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20 In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod (when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him), and fought against Ashdod and took it,

at the same time spoke the Lord by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot.” And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.

And the Lord said, “As My servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia,

so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.

And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation and of Egypt their glory.

And the inhabitants of this isle shall say in that day, ‘Behold, such is our expectation wherever we flee for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria! And how shall we escape?’”

21 The burden of the Desert of the Sea: As whirlwinds in the South pass through, so it cometh from the desert, from a terrible land.

A grievous vision is declared unto me; the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, O Elam! Besiege, O Media! All the sighing thereof have I made to cease.

Therefore are my loins filled with pain; pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth. I was bowed down at the hearing of it; I was dismayed at the seeing of it.

My heart panted, fearfulness affrighted me; the night of my pleasure hath He turned into fear unto me.

Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink; arise, ye princes and anoint the shield.

For thus hath the Lord said unto me: “Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth.”

And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a chariot of asses and a chariot of camels; and he hearkened diligently with much heed.

And he cried, “A lion! My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set at my post whole nights.

And behold, here cometh a chariot of men with a couple of horsemen!” And he answered and said, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen! And all the graven images of her gods He hath broken unto the ground!”

10 O my threshing and the corn of my floor, that which I have heard of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared unto you.

11 The burden of Dumah: He calleth to me out of Seir, “Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?”

12 The watchman said, “The morning cometh, and also the night. If ye will inquire, inquire ye; return, come.”

13 The burden upon Arabia: In the forest in Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye traveling companies of Dedanites.

14 The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought water to him that was thirsty; they were ready with their bread for him that fled.

15 For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow and from the grievousness of war.

16 For thus hath the Lord said unto me: “Within a year, according to the years of a hireling, all the glory of Kedar shall fail.

17 And the residue of the number of archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall be diminished. For the Lord God of Israel hath spoken it.”

22 The burden of the Valley of Vision: What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops?

Thou that art full of stirrings, a tumultuous city, a joyous city; thy slain men are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle.

All thy rulers have fled together; they are bound by the archers. All that are found in thee are bound together, who have fled from afar.

Therefore said I, “Look away from me; I will be bitter in weeping. Labor not to comfort me, because of the despoiling of the daughter of my people.”

For it is a day of trouble and of treading down, and of perplexity by the Lord God of hosts in the Valley of Vision, breaking down the walls, and of crying to the mountains.

And Elam bore the quiver with chariots of men and horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield.

And it shall come to pass that thy choicest valleys shall be full of chariots, and the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate.

And He uncovered the covering of Judah, and thou didst look in that day to the armor of the House of the Forest.

Ye have seen also the breaches of the City of David, that they are many; and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool.

10 And ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses have ye broken down to fortify the wall.

11 Ye made also a ditch between the two walls for the water of the old pool; but ye have not looked unto the Maker thereof, neither had respect unto Him that fashioned it long ago.

12 And in that day did the Lord God of hosts call to weeping and to mourning, and to baldness and to girding with sackcloth.

13 But behold, joy and gladness, slaying oxen and killing sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine! “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die!”

14 And it was revealed in mine ears by the Lord of hosts: “Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die,” saith the Lord God of hosts.

15 Thus saith the Lord God of hosts: “Go, get thee unto this treasurer, even unto Shebna, who is over the house, and say:

16 What hast thou here? And whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulcher here, as he that heweth him out a sepulcher on high and that carves out a habitation for himself in a rock?

17 Behold, the Lord will carry thee away with a mighty captivity, and will surely cover thee.

18 He will surely violently turn and toss thee like a ball into a large country. There shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory shall be the shame of thy lord’s house.

19 And I will drive thee from thy station, and from thy state shall he pull thee down.

20 “And it shall come to pass in that day that I will call My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah.

21 And I will clothe him with thy robe and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand; and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.

22 And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open and none shall shut, and he shall shut and none shall open.

23 And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place, and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father’s house.

24 And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups even to all the vessels of flagons.

25 In that day,” saith the Lord of hosts, “shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place be removed and be cut down and fall, and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off; for the Lord hath spoken it.”