁸Then it will be that he who flees at the sound of terror will fall into the pit, And he who comes up out of the pit will be caught in the snare; For the windows of heaven are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble.

¹⁹The earth is broken completely apart, The earth is split apart, The earth is shaken violently.

²⁰The earth reels back and forth like a drunkard And sways like a shack; Its transgression lies heavily upon it, And it will fall and not rise again.

²¹So it will happen in that day That the LORD will visit and punish the host (fallen angels) of heaven on high, And the kings of the earth on the earth.

²²They will be gathered together As prisoners [are gathered] in a dungeon; They will be shut up in prison, And after many days they will be visited and punished.

²³Then the full moon will be embarrassed and the sun ashamed, For the LORD of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, And His glory and brilliance will shine before His elders.

¹O LORD, You are my God; I will exalt You, I will praise and give thanks to Your name; For You have done miraculous things, Plans formed long, long ago, [fulfilled] with perfect faithfulness.

²For You have made a city into a heap [of trash], A fortified city into a ruin; A palace of foreigners is no longer a city, It will never be rebuilt.

³Therefore a strong people will honor You; Cities of terrible and violent nations will fear You.

⁴For You have been a stronghold for the helpless, A stronghold for the poor in his distress, A shelter from the storm, a shade from the heat; For the breath of tyrants Is like a rainstorm against a wall.

⁵Like heat in a dry land, You will subdue the noise of foreigners [rejoicing over their enemies]; Like heat in the shadow of a cloud, the song of the tyrants is silenced.

⁶On this mountain [Zion] the LORD of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples [to welcome His reign on earth], A banquet of aged wines—choice pieces [flavored] with marrow, Of refined, aged wines.

⁷And on this mountain He will destroy the covering that is [cast] over all peoples, And the veil [of death] that is woven and spread over all the nations.

⁸He will swallow up death [and abolish it] for all time. And the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, And He will take away the disgrace of His people from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken.

⁹It will be said in that day, "Indeed, this is our God for whom we have waited that He would save us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited; Let us shout for joy and rejoice in His salvation."

¹⁰For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain [Zion], And Moab will be trampled down in his place As straw is trampled down in the [filthy] water of a manure pile.

¹¹And Moab will spread out his hands in the middle of the filth As a swimmer spreads out his hands to swim, But the Lord will humiliate his pride in spite of the [skillful] movements of his hands.

¹²The high fortifications of your walls He will bring down, Lay low, and cast to the ground, to the dust.

¹In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: "We have a strong city; He sets up salvation as walls and ramparts.

²"Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter, The one that remains faithful and trustworthy.

³"You will keep in perfect and constant peace the one whose mind is steadfast [that is, committed and focused on You—in both inclination and character], Because he trusts and takes refuge in You [with hope and confident expectation].

⁴"Trust [confidently] in the LORD forever [He is your fortress, your shield, your banner], For the Lord God is an everlasting Rock [the Rock of Ages].

⁵"For He has thrown down the [arrogant] ones who dwell on high, the lofty and inaccessible city; He lays it low, He lays it low to the ground, He hurls it to the dust.

⁶"The foot will trample it, Even the feet of the suffering, and the steps of the helpless."

⁷The way of the righteous [those in right-standing with God—living in moral and spiritual integrity] is smooth and level; O Upright One, make a level path for the just and righteous.

⁸Indeed, in the path of Your judgments, O LORD, We have waited expectantly for You; Your name, even Your memory, is the desire and deep longing of our souls.

⁹In the night my soul longs for You [O LORD], Indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently; For [only] when Your judgments are experienced on the earth Will the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

¹⁰Though the wicked is shown compassion and favor, He does not learn righteousness; In the land of uprightness he deals unjustly, And refuses to see the majesty of the LORD.

¹¹Though Your hand is lifted up [to strike], O LORD, the wicked do not see it. Let them see Your zeal for Your people and be put to shame; Indeed, let the fire reserved for Your enemies consume them.

¹²LORD, You will establish peace for us, Since You have also performed for us all that we have done.

¹³O LORD our God, other masters besides You have ruled over us; But through You alone we confess Your name.

¹⁴The [wicked] dead will not live [again], the spirits of the dead will not rise and return; Therefore You have punished and destroyed them, And You have wiped out every memory of them [every trace of them].

¹⁵You have increased the nation, O LORD; You have increased the nation, You are glorified; You have extended all the borders of the land.

¹⁶O LORD, they sought You in distress; They managed only a prayerful whisper When Your discipline was upon them.

¹⁷As a woman with child approaches the time to give birth, She is in pain and struggles and cries out in her labor, So we were before You, O LORD.

¹⁸We have been with child, we have twisted and struggled in labor; We gave birth, as it seems, only to wind. We could not accomplish salvation for the earth, Nor were inhabitants of the world born.

¹⁹Your dead will live; Their dead bodies will rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy! For your dew is a dew of [celestial] light [heavenly, supernatural], And the earth will give birth to the spirits of the dead.

²⁰Come, my people, enter your chambers And shut your doors behind you; Hide for a little while Until the [Lord's] wrath is past.

²¹Listen carefully, the LORD is about to come out of His [heavenly] place To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their wickedness [their sin, their injustice, their wrongdoing]; The earth will reveal the [innocent] blood shed upon her And will no longer cover her slain.

¹In that day the Lord will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent With His fierce and great and mighty sword [rescuing Israel from her enemy], Even Leviathan the twisted serpent; And He will kill the dragon who lives in the sea.

²In that day [it will be said of the redeemed nation of Israel], "A vineyard of wine, sing in praise of it!

³"I, the LORD, am its Keeper; I water it every moment. So that no one will harm it, I guard it night and day.

⁴"I have no wrath. Should anyone give Me briars and thorns in battle, I would step on them, I would set them all on fire.

⁵"Or let him (Israel) cling to My strength and rely on My protection [My stronghold], Let him make peace with Me, Let him make peace with Me."

⁶In the generations to come Jacob will take root; Israel will blossom and sprout, And they will fill the surface of the world with fruit.

⁷Like the striking by Him who has struck them, has He struck them? Or like the slaughter of His slain, have they been slain?

⁸You contended with them by exile, by driving them away [from Canaan]; He has expelled them with His fierce wind on the day of the east wind.

⁹Therefore through this the wickedness [the sin, the injustice, the wrongdoing] of Jacob (Israel) will be atoned for and forgiven; And this will be the full price [that God requires] for taking away his sin: When Israel makes all the stones of the [pagan] altars like crushed chalk stones; When the Asherim and the incense altars will not stand.

¹⁰For the fortified city is isolated, A settlement deserted and abandoned like the desert; There the calf will graze, And there it will lie down and feed on its branches.

¹¹When its branches are dry, they are broken off; The women come and make a fire with them. For they are not a people of understanding, Therefore He who made them will not have compassion on them, And He who created them will not be gracious to them.

¹²In that day the LORD will thresh [out His grain] from the flowing stream of the River [Euphrates] to the Brook of Egypt, and you will be gathered up one by one, O sons of Israel.

¹³It will come to pass in that day that a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were lost and perishing in the land of Assyria and who were scattered in the land of Egypt will come and worship the LORD on the holy mountain at Jerusalem.

¹Woe (judgment is coming) to [Samaria] the splendid crown of the drunkards of Ephraim, And to the fading flower of its glorious beauty, Which is at the head of the rich valley Of those who are overcome with wine!

²Listen carefully, the Lord has a strong and mighty agent [the Assyrian]; Like a tempest of hail, a disastrous storm, Like a tempest of mighty overflowing waters, He has cast it down to the earth with His hand.

³The splendid crown of the drunkards of Ephraim is trampled by [the foreigners'] feet.

⁴And the fading flower of its glorious beauty, Which is at the head of the rich valley, Will be like the early fig before the summer, Which one sees, And as soon as it is in his hand He [greedily] swallows it [and so will the Assyrians rapidly devour Samaria, Israel's capital].

⁵In that day the LORD of hosts will become a magnificent crown And a glorious diadem to the [converted] remnant of His people,

⁶A spirit of justice for him who sits in judgment [administering the law], A strength to those who drive back the battle at the gate.

⁷But even these reel with wine and stagger from strong drink: The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink; They are confused by wine, they stagger from strong drink; They reel while seeing visions, They stagger when pronouncing judgment.

⁸For all the tables are full of filthy vomit, so that there is no place [that is clean.]

⁹They say "To whom would He teach knowledge? And to whom would He explain the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just taken from the breast?

¹⁰"For He says, 'Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, Rule upon rule, rule upon rule, Here a little, there a little.'"

¹¹Indeed, the LORD will teach this people [in a more humiliating way] By [men with] stammering lips and a foreign tongue,

¹²He who said to them, "This is the place of quiet, give rest to the weary," And, "This is the resting place," yet they would not listen.

¹³Therefore the word of the LORD to them will be [merely monotonous repetitions]: "Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, Rule upon rule, rule upon rule, Here a little, there a little." That they may go and stumble backward, and be broken, ensnared, and taken captive.

¹⁴Therefore, hear the word of the LORD, you arrogant men Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem!

¹⁵Because you have said, "We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol (the place of the dead) we have made an agreement, When the overwhelming scourge passes by, it will not reach us, For we have made lies our refuge and we have concealed ourselves in deception."

¹⁶Therefore the Lord GOD says this, "Listen carefully, I am laying in Zion a Stone, a tested Stone, A precious Cornerstone for the [secure] foundation, firmly placed. He who believes [who trusts in, relies on, and adheres to that Stone] will not be disturbed or give way [in sudden panic].

¹⁷"I will make justice the measuring line And righteousness the mason's level; Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies And waters will flood over the secret [hiding] place.

¹⁸"Your covenant with death will be annulled, And your agreement with Sheol (the place of the dead) will not stand; When the overwhelming scourge passes through, Then you will become its trampling ground.

¹⁹"As often as it passes through, it will seize you; For morning after morning it will pass through, by day and by night, And it will be sheer terror to understand what it means."

²⁰For the bed is too short to stretch out on, And the blanket is too narrow to wrap around oneself [and likewise all their preparations are inadequate].

²¹For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim, He will be stirred up as in the Valley of Gibeon, To do His work, His unusual and incredible work, And to accomplish His work, His extraordinary work.

²²Now do not carry on as scoffers, Or the bands which bind you will be made stronger; For I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts [a decree] Of decisive destruction on all the earth.

²³Listen and hear my voice; Listen carefully and hear my words.

²⁴Does the farmer plow all day to plant seed? Does he continually dig furrows and harrow his ground [after it is prepared]?

²⁵When he has leveled its surface, Does he not sow [the seed of] dill and scatter cumin, And plant wheat in rows, And barley in its [intended] place and rye within its border?

²⁶For his God instructs [him correctly] and teaches him properly.

²⁷For dill is not threshed with a sharp threshing sledge, Nor is a cartwheel rolled over cumin; But dill is beaten out with a staff, and cumin with a rod.

²⁸Bread grain is crushed fine, Indeed, the farmer does not continue to thresh it forever. Because the wheel of his cart and his horses eventually damage it, He does not thresh it longer.

²⁹This also comes from the LORD of hosts, Who has made His counsel wonderful and His wisdom great.

¹Woe (judgment is coming) to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David [once] camped! Add yet another year; let the feasts run their course [but only one year more].

²Then I will harass Ariel, And she will be a city of mourning and lamenting (crying out in grief) Yet she will be like an Ariel [an altar hearth] to Me.

³I will camp against you and encircle you, And I will hem you in with siege works, And I will raise fortifications against you.

⁴Then you [Jerusalem] will be brought low, You will speak from the earth, And from the dust where you lie face down Your muffled words will come. Your voice will also be like that of a spirit from the earth [like one produced by a medium], And your speech will whisper and squeak from the dust.

⁵But the multitude of your enemies [that assault you] will become like fine dust, And the multitude of the tyrants like the chaff which blows away; And it will happen in an instant, suddenly [that your enemy is destroyed].

⁶You will be punished by the LORD of hosts with thunder and earthquake and great noise, With whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.

⁷And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel (Jerusalem), Even all who fight against her and her stronghold, and who distress her, Will be like a dream, a vision of the night.

⁸It will be as when a hungry man dreams That he is eating, But when he awakens, his hunger is not satisfied; Or as when a thirsty man dreams That he is drinking, But when he awakens, in fact, he is faint And his thirst is not quenched. So will the multitude of all the nations be Who fight against Mount Zion.

⁹Stop and take some time and wonder [at this prophecy], Blind yourselves and be blinded [at its fulfillment by your spiritual incompetence]. They are drunk, but not from wine; They stagger, but not from strong drink.

¹⁰For the LORD has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep. He has closed your eyes, [you who are] the prophets; And He has covered your heads, [you who are] the seers.

¹¹The entire vision [of all these things] will be to you like the words of a scroll that is sealed, which they give to one who can read, saying, "Read this, please," he shall say, "I cannot, for it is sealed."

¹²Then the book will be given to the one who cannot read, saying, "Read this, please." And he will say, "I cannot read."

¹³Then the Lord said, "Because this nation approaches [Me only] with their words And honors Me [only] with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me is a tradition that is learned by rote [without any regard for its meaning],

¹⁴Therefore, listen carefully, I will again do marvelous and amazing things with this people, wonderful and astonishing things; And the wisdom of their wise men will perish, And the understanding of their discerning men will be hidden."

¹⁵Woe (judgment is coming) to those who [try to] deeply hide their plans from the LORD, Whose deeds are done in a dark place, And who say, "Who sees us?" or "Who knows us?"

¹⁶You turn things upside down [with your perversity]! Shall the potter be considered equal with the clay, That the thing that is made would say to its maker, "He did not make me"; Or the thing that is formed say to him who formed it, "He has no understanding"?

¹⁷Is it not yet a very little while Until Lebanon will be turned into a fertile field, And the fertile field regarded as a forest?

¹⁸On that day the deaf will hear the words of a book, And out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see [the words of the book].

¹⁹The afflicted also will increase their joy in the LORD, And the needy of mankind will rejoice and celebrate in the Holy One of Israel.

²⁰For the tyrant will come to an end and the scorner will be finished, Indeed all who are intent on doing evil will be cut off—

²¹Those who cause a person to be condemned with a [false] word, And lay a trap for him who upholds justice at the [city] gate, And defraud the one in the right with meaningless arguments.

²²Therefore, the LORD, who redeemed Abraham [from paganism] says this, concerning the house of Jacob (Israel): "Jacob will not be ashamed, nor will his face turn pale [with disappointment because of his children's degenerate behavior];

²³For when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst, They will sanctify My Name; They will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob And will stand in awe and reverent fear of the God of Israel.

²⁴"Those who err in mind will know the truth, And those who criticize and murmur discontentedly will accept instruction.