Amplified Bible (AMP)

The Deliverance of Israel

1 In that day the Lord will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent

With His fierce and great and mighty sword [rescuing Israel from her enemy],

Even Leviathan the twisted serpent;

And He will kill the dragon wholivesin the sea.

2 In that day [it will be said of the redeemed nation of Israel],

“A vineyard ofwine, sing in praise of it!

3 “I, the Lord, am its Keeper;

I water it every moment.

So that no one will harm it,

I guard it night and day.

4 “I have no wrath.

Should anyone give Me briarsandthorns in battle,

I would step on them, I would set them all on fire.

5 “Or let him (Israel) cling to My strengthandrely on My protection [My stronghold],

Let him make peace with Me,

Let him make peace with Me.”

6 In the generations to come Jacob will take root;

Israel will blossom and sprout,

And they will fill the surface of the world with fruit.

7 Like the strikingby Him who has struck them, has He struck them?

Or like the slaughter of His slain, have they been slain?

8 You contended with them by exile, by driving them away [from Canaan];

He has expelled them with His fierce wind on the day of the east wind.

9 Therefore through this the wickedness [the sin, the injustice, the wrongdoing] of Jacob (Israel) will be atoned forandforgiven;

And this will bethe full price [that God requires] for taking away his sin:

When Israel makes all the stones of the [pagan] altars like crushed chalk stones;

When the Asherim and the incense altars will not stand.

10 For the fortified city is isolated,

A settlement deserted and abandoned like the desert;

There the calf will graze,

And there it will lie down andfeed on its branches.

11 When its branches are dry, they are broken off;

The women come andmake a fire with them.

For they are not a people of understanding,

Therefore He who made them will not have compassion on them,

And He who created them will not be gracious to them.

12 In that day the Lordwill thresh [out His grain] from the flowing stream of the River [Euphrates] to the Brook of Egypt, and you will be gathered up one by one, O sons of Israel.

13 It will come to pass in that day that a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were lostandperishing in the land of Assyria and who were scattered in the land of Egypt will come and worship the Lordon the holy mountain at Jerusalem.

Ephraim’s Captivity Predicted

1 Woe (judgment is coming) to [Samaria] the splendid crown of the drunkards ofEphraim,

And to the fading flower of its glorious beauty,

Which is at the head of the rich valley

Of those who are overcome with wine!

2 Listen carefully, the Lord has a strong and mightyagent[the Assyrian];

Like a tempest of hail, a disastrous storm,

Like a tempest of mighty overflowing waters,

He has cast it down to the earth withHishand.

3 The splendid crown of the drunkards of Ephraim is trampled by [the foreigners’] feet.

4 And the fading flower of its glorious beauty,

Which is at the head of the rich valley,

Will be like the early fig before the summer,

Which one sees,

And as soon as it is in his hand

He [greedily] swallows it [and so will the Assyrians rapidly devour Samaria, Israel’s capital].

5 In that day the Lordof hosts will become a magnificent crown

And a glorious diadem to the [converted] remnant of His people,

6 A spirit of justice for him who sits in judgment [administering the law],

A strength to those who drive back the battle at the gate.

7 But even these reel with wine and stagger from strong drink:

The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink;

They are confused by wine, they stagger from strong drink;

They reel while seeing visions,

They staggerwhen pronouncingjudgment.

8 For all the tables are full of filthy vomit, so that there is no place [that is clean.]

9 They say“To whom would He teach knowledge?

And to whom would He explain the message?

Thosejustweaned from milk?

Thosejusttaken from the breast?

10 “ForHe says,

‘Precept upon precept, precept upon precept,

Rule upon rule, rule upon rule,

Here a little, there a little.’”

11 Indeed, the Lordwill teach this people [in a more humiliating way]

By [men with] stammering lips and a foreign tongue,

12 He who said to them, “This is the place of quiet, give rest to the weary,”

And, “This is the resting place,” yet they would not listen.

13 Therefore the word of the Lordto them will be [merely monotonous repetitions]:

“Precept upon precept, precept upon precept,

Rule upon rule, rule upon rule,

Here a little, there a little.”

That they may go and stumble backward, and be broken, ensnared, and taken captive.

Judah Is Warned

14 Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, you arrogant men

Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem!

15 Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,

And with Sheol (the place of the dead) we have made an agreement,

When the overwhelming scourge passes by, it will not reach us,

For we have made lies our refuge and we have concealed ourselves in deception.”

16 Therefore the Lord Godsays this,

“Listen carefully, I am laying in Zion a Stone, a tested Stone,

A precious Cornerstone for the [secure] foundation, firmly placed.

He who believes [who trusts in, relies on, and adheres to that Stone] will notbe disturbedorgive way [in sudden panic].

17 “I will make justice the measuring line

And righteousness the mason’s level;

Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies

And waters will flood over the secret [hiding] place.

18 “Your covenant with death will be annulled,

And your agreement with Sheol (the place of the dead) will not stand;

When the overwhelming scourge passes through,

Then you will become its trampling ground.

19 “As often as it passes through, it will seize you;

For morning after morning it will pass through, by day and by night,

And it will be sheer terror to understand what it means.”

20 For the bed is too short to stretch out on,

And the blanket is too narrow to wrap around oneself [and likewise all their preparations are inadequate].

21 For the Lordwill rise up as at Mount Perazim,

He will be stirred up as in the Valley of Gibeon,

To do His work, His unusualandincredible work,

And to accomplish His work, His extraordinary work.

22 Now do not carry on as scoffers,

Or the bands which bind you will be made stronger;

For I have heard from the Lord Godof hosts [a decree]

Of decisive destruction on all the earth.

23 Listen and hear my voice;

Listen carefully and hear my words.

24 Does the farmer plow all day to plant seed?

Does hecontinuallydig furrows and harrow his ground [after it is prepared]?

25 When he has leveled its surface,

Does he not sow [the seed of] dill and scatter cumin,

And plant wheat in rows,

And barley in its [intended] place andrye within its border?

26 For his God instructs [him correctly] and teaches him properly.

27 For dill is not threshed with a sharp threshing sledge,

Nor is a cartwheel rolled over cumin;

But dill is beaten out with a staff, and cumin with a rod.

28 Breadgrainis crushed fine,

Indeed, the farmer does not continue to thresh it forever.

Because the wheel of his cart and his horseseventuallydamage it,

He does not thresh it longer.

29 This also comes from the Lordof hosts,

Who has made His counsel wonderful and His wisdom great.

Jerusalem Is Warned

1 Woe (judgment is coming) toAriel, to Ariel, the city where David [once] camped!

Addyet another year; let the feasts run their course [but only one year more].

2 Then I will harass Ariel,

And she will be acity ofmourning and lamenting (crying out in grief)

Yet she will be like anAriel [an altar hearth] to Me.

3 I will camp against you and encircle you,

And I will hem you in with siege works,

And I will raise fortifications against you.

4 Then you [Jerusalem] will be brought low,

You will speak from the earth,

And from the dust where you lie face down

Your muffled wordswill come.

Your voice will also be like that of a spirit from the earth [like one produced by a medium],

And your speech will whisperandsqueak from the dust.

5 But the multitude of your enemies [that assault you] will become like fine dust,

And the multitude of the tyrants like the chaff whichblows away;

And it will happen in an instant, suddenly [that your enemy is destroyed].

6 You will be punished by the Lordof hosts with thunder and earthquake and great noise,

With whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.

7 And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel (Jerusalem),

Even all who fight against her and her stronghold, and who distress her,

Will be like a dream, a vision of the night.

8 It will be as when a hungry man dreams

That he is eating,

But when he awakens, hishunger is not satisfied;

Or as when a thirsty man dreams

That he is drinking,

But when he awakens, in fact, he is faint

And his thirst is not quenched.

So will the multitude of all the nations be

Who fight against Mount Zion.

9 Stopandtake some time and wonder [at this prophecy],

Blind yourselves and be blinded [at its fulfillment by your spiritual incompetence].

They are drunk, but not from wine;

They stagger, but not from strong drink.

10 For the Lordhas poured over you a spirit of deep sleep.

He has closed your eyes, [you who are] the prophets;

And He has covered your heads, [you who are] the seers.

11 The entire vision [of all these things] will be to you like the words of a scroll that is sealed, which they give to one who can read, saying, “Read this, please,” he shall say, “I cannot, for it is sealed.”

12 Then the book will be given to the one who cannot read, saying, “Read this, please.” And he will say, “I cannot read.”

13 Then the Lord said,

“Because this nation approaches [Me only] with their words

And honors Me [only] with their lip service,

But they remove their hearts far from Me,

And their reverence for Me is a tradition that is learnedby rote[without any regard for its meaning],

14 Therefore, listen carefully, I will again do marvelousandamazing things with this people, wonderful and astonishing things;

And the wisdom of their wise men will perish,

And the understanding of their discerning men will be hidden.”

15 Woe (judgment is coming) to those who [try to] deeply hide their plans from the Lord,

Whose deeds aredonein a dark place,

And who say, “Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?”

16 You turnthingsupside down [with your perversity]!

Shall the potter be considered equal with the clay,

That the thing that is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”;

Or the thing that is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?

Blessing after Discipline

17 Is it not yet a very little while

Until Lebanon will be turned into a fertile field,

And the fertile field regarded as a forest?

18 On that day the deaf will hear the words of a book,

And out oftheirgloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see [the words of the book].

19 The afflicted also will increase their joy in the Lord,

And the needy of mankind will rejoiceandcelebrate in the Holy One of Israel.

20 For the tyrant will come to an end and the scorner will be finished,

Indeed all who are intent on doing evil will be cut off–

21 Those who cause a person to be condemned with a [false] word,

And lay a trap for him who upholds justice at the [city] gate,

And defraud the one in the right with meaningless arguments.

22 Therefore, the Lord, who redeemed Abraham [from paganism] says this, concerning the house of Jacob (Israel):

“Jacob will not be ashamed, nor will his face turn pale [with disappointment because of his children’s degenerate behavior];

23 For when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst,

They will sanctify My Name;

They will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob

And will stand in aweandreverent fear of the God of Israel.

24 “Those who err in mind will know the truth,

And those who criticizeandmurmur discontentedly will accept instruction.

Judah Warned against Egyptian Alliance

1 “Woe (judgment is coming) to the rebellious children,” declares the Lord,

“Who carry out a plan, but not Mine,

And make an alliance [by pouring out a libation], but not of My Spirit,

In order to add sin to sin;

2 Who proceed down to Egypt

Without consultingMe,

To take refuge in the stronghold of Pharaoh

And to take shelter in the shadow of Egypt!

3 “Therefore the safetyandprotection of Pharaoh will be your shame

And the refuge in the shadow of Egypt, your humiliationanddisgrace.

4 “For his princes are at Zoan

And his ambassadors arrive at Hanes [in Egypt].

5 “All will be ashamed because of a people (the Egyptians) who cannot benefit them,

Who are not a help or benefit, but a shame and also a disgrace.”

6 A [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning the beasts of the Negev (the South):

Through a land of trouble and anguish,

Fromwherecomelioness and lion, viper and [fiery] flying serpent,

They carry their riches on the shoulders of young donkeys

And their treasures on the humps of camels,

To a people (Egyptians) who cannot benefit them.

7 For Egypt’s help is worthless and good for nothing.

Therefore, I have called her

“Rahab Who Has Been Exterminated.”

8 Now, go, write it on a tablet before them

And inscribe it on a scroll,

So that it may serve in the time to come

As a witness [against them] forevermore.

9 For this is a rebellious people, lying sons,

Sons who refuse to listen to

The lawandinstruction of the Lord;

10 Who say to the seers, “You must not seevisions from God”;

And to the prophets, “You must not prophesy to us what is right!

Speak to us pleasant thingsandsmooth words,

Prophesy [deceitful] illusions [that we will enjoy].

11 “Get out of the [true] way, turn aside from the path [of God],

Stop bothering us with the Holy One of Israel.”

12 Therefore, the Holy One of Israel says this,

“Because you have refusedandrejected this word [of Mine]

And have put your trust in oppression and guile, and have relied on them,

13 Therefore this wickedness [this sin, this injustice, this wrongdoing] will be to you

Like a crack [in a wall] about to fall,

A bulge in a high wall,

Whose collapse comes suddenly in an instant,

14 “Whose collapse is like the smashing of a potter’s jar,

Crushed so savagely

that there cannot be found among its pieces a potsherd [large enough]

To take [coals of] fire from a fireplace,

Or to scoop water from a cistern.”

15 For the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel has said this,

“In returning [to Me] and rest you shall be saved,

In quietness and confident trust is your strength.”

But you were not willing,

16 And you said, “No! We will flee on horses!”

Therefore you will flee [from your enemies]!

And [you said], “We will ride on swift horses!”

Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift.

17 A thousandof you will fleeat the threat of oneman;

You will flee at the threat of five,

Until you are left like a flag on the top of a mountain,

And like a signal on a hill.

God Is Gracious and Just

18 Therefore the Lordwaits [expectantly]andlongs to be gracious to you,

And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you.

For the Lordis a God of justice;

Blessed (happy, fortunate) are all those who long for Him [since He will never fail them].

19 O people in Zion, inhabitant in Jerusalem, you will weep no longer. He will most certainly be gracious to you at the sound of your cry for help; when He hears it, He will answer you.

20 Though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of oppression, yet your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will [constantly] see your Teacher.

21 Your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left.

22 And you will defile your carved images overlaid with silver, and your cast images plated with gold. You will scatter them like a bloodstainedcloth,and will say to them, “Be gone!”

23 Then He will give you rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and bread [grain] from the produce of the ground, and it will be rich and plentiful. In that day your livestock will graze in largeandroomy pastures.

24 Also the oxen and the young donkeys that work the ground will eat salted fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and pitchfork.

25 On every lofty mountain and on every high hill there will be streams of water on the day of the great slaughter (the day of the Lord), when the towers fall [and all His enemies are destroyed].

26 The light of the full moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven timesbrighter,like the light of seven days [concentrated in one], in the day the Lordbinds up the fracture of His people and heals the wound He has inflicted [because of their sins].

27 Now look, thename of the Lordcomes from far away,

Burning with His anger, and heavy withsmoke;

His lips are full ofindignation,

And His tongue is like a consuming fire.

28 His breath is like an overflowing river,

Which reaches to the neck,

To sift the nations back and forth in a sieve [of disaster],

Andto putin the jaws of the peoples the bridle which leads to ruin.

29 You will have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept,

And joy of heart as when one marches [in procession] with a flute,

To go to the [temple on the] mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel.

30 And the Lordwill make His majestic voice heard,

And show the descending of His arm [striking] in [His] fierce anger,

And in the flame of a devouring fire,

In the crashing soundof heavy rain,cloudburst, and hailstones.

31 For at the voice of the Lordthe Assyrians will be terrified,

WhenHe strikes [them] with the rod.

32 And every blow of the rod of punishment,

Which the Lordwill lay on them,

Will be tothe music of Israel’stambourines and lyres;

And in battles, brandishing weapons, He will fight Assyria.

33 ForTopheth [in Hinnom] has long been ready;

Indeed, it has been prepared for the [Assyrian] king.

He has made it deep and wide,

A pit of fire with plenty of wood;

The breath of the Lord, like a river of brimstone (blazing sulfur), kindlesandfans it.

Look Not to Egypt but to God

1 Woe (judgment is coming) to those who go down to Egypt for help,

Who rely on horses

And trust in chariots because they are many,

And in horsemen because they are very strong,

But they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seekandconsult the Lord!

2 Yet He is also wise and will bring disaster,

And does not retract His words,

But will arise against the house of evildoers

And against the helpers of those who do evil.

3 Now the Egyptians are men and not God,

And their horses are flesh and not spirit;

And the Lordwill stretch out His hand,

And he (Egypt) who helps will stumble,

And he (Judah) who is helped will fall,

And all of them will perish together.

4 For so the Lordsays to me,

“As the lion or the young lion growls over his prey,

And though a large group of shepherds is called out against him

He will not be terrified at their voice nor cringe at their noise,

So the Lordof hosts will come down to wage war on Mount Zion and on its hill.”

5 Like flying birds, so will the Lordof hosts protect Jerusalem;

He will protect and save it,

He will pass over and rescue it.

6 Return to Him from whom you have so deeply defected, O sons of Israel.

7 For in that day every man will rejectandthrow away his idols of silver and his idols of gold [in disgust], which your own hands have sinfully made for you.

8 Then the Assyrian will fall by a sword not of man,

And a sword not of man will devour him.

And he will flee from the sword [of God],

And his young men will become forced labor.

9 “His rock [his stronghold] will pass away because of panic,

And his princes will be terrified at the [sight of the battle] standard,”

Declares the Lord, whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.

The Glorious Future

1 Behold, aKing will reign in righteousness,

And princes will rule with justice.

2 Each [one of them] will be like a hiding place from the wind

And a shelter from the storm,

Like streams of water in a dry land,

Like the shade of a huge rock in a parchedandweary land [to those who turn to them].

3 Then the eyes of those who see will not be blinded,

And the ears of those who hear will listen attentively.

4 The heart (mind) of those who act impulsively will discern the truth,

And the tongue of the stammerers will hurry to speak clearly.

5 The fool (the good-for-nothing) will no longer be called noble,

Nor the rogue said to be generous.

6 For the fool speaks nonsense,

And his heart (mind) plans wickedness:

To practice ungodliness and to speak error concerning the Lord,

To keep the craving of the hungry unsatisfied

And to deprive the thirsty of drink.

7 As for the rogue, his weapons are evil;

He conceives wicked plans

To ruin the poor with lies,

Even when the plea of the needy one is justandright.

8 But the noble man conceives nobleandmagnificent things;

And he stands by what is nobleandmagnificent.

9 Rise up, you women who are carefree,

And hear my voice,

You confidentandunsuspecting daughters!

Listen to what I am saying.

10 In little more than a year

You will tremble [with anxiety], you unsuspectingandcomplacent women;

For the vintage has ended,

And the harvest will not come.

11 Tremble, you women who are carefree;

Tremble with fear, you complacent ones!

Strip, undress and wearsackclothon your waist [in grief],

12 Beat your breasts [in mourning] for the beautiful fields, for the fruitful vine,

13 For the land of my people growing over with thorns and briars–

Yes, [mourn] for all the houses of joy in the joyous city.

14 For the palace has been abandoned, the populated city deserted;

The hill [of the city] and the watchtower have become caves [for wild animals] forever,

A delight for wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks,

15 Until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high,

And the wilderness becomes a fertile field,

And the fertile field is valued as a forest.

16 Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,

And righteousness will live in the fertile field.

17 And the effect of righteousness will be peace,

And the result of righteousness will be quietness and confident trust forever.

18 Then my people will live in a peaceful surrounding,

And in secure dwellings and in undisturbed resting places.

19 But it will hail, when the forest comes down,

And the [capital] city will fall in utter humiliation.

20 Blessed (happy, fortunate) are you who cast your seed upon all waters [when the river overflows its banks and irrigates the land],

You who allow the ox and the donkey to roam freely.

The Judgment of God

1 Woe (judgment is coming) to you, O destroyer,

You who were not destroyed,

And he who is treacherous, whileothersdid not deal treacherously with him.

As soon as you finish destroying, you will be destroyed;

As soon as you stop dealing treacherously,otherswill deal treacherously with you.

2 O Lord, be gracious to us; we have waited [expectantly] for You.

Be the arm of Your servants every morning [that is, their strength and their defense],

Our salvation also in the time of trouble.

3 At the sound of the tumult, the peoples flee;

At the lifting up of Yourself nations scatter.

4 Your spoil [of Israel’s foe] is gathered [by the people of Jerusalem] as the caterpillar gathers;

As locusts swarming so people swarm on it.

5 The Lordis exalted, for He dwells on high;

He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.

6 And He will be the securityandstability of your times,

A treasure of salvation, wisdom and knowledge;

The fear of the Lordis your treasure.

7 Now look, their brave men shout outside;

The ambassadors [seeking a treaty] of peace weep bitterly.

8 The highways are deserted, the traveler has ceased [to appear].

The enemyhas broken the covenant, he has rejected thecities,

He has no regard for [any] man.

9 The land mourns and dries out,

Lebanon is shamed and [its lush foliage] withers;

Sharon is like a desert plain,

AndBashan and [Mount] Carmel shake offtheir leaves.

10 “Now I will arise,” says the Lord. “Now I will be exalted; now I will be lifted up.

11 “You have conceived dried grass, you will give birth to stubble;

My breath is a fire that will consume you.

12 “The peoples will be burned to lime,

Like thorns cut down which are burned in the fire.

13 “You who are far away, hear what I have done;

And you who are near, acknowledge My might.”

14 The sinners in Zion are terrified;

Trembling has seized the godless.

[They cry] “Who among us can live with the consuming fire?

Who among us can live with everlasting burning?”

15 He who walks righteously and speaks with integrity,

Who rejects gain from fraudandfrom oppression,

Who shakes his hand free from the taking of bribes,

Who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed

And shuts his eyes to avoid looking upon evil;

16 He will dwell on the heights,

His place of defense will be the fortress of rocks,

His bread will be given him;

His water will be permanent.

17 Your eyes will see the King in His beauty;

They will see a far-distant land.

18 Your mind will meditate on the terror [asking]:

“Where is he who counts?

Where is he who weighs [the tribute]?

Where is he who counts the towers?”

19 You will no longer see the fierceandinsolent people,

A people of unintelligible speech which no one comprehends,

Of a strangeandstammering tongue which no one understands.

20 Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feastsandobservances;

Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a undisturbed settlement,

A tent which will not be taken down;

Not one of its stakes will ever be pulled up,

Nor any of its ropes be severed.

21 But there the mightyandmagnificent Lordwill be for us

A place of broad rivers and streams,

Where no oar-driven boat will go,

And on which no mightyandstately ship will pass.

22 For the Lordis our Judge,

The Lordis our Ruler,

The Lordis our King;

He will save us.

23 Your ship’s ropes (tackle) hang loose;

They cannot hold the base of their mast firmly,

Nor spread out the sail.

Then an abundance of spoil and plunder will be divided;

Even the lame will take the plunder.

24 And no inhabitant [of Zion] will say, “I am sick”;

The people who dwell there will be forgiven their wickedness [their sin, their injustice, their wrongdoing].

God’s Wrath against Nations

1 Come near, you nations, to hear; and listen, O peoples!

Let the earth and all that is in it hear, and the world and all that comes forth from it.

2 For the Lordis angry at all the nations,

AndHiswrath is against all their armies;

He hasutterly doomed them,

He has given them over to slaughter.

3 So their slain will be thrown out,

And the stench of their corpses will rise,

And the mountains will flow with their blood.

4 All the host of heaven will be dissolved,

And the skies will be rolled up like a scroll;

All their hosts [the stars and the planets] will also wither away

As a leaf withers from the vine,

And as afigwithers from the fig tree.

5 For My sword is satiated [with blood] in heaven;

Indeed, it will come down for judgment on Edom

And on the people whom I have doomed for destruction.

6 The sword of the Lordis filled with blood [from sacrifices],

It drips with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats,

With the fat of the kidneys of rams.

For the Lordhas a sacrifice in Bozrah (Edom’s capital city)

And a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

7 Wild oxen will also fall with them

And the young bulls with the strong bulls;

And their land will be soaked with blood,

And their dust made greasy with fat.

8 For the Lordhas a day of vengeance,

A year of retribution for the cause of Zion.

9 The streams [of Edom] will be turned into pitch,

And its dust into brimstone,

And its land will become burning pitch.

10 The burning will not be quenched night or day;

Its smoke will go up forever.

From generation to generation it will lie in ruins;

No one will ever again pass through it.

11 But the pelican and the porcupine will take possession of it;

The owl and the raven will dwell in it.

And He will stretch over it (Edom) the measuring line of desolation

And the plumb line of emptiness.

12 Its nobles–there is no one there

Whom they may proclaim king–

And all its princes will be nothing.

13 Thorns will come up in its fortified palaces,

Nettles and brambles in its fortified cities;

It will be a haunt for jackals,

An abode for ostriches.

14 The creatures of the desert will encounter jackals

And thehairy goat will call to its kind;

Indeed,Lilith (night demon) will settle there

And find herself a place of rest.

15 There the arrow snake will make her nest and lay her eggs,

And hatch them and gatherher youngunder her protection;

Indeed, the birds of prey will be gathered there [to breed],

Every one with its own kind.

16 Seek from the book of the Lord, and read:

Not one of these [creatures] will be missing;

None will lack its mate.

For His mouth has commanded,

And His Spirit has gathered them.

17 The Lordhas cast the lot for them,

And His hand has dividedandapportionedEdom to the wild beasts by measuring-line.

They will possess it forever;

From generation to generation they will dwell in it.

Zion’s Joyful Future

1 The wilderness and the dry land will be glad;

The Arabah (desert) will shout in exultation and blossom

Like theautumn crocus.

2 It will blossom abundantly

And rejoice with joy and singing.

The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,

The majesty of [Mount] Carmel and [the plain] of Sharon.

They will see the glory of the Lord,

The majestyandsplendor of our God.

3 Encourage the exhausted, and make staggering knees firm.

4 Say to those with an anxiousandpanic-stricken heart,

“Be strong, fear not!

Indeed, your God will come with vengeance [for the ungodly];

The retribution of God will come,

But He will save you.”

5 Then the eyes of the blind will be opened

And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.

6 Then the lame will leap like a deer,

And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy.

For waters will break forth in the wilderness

And streams in the desert.

7 And the burning sand (mirage) will become a pool [of water]

And the thirsty ground springs of water;

In the haunt of jackals,where they lay resting,

Grass becomes reeds andrushes.

8 A highway will be there, and a roadway;

And it will be called the Holy Way.

The unclean will not travel on it,

But it will be for those who walk on the way [the redeemed];

And fools will not wanderon it.

9 No lion will be there,

Nor will any predatory animal come up on it;

They will not be found there.

But the redeemed will walkthere.

10 And the ransomed of the Lordwill return

And come to Zion with shouts of jubilation,

And everlasting joy will be upon their heads;

They will find joy and gladness,

And sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Sennacherib Invades Judah

1 Now in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and conquered them.

2 And the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh [his military commander] from Lachish [the Judean fortress commanding the road from Egypt] to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem with a large army. And he stood by the canal of the Upper Pool on the highway to the Fuller’s Field.

3 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the [royal] household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recording historian, came out to [meet] him.

4 Then the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria says, “What is [the reason for] this confidence that you have?

5 I say, ‘Your plan and strength for the war are onlyempty words.’ Now in whom do you trustandon whom do you rely, that you have rebelled against me?

6 Listen carefully, you rely on the staff of this broken reed, Egypt, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him.

7 But if you say to me, ‘We trust inandrely on the Lordour God,’ is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar’?

8 So now, exchange pledges with my master the king of Assyria and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to put riders on them.

9 How then can you repulse [the attack of] a singlecommander of the least of my master’s servants, and rely on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?

10 Moreover, is it without the Lordthat I have now come up against this land to destroy it? The Lordsaid to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’”’”

11 Then Eliakim and Shebna and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please, speak to your servants in Aramaic, because we understand it; and do not speak to us in Judean (Hebrew) in the hearing of the people who are [stationed] on the wall.”

12 But the Rabshakeh said, “Has my master sent me to speak these wordsonlyto your master and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall,doomedto eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?”

13 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out with a loud voice in Judean (Hebrew): “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria.

14 This is what the king says, ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to rescue you;

15 nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, “The Lordwill most certainly rescue us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”

16 ~‘Do not listen to Hezekiah,’ for this is what the king of Assyria says, ‘Make peace with me and come out to me, and each one of you will eat from his own vine and each from his own fig tree and each [one of you] drink from the water of his own cistern,

17 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.

18 ~‘Bewarethat Hezekiah does not mislead you by saying, “The Lordwill rescue us.” Has any one of the gods of the nations [ever] rescued his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?

19 ~‘Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad [in Aram]? Where are the gods ofSepharvaim? And when have they rescued Samaria from my hand?

20 ~‘Who among all the gods of these lands have rescued their land from my hand, that [you should think that] the Lordwould rescue Jerusalem from my hand?’”

21 But they kept silent and did not say a word to him in reply, for King Hezekiah’s command was, “Do not answer him.”

22 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the household, and Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph, the recording historian, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn [in grief], and told him the words of the Rabshakeh [the Assyrian commander].