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Proclamation against Babylon

13 The oracle concerning Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw.(A)

On a bare hill raise a signal;
    cry aloud to them;
wave the hand for them to enter
    the gates of the nobles.(B)
I myself have commanded my consecrated ones,
    have summoned my warriors, my proudly exulting ones,
    to execute my anger.[a](C)

Listen, a tumult on the mountains
    as of a great multitude!
Listen, an uproar of kingdoms,
    of nations gathering together!
The Lord of hosts is mustering
    an army for battle.(D)
They come from a distant land,
    from the end of the heavens,
the Lord and the weapons of his indignation,
    to destroy the whole earth.(E)

Wail, for the day of the Lord is near;
    it will come like destruction from the Almighty![b](F)
Therefore all hands will be feeble,
    and every human heart will melt,(G)
    and they will be terrified.
Pangs and agony will seize them;
    they will be in anguish like a woman in labor.
They will look aghast at one another;
    their faces will be aflame.(H)
See, the day of the Lord is coming,
    cruel, with wrath and fierce anger,
to make the earth a desolation
    and to destroy its sinners from it.(I)
10 For the stars of the heavens and their constellations
    will not give their light;
the sun will be dark at its rising,
    and the moon will not shed its light.(J)
11 I will punish the world for its evil
    and the wicked for their iniquity;
I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant
    and lay low the insolence of tyrants.(K)
12 I will make mortals more rare than fine gold
    and humans than the gold of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble,
    and the earth will be shaken out of its place
at the wrath of the Lord of hosts
    in the day of his fierce anger.(L)
14 Like a gazelle on the run
    or like sheep with no one to gather them,
all will turn back to their own people,
    and all will flee to their own lands.(M)
15 Whoever is found will be thrust through,
    and whoever is caught will fall by the sword.
16 Their infants will be dashed to pieces
    before their eyes;
their houses will be plundered
    and their wives raped.(N)
17 See, I am stirring up the Medes against them,
    who have no regard for silver
    and do not delight in gold.(O)
18 Their bows will slaughter the young men;
    they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb;
    their eyes will not pity children.(P)
19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms,
    the splendor and pride of the Chaldeans,
will be like Sodom and Gomorrah
    when God overthrew them.(Q)
20 It will never be inhabited
    or lived in for all generations;
Arabs will not pitch their tents there;
    shepherds will not make their flocks lie down there.(R)
21 But wild animals will lie down there,
    and its houses will be full of howling creatures;
there ostriches will live,
    and there goat-demons will dance.(S)
22 Hyenas will cry in its towers
    and jackals in the pleasant palaces;
its time is close at hand;
    and its days will not be prolonged.(T)

Restoration of Judah

14 But the Lord will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel and will settle them in their own land, and aliens will join them and attach themselves to the house of Jacob.(U) And the nations will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess the nations[c] as male and female slaves in the Lord’s land; they will take captive those who were their captors and rule over those who oppressed them.(V)

Downfall of the King of Babylon

When the Lord has given you rest from your pain and turmoil and the hard service with which you were made to serve,(W) you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon:

How the oppressor has ceased!
    How his insolence[d] has ceased!(X)
The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked,
    the scepter of rulers,
that struck down the peoples in wrath
    with unceasing blows,
that ruled the nations in anger
    with unrelenting persecution.(Y)
The whole earth is at rest and quiet;
    they break forth into singing.
The cypresses exult over you,
    the cedars of Lebanon, saying,
“Since you were laid low,
    no one comes to cut us down.”(Z)
Sheol beneath is stirred up
    to meet you when you come;
it rouses the shades to greet you,
    all who were leaders of the earth;
it raises from their thrones
    all who were kings of the nations.(AA)
10 All of them will speak
    and say to you:
“You, too, have become as weak as we!
    You have become like us!”
11 Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,
    and the sound of your harps;
maggots are the bed beneath you,
    and worms are your covering.(AB)

12 How you are fallen from heaven,
    O Morning Star, son of Dawn!
How you are cut down to the ground,
    you who laid the nations low!(AC)
13 You said to yourself,
    “I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne
    above the stars of God;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
    on the heights of Zaphon;[e](AD)
14 I will ascend to the tops of the clouds;
    I will make myself like the Most High.”(AE)
15 But you are brought down to Sheol,
    to the depths of the Pit.(AF)
16 Those who see you will stare at you
    and ponder over you:
“Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
    who shook kingdoms,(AG)
17 who made the world like a desert
    and overthrew its cities,
    who would not let his prisoners go home?”(AH)
18 All the kings of the nations lie in glory,
    each in his own tomb,
19 but you are cast out, away from your grave,
    like loathsome carrion,[f]
clothed with the dead, those pierced by the sword,
    who go down to the stones of the Pit
    like a corpse trampled underfoot.(AI)
20 You will not be joined with them in burial
    because you have destroyed your land;
    you have killed your people.

May the descendants of evildoers
    nevermore be named!(AJ)
21 Prepare a place of slaughter for his sons
    because of the guilt of their father.[g]
Let them never rise to possess the earth
    or cover the face of the world with cities.(AK)

22 I will rise up against them, says the Lord of hosts, and will cut off from Babylon name and remnant, offspring and posterity, says the Lord.(AL) 23 And I will make it a possession of the screech owl[h] and pools of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction, says the Lord of hosts.(AM)

An Oracle concerning Assyria

24 The Lord of hosts has sworn:
As I have designed,
    so shall it be,
and as I have planned,
    so shall it come to pass:(AN)
25 I will break the Assyrian in my land
    and on my mountains trample him under foot;
his yoke shall be removed from them
    and his burden from their shoulders.(AO)
26 This is the plan that is planned
    concerning the whole earth,
and this is the hand that is stretched out
    over all the nations.(AP)
27 For the Lord of hosts has planned,
    and who will annul it?
His hand is stretched out,
    and who will turn it back?(AQ)

An Oracle concerning Philistia

28 In the year that King Ahaz died this oracle came:(AR)

29 Do not rejoice, all you Philistines,
    that the rod that struck you is broken,
for from the root of the snake will come forth an adder,
    and its fruit will be a flying fiery serpent.(AS)
30 In my pastures the poor[i] will graze
    and the needy lie down in safety,
but I will make your root die of famine,
    and your remnant I[j] will kill.(AT)
31 Wail, O gate; cry, O city;
    melt in fear, O Philistia, all of you!
For smoke comes out of the north,
    and there is no straggler in its ranks.(AU)

32 What will one answer the messengers of the nation?
“The Lord has founded Zion,
    and the needy among his people
    will find refuge in her.”(AV)

An Oracle concerning Moab

15 An oracle concerning Moab.

Because Ar is laid waste in a night,
    Moab is undone;
because Kir is laid waste in a night,
    Moab is undone.(AW)
Daughter Dibon[k] has gone up
    to the high places to weep;
over Nebo and over Medeba
    Moab wails.
Every head is shaved;
    every beard is shorn;(AX)
in the streets they bind on sackcloth;
    on the housetops and in the squares
    everyone wails and melts in tears.(AY)
Heshbon and Elealeh cry out;
    their voices are heard as far as Jahaz;
therefore the loins of Moab quiver;[l]
    his soul trembles.
My heart cries out for Moab;
    his fugitives flee to Zoar,
    to Eglath-shelishiyah.
For at the ascent of Luhith
    they go up weeping;
on the road to Horonaim
    they raise a cry of destruction;(AZ)
the waters of Nimrim
    are a desolation;
the grass is withered; the new growth fails;
    vegetation is no more.(BA)
Therefore the abundance they have gained
    and what they have laid up
they carry away
    over the Wadi of the Willows.(BB)
For a cry has gone
    around the land of Moab;
the wailing reaches to Eglaim;
    the wailing reaches to Beer-elim.
For the waters of Dibon[m] are full of blood,
    yet I will bring upon Dibon[n] even more—
a lion for those of Moab who escape,
    for the remnant of the land.(BC)

16 Send lambs
    to the ruler of the land,
from Sela, by way of the desert,
    to the mount of daughter Zion.(BD)
Like fluttering birds,
    like scattered nestlings,
so are the daughters of Moab
    at the fords of the Arnon.(BE)
“Give counsel;
    grant justice;
make your shade like night
    at the height of noon;
hide the outcasts;
    do not betray the fugitive;(BF)
let the outcasts of Moab
    settle among you;
be a refuge to them
    from the destroyer.”

When the oppressor is no more,
    and destruction has ceased,
and marauders have vanished from the land,(BG)
then a throne shall be established in steadfast love
    in the tent of David,
    and on it shall sit in faithfulness
a ruler who seeks justice
    and is swift to do what is right.(BH)

We have heard of the pride of Moab
    —how proud he is!—
of his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence;
    his boasts are false.(BI)
Therefore let Moab wail;
    let everyone wail for Moab.
Mourn, utterly stricken,
    for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth.(BJ)

For the fields of Heshbon languish,
    and the vines of Sibmah,
whose clusters once made drunk
    the lords of the nations,
reached to Jazer
    and strayed to the desert;
their shoots once spread abroad
    and crossed over the sea.(BK)
Therefore I weep as Jazer weeps
    for the vines of Sibmah;
I drench you with my tears,
    O Heshbon and Elealeh,
for the shout over your fruit harvest
    and your grain harvest has ceased.(BL)
10 Joy and gladness are taken away
    from the fruitful field,
and in the vineyards no exultation is heard;
    no shouts are raised;
no treader treads out wine in the presses;
    the vintage shout is hushed.[o](BM)
11 Therefore my heart moans like a harp for Moab
    and my very soul for Kir-heres.(BN)

12 When Moab presents himself, when he wearies himself upon the high place, when he comes to his sanctuary to pray, he will not prevail.(BO)

13 This was the word that the Lord spoke concerning Moab in the past. 14 But now the Lord says, “In three years, like the years of a hired worker, the glory of Moab will be brought into contempt, in spite of all its great multitude, and those who survive will be very few and feeble.”(BP)

An Oracle concerning Damascus

17 An oracle concerning Damascus.

See, Damascus will cease to be a city
    and will become a heap of ruins.(BQ)
Her towns will be deserted forever;[p]
    they will be places for flocks,
    which will lie down, and no one will make them afraid.(BR)
The fortress will disappear from Ephraim
    and the kingdom from Damascus,
and the remnant of Aram will be
    like the glory of the people of Israel,
            says the Lord of hosts.(BS)

On that day
    the glory of Jacob will be brought low,
    and the fat of his flesh will grow lean.(BT)
And it shall be as when reapers gather standing grain
    and their arms harvest the ears,
and as when one gleans the ears of grain
    in the Valley of Rephaim.(BU)
Gleanings will be left in it,
    as when an olive tree is beaten—
two or three berries
    in the top of the highest bough,
four or five
    on the branches of a fruit tree,
            says the Lord God of Israel.(BV)

On that day people will look to their Maker, with their eyes on the Holy One of Israel;(BW) they will not have regard for the altars, the work of their hands, and they will not look to what their own fingers have made, either the sacred poles[q] or the altars of incense.(BX)

On that day their fortified cities will be like the deserted places of the Hivites and the Amorites,[r] which they deserted because of the people of Israel, and there will be desolation.(BY)

10 For you have forgotten God your Savior
    and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge;
therefore, though you plant pleasant gardens
    and set out branches of a foreign god,(BZ)
11 though you make them grow on the day that you plant them
    and make them blossom in the morning that you sow,
yet the harvest will flee away
    in a day of sickness and incurable pain.(CA)

12 Woe, the thunder of many peoples,
    they thunder like the thundering of the sea!
The roar of nations,
    they roar like the roaring of mighty waters!(CB)
13 [[When the nations roar like the roaring of many waters,]][s]
    he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away,
chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind
    and like whirling dust before the storm.(CC)
14 At evening time, sudden terror!
    Before morning, they are no more.
This is the fate of those who despoil us
    and the lot of those who plunder us.(CD)

Footnotes

  1. 13.3 Gk: Heb for my anger
  2. 13.6 Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai
  3. 14.2 Heb them
  4. 14.4 Q ms Compare Gk Syr Vg: Meaning of MT uncertain
  5. 14.13 Or assembly in the far north
  6. 14.19 Cn Compare Gk: Heb like a loathed branch
  7. 14.21 Syr Compare Gk: Heb fathers
  8. 14.23 Meaning of Heb uncertain
  9. 14.30 Heb mss: MT the firstborn of the poor
  10. 14.30 Q ms Vg: MT he
  11. 15.2 Cn: Heb the house and Dibon
  12. 15.4 Or the armed men of Moab cry aloud
  13. 15.9 Q ms Vg: MT Dimon
  14. 15.9 Q ms Vg: MT Dimon
  15. 16.10 Cn Compare Gk: Heb I have hushed
  16. 17.2 Cn Compare Gk: Heb the cities of Aroer are deserted
  17. 17.8 Heb Asherahs
  18. 17.9 Cn Compare Gk: Heb places of the wood and the highest bough
  19. 17.13 Heb mss Syr lack When . . . waters

A Prophecy Against Babylon

13 A prophecy(A) against Babylon(B) that Isaiah son of Amoz(C) saw:(D)

Raise a banner(E) on a bare hilltop,
    shout to them;
beckon to them
    to enter the gates(F) of the nobles.
I have commanded those I prepared for battle;
    I have summoned my warriors(G) to carry out my wrath(H)
    those who rejoice(I) in my triumph.

Listen, a noise on the mountains,
    like that of a great multitude!(J)
Listen, an uproar(K) among the kingdoms,
    like nations massing together!
The Lord Almighty(L) is mustering(M)
    an army for war.
They come from faraway lands,
    from the ends of the heavens(N)
the Lord and the weapons(O) of his wrath(P)
    to destroy(Q) the whole country.

Wail,(R) for the day(S) of the Lord is near;
    it will come like destruction(T) from the Almighty.[a](U)
Because of this, all hands will go limp,(V)
    every heart will melt with fear.(W)
Terror(X) will seize them,
    pain and anguish will grip(Y) them;
    they will writhe like a woman in labor.(Z)
They will look aghast at each other,
    their faces aflame.(AA)

See, the day(AB) of the Lord is coming
    —a cruel(AC) day, with wrath(AD) and fierce anger(AE)
to make the land desolate
    and destroy the sinners within it.
10 The stars of heaven and their constellations
    will not show their light.(AF)
The rising sun(AG) will be darkened(AH)
    and the moon will not give its light.(AI)
11 I will punish(AJ) the world for its evil,
    the wicked(AK) for their sins.
I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty(AL)
    and will humble(AM) the pride of the ruthless.(AN)
12 I will make people(AO) scarcer than pure gold,
    more rare than the gold of Ophir.(AP)
13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble;(AQ)
    and the earth will shake(AR) from its place
at the wrath(AS) of the Lord Almighty,
    in the day of his burning anger.(AT)

14 Like a hunted(AU) gazelle,
    like sheep without a shepherd,(AV)
they will all return to their own people,
    they will flee(AW) to their native land.(AX)
15 Whoever is captured will be thrust through;
    all who are caught will fall(AY) by the sword.(AZ)
16 Their infants(BA) will be dashed to pieces before their eyes;
    their houses will be looted and their wives violated.(BB)

17 See, I will stir up(BC) against them the Medes,(BD)
    who do not care for silver
    and have no delight in gold.(BE)
18 Their bows(BF) will strike down the young men;(BG)
    they will have no mercy(BH) on infants,
    nor will they look with compassion on children.(BI)
19 Babylon,(BJ) the jewel of kingdoms,(BK)
    the pride and glory(BL) of the Babylonians,[b]
will be overthrown(BM) by God
    like Sodom and Gomorrah.(BN)
20 She will never be inhabited(BO)
    or lived in through all generations;
there no nomads(BP) will pitch their tents,
    there no shepherds will rest their flocks.
21 But desert creatures(BQ) will lie there,
    jackals(BR) will fill her houses;
there the owls(BS) will dwell,
    and there the wild goats(BT) will leap about.
22 Hyenas(BU) will inhabit her strongholds,(BV)
    jackals(BW) her luxurious palaces.
Her time is at hand,(BX)
    and her days will not be prolonged.(BY)

14 The Lord will have compassion(BZ) on Jacob;
    once again he will choose(CA) Israel
    and will settle them in their own land.(CB)
Foreigners(CC) will join them
    and unite with the descendants of Jacob.
Nations will take them
    and bring(CD) them to their own place.
And Israel will take possession of the nations(CE)
    and make them male and female servants in the Lord’s land.
They will make captives(CF) of their captors
    and rule over their oppressors.(CG)

On the day the Lord gives you relief(CH) from your suffering and turmoil(CI) and from the harsh labor forced on you,(CJ) you will take up this taunt(CK) against the king of Babylon:(CL)

How the oppressor(CM) has come to an end!
    How his fury[c] has ended!
The Lord has broken the rod(CN) of the wicked,(CO)
    the scepter(CP) of the rulers,
which in anger struck down peoples(CQ)
    with unceasing blows,
and in fury subdued(CR) nations
    with relentless aggression.(CS)
All the lands are at rest and at peace;(CT)
    they break into singing.(CU)
Even the junipers(CV) and the cedars of Lebanon
    gloat over you and say,
“Now that you have been laid low,
    no one comes to cut us down.”(CW)

The realm of the dead(CX) below is all astir
    to meet you at your coming;
it rouses the spirits of the departed(CY) to greet you—
    all those who were leaders(CZ) in the world;
it makes them rise from their thrones—
    all those who were kings over the nations.(DA)
10 They will all respond,
    they will say to you,
“You also have become weak, as we are;
    you have become like us.”(DB)
11 All your pomp has been brought down to the grave,(DC)
    along with the noise of your harps;(DD)
maggots are spread out beneath you
    and worms(DE) cover you.(DF)

12 How you have fallen(DG) from heaven,
    morning star,(DH) son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
    you who once laid low the nations!(DI)
13 You said in your heart,
    “I will ascend(DJ) to the heavens;
I will raise my throne(DK)
    above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,(DL)
    on the utmost heights(DM) of Mount Zaphon.[d]
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;(DN)
    I will make myself like the Most High.”(DO)
15 But you are brought down(DP) to the realm of the dead,(DQ)
    to the depths(DR) of the pit.(DS)

16 Those who see you stare at you,
    they ponder your fate:(DT)
“Is this the man who shook(DU) the earth
    and made kingdoms tremble,
17 the man who made the world a wilderness,(DV)
    who overthrew(DW) its cities
    and would not let his captives go home?”(DX)

18 All the kings of the nations lie in state,
    each in his own tomb.(DY)
19 But you are cast out(DZ) of your tomb
    like a rejected branch;
you are covered with the slain,(EA)
    with those pierced by the sword,(EB)
    those who descend to the stones of the pit.(EC)
Like a corpse trampled underfoot,
20     you will not join them in burial,(ED)
for you have destroyed your land
    and killed your people.

Let the offspring(EE) of the wicked(EF)
    never be mentioned(EG) again.
21 Prepare a place to slaughter his children(EH)
    for the sins of their ancestors;(EI)
they are not to rise to inherit the land
    and cover the earth with their cities.

22 “I will rise up(EJ) against them,”
    declares the Lord Almighty.
“I will wipe out Babylon’s name(EK) and survivors,
    her offspring and descendants,(EL)
declares the Lord.
23 “I will turn her into a place for owls(EM)
    and into swampland;
I will sweep her with the broom of destruction,(EN)
    declares the Lord Almighty.(EO)

24 The Lord Almighty has sworn,(EP)

“Surely, as I have planned,(EQ) so it will be,
    and as I have purposed, so it will happen.(ER)
25 I will crush the Assyrian(ES) in my land;
    on my mountains I will trample him down.
His yoke(ET) will be taken from my people,
    and his burden removed from their shoulders.(EU)

26 This is the plan(EV) determined for the whole world;
    this is the hand(EW) stretched out over all nations.
27 For the Lord Almighty has purposed,(EX) and who can thwart him?
    His hand(EY) is stretched out, and who can turn it back?(EZ)

A Prophecy Against the Philistines

28 This prophecy(FA) came in the year(FB) King Ahaz(FC) died:

29 Do not rejoice, all you Philistines,(FD)
    that the rod that struck you is broken;
from the root of that snake will spring up a viper,(FE)
    its fruit will be a darting, venomous serpent.(FF)
30 The poorest of the poor will find pasture,
    and the needy(FG) will lie down in safety.(FH)
But your root I will destroy by famine;(FI)
    it will slay(FJ) your survivors.(FK)

31 Wail,(FL) you gate!(FM) Howl, you city!
    Melt away, all you Philistines!(FN)
A cloud of smoke comes from the north,(FO)
    and there is not a straggler in its ranks.(FP)
32 What answer shall be given
    to the envoys(FQ) of that nation?
“The Lord has established Zion,(FR)
    and in her his afflicted people will find refuge.(FS)

A Prophecy Against Moab(FT)

15 A prophecy(FU) against Moab:(FV)

Ar(FW) in Moab is ruined,(FX)
    destroyed in a night!
Kir(FY) in Moab is ruined,
    destroyed in a night!
Dibon(FZ) goes up to its temple,
    to its high places(GA) to weep;
    Moab wails(GB) over Nebo(GC) and Medeba.
Every head is shaved(GD)
    and every beard cut off.(GE)
In the streets they wear sackcloth;(GF)
    on the roofs(GG) and in the public squares(GH)
they all wail,(GI)
    prostrate with weeping.(GJ)
Heshbon(GK) and Elealeh(GL) cry out,
    their voices are heard all the way to Jahaz.(GM)
Therefore the armed men of Moab cry out,
    and their hearts are faint.

My heart cries out(GN) over Moab;(GO)
    her fugitives(GP) flee as far as Zoar,(GQ)
    as far as Eglath Shelishiyah.
They go up the hill to Luhith,
    weeping as they go;
on the road to Horonaim(GR)
    they lament their destruction.(GS)
The waters of Nimrim are dried up(GT)
    and the grass is withered;(GU)
the vegetation is gone(GV)
    and nothing green is left.(GW)
So the wealth they have acquired(GX) and stored up
    they carry away over the Ravine of the Poplars.
Their outcry echoes along the border of Moab;
    their wailing reaches as far as Eglaim,
    their lamentation as far as Beer(GY) Elim.
The waters of Dimon[e] are full of blood,
    but I will bring still more upon Dimon[f]
a lion(GZ) upon the fugitives of Moab(HA)
    and upon those who remain in the land.

16 Send lambs(HB) as tribute(HC)
    to the ruler of the land,
from Sela,(HD) across the desert,
    to the mount of Daughter Zion.(HE)
Like fluttering birds
    pushed from the nest,(HF)
so are the women of Moab(HG)
    at the fords(HH) of the Arnon.(HI)

“Make up your mind,” Moab says.
    “Render a decision.
Make your shadow like night—
    at high noon.
Hide the fugitives,(HJ)
    do not betray the refugees.
Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you;
    be their shelter(HK) from the destroyer.”

The oppressor(HL) will come to an end,
    and destruction will cease;(HM)
    the aggressor will vanish from the land.
In love a throne(HN) will be established;(HO)
    in faithfulness a man will sit on it—
    one from the house[g] of David(HP)
one who in judging seeks justice(HQ)
    and speeds the cause of righteousness.

We have heard of Moab’s(HR) pride(HS)
    how great is her arrogance!—
of her conceit, her pride and her insolence;
    but her boasts are empty.
Therefore the Moabites wail,(HT)
    they wail together for Moab.
Lament and grieve
    for the raisin cakes(HU) of Kir Hareseth.(HV)
The fields of Heshbon(HW) wither,(HX)
    the vines of Sibmah(HY) also.
The rulers of the nations
    have trampled down the choicest vines,(HZ)
which once reached Jazer(IA)
    and spread toward the desert.
Their shoots spread out(IB)
    and went as far as the sea.[h](IC)
So I weep,(ID) as Jazer weeps,
    for the vines of Sibmah.
Heshbon and Elealeh,(IE)
    I drench you with tears!(IF)
The shouts of joy(IG) over your ripened fruit
    and over your harvests(IH) have been stilled.
10 Joy and gladness are taken away from the orchards;(II)
    no one sings or shouts(IJ) in the vineyards;
no one treads(IK) out wine at the presses,(IL)
    for I have put an end to the shouting.
11 My heart laments for Moab(IM) like a harp,(IN)
    my inmost being(IO) for Kir Hareseth.
12 When Moab appears at her high place,(IP)
    she only wears herself out;
when she goes to her shrine(IQ) to pray,
    it is to no avail.(IR)

13 This is the word the Lord has already spoken concerning Moab. 14 But now the Lord says: “Within three years,(IS) as a servant bound by contract(IT) would count them,(IU) Moab’s splendor and all her many people will be despised,(IV) and her survivors will be very few and feeble.”(IW)

A Prophecy Against Damascus

17 A prophecy(IX) against Damascus:(IY)

“See, Damascus will no longer be a city
    but will become a heap of ruins.(IZ)
The cities of Aroer(JA) will be deserted
    and left to flocks,(JB) which will lie down,(JC)
    with no one to make them afraid.(JD)
The fortified(JE) city will disappear from Ephraim,
    and royal power from Damascus;
the remnant of Aram will be
    like the glory(JF) of the Israelites,”(JG)
declares the Lord Almighty.

“In that day(JH) the glory(JI) of Jacob will fade;
    the fat of his body will waste(JJ) away.
It will be as when reapers harvest the standing grain,
    gathering(JK) the grain in their arms—
as when someone gleans heads of grain(JL)
    in the Valley of Rephaim.(JM)
Yet some gleanings will remain,(JN)
    as when an olive tree is beaten,(JO)
leaving two or three olives on the topmost branches,
    four or five on the fruitful boughs,”
declares the Lord, the God of Israel.

In that day(JP) people will look(JQ) to their Maker(JR)
    and turn their eyes to the Holy One(JS) of Israel.
They will not look to the altars,(JT)
    the work of their hands,(JU)
and they will have no regard for the Asherah poles[i](JV)
    and the incense altars their fingers(JW) have made.

In that day their strong cities, which they left because of the Israelites, will be like places abandoned to thickets and undergrowth.(JX) And all will be desolation.

10 You have forgotten(JY) God your Savior;(JZ)
    you have not remembered the Rock,(KA) your fortress.(KB)
Therefore, though you set out the finest plants
    and plant imported vines,(KC)
11 though on the day you set them out, you make them grow,
    and on the morning(KD) when you plant them, you bring them to bud,
yet the harvest(KE) will be as nothing(KF)
    in the day of disease and incurable(KG) pain.(KH)

12 Woe to the many nations that rage(KI)
    they rage like the raging sea!(KJ)
Woe to the peoples who roar(KK)
    they roar like the roaring of great waters!(KL)
13 Although the peoples roar(KM) like the roar of surging waters,
    when he rebukes(KN) them they flee(KO) far away,
driven before the wind like chaff(KP) on the hills,
    like tumbleweed before a gale.(KQ)
14 In the evening, sudden(KR) terror!(KS)
    Before the morning, they are gone!(KT)
This is the portion of those who loot us,
    the lot of those who plunder us.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 13:6 Hebrew Shaddai
  2. Isaiah 13:19 Or Chaldeans
  3. Isaiah 14:4 Dead Sea Scrolls, Septuagint and Syriac; the meaning of the word in the Masoretic Text is uncertain.
  4. Isaiah 14:13 Or of the north; Zaphon was the most sacred mountain of the Canaanites.
  5. Isaiah 15:9 Dimon, a wordplay on Dibon (see verse 2), sounds like the Hebrew for blood.
  6. Isaiah 15:9 Dimon, a wordplay on Dibon (see verse 2), sounds like the Hebrew for blood.
  7. Isaiah 16:5 Hebrew tent
  8. Isaiah 16:8 Probably the Dead Sea
  9. Isaiah 17:8 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah