“Just as my servant Yesha‘yahu
has gone about unclothed and barefoot
for three years as a sign and portent
against Egypt and Ethiopia,
⁴ so will the king of Ashur lead away
the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Ethiopia,
young and old, unclothed and barefoot,
with their buttocks exposed, to the shame of Egypt.
⁵ They will be dismayed and ashamed
because of Ethiopia their hope and Egypt their pride.
⁶ On that day, the people living
along this coast will say,
‘Look what happened to the people
to whom we fled for help,
hoping they would rescue us
from the king of Ashur!
How will we escape now?’”

21 A prophecy about the coastal desert:

Like whirlwinds sweeping over the Negev,
it comes from the desert, from a fearsome land.
² A dire vision has been shown to me:
the betrayer betrays, and the spoiler spoils.
‘Eilam, advance! Madai, lay siege!
I will end all groaning.
³ This is why my insides are racked with pain;
I am seized by pangs, like a woman in labor;
wrenched by what I hear,
aghast at what I see.
⁴ My mind reels, shuddering assails me.
The twilight I longed for terrifies me.
⁵ They set the table, light the lamps,
eat and drink —
“Get going, princes! Oil the shields!”
⁶ For this is what Adonai said to me:
“Go, post a watchman to report what he sees!
⁷ If he sees the cavalry, horsemen in pairs,
riders on donkeys, riders on camels,
he must be on alert, on full alert!”
⁸ He calls out like a lion: “My lord,
I stand on the watchtower all day long,
I stay at my post all night.”
⁹ Then, as they appeared — the cavalry,
horsemen in pairs — he spoke these words:
“She has fallen! She has fallen — Bavel!
All the carved images of her gods
lie shattered on the ground.”
¹⁰ My people, who have been threshed,
grain trodden down on my threshing-floor:
I am telling you what I have heard
from Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el.

¹¹ A prophecy about Dumah:

Someone is calling to me from Se‘ir:
“Watchman, how much longer is it night?
Watchman, how much longer is it night?”
¹² The watchman answers:
“Morning is coming, but also the night.
If you want to ask, ask! Come back again!”

¹³ A prophecy about Arabia:

You caravans of D’danim will camp
in the desert growth of Arabia.
¹⁴ Bring water to the thirsty, you who live in Teima,
greet the fugitives with food;
¹⁵ because they are fleeing the sword, the drawn sword,
the bent bow and the press of battle.

Tell me what is wrong with you,
that you have all gone up on the roofs.
² You city full of noise, confusion
and boisterous excitement,
your slain did not fall to the sword,
nor did they die in battle.
³ All your leaders fled together
and were captured without the use of a bow;
all from you who were found were captured,
even though they had fled far away.
⁴ This is why I said, “Don’t look at me,
leave me alone to weep bitterly,
don’t try to comfort me
over the destruction of my people.”
⁵ For it is a day of panic,
trampling and confusion
from Adonai Elohim-Tzva’ot
in the Valley of Vision.
With walls crashing down,
they cry for help to the mountains.
⁶ ‘Eilam picks up the quivers,
with cavalry and horsemen,
and Kir uncovers the shields.
⁷ In time, your choicest valleys
are overrun by chariots,
and the cavalry take their posts by the gate;
⁸ thus is Y’hudah’s protection removed.

That day you looked for the armor
in the House of the Forest.
⁹ You saw how many breaches there were
in the City of David,
you collected water from the lower pool,
¹⁰ you surveyed the houses in Yerushalayim,
tearing some down to fortify the wall.
¹¹ You also built a reservoir between the two walls
for the water from the Old Pool;
but you didn’t look to Him who made these things;
you had no respect for Him who fashioned them long ago.

¹² That day Adonai Elohim-Tzva’ot
called on you to weep and mourn,
to shave your heads and wear sackcloth;
¹³ but instead, one sees joy and celebrating,
killing of oxen, slaughtering of sheep,
eating of meat, drinking of wine —
“Let’s eat and drink now,
because tomorrow we’ll be dead!”

¹⁴ Then Adonai-Tzva’ot revealed himself in my ears: “You will not atone for this iniquity until you die.” This is what Adonai Elohim-Tzva’ot says.

¹⁶ ‘What do you own here,
and who gave you the right
to cut yourself a tomb here?
Why do you get such an eminent tomb?
Why are you carving a resting-place
for yourself in the rock?’”

¹⁷ Look, strong man! Adonai is about
to throw you out! He will grab you,
¹⁸ roll you up, and toss you around
like a ball in the open country.
There you will die, with your fancy chariots,
you disgrace to your master’s palace!

¹⁹ “I will remove you from your office,
I will snatch you from your post.
²⁰ When that day comes, I will summon
my servant Elyakim the son of Hilkiyahu.
²¹ I will dress him in your robe,
gird him with your sash of office,
and invest him with your authority.
He will be a father to the people
living in Yerushalayim
and to the house of Y’hudah.
²² I will place the key of David’s house
on his shoulder;
no one will shut what he opens;
no one will open what he shuts.