Isaiah 24-35

American Standard Version

24 Behold, Jehovah maketh the ^[a]earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. ² And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the creditor, so with the debtor; as with the taker of interest, so with the giver of interest to him. ³ The earth shall be utterly emptied, and utterly laid waste; for Jehovah hath spoken this word. ⁴ The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, ^[b]the lofty people of the earth do languish. ⁵ The earth also is polluted under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant. ⁶ Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are found guilty: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left. ⁷ The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merry-hearted do sigh. ⁸ The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth. ⁹ They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it. ¹⁰ The waste city is broken down; every house is shut up, that no man may come in. ¹¹ There is a crying in the streets because of the wine; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is ^[c]gone. ¹² In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction. ¹³ For thus shall it be in the midst of the earth among the peoples, as the ^[d]shaking of an olive-tree, as the gleanings when the vintage is done.

¹⁴ These shall lift up their voice, they shall shout; for the majesty of Jehovah they cry aloud from the sea. ¹⁵ Wherefore glorify ye Jehovah in the ^[e]east, even the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel, in the ^[f]isles of the sea. ¹⁶ From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs: Glory to the righteous.

But I said, ^[g]I pine away, I pine away, woe is me! the treacherous have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous have dealt very treacherously. ¹⁷ Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth. ¹⁸ And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble. ¹⁹ The earth is utterly broken, the earth is rent asunder, the earth is shaken violently. ²⁰ The earth shall stagger like a drunken man, and shall sway to and fro like a hammock; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it, and it shall fall, and not rise again.

²¹ And it shall come to pass in that day, that Jehovah will ^[h]punish the host of the ^[i]high ones on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. ²² And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the ^[j]pit, and shall be shut up in the prison; and after many days shall they be ^[k]visited. ²³ Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed; for Jehovah of hosts will reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem; and before his elders shall be glory.

25 O Jehovah, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things, even counsels of old, in faithfulness and truth. ² For thou hast made of a city a heap, of a fortified city a ruin, a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built. ³ Therefore shall a strong people glorify thee; a city of terrible nations shall fear thee. ⁴ For thou hast been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall. ⁵ As the heat in a dry place wilt thou bring down the noise of strangers; as the heat by the shade of a cloud, the song of the terrible ones shall be brought low.

⁶ And in this mountain will Jehovah of hosts make unto all peoples a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. ⁷ And he will ^[l]destroy in this mountain the face of the covering that covereth all peoples, and the veil that is spread over all nations. ⁸ He hath swallowed up death for ever; and the Lord Jehovah will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the reproach of his people will he take away from off all the earth: for Jehovah hath spoken it.

⁹ And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is Jehovah; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. ¹⁰ For in this mountain will the hand of Jehovah rest; and Moab shall be trodden down in his place, even as straw is trodden down ^[m]in the water of the dunghill. ¹¹ And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst ^[n]thereof, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim; but Jehovah will lay low ^[o]his pride ^[p]together with the craft of ^[q]his hands. ¹² And the high fortress of thy walls ^[r]hath he brought down, laid low, and brought to the ground, even to the dust.

26 In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; salvation will he appoint for walls and bulwarks. ² Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth faith may enter in. ^3 [s]Thou wilt keep him ^[t]in perfect peace, whose ^[u]mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee. ⁴ Trust ye in Jehovah for ever; for in ^[v]Jehovah, even Jehovah, is an ^[w]everlasting rock. ⁵ For he hath brought down them that dwell on high, the lofty city: he layeth it low, he layeth it low even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust. ⁶ The foot shall tread it down; even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy. ⁷ The way of the just is ^[x]uprightness: thou that art upright dost ^[y]direct the path of the just.

⁸ Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Jehovah, have we waited for thee; to thy name, even to thy memorial name, is the desire of our soul. ⁹ With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee earnestly: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. ¹⁰ Let favor be showed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness will he deal wrongfully, and will not behold the majesty of Jehovah.

¹¹ Jehovah, thy hand is lifted up, yet they see not: but they shall see ^[z]thy zeal for the people, and be put to shame; yea, ^[aa]fire shall devour thine adversaries. ¹² Jehovah, thou wilt ordain peace for us; for thou hast also wrought all our works for us. ¹³ O Jehovah our God, other lords besides thee have had dominion over us; but by thee only will we make mention of thy name. ^14 [ab]They are dead, they shall not live; they are ^[ac]deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all remembrance of them to perish. ¹⁵ Thou hast increased the nation, O Jehovah, thou hast increased the nation; thou art glorified; ^[ad]thou hast enlarged all the borders of the land.

¹⁶ Jehovah, in trouble have they ^[ae]visited thee; they poured out a ^[af]prayer when thy chastening was upon them. ¹⁷ Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain and crieth out in her pangs; so we have been ^[ag]before thee, O Jehovah. ¹⁸ We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; ^[ah]neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen. ¹⁹ Thy dead shall live; my dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust; for thy dew is as the dew of ^[ai]herbs, and the earth shall cast forth ^[aj]the dead.

²⁰ Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. ²¹ For, behold, Jehovah cometh forth out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.

27 In that day Jehovah with his hard and great and strong sword will punish leviathan the ^[ak]swift serpent, and leviathan the ^[al]crooked serpent; and he will slay the monster that is in the sea.

² In that day: A vineyard of wine, sing ye ^[am]unto it. ³ I Jehovah am its keeper; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day. ⁴ Wrath is not in me: would that the briers and thorns were against me in battle! I would march upon them, I would burn them together. ⁵ Or else let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; yea, let him make peace with me. ^6 [an]In days to come shall Jacob take root; Israel shall blossom and bud; and they shall fill the face of the world with fruit.

⁷ Hath he smitten them as he smote those that smote them? or are they slain according to the slaughter ^[ao]of them that were slain by them? ^8 [ap]In measure, ^[aq]when thou sendest them away, thou dost contend with them; he hath removed them with his rough blast in the day of the east wind. ⁹ Therefore by this shall the iniquity of Jacob be ^[ar]forgiven, and this is all the fruit ^[as]of taking away his sin: that he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder, so that the Asherim and the sun-images shall rise no more. ¹⁰ For the fortified city is solitary, a habitation deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness: there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and consume the branches thereof. ¹¹ When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off; the women shall come, and set them on fire; for it is a people of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have compassion upon them, and he that formed them will show them no favor.

¹² And it shall come to pass in that day, that Jehovah will ^[at]beat off his fruit from the flood of the River unto the brook of Egypt; and ye shall be ^[au]gathered ^[av]one by one, O ye children of Israel.

¹³ And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great trumpet shall be blown; and they shall come that were ^[aw]ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and they that were outcasts in the land of Egypt; and they shall worship Jehovah in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.

28 Woe to the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley of them that are ^[ax]overcome with wine! ² Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one; as a tempest of hail, a destroying storm, as a tempest of mighty waters overflowing, will he cast down to the earth ^[ay]with the hand. ³ The crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim shall be trodden under foot: ⁴ and the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be as the first-ripe fig before the summer; which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up. ⁵ In that day will Jehovah of hosts become a crown of glory, and a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people; ⁶ and a spirit of justice to him that sitteth in judgment, and strength to them that turn back the battle ^[az]at the gate.

⁷ And even these reel with wine, and stagger with strong drink; the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they stagger with strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment. ⁸ For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.

^9 [ba]Whom will he teach knowledge? and whom will he make to understand the ^[bb]message? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts? ¹⁰ For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept; ^[bc]line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little.

^11 [bd]Nay, but by men of strange lips and with another tongue will he speak to this people; ¹² to whom he said, This is the rest, give ye rest to him that is weary; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear. ¹³ Therefore shall the word of Jehovah be unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little; that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

¹⁴ Wherefore hear the word of Jehovah, ye scoffers, that rule this people that is in Jerusalem: ¹⁵ Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us; for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves: ¹⁶ therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I ^[be]lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone of sure foundation: he that believeth shall not be in haste. ¹⁷ And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place. ¹⁸ And your covenant with death shall be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. ¹⁹ As often as it passeth through, it shall take you; for morning by morning shall it pass through, by day and by night: and it shall be nought but terror to understand the message. ²⁰ For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it; and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it. ²¹ For Jehovah will rise up as in mount Perazim, he will be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon; that he may do his work, his strange work, and bring to pass his act, his strange act. ²² Now therefore be ye not scoffers, lest your bonds be made strong; for ^[bf]a decree of destruction have I heard from the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, upon the whole ^[bg]earth.

²³ Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech. ²⁴ Doth he that ploweth to sow plow continually? doth he continually open and harrow his ground? ²⁵ When he hath levelled the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the ^[bh]fitches, and scatter the cummin, and put in the wheat in rows, and the barley in the appointed place, and the spelt in the border thereof? ^26 [bi]For his God doth instruct him aright, and doth teach him. ²⁷ For the fitches are not threshed with a sharp threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod. ^28 [bj]Bread grain is ground; for he will not be always threshing it: and though the wheel of his cart and his horses scatter it, he doth not grind it. ²⁹ This also cometh forth from Jehovah of hosts, who is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in ^[bk]wisdom.

29 ^[bl]Ho ^[bm]Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped! add ye year to year; let the feasts come round: ² then will I distress Ariel, and there shall be mourning and lamentation; ^[bn]and she shall be unto me as Ariel. ³ And I will encamp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with posted troops, and I will raise siege works against thee. ⁴ And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust; and thy voice shall be as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall ^[bo]whisper out of the dust.

⁵ But the multitude of thy ^[bp]foes shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be in an instant suddenly. ^6 [bq]She shall be visited of Jehovah of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire. ⁷ And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her stronghold, and that distress her, shall be as a dream, a vision of the night. ⁸ And it shall be as when a hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.

^9 [br]Tarry ye and wonder; ^[bs]take your pleasure and be blind: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. ¹⁰ For Jehovah hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed ^[bt]your eyes, the prophets; and your heads, the seers, hath he covered. ¹¹ And all vision is become unto you as the words of a ^[bu]book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that ^[bv]is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee; and he saith, I cannot, for it is sealed: ¹² and the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee; and he saith, I am not learned.

¹³ And the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw nigh unto me, and with their mouth and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men which hath been ^[bw]taught them; ¹⁴ therefore, behold, I will ^[bx]proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.

¹⁵ Woe unto them that hide deep their counsel from Jehovah, and whose works are in the dark, and that say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us? ^16 [by]Ye turn things upside down! Shall the potter be esteemed as clay; that the thing made should say of him that made it, He made me not; or the thing formed say of him that formed it, He hath no understanding?

¹⁷ Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest? ¹⁸ And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of ^[bz]the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness. ¹⁹ The meek also shall increase their joy in Jehovah, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. ²⁰ For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scoffer ceaseth, and all they that watch for iniquity are cut off; ²¹ that ^[ca]make a man an offender ^[cb]in his cause, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just with a thing of nought.

²² Therefore thus saith Jehovah, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale. ^23 [cc]But when he seeth his children, the work of my hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name; yea, they shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall stand in awe of the God of Israel. ²⁴ They also that err in spirit ^[cd]shall come to understanding, and they that murmur shall receive instruction.

30 Woe to the rebellious children, saith Jehovah, that take counsel, but not of me; and that ^[ce]make a league, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin, ² that set out to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to ^[cf]strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to take refuge in the shadow of Egypt! ³ Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the refuge in the shadow of Egypt your confusion. ⁴ For their princes are at Zoan, and their ambassadors are come to Hanes. ⁵ They shall all be ashamed because of a people that cannot profit them, that are not a help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach.

⁶ The ^[cg]burden of the beasts of the South.

Through the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the lioness and the lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the humps of camels, to a people that shall not profit them. ⁷ For Egypt helpeth in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I ^[ch]called her Rahab that sitteth still.

⁸ Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come ^[ci]for ever and ever. ⁹ For it is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the ^[cj]law of Jehovah; ¹⁰ that say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits, ¹¹ get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us. ¹² Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and rely thereon; ¹³ therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly in an instant. ¹⁴ And he shall break it as a potter’s vessel is broken, breaking it in pieces without sparing; so that there shall not be found among the pieces thereof a sherd wherewith to take fire from the hearth, or to dip up water out of the cistern.

¹⁵ For thus said the Lord Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength. And ye would not: ¹⁶ but ye said, No, for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift. ¹⁷ One thousand shall flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as ^[ck]a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on a hill.

¹⁸ And therefore will Jehovah wait, that he may be gracious unto you; and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for Jehovah is a God of justice; blessed are all they that wait for him. ¹⁹ For ^[cl]the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; thou shalt weep no more; he will surely be gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear, he will answer thee. ^20 [cm]And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy ^[cn]teachers ^[co]be hidden anymore, but thine eyes shall see thy ^[cp]teachers; ²¹ and thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it; when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left. ²² And ye shall defile the overlaying of thy graven images of silver, and the plating of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt ^[cq]cast them away as an ^[cr]unclean thing; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence.

²³ And he will give the rain for thy seed, wherewith thou shalt sow the ground; and bread of the increase of the ground, and it shall be fat and plenteous. In that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures; ²⁴ the oxen likewise and the young asses that till the ground shall eat ^[cs]savory provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fork. ²⁵ And there shall be upon every lofty mountain, and upon every high hill, brooks and streams of waters, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. ²⁶ Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that Jehovah bindeth up the hurt of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.

²⁷ Behold, the name of Jehovah cometh from far, burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue is as a devouring fire; ²⁸ and his breath is as an overflowing stream, that reacheth even unto the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction: and a bridle that causeth to err shall be in the jaws of the peoples. ²⁹ Ye shall have a song as in the night ^[ct]when a holy feast is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come unto the mountain of Jehovah, to the Rock of Israel. ³⁰ And Jehovah will cause his glorious voice to be heard, and will show the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and the flame of a devouring fire, with ^[cu]a blast, and tempest, and hailstones. ³¹ For through the voice of Jehovah shall the Assyrian be dismayed; with his rod will he smite him. ³² And every ^[cv]stroke of the ^[cw]appointed staff, which Jehovah shall lay upon him, shall be with the sound of tabrets and harps; and in battles with the brandishing of his arm will he fight with them. ³³ For a Topheth is prepared of old; yea, for the king it is made ready; he hath made it deep and large; the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of Jehovah, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.

31 Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help, and rely on horses, and trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very strong, but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek Jehovah! ² Yet he also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his words, but will arise against the house of the evil-doers, and against the help of them that work iniquity. ³ Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit: and when Jehovah shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall stumble, and he that is helped shall fall, and they all shall be consumed together.

⁴ For thus saith Jehovah unto me, As the lion and the young lion growling over his prey, if a multitude of shepherds be called forth against him, will not be dismayed at their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so will Jehovah of hosts come down to fight ^[cx]upon mount Zion, and ^[cy]upon the hill thereof. ⁵ As birds hovering, so will Jehovah of hosts protect Jerusalem; he will protect and deliver it, he will pass over and preserve it. ⁶ Turn ye unto him ^[cz]from whom ^[da]ye have deeply revolted, O children of Israel. ⁷ For in that day they shall cast away every man his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a sin. ⁸ And the Assyrian shall fall by the sword, not of man; and the sword, not of men, shall devour him; and he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall become subject to taskwork. ⁹ And his rock shall pass away by reason of terror, and his princes shall be dismayed at the ensign, saith Jehovah, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem.

32 Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in justice. ² And a man shall be as a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest, as streams of water in a dry place, as the shade of a great rock in a weary land. ³ And the eyes of them that see shall not be ^[db]dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken. ⁴ And the heart of the ^[dc]rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly. ⁵ The fool shall be no more called noble, nor the ^[dd]churl said to be bountiful. ⁶ For the fool will speak folly, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise profaneness, and to utter error against Jehovah, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and to cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. ⁷ And the instruments of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the ^[de]meek with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right. ⁸ But the noble deviseth noble things; and ^[df]in noble things shall he continue.

⁹ Rise up, ye women that are at ease, and hear my voice; ye ^[dg]careless daughters, give ear unto my speech. ^10 [dh]For days beyond a year shall ye be troubled, ye careless women; for the vintage shall fail, the ingathering shall not come. ¹¹ Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones; strip you, and make you bare, and ^[di]gird sackcloth upon your loins. ¹² They shall smite upon the breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine. ¹³ Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city. ¹⁴ For the palace shall be forsaken; the populous city shall be deserted; ^[dj]the hill and the watch-tower shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks; ¹⁵ until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness become a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest.

¹⁶ Then justice shall dwell in the wilderness; and righteousness shall abide in the fruitful field. ¹⁷ And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and confidence for ever. ¹⁸ And my people shall abide in a peaceable habitation, and in safe dwellings, and in quiet resting-places. ¹⁹ But it shall hail in the downfall of the forest; and the city shall be utterly laid low. ²⁰ Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth the feet of the ox and the ass.

33 Woe to thee that destroyest, and thou wast not destroyed; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! When thou hast ceased to destroy, thou shalt be destroyed; and when thou hast made an end of dealing treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee. ² O Jehovah, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou ^[dk]our arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble. ³ At the noise of the tumult the peoples are fled; at the lifting up of thyself the nations are scattered. ⁴ And your spoil shall be gathered as the caterpillar gathereth: as locusts leap shall men leap upon it. ⁵ Jehovah is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with justice and righteousness. ^6 [dl]And there shall be stability in thy times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge: the fear of Jehovah is ^[dm]thy treasure.

⁷ Behold, their valiant ones cry without; the ambassadors of peace weep bitterly. ⁸ The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: ^[dn]the enemy hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth not man. ⁹ The land mourneth and languisheth; Lebanon is confounded and withereth away; Sharon is like ^[do]a desert; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves. ¹⁰ Now will I arise, saith Jehovah; now will I lift up myself; now will I be exalted. ¹¹ Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath is a fire that shall devour you. ¹² And the peoples shall be as the burnings of lime, as thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire.

¹³ Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might. ¹⁴ The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling hath seized the godless ones: Who among us can dwell with the devouring fire? who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings? ¹⁵ He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of ^[dp]oppressions, that shaketh his hands from taking a bribe, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from looking upon evil: ¹⁶ He shall dwell on high; his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks; his bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.

¹⁷ Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold ^[dq]a land that reacheth afar. ¹⁸ Thy heart shall muse on the terror: Where is ^[dr]he that counted, where is he that weighed the tribute? where is he that counted the towers? ¹⁹ Thou shalt not see the fierce people, a people of a deep speech that thou canst not comprehend, of a ^[ds]strange tongue that thou canst not understand. ²⁰ Look upon Zion, the city of our ^[dt]solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tent that shall not be removed, the stakes whereof shall never be plucked up, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken. ²¹ But there Jehovah will be with us in majesty, ^[du]a place of broad rivers and streams, wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby. ²² For Jehovah is our judge, Jehovah is our lawgiver, Jehovah is our king; he will save us. ²³ Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not strengthen the foot of their mast, they could not spread the sail: then was the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame took the prey. ²⁴ And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.

34 Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye peoples: let the earth hear, and the fulness thereof; the world, and all things that come forth from it. ² For Jehovah hath indignation against all the nations, and wrath against all their host: he hath ^[dv]utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter. ³ Their slain also shall be cast out, and the stench of their dead bodies shall come up; and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. ⁴ And all the host of heaven shall ^[dw]be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll; and all their host shall fade away, as the leaf fadeth from off the vine, and as a fading leaf from the fig-tree. ⁵ For my sword hath drunk its fill in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Edom, and upon the people of my ^[dx]curse, to judgment. ⁶ The sword of Jehovah is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams; for Jehovah hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. ⁷ And the wild-oxen shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls: and their land shall be drunken with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.

⁸ For Jehovah hath a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion. ⁹ And the streams ^[dy]of Edom shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. ¹⁰ It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever; from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever. ¹¹ But the pelican and the porcupine shall possess it; and the ^[dz]owl and the raven shall dwell therein: and he will stretch over it the line of confusion, and the ^[ea]plummet of emptiness. ^12 [eb]They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there; and all its princes shall be nothing. ¹³ And thorns shall come up in its palaces, nettles and thistles in the fortresses thereof; and it shall be a habitation of jackals, a court for ostriches. ¹⁴ And the wild beasts of the desert shall meet with the ^[ec]wolves, and the wild goat shall cry to his fellow; yea, ^[ed]the night-monster shall settle there, and shall find her a place of rest. ¹⁵ There shall the dart-snake make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shade; yea, there shall the kites be gathered, every one with her mate.

¹⁶ Seek ye out of the book of Jehovah, and read: no one of these shall be missing, none shall want her mate; for my mouth, it hath commanded, and his Spirit, it hath gathered them. ¹⁷ And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it for ever; from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.

35 The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the ^[ee]rose. ² It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing; the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon: they shall see the glory of Jehovah, the excellency of our God.

³ Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the ^[ef]feeble knees. ⁴ Say to them that are of a ^[eg]fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: ^[eh]behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; he will come and save you.

⁵ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. ⁶ Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing; for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. ⁷ And the ^[ei]glowing sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water: in the habitation of jackals, where they lay, shall be ^[ej]grass with reeds and rushes. ⁸ And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for ^[ek]the redeemed: the wayfaring men, yea fools, shall not err therein. ⁹ No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast go up thereon; they shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there: ¹⁰ and the ransomed of Jehovah shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads: they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.