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Ethiopia Will Be Punished

18 (A) Downstream from Ethiopia[a]
lies the country of Egypt,
    swarming with insects.[b]
Egypt sends messengers
up the Nile River
    on ships made of reeds.[c]
Send them fast to Ethiopia,
whose people are tall
    and have smooth skin.
Their land is divided by rivers;
they are strong and brutal,
    feared all over the world.[d]

Everyone on this earth,
    listen with care!
A signal will be given
on the mountains,
    and you will hear a trumpet.
The Lord said to me,
“I will calmly look down
    from my home above—
as calmly as the sun at noon
or clouds in the heat
    of harvest season.”

Before the blossoms
    can turn into grapes,
God will cut off the sprouts
    and hack off the branches.
Ethiopians will be food
for mountain vultures
    during the summer
and for wild animals
    during the winter.

Those Ethiopians are tall and their skin is smooth. They are feared all over the world, because they are strong and brutal. But at that time they will come from their land divided by rivers, and they will bring gifts to the Lord All-Powerful, who is worshiped on Mount Zion.

Egypt Will Be Punished

19 (B) This is a message about Egypt:

The Lord comes to Egypt,
    riding swiftly on a cloud.
The people are weak from fear.
Their idols tremble
    as he approaches and says,
“I will punish Egypt
    with civil war—
neighbors, cities, and kingdoms
    will fight each other.

“Egypt will be discouraged
    when I confuse their plans.
They will try to get advice
    from their idols,
from the spirits of the dead,
    and from fortunetellers.
I will put the Egyptians
under the power of a cruel,
    heartless king.
I, the Lord All-Powerful,
    have promised this.”

Trouble along the Nile

The Nile River will dry up
    and become parched land.
Its streams will stink,
    Egypt will have no water,
and the reeds and tall grass
    will dry up.
Fields along the Nile
will be completely barren;
    every plant will disappear.

Those who fish in the Nile
will be discouraged
    and mourn.
None of the cloth makers[e]
will know what to do,
    and they will turn pale.[f]
10 Weavers will be confused;
paid workers will cry and mourn.

Egypt's Helpless Leaders

11 The king's officials in Zoan[g]
are foolish themselves
    and give stupid advice.
How can they say to him,
    “We are very wise,
and our families go back
    to kings of long ago?”
12 Where are those wise men now?
    If they can, let them say
what the Lord All-Powerful
    intends for Egypt.

13 The royal officials in Zoan
and in Memphis
    are foolish and deceived.
The leaders in every state
have given bad advice
    to the nation.
14 The Lord has confused Egypt;
its leaders have made it stagger
    and vomit like a drunkard.
15 No one in Egypt can do a thing,
    no matter who they are.

16 When the Lord All-Powerful punishes Egypt with his mighty arm, the Egyptians will become terribly weak and will tremble with fear. 17 They will be so terrified of Judah that they will be frightened by the very mention of its name. This will happen because of what the Lord All-Powerful is planning against Egypt.

The Lord Will Bless Egypt, Assyria, and Israel

18 The time is coming when Hebrew will be spoken in five Egyptian cities, and their people will become followers of the Lord. One of these cities will be called City of the Sun.[h]

19 In the heart of Egypt an altar will be set up for the Lord; at its border a shrine will be built to honor him. 20 These will remind the Egyptians that the Lord All-Powerful is with them. And when they are in trouble and ask for help, he will send someone to rescue them from their enemies. 21 The Lord will show the Egyptians who he is, and they will know and worship the Lord. They will bring him sacrifices and offerings, and they will keep their promises to him. 22 After the Lord has punished Egypt, the people will turn to him. Then he will answer their prayers, and the Egyptians will be healed.

23 At that time a good road will run from Egypt to Assyria. The Egyptians and the Assyrians will travel back and forth from Egypt to Assyria, and they will worship together. 24 Israel will join with these two countries. They will be a blessing to everyone on earth, 25 then the Lord All-Powerful will bless them by saying,

“The Egyptians are my people.
I created the Assyrians
    and chose the Israelites.”

Isaiah Acts Out the Defeat of Egypt and Ethiopia

20 King Sargon of Assyria gave orders for his army commander to capture the city of Ashdod.[i] About this same time the Lord had told me, “Isaiah, take off everything, including your sandals!” I did this and went around naked and barefoot for three years.

Then the Lord said:

What Isaiah has done is a warning to Egypt and Ethiopia.[j] Everyone in these two countries will be led away naked and barefoot by the king of Assyria. Young or old, they will be taken prisoner, and Egypt will be disgraced. They will be confused and frustrated, because they depended on Ethiopia and bragged about Egypt. When this happens, the people who live along the coast[k] will say, “Look what happened to them! We ran to them for safety, hoping they would protect us from the king of Assyria. But now, there is no escape for us.”

The Fall of Babylonia[l]

21 This is a message about a desert beside the sea:[m]

Enemies from a hostile nation
attack like a whirlwind
    from the Southern Desert.
What a horrible vision
    was shown to me—
a vision of betrayal
    and destruction.
Tell Elam and Media[n]
to surround and attack
    the Babylonians.
The Lord has sworn to end
    the suffering they caused.

I'm in terrible pain
    like a woman giving birth.
I'm shocked and hurt so much
    that I can't hear or see.
My head spins; I'm horrified!
Early evening, my favorite time,
    has become a nightmare.

In Babylon the high officials
    were having a feast.
They were eating and drinking,
    when someone shouted,
“Officers, take your places!
    Grab your shields.”

The Lord said to me,
“Send guards
    to find out
    what's going on.
When they see cavalry troops
    and columns of soldiers
on donkeys and camels,
    tell them to be ready!”

Then a guard[o] said,
“I have stood day and night
    on this watchtower, Lord.
(C) Now I see column after column
    of cavalry troops.”

At once someone shouted,
    “Babylon has fallen!
Every idol in the city
    lies broken on the ground.”

10 Then I said, “My people,
    you have suffered terribly,
but I have a message for you
from the Lord All-Powerful,
    the God of Israel.”

How Much Longer?

11 This is a message about Dumah:

From the country of Seir,[p]
    someone shouts to me,
“Guard, how much longer
    before daylight?”

12 From my guard post, I answered,
“Morning will soon be here,
    but night will return.
If you want to know more,
    come back later.”

13 This is a message for Arabs who live in the barren desert in the region of Dedan:[q]

You must order your caravans
14 to bring water for those
    who are thirsty.
You people of Tema[r]
must bring food
    for the hungry refugees.
15 They are worn out and weary
from being chased by enemies
    with swords and arrows.

16 The Lord said to me:

A year from now the glory of the people of Kedar[s] will all come to an end, just as a worker's contract ends after a year. 17 Only a few of their warriors will be left with bows and arrows. This is a promise that I, the Lord God of Israel, have made.

Trouble in Vision Valley

22 This is a message about Vision Valley:[t]

Why are you celebrating
on the flat roofs[u]
    of your houses?
Your city is filled
    with noisy shouts.
Those who lie drunk
in your streets
    were not killed in battle.
Your leaders ran away,
but they were captured
    without a fight.
No matter how far they ran,
    they were found and caught.[v]

Then I said, “Leave me alone!
    Let me cry bitter tears.
My people have been destroyed,
    so don't try to comfort me.”

The Lord All-Powerful
    had chosen a time
for noisy shouts and confusion
    to fill Vision Valley,
and for everyone to beg
    the mountains for help.[w]
The people of Elam and Kir[x]
attacked with chariots[y]
    and carried shields.
Your most beautiful valleys
    were covered with chariots;
your cities were surrounded
by cavalry troops.
    Judah was left defenseless.

At that time you trusted in the weapons you had stored in Forest Palace.[z] You saw the holes in the outer wall of Jerusalem, and you brought water from the lower pool.[aa] 10 You counted the houses in Jerusalem and tore down some of them, so you could get stones to repair the city wall. 11 Then you built a large tank between the walls[ab] to store the water. But you refused to trust the God who planned this long ago and made it happen.

A Time To Weep

12 When all of this happened,
the Lord All-Powerful told you
    to weep and mourn,
    to shave your heads,
    and wear sackcloth.
13 (D) But instead, you celebrated
by feasting on beef and lamb
    and by drinking wine,
because you said,
“Let's eat and drink today!
    Tomorrow we may die.”

14 The Lord All-Powerful
has spoken to me
    this solemn promise:
“I won't forgive them for this,
    not as long as they live.”

Selfish Officials Are Doomed

15 The Lord All-Powerful is sending me with this message for Shebna, the prime minister:

16 Shebna, what gives you the right to have a tomb carved out of rock in this burial place of royalty? None of your relatives are buried here. 17 You may be powerful, but the Lord is about to snatch you up and throw you away. 18 He will roll you into a ball and throw you into a wide open country, where you will die and your chariots will be destroyed. You're a disgrace to those you serve.

19 The Lord is going to take away your job! 20-21 He will give your official robes and your authority to his servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah.

Eliakim will be like a father to the people of Jerusalem and to the royal family of Judah. 22 (E) The Lord will put him in charge of the key that belongs to King David's family. No one will be able to unlock what he locks, and no one will be able to lock what he unlocks. 23 The Lord will make him as firm in his position as a tent peg hammered in the ground, and Eliakim will bring honor to his family.

24 His children and relatives will be supported by him, like pans hanging from a peg on the wall. 25 That peg is fastened firmly now, but someday it will be shaken loose and fall down. Then everything that was hanging on it will be destroyed. This is what the Lord All-Powerful has promised.

Footnotes

  1. 18.1 Ethiopia: See the note at 11.11.
  2. 18.1 insects: Or “sailing ships.”
  3. 18.2 reeds: Ancient Egypt was famous for the papyrus reeds that grew in the Nile Delta.
  4. 18.2 world: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 2.
  5. 19.9 cloth makers: Cloth was made from several kinds of plants that grew in the fields along the Nile.
  6. 19.9 turn pale: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  7. 19.11 Zoan: The city of Tanis in the Nile delta.
  8. 19.18 City of the Sun: Some manuscripts of the Standard Hebrew Text, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and one ancient translation; most manuscripts of the Standard Hebrew Text have “City of Destruction.” This probably refers to Heliopolis which means “City of the Sun” (see Jeremiah 43.13).
  9. 20.1 Ashdod: King Sargon II of Assyria captured this Philistine city in 711 b.c.
  10. 20.3 Ethiopia: See the note at 11.11.
  11. 20.6 people … coast: Probably the Philistines.
  12. 21 Title Babylonia: King Cyrus and his army of Medes and Persians captured the city of Babylon in 539 b.c.
  13. 21.1 This … sea: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. The prophet may be speaking of Babylonia as a desert, because of the terrible punishment God will bring on it. The southern part of Babylonia on the Persian Gulf was sometimes called “the land beside the sea.”
  14. 21.2 Elam and Media: People from the Iranian highlands; the capital of Elam was Susa, in the hill country east of Babylon.
  15. 21.8 guard: The Dead Sea Scrolls and one ancient translation; the Standard Hebrew Text has “lion.”
  16. 21.11 Dumah … Seir: Dumah was an oasis in the Arabian desert. One ancient translation has “Edom,” which may be what is meant. Seir is a mountainous region of Edom southwest of the Dead Sea.
  17. 21.13 Dedan: A region in northwest Arabia.
  18. 21.14 Tema: A region in north Arabia.
  19. 21.16 Kedar: A region in the Arabian desert.
  20. 22.1 Vision Valley: The exact location is not known. In Hebrew the name sounds something like “Hinnom Valley,” where the people of Jerusalem sometimes offered human sacrifices to the gods of Canaan.
  21. 22.1 flat roofs: In Palestine the houses usually had a flat roof. Stairs on the outside led up to the roof, which was made of beams and boards covered with packed earth.
  22. 22.3 No matter … caught: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  23. 22.5 and for … help: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  24. 22.6 Elam and Kir: Regions in the Iranian highlands.
  25. 22.6 chariots: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  26. 22.8 Forest Palace: Built by Solomon (1 Kings 7.2) and used as a place for storing weapons.
  27. 22.9 the lower pool: Mentioned only here; probably in the southern part of the Central Valley (Tyropoean Valley) of Jerusalem.
  28. 22.11 between the walls: Some cities had two walls with a space between them. If the enemy broke through the outer wall, the city was still protected by the inner wall. The houses that were torn down to repair the outer wall were probably squatters' huts that had been built between the two walls.

A Prophecy Against Cush

18 Woe(A) to the land of whirring wings[a]
    along the rivers of Cush,[b](B)
which sends envoys(C) by sea
    in papyrus(D) boats over the water.

Go, swift messengers,
to a people tall and smooth-skinned,(E)
    to a people feared far and wide,
an aggressive(F) nation of strange speech,
    whose land is divided by rivers.(G)

All you people of the world,(H)
    you who live on the earth,
when a banner(I) is raised on the mountains,
    you will see it,
and when a trumpet(J) sounds,
    you will hear it.
This is what the Lord says to me:
    “I will remain quiet(K) and will look on from my dwelling place,(L)
like shimmering heat in the sunshine,(M)
    like a cloud of dew(N) in the heat of harvest.”
For, before the harvest, when the blossom is gone
    and the flower becomes a ripening grape,
he will cut off(O) the shoots with pruning knives,
    and cut down and take away the spreading branches.(P)
They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey(Q)
    and to the wild animals;(R)
the birds will feed on them all summer,
    the wild animals all winter.

At that time gifts(S) will be brought to the Lord Almighty

from a people tall and smooth-skinned,(T)
    from a people feared(U) far and wide,
an aggressive nation of strange speech,
    whose land is divided by rivers(V)

the gifts will be brought to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the Lord Almighty.(W)

A Prophecy Against Egypt

19 A prophecy(X) against Egypt:(Y)

See, the Lord rides on a swift cloud(Z)
    and is coming to Egypt.
The idols of Egypt tremble before him,
    and the hearts of the Egyptians melt(AA) with fear.

“I will stir up Egyptian against Egyptian—
    brother will fight against brother,(AB)
    neighbor against neighbor,
    city against city,
    kingdom against kingdom.(AC)
The Egyptians will lose heart,(AD)
    and I will bring their plans(AE) to nothing;(AF)
they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead,
    the mediums and the spiritists.(AG)
I will hand the Egyptians over
    to the power of a cruel master,
and a fierce king(AH) will rule over them,”
    declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.

The waters of the river will dry up,(AI)
    and the riverbed will be parched and dry.(AJ)
The canals will stink;(AK)
    the streams of Egypt will dwindle and dry up.(AL)
The reeds(AM) and rushes will wither,(AN)
    also the plants(AO) along the Nile,
    at the mouth of the river.
Every sown field(AP) along the Nile
    will become parched, will blow away and be no more.(AQ)
The fishermen(AR) will groan and lament,
    all who cast hooks(AS) into the Nile;
those who throw nets on the water
    will pine away.
Those who work with combed flax(AT) will despair,
    the weavers of fine linen(AU) will lose hope.
10 The workers in cloth will be dejected,
    and all the wage earners will be sick at heart.

11 The officials of Zoan(AV) are nothing but fools;
    the wise counselors(AW) of Pharaoh give senseless advice.(AX)
How can you say to Pharaoh,
    “I am one of the wise men,(AY)
    a disciple of the ancient kings”?

12 Where are your wise men(AZ) now?
    Let them show you and make known
what the Lord Almighty
    has planned(BA) against Egypt.
13 The officials of Zoan(BB) have become fools,
    the leaders of Memphis(BC) are deceived;
the cornerstones(BD) of her peoples
    have led Egypt astray.
14 The Lord has poured into them
    a spirit of dizziness;(BE)
they make Egypt stagger in all that she does,
    as a drunkard staggers(BF) around in his vomit.
15 There is nothing Egypt can do—
    head or tail, palm branch or reed.(BG)

16 In that day(BH) the Egyptians will become weaklings.(BI) They will shudder with fear(BJ) at the uplifted hand(BK) that the Lord Almighty raises against them. 17 And the land of Judah will bring terror to the Egyptians; everyone to whom Judah is mentioned will be terrified,(BL) because of what the Lord Almighty is planning(BM) against them.

18 In that day(BN) five cities(BO) in Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance(BP) to the Lord Almighty. One of them will be called the City of the Sun.[c](BQ)

19 In that day(BR) there will be an altar(BS) to the Lord in the heart of Egypt,(BT) and a monument(BU) to the Lord at its border. 20 It will be a sign and witness(BV) to the Lord Almighty in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the Lord because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior(BW) and defender, and he will rescue(BX) them. 21 So the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge(BY) the Lord. They will worship(BZ) with sacrifices and grain offerings; they will make vows to the Lord and keep them.(CA) 22 The Lord will strike(CB) Egypt with a plague;(CC) he will strike them and heal them. They will turn(CD) to the Lord, and he will respond to their pleas and heal(CE) them.

23 In that day(CF) there will be a highway(CG) from Egypt to Assyria.(CH) The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship(CI) together. 24 In that day(CJ) Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria,(CK) a blessing[d](CL) on the earth. 25 The Lord Almighty will bless(CM) them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people,(CN) Assyria my handiwork,(CO) and Israel my inheritance.(CP)

A Prophecy Against Egypt and Cush

20 In the year that the supreme commander,(CQ) sent by Sargon king of Assyria, came to Ashdod(CR) and attacked and captured it— at that time the Lord spoke through Isaiah son of Amoz.(CS) He said to him, “Take off the sackcloth(CT) from your body and the sandals(CU) from your feet.” And he did so, going around stripped(CV) and barefoot.(CW)

Then the Lord said, “Just as my servant(CX) Isaiah has gone stripped and barefoot for three years,(CY) as a sign(CZ) and portent(DA) against Egypt(DB) and Cush,[e](DC) so the king(DD) of Assyria will lead away stripped(DE) and barefoot the Egyptian captives(DF) and Cushite(DG) exiles, young and old, with buttocks bared(DH)—to Egypt’s shame.(DI) Those who trusted(DJ) in Cush(DK) and boasted in Egypt(DL) will be dismayed and put to shame.(DM) In that day(DN) the people who live on this coast will say, ‘See what has happened(DO) to those we relied on,(DP) those we fled to for help(DQ) and deliverance from the king of Assyria! How then can we escape?(DR)’”

A Prophecy Against Babylon

21 A prophecy(DS) against the Desert(DT) by the Sea:

Like whirlwinds(DU) sweeping through the southland,(DV)
    an invader comes from the desert,
    from a land of terror.

A dire(DW) vision has been shown to me:
    The traitor betrays,(DX) the looter takes loot.
Elam,(DY) attack! Media,(DZ) lay siege!
    I will bring to an end all the groaning she caused.

At this my body is racked with pain,(EA)
    pangs seize me, like those of a woman in labor;(EB)
I am staggered by what I hear,
    I am bewildered(EC) by what I see.
My heart(ED) falters,
    fear makes me tremble;(EE)
the twilight I longed for
    has become a horror(EF) to me.

They set the tables,
    they spread the rugs,
    they eat, they drink!(EG)
Get up, you officers,
    oil the shields!(EH)

This is what the Lord says to me:

“Go, post a lookout(EI)
    and have him report what he sees.
When he sees chariots(EJ)
    with teams of horses,
riders on donkeys
    or riders on camels,(EK)
let him be alert,
    fully alert.”

And the lookout[f](EL) shouted,

“Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower;
    every night I stay at my post.
Look, here comes a man in a chariot(EM)
    with a team of horses.
And he gives back the answer:
    ‘Babylon(EN) has fallen,(EO) has fallen!
All the images of its gods(EP)
    lie shattered(EQ) on the ground!’”

10 My people who are crushed on the threshing floor,(ER)
    I tell you what I have heard
from the Lord Almighty,
    from the God of Israel.

A Prophecy Against Edom

11 A prophecy against Dumah[g]:(ES)

Someone calls to me from Seir,(ET)
    “Watchman, what is left of the night?
    Watchman, what is left of the night?”
12 The watchman replies,
    “Morning is coming, but also the night.
If you would ask, then ask;
    and come back yet again.”

A Prophecy Against Arabia

13 A prophecy(EU) against Arabia:(EV)

You caravans of Dedanites,(EW)
    who camp in the thickets of Arabia,
14     bring water for the thirsty;
you who live in Tema,(EX)
    bring food for the fugitives.
15 They flee(EY) from the sword,(EZ)
    from the drawn sword,
from the bent bow
    and from the heat of battle.

16 This is what the Lord says to me: “Within one year, as a servant bound by contract(FA) would count it, all the splendor(FB) of Kedar(FC) will come to an end. 17 The survivors of the archers, the warriors of Kedar, will be few.(FD)” The Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.(FE)

A Prophecy About Jerusalem

22 A prophecy(FF) against the Valley(FG) of Vision:(FH)

What troubles you now,
    that you have all gone up on the roofs,(FI)
you town so full of commotion,
    you city of tumult(FJ) and revelry?(FK)
Your slain(FL) were not killed by the sword,(FM)
    nor did they die in battle.
All your leaders have fled(FN) together;
    they have been captured(FO) without using the bow.
All you who were caught were taken prisoner together,
    having fled while the enemy was still far away.
Therefore I said, “Turn away from me;
    let me weep(FP) bitterly.
Do not try to console me
    over the destruction of my people.”(FQ)

The Lord, the Lord Almighty, has a day(FR)
    of tumult and trampling(FS) and terror(FT)
    in the Valley of Vision,(FU)
a day of battering down walls(FV)
    and of crying out to the mountains.
Elam(FW) takes up the quiver,(FX)
    with her charioteers and horses;
    Kir(FY) uncovers the shield.
Your choicest valleys(FZ) are full of chariots,
    and horsemen are posted at the city gates.(GA)

The Lord stripped away the defenses of Judah,
    and you looked in that day(GB)
    to the weapons(GC) in the Palace of the Forest.(GD)
You saw that the walls of the City of David
    were broken through(GE) in many places;
you stored up water
    in the Lower Pool.(GF)
10 You counted the buildings in Jerusalem
    and tore down houses(GG) to strengthen the wall.(GH)
11 You built a reservoir between the two walls(GI)
    for the water of the Old Pool,(GJ)
but you did not look to the One who made it,
    or have regard(GK) for the One who planned(GL) it long ago.

12 The Lord, the Lord Almighty,
    called you on that day(GM)
to weep(GN) and to wail,
    to tear out your hair(GO) and put on sackcloth.(GP)
13 But see, there is joy and revelry,(GQ)
    slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep,
    eating of meat and drinking of wine!(GR)
“Let us eat and drink,” you say,
    “for tomorrow we die!”(GS)

14 The Lord Almighty has revealed this in my hearing:(GT) “Till your dying day this sin will not be atoned(GU) for,” says the Lord, the Lord Almighty.

15 This is what the Lord, the Lord Almighty, says:

“Go, say to this steward,
    to Shebna(GV) the palace(GW) administrator:(GX)
16 What are you doing here and who gave you permission
    to cut out a grave(GY) for yourself(GZ) here,
hewing your grave on the height
    and chiseling your resting place in the rock?

17 “Beware, the Lord is about to take firm hold of you
    and hurl(HA) you away, you mighty man.
18 He will roll you up tightly like a ball
    and throw(HB) you into a large country.
There you will die
    and there the chariots(HC) you were so proud of
    will become a disgrace to your master’s house.
19 I will depose you from your office,
    and you will be ousted(HD) from your position.(HE)

20 “In that day(HF) I will summon my servant,(HG) Eliakim(HH) son of Hilkiah. 21 I will clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash(HI) around him and hand your authority(HJ) over to him. He will be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the people of Judah. 22 I will place on his shoulder(HK) the key(HL) to the house of David;(HM) what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.(HN) 23 I will drive him like a peg(HO) into a firm place;(HP) he will become a seat[h] of honor(HQ) for the house of his father. 24 All the glory of his family will hang on him: its offspring and offshoots—all its lesser vessels, from the bowls to all the jars.

25 “In that day,(HR)” declares the Lord Almighty, “the peg(HS) driven into the firm place will give way; it will be sheared off and will fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut down.” The Lord has spoken.(HT)

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 18:1 Or of locusts
  2. Isaiah 18:1 That is, the upper Nile region
  3. Isaiah 19:18 Some manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Dead Sea Scrolls, Symmachus and Vulgate; most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text City of Destruction
  4. Isaiah 19:24 Or Assyria, whose names will be used in blessings (see Gen. 48:20); or Assyria, who will be seen by others as blessed
  5. Isaiah 20:3 That is, the upper Nile region; also in verse 5
  6. Isaiah 21:8 Dead Sea Scrolls and Syriac; Masoretic Text A lion
  7. Isaiah 21:11 Dumah, a wordplay on Edom, means silence or stillness.
  8. Isaiah 22:23 Or throne