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Isaiah 33-36
New Living Translation
Isaiah 33-36
New Living Translation
A Message about Assyria
33 What sorrow awaits you Assyrians, who have destroyed others[a]
but have never been destroyed yourselves.
You betray others,
but you have never been betrayed.
When you are done destroying,
you will be destroyed.
When you are done betraying,
you will be betrayed.
2 But Lord, be merciful to us,
for we have waited for you.
Be our strong arm each day
and our salvation in times of trouble.
3 The enemy runs at the sound of your voice.
When you stand up, the nations flee!
4 Just as caterpillars and locusts strip the fields and vines,
so the fallen army of Assyria will be stripped!
5 Though the Lord is very great and lives in heaven,
he will make Jerusalem[b] his home of justice and righteousness.
6 In that day he will be your sure foundation,
providing a rich store of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge.
The fear of the Lord will be your treasure.
7 But now your brave warriors weep in public.
Your ambassadors of peace cry in bitter disappointment.
8 Your roads are deserted;
no one travels them anymore.
The Assyrians have broken their peace treaty
and care nothing for the promises they made before witnesses.[c]
They have no respect for anyone.
9 The land of Israel wilts in mourning.
Lebanon withers with shame.
The plain of Sharon is now a wilderness.
Bashan and Carmel have been plundered.
10 But the Lord says: “Now I will stand up.
Now I will show my power and might.
11 You Assyrians produce nothing but dry grass and stubble.
Your own breath will turn to fire and consume you.
12 Your people will be burned up completely,
like thornbushes cut down and tossed in a fire.
13 Listen to what I have done, you nations far away!
And you that are near, acknowledge my might!”
14 The sinners in Jerusalem shake with fear.
Terror seizes the godless.
“Who can live with this devouring fire?” they cry.
“Who can survive this all-consuming fire?”
15 Those who are honest and fair,
who refuse to profit by fraud,
who stay far away from bribes,
who refuse to listen to those who plot murder,
who shut their eyes to all enticement to do wrong—
16 these are the ones who will dwell on high.
The rocks of the mountains will be their fortress.
Food will be supplied to them,
and they will have water in abundance.
17 Your eyes will see the king in all his splendor,
and you will see a land that stretches into the distance.
18 You will think back to this time of terror, asking,
“Where are the Assyrian officers
who counted our towers?
Where are the bookkeepers
who recorded the plunder taken from our fallen city?”
19 You will no longer see these fierce, violent people
with their strange, unknown language.
20 Instead, you will see Zion as a place of holy festivals.
You will see Jerusalem, a city quiet and secure.
It will be like a tent whose ropes are taut
and whose stakes are firmly fixed.
21 The Lord will be our Mighty One.
He will be like a wide river of protection
that no enemy can cross,
that no enemy ship can sail upon.
22 For the Lord is our judge,
our lawgiver, and our king.
He will care for us and save us.
23 The enemies’ sails hang loose
on broken masts with useless tackle.
Their treasure will be divided by the people of God.
Even the lame will take their share!
24 The people of Israel will no longer say,
“We are sick and helpless,”
for the Lord will forgive their sins.
A Message for the Nations
34 Come here and listen, O nations of the earth.
Let the world and everything in it hear my words.
2 For the Lord is enraged against the nations.
His fury is against all their armies.
He will completely destroy[d] them,
dooming them to slaughter.
3 Their dead will be left unburied,
and the stench of rotting bodies will fill the land.
The mountains will flow with their blood.
4 The heavens above will melt away
and disappear like a rolled-up scroll.
The stars will fall from the sky
like withered leaves from a grapevine,
or shriveled figs from a fig tree.
5 And when my sword has finished its work in the heavens,
it will fall upon Edom,
the nation I have marked for destruction.
6 The sword of the Lord is drenched with blood
and covered with fat—
with the blood of lambs and goats,
with the fat of rams prepared for sacrifice.
Yes, the Lord will offer a sacrifice in the city of Bozrah.
He will make a mighty slaughter in Edom.
7 Even men as strong as wild oxen will die—
the young men alongside the veterans.
The land will be soaked with blood
and the soil enriched with fat.
8 For it is the day of the Lord’s revenge,
the year when Edom will be paid back for all it did to Israel.[e]
9 The streams of Edom will be filled with burning pitch,
and the ground will be covered with fire.
10 This judgment on Edom will never end;
the smoke of its burning will rise forever.
The land will lie deserted from generation to generation.
No one will live there anymore.
11 It will be haunted by the desert owl and the screech owl,
the great owl and the raven.[f]
For God will measure that land carefully;
he will measure it for chaos and destruction.
12 It will be called the Land of Nothing,
and all its nobles will soon be gone.[g]
13 Thorns will overrun its palaces;
nettles and thistles will grow in its forts.
The ruins will become a haunt for jackals
and a home for owls.
14 Desert animals will mingle there with hyenas,
their howls filling the night.
Wild goats will bleat at one another among the ruins,
and night creatures[h] will come there to rest.
15 There the owl will make her nest and lay her eggs.
She will hatch her young and cover them with her wings.
And the buzzards will come,
each one with its mate.
16 Search the book of the Lord,
and see what he will do.
Not one of these birds and animals will be missing,
and none will lack a mate,
for the Lord has promised this.
His Spirit will make it all come true.
17 He has surveyed and divided the land
and deeded it over to those creatures.
They will possess it forever,
from generation to generation.
Hope for Restoration
35 Even the wilderness and desert will be glad in those days.
The wasteland will rejoice and blossom with spring crocuses.
2 Yes, there will be an abundance of flowers
and singing and joy!
The deserts will become as green as the mountains of Lebanon,
as lovely as Mount Carmel or the plain of Sharon.
There the Lord will display his glory,
the splendor of our God.
3 With this news, strengthen those who have tired hands,
and encourage those who have weak knees.
4 Say to those with fearful hearts,
“Be strong, and do not fear,
for your God is coming to destroy your enemies.
He is coming to save you.”
5 And when he comes, he will open the eyes of the blind
and unplug the ears of the deaf.
6 The lame will leap like a deer,
and those who cannot speak will sing for joy!
Springs will gush forth in the wilderness,
and streams will water the wasteland.
7 The parched ground will become a pool,
and springs of water will satisfy the thirsty land.
Marsh grass and reeds and rushes will flourish
where desert jackals once lived.
8 And a great road will go through that once deserted land.
It will be named the Highway of Holiness.
Evil-minded people will never travel on it.
It will be only for those who walk in God’s ways;
fools will never walk there.
9 Lions will not lurk along its course,
nor any other ferocious beasts.
There will be no other dangers.
Only the redeemed will walk on it.
10 Those who have been ransomed by the Lord will return.
They will enter Jerusalem[i] singing,
crowned with everlasting joy.
Sorrow and mourning will disappear,
and they will be filled with joy and gladness.
Assyria Invades Judah
36 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign,[j] King Sennacherib of Assyria came to attack the fortified towns of Judah and conquered them. 2 Then the king of Assyria sent his chief of staff[k] from Lachish with a huge army to confront King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. The Assyrians took up a position beside the aqueduct that feeds water into the upper pool, near the road leading to the field where cloth is washed.[l]
3 These are the officials who went out to meet with them: Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace administrator; Shebna the court secretary; and Joah son of Asaph, the royal historian.
Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem
4 Then the Assyrian king’s chief of staff told them to give this message to Hezekiah:
“This is what the great king of Assyria says: What are you trusting in that makes you so confident? 5 Do you think[m] that mere words can substitute for military skill and strength? Who are you counting on, that you have rebelled against me? 6 On Egypt? If you lean on Egypt, it will be like a reed that splinters beneath your weight and pierces your hand. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, is completely unreliable!
7 “But perhaps you will say to me, ‘We are trusting in the Lord our God!’ But isn’t he the one who was insulted by Hezekiah? Didn’t Hezekiah tear down his shrines and altars and make everyone in Judah and Jerusalem worship only at the altar here in Jerusalem?
8 “I’ll tell you what! Strike a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you 2,000 horses if you can find that many men to ride on them! 9 With your tiny army, how can you think of challenging even the weakest contingent of my master’s troops, even with the help of Egypt’s chariots and charioteers? 10 What’s more, do you think we have invaded your land without the Lord’s direction? The Lord himself told us, ‘Attack this land and destroy it!’”
11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Assyrian chief of staff, “Please speak to us in Aramaic, for we understand it well. Don’t speak in Hebrew,[n] for the people on the wall will hear.”
12 But Sennacherib’s chief of staff replied, “Do you think my master sent this message only to you and your master? He wants all the people to hear it, for when we put this city under siege, they will suffer along with you. They will be so hungry and thirsty that they will eat their own dung and drink their own urine.”
13 Then the chief of staff stood and shouted in Hebrew to the people on the wall, “Listen to this message from the great king of Assyria! 14 This is what the king says: Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you. He will never be able to rescue you. 15 Don’t let him fool you into trusting in the Lord by saying, ‘The Lord will surely rescue us. This city will never fall into the hands of the Assyrian king!’
16 “Don’t listen to Hezekiah! These are the terms the king of Assyria is offering: Make peace with me—open the gates and come out. Then each of you can continue eating from your own grapevine and fig tree and drinking from your own well. 17 Then I will arrange to take you to another land like this one—a land of grain and new wine, bread and vineyards.
18 “Don’t let Hezekiah mislead you by saying, ‘The Lord will rescue us!’ Have the gods of any other nations ever saved their people from the king of Assyria? 19 What happened to the gods of Hamath and Arpad? And what about the gods of Sepharvaim? Did any god rescue Samaria from my power? 20 What god of any nation has ever been able to save its people from my power? So what makes you think that the Lord can rescue Jerusalem from me?”
21 But the people were silent and did not utter a word because Hezekiah had commanded them, “Do not answer him.”
22 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace administrator; Shebna the court secretary; and Joah son of Asaph, the royal historian, went back to Hezekiah. They tore their clothes in despair, and they went in to see the king and told him what the Assyrian chief of staff had said.
Footnotes
- 33:1 Hebrew What sorrow awaits you, O destroyer. The Hebrew text does not specifically name Assyria as the object of the prophecy in this chapter.
- 33:5 Hebrew Zion; also in 33:14.
- 33:8 As in Dead Sea Scrolls; Masoretic Text reads care nothing for the cities.
- 34:2 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering; similarly in 34:5.
- 34:8 Hebrew to Zion.
- 34:11 The identification of some of these birds is uncertain.
- 34:12 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
- 34:14 Hebrew Lilith, possibly a reference to a mythical demon of the night.
- 35:10 Hebrew Zion.
- 36:1 The fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign was 701 B.c.
- 36:2a Or the rabshakeh; also in 36:4, 11, 12, 22.
- 36:2b Or bleached.
- 36:5 As in Dead Sea Scrolls (see also 2 Kgs 18:20); Masoretic Text reads Do I think.
- 36:11 Hebrew in the dialect of Judah; also in 36:13.
Isaiah 33-36
New International Version
Isaiah 33-36
New International Version
Distress and Help
33 Woe(A) to you, destroyer,
you who have not been destroyed!
Woe to you, betrayer,
you who have not been betrayed!
When you stop destroying,
you will be destroyed;(B)
when you stop betraying,
you will be betrayed.(C)
2 Lord, be gracious(D) to us;
we long for you.
Be our strength(E) every morning,
our salvation(F) in time of distress.(G)
3 At the uproar of your army,(H) the peoples flee;(I)
when you rise up,(J) the nations scatter.
4 Your plunder,(K) O nations, is harvested(L) as by young locusts;(M)
like a swarm of locusts people pounce on it.
5 The Lord is exalted,(N) for he dwells on high;(O)
he will fill Zion with his justice(P) and righteousness.(Q)
6 He will be the sure foundation for your times,
a rich store of salvation(R) and wisdom and knowledge;
the fear(S) of the Lord is the key to this treasure.[a](T)
7 Look, their brave men(U) cry aloud in the streets;
the envoys(V) of peace weep bitterly.
8 The highways are deserted,
no travelers(W) are on the roads.(X)
The treaty is broken,(Y)
its witnesses[b] are despised,
no one is respected.
9 The land dries up(Z) and wastes away,
Lebanon(AA) is ashamed and withers;(AB)
Sharon(AC) is like the Arabah,
and Bashan(AD) and Carmel(AE) drop their leaves.
10 “Now will I arise,(AF)” says the Lord.
“Now will I be exalted;(AG)
now will I be lifted up.
11 You conceive(AH) chaff,
you give birth(AI) to straw;
your breath is a fire(AJ) that consumes you.
12 The peoples will be burned to ashes;(AK)
like cut thornbushes(AL) they will be set ablaze.(AM)”
13 You who are far away,(AN) hear(AO) what I have done;
you who are near, acknowledge my power!
14 The sinners(AP) in Zion are terrified;
trembling(AQ) grips the godless:
“Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire?(AR)
Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?”
15 Those who walk righteously(AS)
and speak what is right,(AT)
who reject gain from extortion(AU)
and keep their hands from accepting bribes,(AV)
who stop their ears against plots of murder
and shut their eyes(AW) against contemplating evil—
16 they are the ones who will dwell on the heights,(AX)
whose refuge(AY) will be the mountain fortress.(AZ)
Their bread will be supplied,
and water will not fail(BA) them.
17 Your eyes will see the king(BB) in his beauty(BC)
and view a land that stretches afar.(BD)
18 In your thoughts you will ponder the former terror:(BE)
“Where is that chief officer?
Where is the one who took the revenue?
Where is the officer in charge of the towers?(BF)”
19 You will see those arrogant people(BG) no more,
people whose speech is obscure,
whose language is strange and incomprehensible.(BH)
20 Look on Zion,(BI) the city of our festivals;
your eyes will see Jerusalem,
a peaceful abode,(BJ) a tent(BK) that will not be moved;(BL)
its stakes will never be pulled up,
nor any of its ropes broken.
21 There the Lord will be our Mighty(BM) One.
It will be like a place of broad rivers and streams.(BN)
No galley with oars will ride them,
no mighty ship(BO) will sail them.
22 For the Lord is our judge,(BP)
the Lord is our lawgiver,(BQ)
the Lord is our king;(BR)
it is he who will save(BS) us.
23 Your rigging hangs loose:
The mast is not held secure,
the sail is not spread.
Then an abundance of spoils will be divided
and even the lame(BT) will carry off plunder.(BU)
24 No one living in Zion will say, “I am ill”;(BV)
and the sins of those who dwell there will be forgiven.(BW)
Judgment Against the Nations
34 Come near, you nations, and listen;(BX)
pay attention, you peoples!(BY)
Let the earth(BZ) hear, and all that is in it,
the world, and all that comes out of it!(CA)
2 The Lord is angry with all nations;
his wrath(CB) is on all their armies.
He will totally destroy[c](CC) them,
he will give them over to slaughter.(CD)
3 Their slain(CE) will be thrown out,
their dead bodies(CF) will stink;(CG)
the mountains will be soaked with their blood.(CH)
4 All the stars in the sky will be dissolved(CI)
and the heavens rolled up(CJ) like a scroll;
all the starry host will fall(CK)
like withered(CL) leaves from the vine,
like shriveled figs from the fig tree.
5 My sword(CM) has drunk its fill in the heavens;
see, it descends in judgment on Edom,(CN)
the people I have totally destroyed.(CO)
6 The sword(CP) of the Lord is bathed in blood,
it is covered with fat—
the blood of lambs and goats,
fat from the kidneys of rams.
For the Lord has a sacrifice(CQ) in Bozrah(CR)
and a great slaughter(CS) in the land of Edom.
7 And the wild oxen(CT) will fall with them,
the bull calves and the great bulls.(CU)
Their land will be drenched with blood,(CV)
and the dust will be soaked with fat.
8 For the Lord has a day(CW) of vengeance,(CX)
a year of retribution,(CY) to uphold Zion’s cause.
9 Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch,
her dust into burning sulfur;(CZ)
her land will become blazing pitch!
10 It will not be quenched(DA) night or day;
its smoke will rise forever.(DB)
From generation to generation(DC) it will lie desolate;(DD)
no one will ever pass through it again.
11 The desert owl[d](DE) and screech owl[e] will possess it;
the great owl[f] and the raven(DF) will nest there.
God will stretch out over Edom(DG)
the measuring line of chaos(DH)
and the plumb line(DI) of desolation.
12 Her nobles will have nothing there to be called a kingdom,
all her princes(DJ) will vanish(DK) away.
13 Thorns(DL) will overrun her citadels,
nettles and brambles her strongholds.(DM)
She will become a haunt for jackals,(DN)
a home for owls.(DO)
14 Desert creatures(DP) will meet with hyenas,(DQ)
and wild goats will bleat to each other;
there the night creatures(DR) will also lie down
and find for themselves places of rest.
15 The owl will nest there and lay eggs,
she will hatch them, and care for her young
under the shadow of her wings;(DS)
there also the falcons(DT) will gather,
each with its mate.
16 Look in the scroll(DU) of the Lord and read:
None of these will be missing,(DV)
not one will lack her mate.
For it is his mouth(DW) that has given the order,(DX)
and his Spirit will gather them together.
17 He allots their portions;(DY)
his hand distributes them by measure.
They will possess it forever
and dwell there from generation to generation.(DZ)
Joy of the Redeemed
35 The desert(EA) and the parched land will be glad;
the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.(EB)
Like the crocus,(EC) 2 it will burst into bloom;
it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.(ED)
The glory of Lebanon(EE) will be given to it,
the splendor of Carmel(EF) and Sharon;(EG)
they will see the glory(EH) of the Lord,
the splendor of our God.(EI)
3 Strengthen the feeble hands,
steady the knees(EJ) that give way;
4 say(EK) to those with fearful hearts,(EL)
“Be strong, do not fear;(EM)
your God will come,(EN)
he will come with vengeance;(EO)
with divine retribution
he will come to save(EP) you.”
5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened(EQ)
and the ears of the deaf(ER) unstopped.
6 Then will the lame(ES) leap like a deer,(ET)
and the mute tongue(EU) shout for joy.(EV)
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
and streams(EW) in the desert.
7 The burning sand will become a pool,
the thirsty ground(EX) bubbling springs.(EY)
In the haunts where jackals(EZ) once lay,
grass and reeds(FA) and papyrus will grow.
8 And a highway(FB) will be there;
it will be called the Way of Holiness;(FC)
it will be for those who walk on that Way.
The unclean(FD) will not journey on it;
wicked fools will not go about on it.
9 No lion(FE) will be there,
nor any ravenous beast;(FF)
they will not be found there.
But only the redeemed(FG) will walk there,
10 and those the Lord has rescued(FH) will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;(FI)
everlasting joy(FJ) will crown their heads.
Gladness(FK) and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.(FL)
Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem(FM)
36 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s(FN) reign, Sennacherib(FO) king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.(FP) 2 Then the king of Assyria sent his field commander with a large army from Lachish(FQ) to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. When the commander stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field,(FR) 3 Eliakim(FS) son of Hilkiah the palace administrator,(FT) Shebna(FU) the secretary,(FV) and Joah(FW) son of Asaph the recorder(FX) went out to him.
4 The field commander said to them, “Tell Hezekiah:
“‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: On what are you basing this confidence of yours? 5 You say you have counsel and might for war—but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel(FY) against me? 6 Look, I know you are depending(FZ) on Egypt,(GA) that splintered reed(GB) of a staff, which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him. 7 But if you say to me, “We are depending(GC) on the Lord our God”—isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed,(GD) saying to Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship before this altar”?(GE)
8 “‘Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses(GF)—if you can put riders on them! 9 How then can you repulse one officer of the least of my master’s officials, even though you are depending on Egypt(GG) for chariots(GH) and horsemen[g]?(GI) 10 Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this land without the Lord? The Lord himself told(GJ) me to march against this country and destroy it.’”
11 Then Eliakim, Shebna and Joah(GK) said to the field commander, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic,(GL) since we understand it. Don’t speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”
12 But the commander replied, “Was it only to your master and you that my master sent me to say these things, and not to the people sitting on the wall—who, like you, will have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?(GM)”
13 Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew,(GN) “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria!(GO) 14 This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive(GP) you. He cannot deliver you! 15 Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord when he says, ‘The Lord will surely deliver(GQ) us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’(GR)
16 “Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree(GS) and drink water from your own cistern,(GT) 17 until I come and take you to a land like your own(GU)—a land of grain and new wine,(GV) a land of bread and vineyards.
18 “Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ Have the gods of any nations ever delivered their lands from the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad?(GW) Where are the gods of Sepharvaim?(GX) Have they rescued Samaria(GY) from my hand? 20 Who of all the gods(GZ) of these countries have been able to save their lands from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”(HA)
21 But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, “Do not answer him.”(HB)
22 Then Eliakim(HC) son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and Joah son of Asaph the recorder(HD) went to Hezekiah, with their clothes torn,(HE) and told him what the field commander had said.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 33:6 Or is a treasure from him
- Isaiah 33:8 Dead Sea Scrolls; Masoretic Text / the cities
- Isaiah 34:2 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them; also in verse 5.
- Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain.
- Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain.
- Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain.
- Isaiah 36:9 Or charioteers
New Living Translation (NLT)
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