A Sign Against Egypt and Cush
1 In the year that the qcommander in chief, who was sent by Sargon the king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and fought against it and captured it— 2 at that time the Lord spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, and loose the sackcloth from your waist and take off your sandals from your feet,” and he did so, walking rnaked and barefoot.
3 Then the Lord said, “As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years sas a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush,1 4 tso shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptian captives and the Cushite exiles, both the young and the old, naked and barefoot, uwith buttocks uncovered, the nakedness of Egypt. 5 Then they shall be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope and of Egypt their boast. 6 And the inhabitants of this coastland will say in that day, ‘Behold, this is what has happened to those in whom we hoped and to whom we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria! And we, how shall we escape?’”
Fallen, Fallen Is Babylon
1 The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea.
As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on,
it comes from the wilderness,
from a terrible land.
2 A stern vision is told to me;
vthe traitor betrays,
and the destroyer destroys.
Go up, O wElam;
lay siege, O xMedia;
all the sighing she has caused
I bring to an end.
3 Therefore my loins are filled with anguish;
ypangs have seized me,
like the pangs of a woman in labor;
I am bowed down so that I cannot hear;
I am dismayed so that I cannot see.
4 My heart staggers; horror has appalled me;
the twilight I longed for
has been turned for me into trembling.
5 They prepare the table,
they spread the rugs,2
they eat, they drink.
Arise, O princes;
oil the shield!
6 For thus the Lord said to me:
“Go, set a watchman;
let him announce what he sees.
7 When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs,
riders on donkeys, riders on camels,
let him listen diligently,
very diligently.”
8 Then he who saw cried out:3
“Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord,
continually by day,
and at my post I am stationed
whole nights.
9 And behold, here come riders,
horsemen in pairs!”
And he answered,
z“Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
and all the carved aimages of her gods
he has shattered to the ground.”
10 O my threshed and winnowed one,
what I have heard from the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel, I announce to you.
11 The oracle concerning Dumah.
One is calling to me from Seir,
“Watchman, what time of the night?
Watchman, what time of the night?”
12 The watchman says:
“Morning comes, and also the night.
If you will inquire, inquire;
come back again.”
13 The oracle concerning Arabia.
In the thickets in Arabia you will lodge,
O caravans of Dedanites.
14 To the thirsty bring water;
meet the fugitive with bread,
O inhabitants of the land of Tema.
15 For they have fled from the swords,
from the drawn sword,
from the bent bow,
and from the press of battle.
16 For thus the Lord said to me, “Within a year, according to the years of a hired worker, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end. 17 And the remainder of the archers of the mighty men of the sons of Kedar will be few, for the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.”
An Oracle Concerning Jerusalem
1 The oracle concerning the valley of vision.
What do you mean that you have gone up,
all of you, to the housetops,
2 you who are full of shoutings,
btumultuous city, exultant town?
Your slain are not slain with the sword
or dead in battle.
3 All your leaders have fled together;
without the bow they were captured.
All of you who were found were captured,
though they had fled far away.
4 Therefore I said:
“Look away from me;
let me weep bitter tears;
do not labor to comfort me
cconcerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.”
5 dFor the Lord God of hosts has a day
of tumult and trampling and confusion
in the valley of vision,
a battering down of walls
and a shouting to the mountains.
6 And eElam bore the quiver
with chariots and horsemen,
and Kir uncovered the shield.
7 Your choicest valleys were full of chariots,
and the horsemen took their stand at the gates.
8 He has taken away the covering of Judah.
In that day you looked to the weapons of the fHouse of the Forest, 9 and you saw that the breaches of the city of David were many. You collected the waters of the lower gpool, 10 and you counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to hfortify the wall. 11 You made a reservoir between the itwo walls for the water of the old pool. But you did not look to him who did it, or see him who planned it long ago.
12 In that day the Lord God of hosts
called for weeping and mourning,
for jbaldness and wearing sackcloth;
13 and behold, joy and gladness,
killing oxen and slaughtering sheep,
eating flesh and drinking wine.
k“Let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die.”
14 The Lord of hosts has revealed himself in my ears:
“Surely this iniquity will not be atoned for you until you die,”
says the Lord God of hosts.
15 Thus says the Lord God of hosts, “Come, go to this steward, to lShebna, who is over the household, and say to him: 16 What have you to do here, and whom have you here, that you have cut out here a tomb for yourself, you who cut out a tomb on the height and carve a dwelling for yourself in the rock? 17 Behold, the Lord will hurl you away violently, O you strong man. He will seize firm hold on you 18 and whirl you around and around, and throw you like a ball into a wide land. There you shall die, and there shall be your glorious chariots, you shame of your master’s house. 19 I will thrust you from your office, and you will be pulled down from your station. 20 In that day I will call my servant mEliakim the son of Hilkiah, 21 and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your sash on him, and will commit your authority to his hand. And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. 22 And I will place on his shoulder the nkey of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. 23 And I will fasten him like a opeg in a secure place, and he will become a throne of honor to his father’s house. 24 And they will hang on him the whole honor of his father’s house, the offspring and issue, every small vessel, from the cups to all the flagons. 25 In that day, declares the Lord of hosts, the peg that was fastened in a secure place will give way, and it will be cut down and fall, and the load that was on it will be cut off, for the Lord has spoken.”
Children and Parents
1 nChildren, oobey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 p“Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” 4 qFathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but rbring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Bondservants and Masters
5 sBondservants,1 tobey your earthly masters2 with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, uas you would Christ, 6 not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, 8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, this vhe will receive back from the Lord, wwhether he is a bondservant or is free. 9 Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is xboth their Master3 and yours is in heaven, and that there is yno partiality with him.
The Whole Armor of God
10 Finally, zbe strong in the Lord and in the astrength of his might. 11 bPut on the cwhole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the drulers, against the authorities, against the ecosmic powers over this present fdarkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the gheavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the hevil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the ibelt of truth, and having put on the jbreastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as kshoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the lshield of faith, with which you can mextinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the nhelmet of salvation, and the osword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 ppraying qat all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, rkeep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and salso for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth tboldly to proclaim the umystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an vambassador win chains, that I may declare it boldly, xas I ought to speak.
Final Greetings
21 ySo that you also may know how I am and what I am doing, zTychicus the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will tell you everything. 22 I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may aencourage your hearts.
23 Peace be to the brothers,4 and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.
