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Isaiah chapter 20

English Standard Version

1In the year that the commander in chief, who was sent by Sargon the king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and fought against it and captured it— 2at that time the LORD spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, and loose the sackcloth from your waist and take off your sandals from your feet,” and he did so, walking naked and barefoot.
3Then the LORD said, “As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush, 4so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptian captives and the Cushite exiles, both the young and the old, naked and barefoot, with buttocks uncovered, the nakedness of Egypt. 5Then they shall be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope and of Egypt their boast. 6And the inhabitants of this coastland will say in that day, ‘Behold, this is what has happened to those in whom we hoped and to whom we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria! And we, how shall we escape?’”
New International Version

1In the year that the supreme commander, sent by Sargon king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and attacked and captured it-- 2at that time the LORD spoke through Isaiah son of Amoz. He said to him, 'Take off the sackcloth from your body and the sandals from your feet.' And he did so, going around stripped and barefoot.
3Then the LORD said, 'Just as my servant Isaiah has gone stripped and barefoot for three years, as a sign and portent against Egypt and Cush, 4so the king of Assyria will lead away stripped and barefoot the Egyptian captives and Cushite exiles, young and old, with buttocks bared--to Egypt's shame. 5Those who trusted in Cush and boasted in Egypt will be dismayed and put to shame. 6In that day the people who live on this coast will say, 'See what has happened to those we relied on, those we fled to for help and deliverance from the king of Assyria! How then can we escape?''
New American Standard Bible

1In the year that the commander came to Ashdod, when Sargon the 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 and loosen the sackcloth from your hips and take your sandals off your feet.' And he did so, going naked and barefoot. 3Then the Lord said, 'Even as My servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and symbol against Egypt and Cush, 4so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old, naked and barefoot with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. 5Then they will be terrified and ashamed because of Cush their hope and Egypt their pride. 6So the inhabitants of this coastland will say on that day, ‘Behold, such is our hope, where we fled for help to be saved from the king of Assyria; and how are we ourselves to escape?’?'
Christian Standard Bible

1In the year that the chief commander, sent by King Sargon of Assyria, came to Ashdod and attacked and captured it-- 2during that time the Lord had spoken through Isaiah son of Amoz, saying, "Go, take off your sackcloth from your waist and remove the sandals from your feet," and he did that, going stripped and barefoot-- 3the Lord said, "As my servant Isaiah has gone stripped and barefoot three years as a sign and omen against Egypt and Cush, 4so the king of Assyria will lead the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old alike, stripped and barefoot, with bared buttocks--to Egypt's shame. 5Those who made Cush their hope and Egypt their boast will be dismayed and ashamed. 6And the inhabitants of this coastland will say on that day, 'Look, this is what has happened to those we relied on and fled to for help to rescue us from the king of Assyria! Now, how will we escape? ' "
New Living Translation

1In the year when King Sargon of Assyria sent his commander in chief to capture the Philistine city of Ashdod, 2the Lord told Isaiah son of Amoz, 'Take off the burlap you have been wearing, and remove your sandals.' Isaiah did as he was told and walked around naked and barefoot.
3Then the Lord said, 'My servant Isaiah has been walking around naked and barefoot for the last three years. This is a sign — a symbol of the terrible troubles I will bring upon Egypt and Ethiopia. 4For the king of Assyria will take away the Egyptians and Ethiopians as prisoners. He will make them walk naked and barefoot, both young and old, their buttocks bared, to the shame of Egypt. 5Then the Philistines will be thrown into panic, for they counted on the power of Ethiopia and boasted of their allies in Egypt! 6They will say, ‘If this can happen to Egypt, what chance do we have? We were counting on Egypt to protect us from the king of Assyria.’'
King James Version

1In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod, (when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him,) and fought against Ashdod, and took it; 2At the same time spake the LORD by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot. 3And the LORD said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia; 4So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. 5And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory. 6And the inhabitant of this isle shall say in that day, Behold, such is our expectation, whither we flee for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria: and how shall we escape?

What does Isaiah chapter 20 mean?

Chapter 20 concludes Isaiah's oracle from the Lord regarding Egypt (Isaiah 19:1). He concludes with an object lesson to demonstrate that Egypt is not strong enough to save anyone from the Assyrians. Egypt cannot even save themselves. Judah must not put its hope in Egypt.

Isaiah begins by focusing on a devastating event. The Assyrian king Sargon sent his commander in chief—tartān' in Hebrew—to attack and defeat the Philistine city of Ashdod. The king of Ashdod had allied with the Egyptians against the Assyrians. After Ashdod made this alliance, they had apparently stopped paying tribute to Assyria. When the Assyrians arrived to crush Ashdod, Egypt was nowhere to be found. The defeat of Ashdod by the Assyrians in 711 BC is also described in the Assyrian annals and by fragments of a pillar unearthed in Ashdod in 1963 (Isaiah 20:1).

The prophet moves on to say that the Lord had told him to take off his sackcloth outer garment and sandals and to walk around that way. Though the Hebrew term ārom' is often translated as "naked," the main idea is an implication of shame, and not always a complete lack of clothing. It's highly likely the prophet kept a loincloth on but was seen in a humbling state of undress. Given the customs of the day, anyone who saw the prophet in public in this manner of exposure would not forget the image. Apparently, this instruction was given three years before the fall of Ashdod (Isaiah 20:2).

Next Isaiah reveals the Lord's purpose behind his time of public "nakedness." Isaiah spent three years serving as a sign of what the Egyptian captives and the exiles of their neighbor Cush will look like when Assyria defeats them. They will be stripped down and marched into captivity. It was common for prisoners at this time to be stripped as a sign of their defeat and to keep them in line (Isaiah 20:3–4).

When that day comes, all the inhabitants of the coastland who were boasting that Egypt would save them from Assyria will ask each other what hope is for them? How will they escape the crushing assault of the Assyrian army (Isaiah 20:5–6)?

The Lord's message to Judah, both in words and by Isaiah's visual example, was that God's people must not put their faith in other nations to save them from Assyria. They must trust in the Lord and rely on Him alone to protect them.
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