Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹"Woe (judgment is coming) to the rebellious children," declares the LORD, "Who carry out a plan, but not Mine, And make an alliance [by pouring out a libation], but not of My Spirit, In order to add sin to sin;

²Who proceed down to Egypt Without consulting Me, To take refuge in the stronghold of Pharaoh And to take shelter in the shadow of Egypt!

³"Therefore the safety and protection of Pharaoh will be your shame And the refuge in the shadow of Egypt, your humiliation and disgrace.

⁴"For his princes are at Zoan And his ambassadors arrive at Hanes [in Egypt].

⁵"All will be ashamed because of a people (the Egyptians) who cannot benefit them, Who are not a help or benefit, but a shame and also a disgrace."

⁶A [mournful, inspired] oracle ( a burden to be carried) concerning the beasts of the Negev (the South): Through a land of trouble and anguish, From where come lioness and lion, viper and [fiery] flying serpent, They carry their riches on the shoulders of young donkeys And their treasures on the humps of camels, To a people (Egyptians) who cannot benefit them.

⁷For Egypt's help is worthless and good for nothing. Therefore, I have called her "Rahab Who Has Been Exterminated."

⁸Now, go, write it on a tablet before them And inscribe it on a scroll, So that it may serve in the time to come As a witness [against them] forevermore.

⁹For this is a rebellious people, lying sons, Sons who refuse to listen to The law and instruction of the LORD;

¹⁰Who say to the seers, "You must not see visions from God"; And to the prophets, "You must not prophesy to us what is right! Speak to us pleasant things and smooth words, Prophesy [deceitful] illusions [that we will enjoy].

¹¹"Get out of the [true] way, turn aside from the path [of God], Stop bothering us with the Holy One of Israel."

¹²Therefore, the Holy One of Israel says this, "Because you have refused and rejected this word [of Mine] And have put your trust in oppression and guile, and have relied on them,

¹³Therefore this wickedness [this sin, this injustice, this wrongdoing] will be to you Like a crack [in a wall] about to fall, A bulge in a high wall, Whose collapse comes suddenly in an instant,

¹⁴"Whose collapse is like the smashing of a potter's jar, Crushed so savagely that there cannot be found among its pieces a potsherd [large enough] To take [coals of] fire from a fireplace, Or to scoop water from a cistern."

¹⁵For the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel has said this, "In returning [to Me] and rest you shall be saved, In quietness and confident trust is your strength." But you were not willing,

¹⁶And you said, "No! We will flee on horses!" Therefore you will flee [from your enemies]! And [you said], "We will ride on swift horses!" Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift.

¹⁷A thousand of you will flee at the threat of one man; You will flee at the threat of five, Until you are left like a flag on the top of a mountain, And like a signal on a hill.

¹⁸Therefore the LORD waits [expectantly] and longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; Blessed (happy, fortunate) are all those who long for Him [since He will never fail them].

¹⁹O people in Zion, inhabitant in Jerusalem, you will weep no longer. He will most certainly be gracious to you at the sound of your cry for help; when He hears it, He will answer you.

²⁰Though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of oppression, yet your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will [constantly] see your Teacher.

²¹Your ears will hear a word behind you, "This is the way, walk in it," whenever you turn to the right or to the left.

²²And you will defile your carved images overlaid with silver, and your cast images plated with gold. You will scatter them like a bloodstained cloth, and will say to them, "Be gone!"

²³Then He will give you rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and bread [grain] from the produce of the ground, and it will be rich and plentiful. In that day your livestock will graze in large and roomy pastures.

²⁴Also the oxen and the young donkeys that work the ground will eat salted fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and pitchfork.

²⁵On every lofty mountain and on every high hill there will be streams of water on the day of the great slaughter (the day of the LORD), when the towers fall [and all His enemies are destroyed].

²⁶The light of the full moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days [concentrated in one], in the day the LORD binds up the fracture of His people and heals the wound He has inflicted [because of their sins].

²⁷Now look, the name of the LORD comes from far away, Burning with His anger, and heavy with smoke; His lips are full of indignation, And His tongue is like a consuming fire.

²⁸His breath is like an overflowing river, Which reaches to the neck, To sift the nations back and forth in a sieve [of disaster], And to put in the jaws of the peoples the bridle which leads to ruin.

²⁹You will have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept, And joy of heart as when one marches [in procession] with a flute, To go to the [temple on the] mountain of the LORD, to the Rock of Israel.

³⁰And the LORD will make His majestic voice heard, And show the descending of His arm [striking] in [His] fierce anger, And in the flame of a devouring fire, In the crashing sound of heavy rain, cloudburst, and hailstones.

³¹For at the voice of the LORD the Assyrians will be terrified, When He strikes [them] with the rod.

³²And every blow of the rod of punishment, Which the LORD will lay on them, Will be to the music of Israel's tambourines and lyres; And in battles, brandishing weapons, He will fight Assyria.

³³For Topheth [in Hinnom] has long been ready; Indeed, it has been prepared for the [Assyrian] king. He has made it deep and wide, A pit of fire with plenty of wood; The breath of the LORD, like a river of brimstone (blazing sulfur), kindles and fans it.

¹Woe (judgment is coming) to those who go down to Egypt for help, Who rely on horses And trust in chariots because they are many, And in horsemen because they are very strong, But they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek and consult the LORD!

²Yet He is also wise and will bring disaster, And does not retract His words, But will arise against the house of evildoers And against the helpers of those who do evil.

³Now the Egyptians are men and not God, And their horses are flesh and not spirit; And the LORD will stretch out His hand, And he (Egypt) who helps will stumble, And he (Judah) who is helped will fall, And all of them will perish together.

⁴For so the LORD says to me, "As the lion or the young lion growls over his prey, And though a large group of shepherds is called out against him He will not be terrified at their voice nor cringe at their noise, So the LORD of hosts will come down to wage war on Mount Zion and on its hill."

⁵Like flying birds, so will the LORD of hosts protect Jerusalem; He will protect and save it, He will pass over and rescue it.

⁶Return to Him from whom you have so deeply defected, O sons of Israel.

⁷For in that day every man will reject and throw away his idols of silver and his idols of gold [in disgust], which your own hands have sinfully made for you.

⁸Then the Assyrian will fall by a sword not of man, And a sword not of man will devour him. And he will flee from the sword [of God], And his young men will become forced labor.

⁹"His rock [his stronghold] will pass away because of panic, And his princes will be terrified at the [sight of the battle] standard," Declares the LORD, whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.

¹Behold, a King will reign in righteousness, And princes will rule with justice.

²Each [one of them] will be like a hiding place from the wind And a shelter from the storm, Like streams of water in a dry land, Like the shade of a huge rock in a parched and weary land [to those who turn to them].

³Then the eyes of those who see will not be blinded, And the ears of those who hear will listen attentively.

⁴The heart (mind) of those who act impulsively will discern the truth, And the tongue of the stammerers will hurry to speak clearly.

⁵The fool (the good-for-nothing) will no longer be called noble, Nor the rogue said to be generous.

⁶For the fool speaks nonsense, And his heart (mind) plans wickedness: To practice ungodliness and to speak error concerning the LORD, To keep the craving of the hungry unsatisfied And to deprive the thirsty of drink.

⁷As for the rogue, his weapons are evil; He conceives wicked plans To ruin the poor with lies, Even when the plea of the needy one is just and right.

⁸But the noble man conceives noble and magnificent things; And he stands by what is noble and magnificent.

⁹Rise up, you women who are carefree, And hear my voice, You confident and unsuspecting daughters! Listen to what I am saying.

¹⁰In little more than a year You will tremble [with anxiety], you unsuspecting and complacent women; For the vintage has ended, And the harvest will not come.

¹¹Tremble, you women who are carefree; Tremble with fear, you complacent ones! Strip, undress and wear sackcloth on your waist [in grief],

¹²Beat your breasts [in mourning] for the beautiful fields, for the fruitful vine,

¹³For the land of my people growing over with thorns and briars— Yes, [mourn] for all the houses of joy in the joyous city.

¹⁴For the palace has been abandoned, the populated city deserted; The hill [of the city] and the watchtower have become caves [for wild animals] forever, A delight for wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks,

¹⁵Until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high, And the wilderness becomes a fertile field, And the fertile field is valued as a forest.

¹⁶Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, And righteousness will live in the fertile field.

¹⁷And the effect of righteousness will be peace, And the result of righteousness will be quietness and confident trust forever.

¹⁸Then my people will live in a peaceful surrounding, And in secure dwellings and in undisturbed resting places.

¹⁹But it will hail, when the forest comes down, And the [capital] city will fall in utter humiliation.

²⁰Blessed (happy, fortunate) are you who cast your seed upon all waters [ when the river overflows its banks and irrigates the land], You who allow the ox and the donkey to roam freely.

¹Woe (judgment is coming) to you, O destroyer, You who were not destroyed, And he who is treacherous, while others did not deal treacherously with him. As soon as you finish destroying, you will be destroyed; As soon as you stop dealing treacherously, others will deal treacherously with you.

²O LORD, be gracious to us; we have waited [expectantly] for You. Be the arm of Your servants every morning [that is, their strength and their defense], Our salvation also in the time of trouble.

³At the sound of the tumult, the peoples flee; At the lifting up of Yourself nations scatter.

⁴Your spoil [of Israel's foe] is gathered [by the people of Jerusalem] as the caterpillar gathers; As locusts swarming so people swarm on it.

⁵The LORD is exalted, for He dwells on high; He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.

⁶And He will be the security and stability of your times, A treasure of salvation, wisdom and knowledge; The fear of the LORD is your treasure.

⁷Now look, their brave men shout outside; The ambassadors [seeking a treaty] of peace weep bitterly.

⁸The highways are deserted, the traveler has ceased [to appear]. The enemy has broken the covenant, he has rejected the cities, He has no regard for [any] man.

⁹The land mourns and dries out, Lebanon is shamed and [its lush foliage] withers; Sharon is like a desert plain, And Bashan and [Mount] Carmel shake off their leaves.

¹⁰"Now I will arise," says the LORD. "Now I will be exalted; now I will be lifted up.

¹¹"You have conceived dried grass, you will give birth to stubble; My breath is a fire that will consume you.

¹²"The peoples will be burned to lime, Like thorns cut down which are burned in the fire.

¹³"You who are far away, hear what I have done; And you who are near, acknowledge My might."

¹⁴The sinners in Zion are terrified; Trembling has seized the godless. [They cry] "Who among us can live with the consuming fire? Who among us can live with everlasting burning?"

¹⁵He who walks righteously and speaks with integrity, Who rejects gain from fraud and from oppression, Who shakes his hand free from the taking of bribes, Who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed And shuts his eyes to avoid looking upon evil;

¹⁶He will dwell on the heights, His place of defense will be the fortress of rocks, His bread will be given him; His water will be permanent.

¹⁷Your eyes will see the King in His beauty; They will see a far-distant land.

¹⁸Your mind will meditate on the terror [asking]: "Where is he who counts? Where is he who weighs [the tribute]? Where is he who counts the towers?"

¹⁹You will no longer see the fierce and insolent people, A people of unintelligible speech which no one comprehends, Of a strange and stammering tongue which no one understands.

²⁰Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts and observances; Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a undisturbed settlement, A tent which will not be taken down; Not one of its stakes will ever be pulled up, Nor any of its ropes be severed.

²¹But there the mighty and magnificent LORD will be for us A place of broad rivers and streams, Where no oar-driven boat will go, And on which no mighty and stately ship will pass.

²²For the LORD is our Judge, The LORD is our Ruler, The LORD is our King; He will save us.

²³Your ship's ropes (tackle) hang loose; They cannot hold the base of their mast firmly, Nor spread out the sail. Then an abundance of spoil and plunder will be divided; Even the lame will take the plunder.

²⁴And no inhabitant [of Zion] will say, "I am sick"; The people who dwell there will be forgiven their wickedness [their sin, their injustice, their wrongdoing].

¹Come near, you nations, to hear; and listen, O peoples! Let the earth and all that is in it hear, and the world and all that comes forth from it.

²For the LORD is angry at all the nations, And His wrath is against all their armies; He has utterly doomed them, He has given them over to slaughter.

³So their slain will be thrown out, And the stench of their corpses will rise, And the mountains will flow with their blood.

⁴All the host of heaven will be dissolved, And the skies will be rolled up like a scroll; All their hosts [the stars and the planets] will also wither away As a leaf withers from the vine, And as a fig withers from the fig tree.

⁵For My sword is satiated [with blood] in heaven; Indeed, it will come down for judgment on Edom And on the people whom I have doomed for destruction.

⁶The sword of the LORD is filled with blood [from sacrifices], It drips with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, With the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah (Edom's capital city) And a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

⁷Wild oxen will also fall with them And the young bulls with the strong bulls; And their land will be soaked with blood, And their dust made greasy with fat.

⁸For the LORD has a day of vengeance, A year of retribution for the cause of Zion.

⁹The streams [of Edom] will be turned into pitch, And its dust into brimstone, And its land will become burning pitch.

¹⁰The burning will not be quenched night or day; Its smoke will go up forever. From generation to generation it will lie in ruins; No one will ever again pass through it.

¹¹But the pelican and the porcupine will take possession of it; The owl and the raven will dwell in it. And He will stretch over it (Edom) the measuring line of desolation And the plumb line of emptiness.

¹²Its nobles—there is no one there Whom they may proclaim king— And all its princes will be nothing.

¹³Thorns will come up in its fortified palaces, Nettles and brambles in its fortified cities; It will be a haunt for jackals, An abode for ostriches.

¹⁴The creatures of the desert will encounter jackals And the hairy goat will call to its kind; Indeed, Lilith (night demon) will settle there And find herself a place of rest.

¹⁵There the arrow snake will make her nest and lay her eggs, And hatch them and gather her young under her protection; Indeed, the birds of prey will be gathered there [to breed], Every one with its own kind.

¹⁶Seek from the book of the LORD, and read: Not one of these [creatures] will be missing; None will lack its mate. For His mouth has commanded, And His Spirit has gathered them.

¹⁷The LORD has cast the lot for them, And His hand has divided and apportioned Edom to the wild beasts by measuring-line. They will possess it forever; From generation to generation they will dwell in it.

¹The wilderness and the dry land will be glad; The Arabah (desert) will shout in exultation and blossom Like the autumn crocus.

²It will blossom abundantly And rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, The majesty of [Mount] Carmel and [the plain] of Sharon. They will see the glory of the LORD, The majesty and splendor of our God.

³Encourage the exhausted, and make staggering knees firm.

⁴Say to those with an anxious and panic-stricken heart, "Be strong, fear not! Indeed, your God will come with vengeance [for the ungodly]; The retribution of God will come, But He will save you."

⁵Then the eyes of the blind will be opened And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.

⁶Then the lame will leap like a deer, And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. For waters will break forth in the wilderness And streams in the desert.

⁷And the burning sand (mirage) will become a pool [of water] And the thirsty ground springs of water; In the haunt of jackals, where they lay resting, Grass becomes reeds and rushes.

⁸A highway will be there, and a roadway; And it will be called the Holy Way. The unclean will not travel on it, But it will be for those who walk on the way [the redeemed]; And fools will not wander on it.

⁹No lion will be there, Nor will any predatory animal come up on it; They will not be found there. But the redeemed will walk there.

¹⁰And the ransomed of the LORD will return And come to Zion with shouts of jubilation, And everlasting joy will be upon their heads; They will find joy and gladness, And sorrow and sighing will flee away.

¹Now in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and conquered them.

²And the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh [his military commander] from Lachish [the Judean fortress commanding the road from Egypt] to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem with a large army. And he stood by the canal of the Upper Pool on the highway to the Fuller's Field.

³Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the [royal] household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recording historian, came out to [meet] him.

⁴Then the Rabshakeh said to them, "Say to Hezekiah, 'This is what the great king, the king of Assyria says, "What is [the reason for] this confidence that you have?

⁵I say, 'Your plan and strength for the war are only empty words.' Now in whom do you trust and on whom do you rely, that you have rebelled against me?

⁶Listen carefully, you rely on the staff of this broken reed, Egypt, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him.

⁷But if you say to me, 'We trust in and rely on the LORD our God,' is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, 'You shall worship before this altar'?

⁸So now, exchange pledges with my master the king of Assyria and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to put riders on them.

⁹How then can you repulse [the attack of] a single commander of the least of my master's servants, and rely on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?

¹⁰Moreover, is it without the LORD that I have now come up against this land to destroy it? The LORD said to me, 'Go up against this land and destroy it.'"'"

¹¹Then Eliakim and Shebna and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, "Please, speak to your servants in Aramaic, because we understand it; and do not speak to us in Judean (Hebrew) in the hearing of the people who are [stationed] on the wall."

¹²But the Rabshakeh said, "Has my master sent me to speak these words only to your master and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall, doomed to eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?"

¹³Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out with a loud voice in Judean (Hebrew): "Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria.

¹⁴This is what the king says, 'Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to rescue you;

¹⁵nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, "The LORD will most certainly rescue us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria."

¹⁶Do not listen to Hezekiah,' for this is what the king of Assyria says, 'Make peace with me and come out to me, and each one of you will eat from his own vine and each from his own fig tree and each [one of you] drink from the water of his own cistern,

¹⁷until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.

¹⁸Beware that Hezekiah does not mislead you by saying, "The LORD will rescue us." Has any one of the gods of the nations [ever] rescued his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?

¹⁹Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad [in Aram]? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? And when have they rescued Samaria from my hand?

²⁰Who among all the gods of these lands have rescued their land from my hand, that [you should think that] the LORD would rescue Jerusalem from my hand?'"

²¹But they kept silent and did not say a word to him in reply, for King Hezekiah's command was, "Do not answer him."

²²Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the household, and Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph, the recording historian, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn [in grief], and told him the words of the Rabshakeh [the Assyrian commander].

¹And when King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the LORD.

²Then he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the [royal] household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz.

³They said to him, "This is what Hezekiah says, 'This day is a day of distress, rebuke and disgrace; for children have come to birth, and there is no strength to deliver them.

⁴It may be that the LORD your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh [the commander], whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to taunt and defy the living God, and will avenge the words which the LORD your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for the remnant [of His people] that is left.'"

⁵So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

⁶Isaiah said to them, "You shall say the following to your master: 'This is what the LORD says, "Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me.

⁷Listen carefully, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land."'"

⁸So the Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah [a fortified city of Judah], for he had heard that the king had left Lachish.

⁹And Sennacherib king of Assyria, heard them say concerning Tirhakah king of Cush (Ethiopia), "He has come out to fight against you." And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,

¹⁰"You shall say to Hezekiah king of Judah, 'Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, "Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria."

¹¹Listen carefully, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, utterly destroying them. So will you be rescued?

¹²Did the gods of the nations which my fathers destroyed rescue them— Gozan, Haran [of Mesopotamia], Rezeph, and the sons of Eden who were in Telassar?

¹³Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad [of northern Syria], the king of the city of Sepharvaim, [the king of] Hena, or [the king of] Ivvah?'"

¹⁴Then Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD.

¹⁵And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD saying,

¹⁶"O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.

¹⁷Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib that he has sent to taunt and defy the living God.

¹⁸It is true, O LORD, that the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the countries and their lands,

¹⁹and have cast the gods [of those peoples] into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. Therefore they have destroyed them.

²⁰Now, O LORD our God, save us from his hand so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know and fully realize that You alone, LORD, are God."

²¹Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, "For the LORD, the God of Israel says this, 'Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria,

²²this is the word that the LORD has spoken against him: "She has shown contempt for you and mocked you, The Virgin Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem); She has shaken her head behind you, The Daughter of Jerusalem!

²³"Whom have you taunted and blasphemed? And against whom have you raised your voice And haughtily lifted up your eyes? Against the Holy One of Israel!

²⁴"Through your servants you have taunted and defied the Lord, And you have said, 'With my many chariots I have gone up to the heights of the mountains, To the remotest parts of Lebanon. I cut down its tallest cedars and its choicest cypress trees; And I will go to its remotest height, its most luxuriant and thickest forest.

²⁵'I dug wells and drank [foreign] waters, And with the sole of my feet I dried up All the canals [of the Nile] of Egypt.'

²⁶"Have you not heard [says the God of Israel] That I did it long ago, That I planned it in ancient times? Now I have brought it to pass, That you [king of Assyria] would [be My instrument to] turn fortified cities into ruinous heaps.

²⁷"Therefore their inhabitants had little power, They were terrorized and shamed; They were like the grass of the field and the green vegetation, Like grass on the housetops and like a field [of grain] scorched before it is grown.

²⁸"But I know your sitting down And your going out and your coming in [every detail of your life], And your raging against Me.

²⁹"Because your raging against Me And your arrogance has come up to My ears, I will put My hook in your nose And My bridle in your mouth, And I will turn you back by the way you came.

³⁰"This shall be the sign [of these things] to you [Hezekiah]: you are to eat this year what grows of itself, and in the second year that which springs from the same, and in the third year you are to sow and harvest, and plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

³¹The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward.

³²For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant and from Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this."'

³³"Therefore, the LORD says this concerning the king of Assyria, 'He will not come into this city or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with shield, or raise an assault ramp against it.

³⁴By the way that he came, by the same way he will return, and he will not come into this city,' declares the LORD.

³⁵For I will defend this city to save it, for My own sake and for the sake of My servant David.'"

³⁶And the angel of the LORD went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when the [surviving] men got up early the next morning, they saw all the dead.

³⁷So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned and lived at Nineveh.

³⁸It came to pass as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons killed him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat [in Armenia]. And Esarhaddon his son became king in his place.

¹In those days Hezekiah [king of Judah] became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him and said, "For the LORD says this, 'Set your house in order and prepare a will, for you shall die; you will not live.'"

²Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD,

³and said, "Please, O LORD, just remember how I have walked before You in faithfulness and truth, and with a whole heart [absolutely devoted to You], and have done what is good in Your sight." And Hezekiah wept greatly.

⁴Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah, saying,

⁵"Go and say to Hezekiah, 'For the LORD, the God of David your father says this, "I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; listen carefully, I will add fifteen years to your life.

⁶I will rescue you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city [Jerusalem]."'

⁷"This shall be the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that He has spoken:

⁸Listen carefully, I will turn the shadow on the stairway [denoting the time of day] ten steps backward, the shadow on the stairway ( sundial) of Ahaz." And the sunlight went ten steps backward on the stairway where it had [previously] gone down.

⁹This is the writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after he had been sick and had recovered from his illness:

¹⁰I said, "In mid-life I am to go through the gates of Sheol (the place of the dead), I am to be summoned, deprived of the remainder of my years."

¹¹I said, "I will not see the LORD The LORD in the land of the living; I will no longer see man among the inhabitants of the world.

¹²"My dwelling (body) is pulled up and removed from me like a shepherd's tent; I have rolled up my life as a weaver [rolls up the finished web]. He cuts me free from the warp [of the loom]; From day to night You bring me to an end.

¹³"I lay down until morning. Like a lion, so He breaks all my bones; From day until night You bring me to an end.

¹⁴"Like a swallow, like a crane, so I chirp; I coo like a dove. My eyes look wistfully upward; O Lord, I am oppressed, take my side and be my security.

¹⁵"What shall I say? For He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done it; I will wander aimlessly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul.

¹⁶"O Lord, by these things men live, And in all these is the life of my spirit; Restore me to health and let me live!

¹⁷"Indeed, it was for my own well-being that I had such bitterness; But You have loved back my life from the pit of nothingness (destruction), For You have cast all my sins behind Your back.

¹⁸"For Sheol cannot praise or thank You, Death cannot praise You and rejoice in You; Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.

¹⁹"It is the living who give praise and thanks to You, as I do today; A father tells his sons about Your faithfulness.

²⁰"The LORD is ready to save me; Therefore we will play my songs on stringed instruments All the days of our lives at the house of the LORD."

²¹Now Isaiah had said, "Have them take a cake of figs and rub it [as an ointment] on the inflamed spot, that he may recover."

²²Hezekiah also had said, "What is the sign that I will go up to the house of the LORD?"

¹At that time Merodach-baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent [messengers with] letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he had heard that he had been sick and had recovered.

²Hezekiah was pleased and showed them his treasure house—the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his entire armory and everything that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house nor in all his area of dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.

³Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and asked, "What did these men say? From where have they come to you?" And Hezekiah said, "They came to me from a far country, from Babylon."

⁴Then Isaiah said, "What have they seen in your house?" And Hezekiah answered, "They have seen everything that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them."

⁵Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of the LORD of hosts,

⁶'Listen carefully, the days are coming when everything that is in your house and everything that your predecessors have stored up until this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing will be left,' says the LORD.

⁷And some of your own sons (descendants) who will come from you, whom you will father, will be taken away, and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.'"

⁸Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, "The word of the LORD which you have spoken is good." For he thought, "There will be peace and faithfulness [to God's promises to us] in my days."

¹"Comfort, O comfort My people," says your God.

²"Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, And call out to her, that her time of compulsory service in warfare is finished, That her wickedness has been taken away [since her punishment is sufficient], That she has received from the Lord's hand Double [punishment] for all her sins."

³A voice of one is calling out, "Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness [remove the obstacles]; Make straight and smooth in the desert a highway for our God.

⁴"Every valley shall be raised, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged places a broad valley.

⁵"And the glory and majesty and splendor of the LORD will be revealed, And all humanity shall see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken it."

⁶A voice says, "Call out [prophesy]." Then he answered, "What shall I call out?" [The voice answered:] All humanity is [as frail as] grass, and all that makes it attractive [its charm, its loveliness] is [momentary] like the flower of the field.

⁷The grass withers, the flower fades, When the breath of the LORD blows upon it; Most certainly [all] the people are [like] grass.

⁸The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.

⁹O Zion, herald of good news, Get up on a high mountain. O Jerusalem, herald of good news, Lift up your voice with strength, Lift it up, do not fear; Say to the cities of Judah, "Here is your God!"

¹⁰Listen carefully, the Lord GOD will come with might, And His arm will rule for Him. Most certainly His reward is with Him, And His restitution accompanies Him.

¹¹He will protect His flock like a shepherd, He will gather the lambs in His arm, He will carry them in His bosom; He will gently and carefully lead those nursing their young.

¹²Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, And marked off the heavens with a span [of the hand], And calculated the dust of the earth with a measure, And weighed the mountains in a balance And the hills in a pair of scales?

¹³Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, Or has taught Him as His counselor?

¹⁴With whom did He consult and who enlightened Him? Who taught Him the path of justice and taught Him knowledge And informed Him of the way of understanding?

¹⁵In fact, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, And are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales; Now look, He lifts up the islands like fine dust.

¹⁶And [the forests of] Lebanon cannot supply sufficient fuel to start a fire, Nor are its wild beasts enough for a burnt offering [worthy of the LORD].

¹⁷All the nations are as nothing before Him, They are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless.

¹⁸To whom then will you liken God? Or with what likeness will you compare Him?

¹⁹As for the cast image (idol), a metalworker casts it, A goldsmith overlays it with gold And a silversmith casts its silver chains.

²⁰He who is too impoverished for such an offering [to give to his god] Chooses a tree that will not rot; He seeks out for himself a skillful craftsman To [carve and] set up an idol that will not totter.

²¹Do you [who worship idols] not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth [the omnipotence of God and the stupidity of bowing to idols]?

²²It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; [It is He] who stretches out the heavens like a veil And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.

²³It is He who reduces dignitaries to nothing, Who makes the judges (rulers) of the earth meaningless (useless).

²⁴Scarcely have they been planted, Scarcely have they been sown, Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, But He merely blows on them, and they wither, And a strong wind carries them away like stubble.

²⁵"To whom then will you compare Me That I would be his equal?" says the Holy One.

²⁶Lift up your eyes on high And see who has created these heavenly bodies, The One who brings out their host by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, Not one is missing.

²⁷Why, O Jacob, do you say, and declare, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the LORD, And the justice due me escapes the notice of my God"?

²⁸Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become tired or grow weary; There is no searching of His understanding.

²⁹He gives strength to the weary, And to him who has no might He increases power.

³⁰Even youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly,

³¹But those who wait for the LORD [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] Will gain new strength and renew their power; They will lift up their wings [and rise up close to God] like eagles [rising toward the sun]; They will run and not become weary, They will walk and not grow tired.

¹"Listen to Me in silence, you islands and coastlands, And let the nations gain their strength; Let them come near, then let them speak; Let us come together for judgment [and decide the issue between us concerning the enemy from the east].

²"Who has stirred up and put into action one from the east [the king of Persia, Cyrus the Great] Whom He calls in righteousness to His service and whom victory meets at every step? The LORD turns nations over to him And subdues kings. He makes them like dust with his sword, Like wind-driven chaff with his bow.

³"He (Cyrus) pursues them and passes along safely, By a way his feet had not traveled before.

⁴"Who has performed and done this, Calling forth [and guiding the destinies of] the generations [of the nations] from the beginning? 'I, the LORD—the first, and with the last [existing before history began, the ever-present, unchanging God]—I am He.'"

⁵The islands and coastlands have seen and they fear; The ends of the earth tremble; They have drawn near and have come.

⁶They each help his neighbor And say to his brother [as he fashions his idols], "Be of good courage!"

⁷So the craftsman encourages the goldsmith, And he who smooths metal with the smith's hammer encourages him who beats the anvil, Saying of the soldering (welding), "That is good"; And he fastens the idol with nails, So that it will not totter nor be moved.

⁸"But you, Israel, My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, The offspring of Abraham My friend,

⁹You whom I [the LORD] have taken from the ends of the earth, And called from its remotest parts And said to you, 'You are My servant, I have chosen you and have not rejected you [even though you are exiled].

¹⁰'Do not fear [anything], for I am with you; Do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, be assured I will help you; I will certainly take hold of you with My righteous right hand [a hand of justice, of power, of victory, of salvation].'

¹¹"Indeed, all those who are angry with you will be put to shame and humiliated; Those who strive against you will be as nothing and will perish.

¹²"You shall search for those who quarrel with you, but will not find them; They who war against you will be as nothing, as nothing at all.

¹³"For I the LORD your God keep hold of your right hand; [I am the Lord], Who says to you, 'Do not fear, I will help you.'

¹⁴"Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel; I will help you," declares the LORD, "and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁵"In fact, I have made of you a new, sharp threshing implement with sharp edges; You will thresh the mountains and crush them, And make the hills like chaff.

¹⁶"You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away, And a high wind will scatter them; But you will rejoice in the LORD, You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁷"The poor and needy are seeking water, but there is none; Their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the LORD, will answer them Myself; I, the God of Israel, will not neglect them.

¹⁸"I will open rivers on the barren heights And springs in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a reed-pool of water And the dry land springs of water.

¹⁹"I will put the cedar in the wilderness, The acacia, the myrtle and the olive tree; I will place the juniper in the desert Together with the box tree and the cypress,

²⁰So that they may see and know, And consider and understand together, That the hand of the LORD has done this, That the Holy One of Israel has created it.

²¹"Present your case [for idols made by men's hands]," says the LORD. "Produce your evidence [of divinity]," Says the king of Jacob.

²²Let them bring forward [their evidence] and tell us what is going to happen. Regarding the former events, tell what they were, That we may consider them and know their outcome; Or announce to us the things that are going to come.

²³Tell us the things that are to come afterward, That we may know that you are gods; Indeed, you should do something good or do evil, that we may be afraid and fear [you] together [as we observe the miracle].

²⁴Hear this! You [idols] are less than nothing, And your work is worthless; The worshiper who chooses you [as a god] is repulsive.

²⁵"I have stirred up and put into action one from the north [the king of Persia, Cyrus the Great], and he has come; From the rising of the sun he will call on My Name [in prayer]. And he will trample on [the Babylonian] officials as on mortar, Even as a potter treads clay."

²⁶Who [among the idols] has declared this from the beginning, so that we could know? Or from earlier times, so that we could say, "He is [unquestionably] right!"? In fact, there was no one who declared it, Indeed, there was no one who proclaimed it; There was no one at all who heard you speak [for you pagan gods are speechless].

²⁷"I was first to say to Zion, 'Listen carefully, here they are [the Jews who will be restored to their own land].' And to Jerusalem, 'I will provide a messenger (Isaiah) to bring the good news [ that Cyrus will be stirred up and put into action to save them].'

²⁸"But when I look [on the pagan prophets and priests], there is no one [who could predict these events], And there is no counselor among them, Who, if I ask, can give an answer.

²⁹"In fact, all of these [pagan prophets and priests] are false; Their works are worthless, Their cast images are [merely] wind and emptiness.

¹"Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My Chosen One in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations.

²"He will not call out or shout aloud, Nor make His voice heard in the street.

³"A broken reed He will not break [off] And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish [He will not harm those who are weak and suffering]; He will faithfully bring forth justice.

⁴"He will not be disheartened or crushed [in spirit]; [He will persevere] until He has established justice on the earth; And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law."

⁵This is what God the LORD says, He who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and its produce, Who gives breath to the people on it And spirit to those who walk on it,

⁶"I am the LORD, I have called You (the Messiah) in righteousness [for a righteous purpose], I will also take You by the hand and keep watch over You, And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people [Israel], As a light to the nations (Gentiles),

⁷To open the eyes of the blind, To bring out prisoners from the dungeon And those who sit in darkness from the prison.

⁸"I am the LORD, that is My Name; My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved idols.

⁹"Indeed, the former things have come to pass, Now I declare new things; Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you."

¹⁰Sing to the LORD a new song, Sing His praise from the end of the earth! You who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, You islands and coastlands, and those who inhabit them [sing His praise]!

¹¹Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voices, The villages where Kedar lives. Let the inhabitants of Sela shout for joy, Let them shout joyfully from the tops of the mountains.

¹²Let them give glory to the LORD And declare His praise in the islands and coastlands.

¹³The LORD will go forth like a warrior, He will stir up His zeal like a man of war; He will shout out, yes, He will raise a war cry. He will prevail [mightily] against His enemies.

¹⁴"I [the LORD] have been silent for a long time, I have been still and restrained Myself. Now I will moan like a woman in labor, I will both gasp and pant.

¹⁵"I will lay waste the mountains and hills And wither all their vegetation; I will turn the rivers into coastlands And dry up the ponds.

¹⁶"I will lead the blind by a way they do not know; I will guide them in paths that they do not know. I will make darkness into light before them And rugged places into plains. These things I will do [for them], And I will not leave them abandoned or undone."

¹⁷Those who trust in carved idols will be turned back, And utterly put to shame, Who say to cast images, "You are our gods."

¹⁸Hear, you deaf! And look, you blind, that you may see.

¹⁹Who is blind but My servant [Israel], Or deaf like My messenger whom I send? Who is blind like the one who is at peace with Me [in a covenant relationship], Or so blind as the servant of the LORD?

²⁰You have seen many things, but you do not observe them; Your ears are open, but no one hears.

²¹The LORD was pleased for His righteousness' sake To make the law great and prove to be glorious.

²²But this is a people despoiled and plundered; All of them are trapped in holes, Or are hidden away in prisons. They have become a prey with no one to rescue them, And a spoil, with no one to say, "Give them back!"

²³Who among you will listen to this? Who will listen and pay attention in the time to come?

²⁴Who gave up Jacob [the kingdom of Judah] for spoil, and [the kingdom of] Israel to the plunderers? Was it not the LORD, He against whom we [of Judah] have sinned, And in whose ways they [of Israel] were unwilling to walk, And whose law and teaching they did not obey?

²⁵Therefore He poured out on Israel the heat of His anger And the fierceness of battle; And engulfed him in fire, Yet he did not recognize [the lesson of repentance which the Assyrian conquest was intended to teach]; It burned him, but he did not take it to heart.