Isaiah’s Vision of the Lord
6 In the year that King Uzziah wdied I saw the Lord xsitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train1 of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. yEach 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;
4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house awas 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; bfor 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 ctouched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
Isaiah’s Commission from the Lord
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, d“Go, and say to this people:
e“‘Keep on hearing,3 but do not understand;
keep on seeing,4 but do not perceive.’
10 fMake the heart of this people dull,5
and their ears heavy,
and gblind 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 burned6 again,
like a terebinth or an oak,
whose stump remains
when it is felled.”
The holy seed7 is its stump.
Isaiah Sent to King Ahaz
7 hIn the days of iAhaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, jRezin the king of Syria and kPekah 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 with1 Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz2 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-jashub3 your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the lWasher’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 it4 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
mEphraim 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 you5 are not firm in nfaith,
you will not be firm at all.’”
The Sign of Immanuel
10 Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: 11 “Ask a sign of the Lord your6 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 he7 said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you oweary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. pBehold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name qImmanuel.8 15 He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16 For rbefore 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 sthe day that Ephraim departed from Judah—tthe king of Assyria!”
18 In that day the Lord will uwhistle 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 vin the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures.9
20 In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is hired beyond the River10—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 shekels11 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.
The Coming Assyrian Invasion
8 Then the Lord said to me, “Take a large tablet and wwrite on it in common characters,1 ‘Belonging to Maher-shalal-hash-baz.’2 2 And I will get reliable witnesses, xUriah 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 ybefore the boy knows how to cry ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ zthe 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 aRezin and the son of Remaliah, 7 therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them the waters of the River,3 mighty and many, bthe 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 cImmanuel.”
9 Be broken,4 you peoples, and be shattered;5
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 dit will not stand,
for God is with us.6
Fear God, Wait for the Lord
11 For the Lord spoke thus to me ewith 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 fdo 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 gsanctuary and ha istone 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 jstumble on it. kThey shall lfall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”
16 Bind up the testimony; mseal the teaching7 among my disciples. 17 I will wait for the Lord, who is nhiding his face from the house of Jacob, and oI will hope in him. 18 pBehold, I and the qchildren whom the Lord has given me rare signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. 19 And when they say to you, s“Inquire of the tmediums 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,8 greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against9 their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. 22 And they will look to the earth, but ubehold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness.
For to Us a Child Is Born
9 1 But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt vthe 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
2 3 wThe 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 xYou 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 yyoke of his burden,
and the staff for his shoulder,
the rod of his oppressor,
you have broken zas 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 ato us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon4 his shoulder,
and his name shall be called5
bWonderful Counselor, cMighty God,
Everlasting dFather, Prince of ePeace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace
fthere will be no end,
on the gthrone of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with hjustice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
iThe zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Judgment on Arrogance and Oppression
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.
jFor 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 khead 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 lguide 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.6
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 magainst Judah.
For all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
10 Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees,
and the writers who keep writing oppression,
2 to turn aside the needy from justice
and to rob the poor of my people of their right,
that widows may be their spoil,
and that they may make the fatherless their prey!
3 What will you do on the day of punishment,
in the ruin that will come from afar?
To whom will you flee for help,
and where will you leave your wealth?
4 Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners
or fall among the slain.
nFor all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
Judgment on Arrogant Assyria
5 Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger;
the staff in their hands is my fury!
6 Against a godless nation I send him,
and against the people of my wrath I command him,
to take spoil and seize plunder,
and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
7 But he does not so intend,
and his heart does not so think;
but it is in his heart to destroy,
and to cut off nations not a few;
8 for he says:
“Are not my commanders all kings?
9 Is not Calno like Carchemish?
Is not Hamath like Arpad?
Is not Samaria like Damascus?
10 As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols,
whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11 shall I not do to Jerusalem and her idols
as I have done to Samaria and her images?”
12 When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, he1 will punish the speech2 of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes. 13 For he says:
“By the strength of my hand I have done it,
and by my wisdom, for I have understanding;
I remove the boundaries of peoples,
and plunder their treasures;
like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones.
14 My hand has found like a nest
the wealth of the peoples;
and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken,
so I have gathered all the earth;
and there was none that moved a wing
or opened the mouth or chirped.”
15 oShall the axe boast over him who hews with it,
or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it?
As if a rod should wield him who lifts it,
or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!
16 Therefore the Lord God of hosts
will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors,
and under his glory a burning will be kindled,
like the burning of fire.
17 The light of Israel will become a fire,
and his Holy One a flame,
and it will burn and devour
his thorns and briers in one day.
18 The glory of his forest and of his fruitful land
the Lord will destroy, both soul and body,
and it will be as when a sick man wastes away.
19 The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few
that a child can write them down.
The Remnant of Israel Will Return
20 In that day the premnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean on him who struck them, but will qlean on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. 21 rA remnant will return, the sremnant of Jacob, to the tmighty God. 22 For uthough your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. vDestruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness. 23 For the Lord God of hosts will make a full end, as decreed, in the midst of all the earth.
24 Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: “O my people, who dwell in Zion, wbe not afraid of the Assyrians when they strike with the rod and lift up their staff against you as the Egyptians did. 25 For in a very little while my fury will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction. 26 And the Lord of hosts will wield against them a whip, xas when he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb. And his staff will be over the sea, and he will lift it yas he did in Egypt. 27 And in that day his zburden will depart from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck; and the yoke will be broken because of the fat.”3
28 He has come to Aiath;
he has passed through Migron;
at Michmash he stores his baggage;
29 they have crossed over the pass;
at Geba they lodge for the night;
Ramah trembles;
Gibeah of Saul has fled.
30 Cry aloud, O daughter of Gallim!
Give attention, O Laishah!
O poor Anathoth!
31 Madmenah is in flight;
the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety.
32 This very day he will halt at aNob;
he will shake his fist
at the mount of the daughter of Zion,
the hill of Jerusalem.
33 Behold, the Lord God of hosts
will lop the boughs with terrifying power;
the great in height will be hewn down,
and the lofty will be brought low.
34 He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an axe,
and Lebanon will fall by the Majestic One.
