Add parallel Print Page Options

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.
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.
The enemy runs at the sound of your voice.
    When you stand up, the nations flee!
Just as caterpillars and locusts strip the fields and vines,
    so the fallen army of Assyria will be stripped!

Though the Lord is very great and lives in heaven,
    he will make Jerusalem[b] his home of justice and righteousness.
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.

But now your brave warriors weep in public.
    Your ambassadors of peace cry in bitter disappointment.
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.
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.
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.
Their dead will be left unburied,
    and the stench of rotting bodies will fill the land.
    The mountains will flow with their blood.
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.

And when my sword has finished its work in the heavens,
    it will fall upon Edom,
    the nation I have marked for destruction.
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.
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.

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]
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.
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.
With this news, strengthen those who have tired hands,
    and encourage those who have weak knees.
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.”

And when he comes, he will open the eyes of the blind
    and unplug the ears of the deaf.
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.
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.

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.
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. 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]

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

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? 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? 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!

“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?

“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! 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

  1. 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.
  2. 33:5 Hebrew Zion; also in 33:14.
  3. 33:8 As in Dead Sea Scrolls; Masoretic Text reads care nothing for the cities.
  4. 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.
  5. 34:8 Hebrew to Zion.
  6. 34:11 The identification of some of these birds is uncertain.
  7. 34:12 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
  8. 34:14 Hebrew Lilith, possibly a reference to a mythical demon of the night.
  9. 35:10 Hebrew Zion.
  10. 36:1 The fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign was 701 B.c.
  11. 36:2a Or the rabshakeh; also in 36:4, 11, 12, 22.
  12. 36:2b Or bleached.
  13. 36:5 As in Dead Sea Scrolls (see also 2 Kgs 18:20); Masoretic Text reads Do I think.
  14. 36:11 Hebrew in the dialect of Judah; also in 36:13.

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)

Lord, be gracious(D) to us;
    we long for you.
Be our strength(E) every morning,
    our salvation(F) in time of distress.(G)
At the uproar of your army,(H) the peoples flee;(I)
    when you rise up,(J) the nations scatter.
Your plunder,(K) O nations, is harvested(L) as by young locusts;(M)
    like a swarm of locusts people pounce on it.

The Lord is exalted,(N) for he dwells on high;(O)
    he will fill Zion with his justice(P) and righteousness.(Q)
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)

Look, their brave men(U) cry aloud in the streets;
    the envoys(V) of peace weep bitterly.
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.
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)
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)
Their slain(CE) will be thrown out,
    their dead bodies(CF) will stink;(CG)
    the mountains will be soaked with their blood.(CH)
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.

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)
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.
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.

For the Lord has a day(CW) of vengeance,(CX)
    a year of retribution,(CY) to uphold Zion’s cause.
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) 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)

Strengthen the feeble hands,
    steady the knees(EJ) that give way;
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.”

Then will the eyes of the blind be opened(EQ)
    and the ears of the deaf(ER) unstopped.
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.
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.

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.
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) 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) 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.

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? 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? 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. 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)

“‘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! 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

  1. Isaiah 33:6 Or is a treasure from him
  2. Isaiah 33:8 Dead Sea Scrolls; Masoretic Text / the cities
  3. 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.
  4. Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain.
  5. Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain.
  6. Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain.
  7. Isaiah 36:9 Or charioteers

33 Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.

O Lord, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.

At the noise of the tumult the people fled; at the lifting up of thyself the nations were scattered.

And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpiller: as the running to and fro of locusts shall he run upon them.

The Lord is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness.

And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the Lord is his treasure.

Behold, their valiant ones shall cry without: the ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly.

The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.

The earth mourneth and languisheth: Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down: Sharon is like a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits.

10 Now will I rise, saith the Lord; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself.

11 Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath, as fire, shall devour you.

12 And the people shall be as the burnings of lime: as thorns cut up shall they be 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; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?

15 He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;

16 He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.

17 Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.

18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?

19 Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.

20 Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.

21 But there the glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.

22 For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will save us.

23 Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast, they could not spread the sail: then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take 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 people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it.

For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.

Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.

And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.

For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment.

The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.

And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.

For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.

And the streams thereof 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 cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness.

12 They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing.

13 And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls.

14 The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest.

15 There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate.

16 Seek ye out of the book of the Lord, and read: no one of these shall fail, 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 solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.

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 the Lord, and the excellency of our God.

Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.

Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.

And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

And an 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 those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.

No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:

10 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

36 Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them.

And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field.

Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, which was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph's son, the recorder.

And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?

I say, sayest thou, (but they are but vain words) I have counsel and strength for war: now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?

Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him.

But if thou say to me, We trust in the Lord our God: is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar?

Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.

How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?

10 And am I now come up without the Lord against this land to destroy it? the Lord said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.

11 Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall.

12 But Rabshakeh said, Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you?

13 Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and said, Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyria.

14 Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you.

15 Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us: this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.

16 Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me: and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern;

17 Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards.

18 Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, the Lord will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?

20 Who are they among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered their land out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?

21 But they held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not.

22 Then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, that was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.