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Isaiah 5-9
New American Standard Bible
Chapter 5
1 Let me sing now for my beloved A song of my beloved about His vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill. 2 He dug it all around, cleared it of stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. And He built a tower in the middle of it, And also carved out a wine vat in it; Then He expected it to produce good grapes, But it produced only worthless ones. 3 'And now, you inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah, Judge between Me and My vineyard. 4 What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless ones? 5 So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard: I will remove its hedge and it will be consumed; I will break down its wall and it will become trampled ground. 6 I will lay it waste; It will not be pruned nor hoed, But briars and thorns will come up. I will also command the clouds not to rain on it.' 7 For the vineyard of the LORD of armies is the house of Israel, And the people of Judah are His delightful plant. So He waited for justice, but behold, there was bloodshed; For righteousness, but behold, a cry for help. 8 Woe to those who attach house to house and join field to field, Until there is no more room, And you alone are a landowner in the midst of the land! 9 In my ears the LORD of armies has sworn, 'Many houses shall certainly become desolate, Even great and fine ones, without occupants. 10 For ten acres of vineyard will yield only one bath of wine, And a homer of seed will yield only an ephah of grain.' 11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning so that they may pursue intoxicating drink, Who stay up late in the evening so that wine may inflame them! 12 Their banquets are accompanied by lyre and harp, by tambourine and flute, and by wine; But they do not pay attention to the deeds of the LORD, Nor do they consider the work of His hands. 13 Therefore My people go into exile for their lack of knowledge; And their nobles are famished, And their multitude is parched with thirst. 14 Therefore Sheol has enlarged its throat and opened its mouth beyond measure; And Jerusalem’s splendor, her multitude, her noise of revelry, and the jubilant within her, descend into it. 15 So the common people will be humbled and the person of importance brought low, The eyes of the haughty also will be brought low. 16 But the LORD of armies will be exalted in judgment, And the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness. 17 Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture, And strangers will eat in the ruins of the wealthy. 18 Woe to those who drag wrongdoing with the cords of deceit, And sin as if with cart ropes; 19 Who say, 'Let Him hurry, let Him do His work quickly, so that we may see it; And let the plan of the Holy One of Israel approach And come to pass, so that we may know it!' 20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! 21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes And clever in their own sight! 22 Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine, And valiant men in mixing intoxicating drink, 23 Who declare the wicked innocent for a bribe, And take away the rights of the ones who are in the right! 24 Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes stubble, And dry grass collapses in the flame, So their root will become like rot, and their blossom blow away like dust; For they have rejected the Law of the LORD of armies, And discarded the word of the Holy One of Israel. 25 For this reason the anger of the LORD has burned against His people, And He has stretched out His hand against them and struck them. And the mountains quaked, and their corpses lay like refuse in the middle of the streets. Despite all this, His anger is not spent, But His hand is still stretched out. 26 He will also lift up a flag to the distant nation, And whistle for it from the ends of the earth; And behold, it will come with speed swiftly. 27 No one in it is tired or stumbles, No one slumbers or sleeps; Nor is the undergarment at his waist loosened, Nor his sandal strap broken. 28 Its arrows are sharp and all its bows are bent; The hoofs of its horses seem like flint, and its chariot wheels like a storm wind. 29 Its roaring is like a lioness, and it roars like young lions; It growls as it seizes the prey And carries it off with no one to save it. 30 And it will roar against it on that day like the roaring of the sea. If one looks across to the land, behold, there is darkness and distress; Even the light is darkened by its clouds.Chapter 6
1 In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. 2 Seraphim were standing above Him, each having six wings: with two each covered his face, and with two each covered his feet, and with two each flew.
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And one called out to another and said, 'Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of armies. The whole earth is full of His glory.'
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And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.
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Then I said, 'Woe to me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of armies.'
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Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs.
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He touched my mouth with it and said, 'Behold, this has touched your lips; and your guilt is taken away and atonement is made for your sin.'
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Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?' Then I said, 'Here am I. Send me!'
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And He said, 'Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on listening, but do not understand; And keep on looking, but do not gain knowledge.’
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Make the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes blind, So that they will not see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed.'
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Then I said, 'Lord, how long?' And He answered, 'Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, Houses are without people And the land is utterly desolate,
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The LORD has completely removed people, And there are many forsaken places in the midst of the land.
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Yet there will still be a tenth portion in it, And it will again be subject to burning, Like a terebinth or an oak Whose stump remains when it is cut down. The holy seed is its stump.'
Chapter 7
1 Now it came about in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not conquer it. 2 When it was reported to the house of David, saying, 'The Arameans have taken a stand by Ephraim,' his heart and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake from the wind.
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Then the LORD said to Isaiah, 'Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the road to the fuller’s field,
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and say to him, ‘Take care and be calm, have no fear and do not be fainthearted because of these two stumps of smoldering logs, on account of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah.
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Because Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has planned evil against you, saying,
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'Let’s go up against Judah and terrorize it, and take it for ourselves by assault and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,'
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this is what the Lord GOD says: 'It shall not stand nor shall it come to pass.
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For the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin (now within another sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken to pieces, so that it is no longer a people),
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and the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you will not believe, you certainly shall not last.'?’?'
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Then the LORD spoke again to Ahaz, saying,
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'Ask for a sign for yourself from the LORD your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven.'
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But Ahaz said, 'I will not ask, nor will I put the LORD to the test!'
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Then he said, 'Listen now, house of David! Is it too trivial a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God as well?
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Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will name Him Immanuel.
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He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good.
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For before the boy knows enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be abandoned.
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The LORD will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim separated from Judah—the days of the king of Assyria.'
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On that day the LORD will whistle for the fly that is in the remotest part of the canals of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
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They will all come and settle on the steep ravines, on the ledges of the cliffs, on all the thorn bushes, and on all the watering places.
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On that day the Lord will shave with a razor, hired from regions beyond the Euphrates River (that is, with the king of Assyria), the head and the hair of the legs; and it will also remove the beard.
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Now on that day a person may keep alive only a heifer and a pair of sheep;
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and because of the abundance of the milk produced he will eat curds, for everyone who is left within the land will eat curds and honey.
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And it will come about on that day, that every place where there used to be a thousand vines, valued at a thousand shekels of silver, will become briars and thorns.
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People will come there with bows and arrows, because all the land will be briars and thorns.
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As for all the hills which used to be cultivated with the plow, you will not go there for fear of briars and thorns; but they will become a place for pasturing oxen and for sheep to trample.
Chapter 8
1 Then the LORD said to me, 'Take for yourself a large tablet and write on it in ordinary letters: Maher-shalal-hash-baz. 2 And I will take to Myself faithful witnesses for testimony, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.' 3 So I approached the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. Then the LORD said to me, 'Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz; 4 for before the boy knows how to cry out ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.'
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Again the LORD spoke to me further, saying,
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'Inasmuch as these people have rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah And rejoice in Rezin and the son of Remaliah;
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Now therefore, behold, the Lord is about to bring on them the strong and abundant waters of the Euphrates River, That is, the king of Assyria and all his glory; And it will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks.
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Then it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass through, It will reach as far as the neck; And the spread of its wings will fill the expanse of your land, Immanuel.
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'Be broken, you peoples, and be shattered; And listen, all remote places of the earth. Get ready, yet be shattered; Get ready, yet be shattered.
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Devise a plan, but it will fail; State a proposal, but it will not stand, For God is with us.'
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For so the LORD spoke to me with mighty power and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,
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'You are not to say, ‘It is a conspiracy!’ Regarding everything that this people call a conspiracy, And you are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it.
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It is the LORD of armies whom you are to regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, And He shall be your dread.
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Then He will become a sanctuary; But to both houses of Israel, He will be a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, And a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
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Many will stumble over them, Then they will fall and be broken; They will be snared and caught.'
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Bind up the testimony, seal the Law among my disciples.
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And I will wait for the LORD who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; I will wait eagerly for Him.
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Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from the LORD of armies, who dwells on Mount Zion.
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When they say to you, 'Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,' should a people not consult their God? Should they consult the dead in behalf of the living?
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To the Law and to the testimony! If they do not speak in accordance with this word, it is because they have no dawn.
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They will pass through the land dejected and hungry, and it will turn out that when they are hungry, they will become enraged and curse their king and their God as they face upward.
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Then they will look to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be driven away into darkness.
Chapter 9
1 But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish. In earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He will make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.
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The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them.
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You will multiply the nation, You will increase their joy; They will rejoice in Your presence As with the joy of harvest, As people rejoice when they divide the spoils.
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For You will break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian.
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For every boot of the marching warrior in the roar of battle, And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.
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For a Child will be born to us, a Son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
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There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of armies will accomplish this.
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The Lord sends a message against Jacob, And it falls on Israel.
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And all the people know it, That is, Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, Asserting in pride and in arrogance of heart:
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'The bricks have fallen down, But we will rebuild with smooth stones; The sycamores have been cut down, But we will replace them with cedars.'
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Therefore the LORD raises superior adversaries against them from Rezin And provokes their enemies,
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The Arameans from the east and the Philistines from the west; And they devour Israel with gaping jaws. In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away, And His hand is still stretched out.
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Yet the people do not turn back to Him who struck them, Nor do they seek the LORD of armies.
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So the LORD cuts off head and tail from Israel, Both palm branch and bulrush in a single day.
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The head is the elder and esteemed man, And the prophet who teaches falsehood is the tail.
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For those who guide this people are leading them astray; And those who are guided by them are confused.
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Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men, Nor does He have compassion on their orphans or their widows; For every one of them is godless and an evildoer, And every mouth is speaking foolishness. In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away, And His hand is still stretched out.
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For wickedness burns like a fire; It consumes briars and thorns; It also sets the thickets of the forest aflame And they roll upward in a column of smoke.
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By the wrath of the LORD of armies the land is burned, And the people are like fuel for the fire; No one spares his brother.
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They devour what is on the right hand but are still hungry, And they eat what is on the left hand, but they are not satisfied; Each of them eats the flesh of his own arm.
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Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh, And together they are against Judah. In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.
King James Version
Chapter 5
1 Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: 2 And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. 3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. 4 What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? 5 And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: 6 And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. 7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.
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Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!
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In mine ears said the LORD of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant.
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Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah.
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Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!
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And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands.
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Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.
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Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.
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And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled:
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But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness.
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Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.
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Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope:
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That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it!
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Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
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Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
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Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:
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Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!
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Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
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Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
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And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly:
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None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken:
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Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses' hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind:
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Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it.
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And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.
Chapter 6
1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. 2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. 4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
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Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
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Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
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And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
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Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
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And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
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Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
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Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,
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And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.
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But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.
Chapter 7
1 And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it. 2 And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind. 3 Then said the LORD unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shearjashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field; 4 And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah. 5 Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying, 6 Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal: 7 Thus saith the Lord GOD, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass. 8 For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people. 9 And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.
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Moreover the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying,
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Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.
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But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD.
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And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?
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Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
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Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.
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For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.
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The LORD shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria.
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And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
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And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes.
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In the same day shall the Lord shave with a rasor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall also consume the beard.
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And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep;
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And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land.
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And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briers and thorns.
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With arrows and with bows shall men come thither; because all the land shall become briers and thorns.
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And on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns: but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle.
Chapter 8
1 Moreover the LORD said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man's pen concerning Mahershalalhashbaz. 2 And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah. 3 And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son. Then said the LORD to me, Call his name Mahershalalhashbaz. 4 For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria. 5 The LORD spake also unto me again, saying, 6 Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son; 7 Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks: 8 And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.
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Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces.
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Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us.
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For the LORD spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying,
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Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.
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Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.
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And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
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And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.
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Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.
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And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.
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Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.
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And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?
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To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
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And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward.
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And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness.
Chapter 9
1 Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. 2 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. 3 Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. 4 For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. 5 For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire. 6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
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The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel.
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And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart,
10
The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars.
11
Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together;
12
The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
13
For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts.
14
Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day.
15
The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.
16
For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.
17
Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
18
For wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke.
19
Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother.
20
And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm:
21
Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh: and they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
Christian Standard Bible
Chapter 5
1 I will sing about the one I love, a song about my loved one's vineyard: The one I love had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.
2
He broke up the soil, cleared it of stones, and planted it with the finest vines. He built a tower in the middle of it and even dug out a winepress there. He expected it to yield good grapes, but it yielded worthless grapes.
3
So now, residents of Jerusalem and men of Judah, please judge between me and my vineyard.
4
What more could I have done for my vineyard than I did? Why, when I expected a yield of good grapes, did it yield worthless grapes?
5
Now I will tell you what I am about to do to my vineyard: I will remove its hedge, and it will be consumed; I will tear down its wall, and it will be trampled.
6
I will make it a wasteland. It will not be pruned or weeded; thorns and briers will grow up. I will also give orders to the clouds that rain should not fall on it.
7
For the vineyard of the Lord of Armies is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah, the plant he delighted in. He expected justice but saw injustice; he expected righteousness but heard cries of despair.
8
Woe to those who add house to house and join field to field until there is no more room and you alone are left in the land.
9
I heard the Lord of Armies say: Indeed, many houses will become desolate, grand and lovely ones without inhabitants.
10
For a ten-acre vineyard will yield only six gallons of wine, and ten bushels of seed will yield only one bushel of grain.
11
Woe to those who rise early in the morning in pursuit of beer, who linger into the evening, inflamed by wine.
12
At their feasts they have lyre, harp, tambourine, flute, and wine. They do not perceive the Lord's actions, and they do not see the work of his hands.
13
Therefore my people will go into exile because they lack knowledge; her dignitaries are starving, and her masses are parched with thirst.
14
Therefore Sheol enlarges its throat and opens wide its enormous jaws, and down go Zion's dignitaries, her masses, her crowds, and those who celebrate in her!
15
Humanity is brought low, each person is humbled, and haughty eyes are humbled.
16
But the Lord of Armies is exalted by his justice, and the holy God demonstrates his holiness through his righteousness.
17
Lambs will graze as if in their own pastures, and resident aliens will eat among the ruins of the rich.
18
Woe to those who drag iniquity with cords of deceit and pull sin along with cart ropes,
19
to those who say, "Let him hurry up and do his work quickly so that we can see it! Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel take place so that we can know it! "
20
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.
21
Woe to those who consider themselves wise and judge themselves clever.
22
Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, who are champions at pouring beer,
23
who acquit the guilty for a bribe and deprive the innocent of justice.
24
Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes straw and as dry grass shrivels in the flame, so their roots will become like something rotten and their blossoms will blow away like dust, for they have rejected the instruction of the Lord of Armies, and they have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25
Therefore the Lord's anger burned against his people. He raised his hand against them and struck them; the mountains quaked, and their corpses were like garbage in the streets. In all this, his anger has not turned away, and his hand is still raised to strike.
26
He raises a signal flag for the distant nations and whistles for them from the ends of the earth. Look--how quickly and swiftly they come!
27
None of them grows weary or stumbles; no one slumbers or sleeps. No belt is loose and no sandal strap broken.
28
Their arrows are sharpened, and all their bows strung. Their horses' hooves are like flint; their chariot wheels are like a whirlwind.
29
Their roaring is like a lion's; they roar like young lions; they growl and seize their prey and carry it off, and no one can rescue it.
30
On that day they will roar over it, like the roaring of the sea. When one looks at the land, there will be darkness and distress; light will be obscured by clouds.
Chapter 6
1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, and the hem of his robe filled the temple. 2 Seraphim were standing above him; they each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew.
3
And one called to another: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Armies; his glory fills the whole earth.
4
The foundations of the doorways shook at the sound of their voices, and the temple was filled with smoke.
5
Then I said: Woe is me for I am ruined because I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips, and because my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Armies.
6
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs.
7
He touched my mouth with it and said: Now that this has touched your lips, your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for.
8
Then I heard the voice of the Lord asking: Who will I send? Who will go for us?I said: Here I am. Send me.
9
And he replied: Go! Say to these people: Keep listening, but do not understand; keep looking, but do not perceive.
10
Make the minds of these people dull; deafen their ears and blind their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, understand with their minds, turn back, and be healed.
11
Then I said, "Until when, Lord? " And he replied: Until cities lie in ruins without inhabitants, houses are without people, the land is ruined and desolate,
12
and the Lord drives the people far away, leaving great emptiness in the land.
13
Though a tenth will remain in the land, it will be burned again. Like the terebinth or the oak that leaves a stump when felled, the holy seed is the stump.
Chapter 7
1 This took place during the reign of Ahaz, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah king of Judah: Aram's King Rezin and Israel's King Pekah son of Remaliah went to fight against Jerusalem, but they were not able to conquer it.
2
When it became known to the house of David that Aram had occupied Ephraim, the heart of Ahaz and the hearts of his people trembled like trees of a forest shaking in the wind.
3
The Lord said to Isaiah, "Go out with your son Shear-jashub to meet Ahaz at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, by the road to the Launderer's Field.
4
Say to him: Calm down and be quiet. Don't be afraid or cowardly because of these two smoldering sticks, the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram, and the son of Remaliah.
5
For Aram, along with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has plotted harm against you. They say,
6
Let's go up against Judah, terrorize it, and conquer it for ourselves. Then we can install Tabeel's son as king in it.' "
7
This is what the Lord God says: It will not happen; it will not occur.
8
The chief city of Aram is Damascus, the chief of Damascus is Rezin (within sixty-five years Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people),
9
the chief city of Ephraim is Samaria, and the chief of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you do not stand firm in your faith, then you will not stand at all.
10
Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz:
11
"Ask for a sign from the Lord your God--it can be as deep as Sheol or as high as heaven."
12
But Ahaz replied, "I will not ask. I will not test the Lord."
13
Isaiah said, "Listen, house of David! Is it not enough for you to try the patience of men? Will you also try the patience of my God?
14
Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: See, the virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel.
15
By the time he learns to reject what is bad and choose what is good, he will be eating curds and honey.
16
For before the boy knows to reject what is bad and choose what is good, the land of the two kings you dread will be abandoned.
17
The Lord will bring on you, your people, and your father's house such a time as has never been since Ephraim separated from Judah: He will bring the king of Assyria."
18
On that day the Lord will whistle to flies at the farthest streams of the Nile and to bees in the land of Assyria.
19
All of them will come and settle in the steep ravines, in the clefts of the rocks, in all the thornbushes, and in all the water holes.
20
On that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates River--the king of Assyria--to shave the hair on your heads, the hair on your legs, and even your beards.
21
On that day a man will raise a young cow and two sheep,
22
and from the abundant milk they give he will eat curds, for every survivor in the land will eat curds and honey.
23
And on that day every place where there were a thousand vines, worth a thousand pieces of silver, will become thorns and briers.
24
A man will go there with bow and arrows because the whole land will be thorns and briers.
25
You will not go to all the hills that were once tilled with a hoe, for fear of the thorns and briers. Those hills will be places for oxen to graze and for sheep to trample.
Chapter 8
1 Then the Lord said to me, "Take a large piece of parchment and write on it with an ordinary pen: Maher-shalal-hash-baz. 2 I have appointed trustworthy witnesses--the priest Uriah and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah."
3
I was then intimate with the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. The Lord said to me, "Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz,
4
for before the boy knows how to call 'Father,' or 'Mother,' the wealth of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria will be carried off to the king of Assyria."
5
The Lord spoke to me again:
6
Because these people rejected the slowly flowing water of Shiloah and rejoiced with Rezin and the son of Remaliah,
7
the Lord will certainly bring against them the mighty rushing water of the Euphrates River -- the king of Assyria and all his glory. It will overflow its channels and spill over all its banks.
8
It will pour into Judah, flood over it, and sweep through, reaching up to the neck; and its flooded banks will fill your entire land, Immanuel!
9
Band together, peoples, and be broken; pay attention, all you distant lands; prepare for war, and be broken; prepare for war, and be broken.
10
Devise a plan; it will fail. Make a prediction; it will not happen. For God is with us.
11
For this is what the Lord said to me with great power, to keep me from going the way of this people:
12
Do not call everything a conspiracy that these people say is a conspiracy. Do not fear what they fear; do not be terrified.
13
You are to regard only the Lord of Armies as holy. Only he should be feared; only he should be held in awe.
14
He will be a sanctuary; but for the two houses of Israel, he will be a stone to stumble over and a rock to trip over, and a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
15
Many will stumble over these; they will fall and be broken; they will be snared and captured.
16
Bind up the testimony. Seal up the instruction among my disciples.
17
I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob. I will wait for him.
18
Here I am with the children the Lord has given me to be signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of Armies who dwells on Mount Zion.
19
When they say to you, "Inquire of the mediums and the spiritists who chirp and mutter," shouldn't a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living?
20
Go to God's instruction and testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, there will be no dawn for them.
21
They will wander through the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged, and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God.
22
They will look toward the earth and see only distress, darkness, and the gloom of affliction, and they will be driven into thick darkness.
Chapter 9
1 Nevertheless, the gloom of the distressed land will not be like that of the former times when he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali. But in the future he will bring honor to the way of the sea, to the land east of the Jordan, and to Galilee of the nations.
2
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; a light has dawned on those living in the land of darkness.
3
You have enlarged the nation and increased its joy. The people have rejoiced before you as they rejoice at harvest time and as they rejoice when dividing spoils.
4
For you have shattered their oppressive yoke and the rod on their shoulders, the staff of their oppressor, just as you did on the day of Midian.
5
For every trampling boot of battle and the bloodied garments of war will be burned as fuel for the fire.
6
For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
7
The dominion will be vast, and its prosperity will never end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of the Lord of Armies will accomplish this.
8
The Lord sent a message against Jacob; it came against Israel.
9
All the people -- Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria--will know it. They will say with pride and arrogance,
10
"The bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild with cut stones; the sycamores have been cut down, but we will replace them with cedars."
11
The Lord has raised up Rezin's adversaries against him and stirred up his enemies.
12
Aram from the east and Philistia from the west have consumed Israel with open mouths. In all this, his anger has not turned away, and his hand is still raised to strike.
13
The people did not turn to him who struck them; they did not seek the Lord of Armies.
14
So the Lord cut off Israel's head and tail, palm branch and reed in a single day.
15
The head is the elder, the honored one; the tail is the prophet, the one teaching lies.
16
The leaders of the people mislead them, and those they mislead are swallowed up.
17
Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over Israel's young men and has no compassion on its fatherless and widows, for everyone is a godless evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly. In all this, his anger has not turned away, and his hand is still raised to strike.
18
For wickedness burns like a fire that consumes thorns and briers and kindles the forest thickets so that they go up in a column of smoke.
19
The land is scorched by the wrath of the Lord of Armies, and the people are like fuel for the fire. No one has compassion on his brother.
20
They carve meat on the right, but they are still hungry; they have eaten on the left, but they are still not satisfied. Each one eats the flesh of his arm.
21
Manasseh eats Ephraim, and Ephraim, Manasseh; together, both are against Judah. In all this, his anger has not turned away, and his hand is still raised to strike.
New Living Translation
Chapter 5
1 Now I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a rich and fertile hill. 2 He plowed the land, cleared its stones, and planted it with the best vines. In the middle he built a watchtower and carved a winepress in the nearby rocks. Then he waited for a harvest of sweet grapes, but the grapes that grew were bitter.
3
Now, you people of Jerusalem and Judah, you judge between me and my vineyard.
4
What more could I have done for my vineyard that I have not already done? When I expected sweet grapes, why did my vineyard give me bitter grapes?
5
Now let me tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will tear down its hedges and let it be destroyed. I will break down its walls and let the animals trample it.
6
I will make it a wild place where the vines are not pruned and the ground is not hoed, a place overgrown with briers and thorns. I will command the clouds to drop no rain on it.
7
The nation of Israel is the vineyard of the LORD of Heaven's Armies. The people of Judah are his pleasant garden. He expected a crop of justice, but instead he found oppression. He expected to find righteousness, but instead he heard cries of violence.
8
What sorrow for you who buy up house after house and field after field, until everyone is evicted and you live alone in the land.
9
But I have heard the LORD of Heaven's Armies swear a solemn oath: 'Many houses will stand deserted; even beautiful mansions will be empty.
10
Ten acres of vineyard will not produce even six gallons of wine. Ten baskets of seed will yield only one basket of grain.'
11
What sorrow for those who get up early in the morning looking for a drink of alcohol and spend long evenings drinking wine to make themselves flaming drunk.
12
They furnish wine and lovely music at their grand parties--lyre and harp, tambourine and flute--but they never think about the LORD or notice what he is doing.
13
So my people will go into exile far away because they do not know me. Those who are great and honored will starve, and the common people will die of thirst.
14
The grave is licking its lips in anticipation, opening its mouth wide. The great and the lowly and all the drunken mob will be swallowed up.
15
Humanity will be destroyed, and people brought down; even the arrogant will lower their eyes in humiliation.
16
But the LORD of Heaven's Armies will be exalted by his justice. The holiness of God will be displayed by his righteousness.
17
In that day lambs will find good pastures, and fattened sheep and young goats will feed among the ruins.
18
What sorrow for those who drag their sins behind them with ropes made of lies, who drag wickedness behind them like a cart!
19
They even mock God and say, 'Hurry up and do something! We want to see what you can do. Let the Holy One of Israel carry out his plan, for we want to know what it is.'
20
What sorrow for those who say that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark, that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter.
21
What sorrow for those who are wise in their own eyes and think themselves so clever.
22
What sorrow for those who are heroes at drinking wine and boast about all the alcohol they can hold.
23
They take bribes to let the wicked go free, and they punish the innocent.
24
Therefore, just as fire licks up stubble and dry grass shrivels in the flame, so their roots will rot and their flowers wither. For they have rejected the law of the LORD of Heaven's Armies; they have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25
That is why the LORD's anger burns against his people, and why he has raised his fist to crush them. The mountains tremble, and the corpses of his people litter the streets like garbage. But even then the LORD's anger is not satisfied. His fist is still poised to strike!
26
He will send a signal to distant nations far away and whistle to those at the ends of the earth. They will come racing toward Jerusalem.
27
They will not get tired or stumble. They will not stop for rest or sleep. Not a belt will be loose, not a sandal strap broken.
28
Their arrows will be sharp and their bows ready for battle. Sparks will fly from their horses' hooves, and the wheels of their chariots will spin like a whirlwind.
29
They will roar like lions, like the strongest of lions. Growling, they will pounce on their victims and carry them off, and no one will be there to rescue them.
30
They will roar over their victims on that day of destruction like the roaring of the sea. If someone looks across the land, only darkness and distress will be seen; even the light will be darkened by clouds.
Chapter 6
1 It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. 2 Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew.
3
They were calling out to each other, 'Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Heaven's Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory!'
4
Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke.
5
Then I said, 'It's all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the LORD of Heaven's Armies.'
6
Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs.
7
He touched my lips with it and said, 'See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.'
8
Then I heard the Lord asking, 'Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?' I said, 'Here I am. Send me.'
9
And he said, 'Yes, go, and say to this people, 'Listen carefully, but do not understand. Watch closely, but learn nothing.'
10
Harden the hearts of these people. Plug their ears and shut their eyes. That way, they will not see with their eyes, nor hear with their ears, nor understand with their hearts and turn to me for healing.'
11
Then I said, 'Lord, how long will this go on?' And he replied, 'Until their towns are empty, their houses are deserted, and the whole country is a wasteland;
12
until the LORD has sent everyone away, and the entire land of Israel lies deserted.
13
If even a tenth--a remnant--survive, it will be invaded again and burned. But as a terebinth or oak tree leaves a stump when it is cut down, so Israel's stump will be a holy seed.'
Chapter 7
1 When Ahaz, son of Jotham and grandson of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah, the king of Israel, set out to attack Jerusalem. However, they were unable to carry out their plan.
2
The news had come to the royal court of Judah: 'Syria is allied with Israel against us!' So the hearts of the king and his people trembled with fear, like trees shaking in a storm.
3
Then the LORD said to Isaiah, 'Take your son Shear-jashub and go out to meet King Ahaz. You will find him at the end of the aqueduct that feeds water into the upper pool, near the road leading to the field where cloth is washed.
4
Tell him to stop worrying. Tell him he doesn't need to fear the fierce anger of those two burned-out embers, King Rezin of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah.
5
Yes, the kings of Syria and Israel are plotting against him, saying,
6
'We will attack Judah and capture it for ourselves. Then we will install the son of Tabeel as Judah's king.'
7
But this is what the Sovereign LORD says: 'This invasion will never happen; it will never take place;
8
for Syria is no stronger than its capital, Damascus, and Damascus is no stronger than its king, Rezin. As for Israel, within sixty-five years it will be crushed and completely destroyed.
9
Israel is no stronger than its capital, Samaria, and Samaria is no stronger than its king, Pekah son of Remaliah. Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm.'
10
Later, the LORD sent this message to King Ahaz:
11
'Ask the LORD your God for a sign of confirmation, Ahaz. Make it as difficult as you want--as high as heaven or as deep as the place of the dead.'
12
But the king refused. 'No,' he said, 'I will not test the LORD like that.'
13
Then Isaiah said, 'Listen well, you royal family of David! Isn't it enough to exhaust human patience? Must you exhaust the patience of my God as well?
14
All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means 'God is with us').
15
By the time this child is old enough to choose what is right and reject what is wrong, he will be eating yogurt and honey.
16
For before the child is that old, the lands of the two kings you fear so much will both be deserted.
17
'Then the LORD will bring things on you, your nation, and your family unlike anything since Israel broke away from Judah. He will bring the king of Assyria upon you!'
18
In that day the LORD will whistle for the army of southern Egypt and for the army of Assyria. They will swarm around you like flies and bees.
19
They will come in vast hordes and settle in the fertile areas and also in the desolate valleys, caves, and thorny places.
20
In that day the Lord will hire a 'razor' from beyond the Euphrates River--the king of Assyria--and use it to shave off everything: your land, your crops, and your people.
21
In that day a farmer will be fortunate to have a cow and two sheep or goats left.
22
Nevertheless, there will be enough milk for everyone because so few people will be left in the land. They will eat their fill of yogurt and honey.
23
In that day the lush vineyards, now worth 1,000 pieces of silver, will become patches of briers and thorns.
24
The entire land will become a vast expanse of briers and thorns, a hunting ground overrun by wildlife.
25
No one will go to the fertile hillsides where the gardens once grew, for briers and thorns will cover them. Cattle, sheep, and goats will graze there.
Chapter 8
1 Then the LORD said to me, 'Make a large signboard and clearly write this name on it: Maher-shalal-hash-baz.' 2 I asked Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah, both known as honest men, to witness my doing this.
3
Then I slept with my wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. And the LORD said, 'Call him Maher-shalal-hash-baz.
4
For before this child is old enough to say 'Papa' or 'Mama,' the king of Assyria will carry away both the abundance of Damascus and the riches of Samaria.'
5
Then the LORD spoke to me again and said,
6
'My care for the people of Judah is like the gently flowing waters of Shiloah, but they have rejected it. They are rejoicing over what will happen to King Rezin and King Pekah.
7
Therefore, the Lord will overwhelm them with a mighty flood from the Euphrates River--the king of Assyria and all his glory. This flood will overflow all its channels
8
and sweep into Judah until it is chin deep. It will spread its wings, submerging your land from one end to the other, O Immanuel.
9
'Huddle together, you nations, and be terrified. Listen, all you distant lands. Prepare for battle, but you will be crushed! Yes, prepare for battle, but you will be crushed!
10
Call your councils of war, but they will be worthless. Develop your strategies, but they will not succeed. For God is with us!'
11
The LORD has given me a strong warning not to think like everyone else does. He said,
12
'Don't call everything a conspiracy, like they do, and don't live in dread of what frightens them.
13
Make the LORD of Heaven's Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear. He is the one who should make you tremble.
14
He will keep you safe. But to Israel and Judah he will be a stone that makes people stumble, a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare.
15
Many will stumble and fall, never to rise again. They will be snared and captured.'
16
Preserve the teaching of God; entrust his instructions to those who follow me.
17
I will wait for the LORD, who has turned away from the descendants of Jacob. I will put my hope in him.
18
I and the children the LORD has given me serve as signs and warnings to Israel from the LORD of Heaven's Armies who dwells in his Temple on Mount Zion.
19
Someone may say to you, 'Let's ask the mediums and those who consult the spirits of the dead. With their whisperings and mutterings, they will tell us what to do.' But shouldn't people ask God for guidance? Should the living seek guidance from the dead?
20
Look to God's instructions and teachings! People who contradict his word are completely in the dark.
21
They will go from one place to another, weary and hungry. And because they are hungry, they will rage and curse their king and their God. They will look up to heaven
22
and down at the earth, but wherever they look, there will be trouble and anguish and dark despair. They will be thrown out into the darkness.
Chapter 9
1 Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory.
2
The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine.
3
You will enlarge the nation of Israel, and its people will rejoice. They will rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest and like warriors dividing the plunder.
4
For you will break the yoke of their slavery and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders. You will break the oppressor's rod, just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian.
5
The boots of the warrior and the uniforms bloodstained by war will all be burned. They will be fuel for the fire.
6
For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7
His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the LORD of Heaven's Armies will make this happen!
8
The Lord has spoken out against Jacob; his judgment has fallen upon Israel.
9
And the people of Israel and Samaria, who spoke with such pride and arrogance, will soon know it.
10
They said, 'We will replace the broken bricks of our ruins with finished stone, and replant the felled sycamore-fig trees with cedars.'
11
But the LORD will bring Rezin's enemies against Israel and stir up all their foes.
12
The Syrians from the east and the Philistines from the west will bare their fangs and devour Israel. But even then the LORD's anger will not be satisfied. His fist is still poised to strike.
13
For after all this punishment, the people will still not repent. They will not seek the LORD of Heaven's Armies.
14
Therefore, in a single day the LORD will destroy both the head and the tail, the noble palm branch and the lowly reed.
15
The leaders of Israel are the head, and the lying prophets are the tail.
16
For the leaders of the people have misled them. They have led them down the path of destruction.
17
That is why the Lord takes no pleasure in the young men and shows no mercy even to the widows and orphans. For they are all wicked hypocrites, and they all speak foolishness. But even then the LORD's anger will not be satisfied. His fist is still poised to strike.
18
This wickedness is like a brushfire. It burns not only briers and thorns but also sets the forests ablaze. Its burning sends up clouds of smoke.
19
The land will be blackened by the fury of the LORD of Heaven's Armies. The people will be fuel for the fire, and no one will spare even his own brother.
20
They will attack their neighbor on the right but will still be hungry. They will devour their neighbor on the left but will not be satisfied. In the end they will even eat their own children.
21
Manasseh will feed on Ephraim, Ephraim will feed on Manasseh, and both will devour Judah. But even then the LORD's anger will not be satisfied. His fist is still poised to strike.
English Standard Version
Chapter 5
1 Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. 2 He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. 3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. 4 What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? 5 And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. 6 I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. 7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry! 8 Woe to those who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is no more room, and you are made to dwell alone in the midst of the land. 9 The LORD of hosts has sworn in my hearing: “Surely many houses shall be desolate, large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant. 10 For ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield but an ephah.” 11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning, that they may run after strong drink, who tarry late into the evening as wine inflames them! 12 They have lyre and harp, tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts, but they do not regard the deeds of the LORD, or see the work of his hands. 13 Therefore my people go into exile for lack of knowledge; their honored men go hungry, and their multitude is parched with thirst. 14 Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite and opened its mouth beyond measure, and the nobility of Jerusalem and her multitude will go down, her revelers and he who exults in her. 15 Man is humbled, and each one is brought low, and the eyes of the haughty are brought low. 16 But the LORD of hosts is exalted in justice, and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness. 17 Then shall the lambs graze as in their pasture, and nomads shall eat among the ruins of the rich. 18 Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, who draw sin as with cart ropes, 19 who say: “Let him be quick, let him speed his work that we may see it; let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near, and let it come, that we may know it!” 20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! 21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight! 22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink, 23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right! 24 Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, and as dry grass sinks down in the flame, so their root will be as rottenness, and their blossom go up like dust; for they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts, and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. 25 Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against his people, and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them, and the mountains quaked; and their corpses were as refuse in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still. 26 He will raise a signal for nations far away, and whistle for them from the ends of the earth; and behold, quickly, speedily they come! 27 None is weary, none stumbles, none slumbers or sleeps, not a waistband is loose, not a sandal strap broken; 28 their arrows are sharp, all their bows bent, their horses’ hoofs seem like flint, and their wheels like the whirlwind. 29 Their roaring is like a lion, like young lions they roar; they growl and seize their prey; they carry it off, and none can rescue. 30 They will growl over it on that day, like the growling of the sea. And if one looks to the land, behold, darkness and distress; and the light is darkened by its clouds.Chapter 6
1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”
4
And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.
5
And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”
6
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar.
7
And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
8
And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”
9
And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
10
Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
11
Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said: “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste,
12
and the LORD removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
13
And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled.” The holy seed is its stump.
Chapter 7
1 In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it. 2 When the house of David was told, “Syria is in league with Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.
3
And the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-jashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer’s Field.
4
And say to him, ‘Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remaliah.
5
Because Syria, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has devised evil against you, saying,
6
“Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,”
7
thus says the Lord GOD: “‘It shall not stand, and it shall not come to pass.
8
For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin. And within sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered from being a people.
9
And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.’”
10
Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz:
11
“Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.”
12
But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test.”
13
And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also?
14
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
15
He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good.
16
For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted.
17
The LORD will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!”
18
In that day the LORD will whistle for the fly that is at the end of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
19
And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures.
20
In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is hired beyond the River—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also.
21
In that day a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep,
22
and because of the abundance of milk that they give, he will eat curds, for everyone who is left in the land will eat curds and honey.
23
In that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekels of silver, will become briers and thorns.
24
With bow and arrows a man will come there, for all the land will be briers and thorns.
25
And as for all the hills that used to be hoed with a hoe, you will not come there for fear of briers and thorns, but they will become a place where cattle are let loose and where sheep tread.
Chapter 8
1 Then the LORD said to me, “Take a large tablet and write on it in common characters, ‘Belonging to Maher-shalal-hash-baz.’ 2 And I will get reliable witnesses, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah, to attest for me.”
3
And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the LORD said to me, “Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz;
4
for before the boy knows how to cry ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”
5
The LORD spoke to me again:
6
“Because this people has refused the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and rejoice over Rezin and the son of Remaliah,
7
therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them the waters of the River, mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks,
8
and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, reaching even to the neck, and its outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.”
9
Be broken, you peoples, and be shattered; give ear, all you far countries; strap on your armor and be shattered; strap on your armor and be shattered.
10
Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing; speak a word, but it will not stand, for God is with us.
11
For the LORD spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying:
12
“Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread.
13
But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.
14
And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
15
And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”
16
Bind up the testimony; seal the teaching among my disciples.
17
I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him.
18
Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.
19
And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living?
20
To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.
21
They will pass through the land, greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against their king and their God, and turn their faces upward.
22
And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness.
Chapter 9
1 But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
2
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.
3
You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
4
For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.
5
For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.
6
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7
Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
8
The Lord has sent a word against Jacob, and it will fall on Israel;
9
and all the people will know, Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, who say in pride and in arrogance of heart:
10
“The bricks have fallen, but we will build with dressed stones; the sycamores have been cut down, but we will put cedars in their place.”
11
But the LORD raises the adversaries of Rezin against him, and stirs up his enemies.
12
The Syrians on the east and the Philistines on the west devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.
13
The people did not turn to him who struck them, nor inquire of the LORD of hosts.
14
So the LORD cut off from Israel head and tail, palm branch and reed in one day—
15
the elder and honored man is the head, and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail;
16
for those who guide this people have been leading them astray, and those who are guided by them are swallowed up.
17
Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men, and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows; for everyone is godless and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.
18
For wickedness burns like a fire; it consumes briers and thorns; it kindles the thickets of the forest, and they roll upward in a column of smoke.
19
Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts the land is scorched, and the people are like fuel for the fire; no one spares another.
20
They slice meat on the right, but are still hungry, and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied; each devours the flesh of his own arm,
21
Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim devours Manasseh; together they are against Judah. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.
New International Version
Chapter 5
1 I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside.
2
He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit.
3
Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard.
4
What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad?
5
Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled.
6
I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it.'
7
The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the nation of Israel, and the people of Judah are the vines he delighted in. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.
8
Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land.
9
The LORD Almighty has declared in my hearing: 'Surely the great houses will become desolate, the fine mansions left without occupants.
10
A ten-acre vineyard will produce only a bath of wine; a homer of seed will yield only an ephah of grain.'
11
Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks, who stay up late at night till they are inflamed with wine.
12
They have harps and lyres at their banquets, pipes and timbrels and wine, but they have no regard for the deeds of the LORD, no respect for the work of his hands.
13
Therefore my people will go into exile for lack of understanding; those of high rank will die of hunger and the common people will be parched with thirst.
14
Therefore Death expands its jaws, opening wide its mouth; into it will descend their nobles and masses with all their brawlers and revelers.
15
So people will be brought low and everyone humbled, the eyes of the arrogant humbled.
16
But the LORD Almighty will be exalted by his justice, and the holy God will be proved holy by his righteous acts.
17
Then sheep will graze as in their own pasture; lambs will feed among the ruins of the rich.
18
Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit, and wickedness as with cart ropes,
19
to those who say, 'Let God hurry; let him hasten his work so we may see it. The plan of the Holy One of Israel-- let it approach, let it come into view, so we may know it.'
20
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.
21
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.
22
Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks,
23
who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice to the innocent.
24
Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the LORD Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25
Therefore the LORD's anger burns against his people; his hand is raised and he strikes them down. The mountains shake, and the dead bodies are like refuse in the streets. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.
26
He lifts up a banner for the distant nations, he whistles for those at the ends of the earth. Here they come, swiftly and speedily!
27
Not one of them grows tired or stumbles, not one slumbers or sleeps; not a belt is loosened at the waist, not a sandal strap is broken.
28
Their arrows are sharp, all their bows are strung; their horses' hooves seem like flint, their chariot wheels like a whirlwind.
29
Their roar is like that of the lion, they roar like young lions; they growl as they seize their prey and carry it off with no one to rescue.
30
In that day they will roar over it like the roaring of the sea. And if one looks at the land, there is only darkness and distress; even the sun will be darkened by clouds.
Chapter 6
1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.
3
And they were calling to one another: 'Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.'
4
At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
5
Woe to me!' I cried. 'I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.'
6
Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.
7
With it he touched my mouth and said, 'See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.'
8
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here am I. Send me!'
9
He said, 'Go and tell this people: ''Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.'
10
Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.'
11
Then I said, 'For how long, Lord?' And he answered: 'Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged,
12
until the LORD has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken.
13
And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.'
Chapter 7
1 When Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem, but they could not overpower it.
2
Now the house of David was told, 'Aram has allied itself with Ephraim'; so the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind.
3
Then the LORD said to Isaiah, 'Go out, you and your son Shear-Jashub, to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Launderer's Field.
4
Say to him, 'Be careful, keep calm and don't be afraid. Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood--because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah.
5
Aram, Ephraim and Remaliah's son have plotted your ruin, saying,
6
Let us invade Judah; let us tear it apart and divide it among ourselves, and make the son of Tabeel king over it.'
7
Yet this is what the Sovereign LORD says: ''It will not take place, it will not happen,
8
for the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is only Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people.
9
The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah's son. If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.''
10
Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz,
11
Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.'
12
But Ahaz said, 'I will not ask; I will not put the LORD to the test.'
13
Then Isaiah said, 'Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also?
14
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
15
He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right,
16
for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.
17
The LORD will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah--he will bring the king of Assyria.'
18
In that day the LORD will whistle for flies from the Nile delta in Egypt and for bees from the land of Assyria.
19
They will all come and settle in the steep ravines and in the crevices in the rocks, on all the thornbushes and at all the water holes.
20
In that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates River--the king of Assyria--to shave your heads and private parts, and to cut off your beards also.
21
In that day, a person will keep alive a young cow and two goats.
22
And because of the abundance of the milk they give, there will be curds to eat. All who remain in the land will eat curds and honey.
23
In that day, in every place where there were a thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels, there will be only briers and thorns.
24
Hunters will go there with bow and arrow, for the land will be covered with briers and thorns.
25
As for all the hills once cultivated by the hoe, you will no longer go there for fear of the briers and thorns; they will become places where cattle are turned loose and where sheep run.
Chapter 8
1 The LORD said to me, 'Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary pen: Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.' 2 So I called in Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah as reliable witnesses for me. 3 Then I made love to the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. And the LORD said to me, 'Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. 4 For before the boy knows how to say 'My father' or 'My mother,' the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.'
5
The LORD spoke to me again:
6
Because this people has rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoices over Rezin and the son of Remaliah,
7
therefore the Lord is about to bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the Euphrates-- the king of Assyria with all his pomp. It will overflow all its channels, run over all its banks
8
and sweep on into Judah, swirling over it, passing through it and reaching up to the neck. Its outspread wings will cover the breadth of your land, Immanuel!'
9
Raise the war cry, you nations, and be shattered! Listen, all you distant lands. Prepare for battle, and be shattered! Prepare for battle, and be shattered!
10
Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted; propose your plan, but it will not stand, for God is with us.
11
This is what the LORD says to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people:
12
Do not call conspiracy everything this people calls a conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it.
13
The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread.
14
He will be a holy place; for both Israel and Judah he will be a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare.
15
Many of them will stumble; they will fall and be broken, they will be snared and captured.'
16
Bind up this testimony of warning and seal up God's instruction among my disciples.
17
I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the descendants of Jacob. I will put my trust in him.
18
Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion.
19
When someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?
20
Consult God's instruction and the testimony of warning. If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.
21
Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God.
22
Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness.
Chapter 9
1 Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan--
2
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.
3
You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder.
4
For as in the day of Midian's defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor.
5
Every warrior's boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire.
6
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7
Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
8
The Lord has sent a message against Jacob; it will fall on Israel.
9
All the people will know it-- Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria-- who say with pride and arrogance of heart,
10
The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with dressed stone; the fig trees have been felled, but we will replace them with cedars.'
11
But the LORD has strengthened Rezin's foes against them and has spurred their enemies on.
12
Arameans from the east and Philistines from the west have devoured Israel with open mouth. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.
13
But the people have not returned to him who struck them, nor have they sought the LORD Almighty.
14
So the LORD will cut off from Israel both head and tail, both palm branch and reed in a single day;
15
the elders and dignitaries are the head, the prophets who teach lies are the tail.
16
Those who guide this people mislead them, and those who are guided are led astray.
17
Therefore the Lord will take no pleasure in the young men, nor will he pity the fatherless and widows, for everyone is ungodly and wicked, every mouth speaks folly. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.
18
Surely wickedness burns like a fire; it consumes briers and thorns, it sets the forest thickets ablaze, so that it rolls upward in a column of smoke.
19
By the wrath of the LORD Almighty the land will be scorched and the people will be fuel for the fire; they will not spare one another.
20
On the right they will devour, but still be hungry; on the left they will eat, but not be satisfied. Each will feed on the flesh of their own offspring:
21
Manasseh will feed on Ephraim, and Ephraim on Manasseh; together they will turn against Judah. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.
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The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, Copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® Copyright© 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New American Standard Bible Copyright© 1960 - 2020 by The Lockman Foundation.
Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright© 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers.