Study Desk

An oracle^(a) against Babylon^(b) that Isaiah son of Amoz saw:

Lift up a banner on a barren mountain.^(c) Call out to them. Wave your hand, and they will go through the gates of the nobles.

I have commanded My chosen ones; I have also called My warriors, who exult in My triumph, to execute My wrath.^(d)

Listen, a tumult on the mountains, like that of a mighty people! Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms, like nations being gathered together! The Lord of Hosts is mobilizing an army for war.

They are coming from a far land, from the distant horizon— the Lord and the weapons of His wrath— to destroy the whole country.^[a]

Wail! For the day of the Lord is near.^(e) It will come like destruction from the Almighty.^(f)

Therefore everyone's hands will become weak, and every man's heart will melt.

They will be horrified; pain and agony will seize them; they will be in anguish like a woman in labor.^(g) They will look at each other, their faces flushed with fear.

Look, the day^(h) of the Lord is coming— cruel, with rage and burning anger— to make the earth a desolation and to destroy the sinners on it.⁽ⁱ⁾

Indeed, the stars of the sky and its constellations^[b] will not give their light. The sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon will not shine.^(j)

I will bring disaster on the world, and their own iniquity,^(k) on the wicked. I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant^(l) and humiliate the insolence of tyrants.

I will make man scarcer than gold, and mankind more rare than the gold of Ophir.^(m)

Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will shake from its foundations⁽ⁿ⁾ at the wrath of the Lord of Hosts, on the day of His burning anger.

Like wandering gazelles and like sheep without a shepherd,^(o) each one will turn to his own people, each one will flee to his own land.

Whoever is found will be stabbed, and whoever is caught will die by the sword.

Their children will be smashed to death before their eyes;^(p) their houses will be looted, and their wives raped.

Look! I am stirring up the Medes against them,^(q) who cannot be bought off with^[c] silver and who have no desire for gold.

Their bows will cut young men to pieces. They will have no compassion on little ones; they will not look with pity on children.

And Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms, the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them.^(r)

It will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation;^(s) a nomad will not pitch his tent there, and shepherds will not let their flocks rest there.

But desert creatures will lie down there, and owls will fill the houses. Ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will leap about.^(t)

Hyenas will howl in the fortresses, and jackals, in the luxurious palaces. Babylon's time is almost up; her days are almost over.

For the Lord will have compassion^(a) on Jacob and will choose Israel again.^(b) He will settle them on their own land.^(c) The foreigner will join them and be united with the house of Jacob.^(d)

The nations will escort Israel and bring it to its homeland. Then the house of Israel will possess them as male and female slaves in the Lord 's land.^(e) They will make captives of their captors and will rule over their oppressors.

When the Lord gives you rest from your pain,^(f) torment, and the hard labor^(g) you were forced to do,

you will sing this song of contempt about the king of Babylon^(h) and say: How the oppressor has quieted down, and how the raging^[a] has become quiet!

The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers.

It struck the peoples in anger with unceasing blows. It subdued the nations in rage with relentless persecution.

All the earth is calm and at rest; people shout with a ringing cry.

Even the cypresses and the cedars of Lebanon rejoice over you:⁽ⁱ⁾ "Since you have been laid low, no woodcutter has come against us."

Sheol below is eager to greet your coming. He stirs up the spirits of the departed for you— all the rulers^[b] of the earth. He makes all the kings of the nations rise from their thrones.

They all respond to you, saying: "You too have become as weak as we are; you have become like us!

Your splendor has been brought down to Sheol, along with the music of your harps. Maggots are spread out under you, and worms cover you."

Shining morning star,^[c](j) how you have fallen from the heavens!^(k) You destroyer of nations, you have been cut down to the ground.

You said to yourself: "I will ascend to the heavens;^(l) I will set up my throne above the stars of God.^(m) I will sit on the mount of the gods' assembly, in the remotest parts of the North.^[d](n)

I will ascend above the highest clouds; I will make myself like the Most High."

But you will be brought down to Sheol into the deepest regions of the Pit.^(o)

Those who see you will stare at you; they will look closely at you: "Is this the man who caused the earth to tremble, who shook the kingdoms,

who turned the world into a wilderness,^(p) who destroyed its cities and would not release the prisoners to return home?"

All the kings of the nations lie in splendor, each in his own tomb.

But you are thrown out without a grave, like a worthless branch, covered by those slain with the sword and dumped into a rocky pit like a trampled corpse.

You will not join them in burial, because you destroyed your land and slaughtered your own people. The offspring of evildoers will never be remembered.^(q)

Prepare a place of slaughter for his sons, because of the iniquity^(r) of their fathers. They will never rise up to possess a land or fill the surface of the earth with cities.

"I will rise up against them"—this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts—"and I will cut off from Babylon her reputation, remnant, offspring, and posterity"—this is the Lord 's declaration.

"I will make her a swampland and a region for screech owls,^[e] and I will sweep her away with a broom of destruction." This is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.

The Lord of Hosts has sworn: As I have purposed, so it will be; as I have planned it, so it will happen.^(s)

I will break Assyria^(t) in My land; I will tread him down on My mountain. Then his yoke will be taken from them, and his burden will be removed from their shoulders.

This is the plan^(u) prepared for the whole earth, and this is the hand stretched out against all the nations.

The Lord of Hosts Himself has planned it; therefore, who can stand in its way? It is His hand that is outstretched, so who can turn it back?

In the year that King Ahaz died,^(v) this oracle came:^(w)

Don't rejoice, all of you in Philistia, because the rod of the one who struck you^(x) is broken. For a viper will come from the root^[f] of a snake, and from its egg comes a flying serpent.^(y)

Then the firstborn^(z) of the poor will be well fed, and the impoverished will lie down in safety, but I will kill your root with hunger, and your remnant will be slain.^[g]

Wail, you gates!^(aa) Cry out, city! Tremble with fear,^(ab) all Philistia! For a cloud of dust is coming from the north,^(ac) and there is no one missing from the invader's ranks.

What answer will be given to the messengers from that nation? The Lord has founded Zion,^(ad) and His afflicted people find refuge in her.

An oracle against Moab:^(a) Ar in Moab is devastated,^(b) destroyed in a night. Kir in Moab is devastated, destroyed in a night.

Dibon went up to its temple to weep at its high places. Moab wails on Nebo and at^[a] Medeba. Every head is shaved; every beard is cut off.

In its streets they wear sackcloth; on its rooftops and in its public squares everyone wails, falling down and weeping.

Heshbon and Elealeh cry out; their voices are heard as far away as Jahaz.^(c) Therefore the soldiers of Moab cry out, and they tremble.^[b]

My heart cries out over Moab, whose fugitives flee as far as Zoar,^(d) to Eglath-shelishiyah; they go up the slope of Luhith weeping; they raise a cry of destruction on the road to Horonaim.

The waters of Nimrim^(e) are desolate; the grass is withered, the foliage is gone, and the vegetation has vanished.

So they carry their wealth and belongings over the Wadi of the Willows.^(f)

For their cry echoes throughout the territory of Moab. Their wailing reaches Eglaim; their wailing reaches Beer-elim.

The waters of Dibon^[c] are full of blood,^(g) but I will bring on Dibon^[d] even more than this— a lion for those who escape from Moab, and for the survivors in the land.^(h)

Send lambs to the ruler of the land,^(a) from Sela in the desert^(b) to the mountain of Daughter Zion.

Like a bird fleeing, forced from the nest, the daughters of Moab will be at the fords of the Arnon.

Give us counsel and make a decision. Shelter us at noonday with shade that is as dark as night. Hide the refugees;^(c) do not betray the one who flees.

Let my refugees stay with you; be a refuge for Moab^[a] from the aggressor. When the oppressor has gone, destruction has ended, and marauders have vanished from the land.

Then in the tent of David a throne will be established by faithful love.^(d) A judge who seeks what is right and is quick to execute justice will sit on the throne forever.

We have heard of Moab's pride^(e)— how very proud he is— his haughtiness, his pride, his arrogance, and his empty boasting.

Therefore let Moab wail; let every one of them wail for Moab. Mourn, you who are completely devastated, for the raisin cakes^(f) of Kir-hareseth.^(g)

For Heshbon's terraced vineyards and the grapevines of Sibmah have withered. The rulers of the nations have trampled its choice vines that reached as far as Jazer^(h) and spread to the desert. Their shoots spread out and reached the Dead Sea.⁽ⁱ⁾

So I join with Jazer to weep for the vines of Sibmah; I drench Heshbon and Elealeh with my tears. Triumphant shouts have fallen silent^[b] over your summer fruit and your harvest.

Joy and rejoicing^(j) have been removed from the orchard; no one is singing or shouting for joy in the vineyards.^(k) No one tramples grapes^[c] in the winepresses. I have put an end to the shouting.

Therefore I moan like the sound of a lyre for Moab,^(l) as does my innermost being for Kir-heres.

When Moab appears on the high place, when he tires^[d] himself out^(m) and comes to his sanctuary to pray, it will do him no good.⁽ⁿ⁾

This is the message that the Lord previously announced about Moab.

And now the Lord says, "In three years, as a hired worker counts years,^(o) Moab's splendor will become an object of contempt, in spite of a very large population. And those who are left will be few and weak."

An oracle^(a) against Damascus:^(b) Look, Damascus is no longer a city. It has become a ruined heap.

The cities of Aroer are forsaken; they will be places for flocks. They will lie down without fear.

The fortress disappears from Ephraim,^(c) and a kingdom from Damascus. The remnant of Aram will be like the splendor of the Israelites. This is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.

On that day the splendor of Jacob will fade, and his healthy body^[a] will become emaciated.^(d)

It will be as if a reaper had gathered standing grain— his arm harvesting the heads of grain— and as if one had gleaned heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim.^(e)

Only gleanings will be left in Israel,^(f) as if an olive tree had been beaten— two or three berries at the very top of the tree, four or five on its fruitful branches. This is the declaration of the Lord , the God of Israel.

On that day people will look to their Maker and will turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.^(g)

They will not look to the altars^(h) they made with their hands or to the Asherahs and incense altars⁽ⁱ⁾ they made with their fingers.

On that day their strong cities will be like the abandoned woods and mountaintops^[b] that were abandoned because of the Israelites; there will be desolation.

For you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and you have failed to remember the rock of your strength;^(j) therefore you will plant beautiful plants and set out cuttings from exotic vines.

On the day that you plant, you will help them to grow, and in the morning you will help your seed to sprout, but the harvest will vanish on the day of disease and incurable pain.

Ah! The roar of many peoples— they roar like the roaring of the seas. The raging of the nations— they rage like the raging of mighty waters.^(k)

The nations rage like the raging of many waters.^(l) He rebukes them, and they flee far away,^(m) driven before the wind like chaff on the hills⁽ⁿ⁾ and like tumbleweeds before a gale.

In the evening—sudden terror! Before morning—it is gone! This is the fate of those who plunder us and the lot of those who ravage us.