The sinful nation is as good as dead, the people weighed down by evil deeds. They are offspring who do wrong, children who do wicked things. They have abandoned the Lord, and rejected the Holy One of Israel. They are alienated from him.

Woe to the wicked -- evil, Because the deed of his hand is done to him.

And Jerusalem’s gates will lament (cry out in grief) and mourn [as those who wail for the dead];
And she, being ruined and desolate, will sit upon the ground.

“What more could have been done for My vineyard that I have not done in it?
When I expected it to produce good grapes, why did it yield worthless ones?

Those who accumulate houses are as good as dead, those who also accumulate landed property until there is no land left, and you are the only landowners remaining within the land.

Those who get up early to drink beer are as good as dead, those who keep drinking long after dark until they are intoxicated with wine.

Therefore Sheol (the realm of the dead) has increased its appetite and opened its mouth beyond measure;
And Jerusalem’s splendor, her multitude, her [boisterous] uproar and her [drunken] revelers descend into it.

Those who pull evil along using cords of emptiness are as good as dead, who pull sin as with cart ropes.

Those who call evil good and good evil are as good as dead, who turn darkness into light and light into darkness, who turn bitter into sweet and sweet into bitter.

Those who think they are wise are as good as dead, those who think they possess understanding.

Those who are champions at drinking wine are as good as dead, who display great courage when mixing strong drinks.

Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw My Lord, sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and, his skirts, did fill the temple,

Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?

Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.

For You have shattered their oppressive yoke
and the rod on their shoulders,
the staff of their oppressor,
just as You did on the day of Midian.

And the people did not turn to the one who struck it, and they did not seek Yahweh of hosts.

Therefore the Lord did not rejoice over its young men, and he did not have compassion on its orphans and widows, for everyone [was] godless and an evildoer, and every mouth [was] speaking folly. In all of this his anger did not turn away, and still his hand [is] stretched out.

Those who enact unjust policies are as good as dead, those who are always instituting unfair regulations,

That ye come not among the prisoners, or lie among the dead? After all this shall not the wrath of the LORD cease, but yet shall his hand be stretched out still.

Assyria, the club I use to vent my anger, is as good as dead, a cudgel with which I angrily punish.

As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria;

and as I did to Samaria and its idols
will I not also do to Jerusalem and its idols?”

For he has said,
“By the power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this,
For I have understanding;
And I removed the boundaries of the peoples
And plundered their treasures,
And like a mighty man I brought down their inhabitants,

But doth the axe boost itself, against him that heweth therewith? Or doth the saw make any bragging, against him that ruleth it? That were even like as if the rod did exalt itself against him that beareth it: or as though the staff should magnify itself, as who say it were not wood.

Therefore, the Lord God of hosts says this, “O My people who dwell in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrian who strikes you with a rod and lifts up his staff against you, as [the king of] Egypt did.

The Lord of hosts will brandish a whip against them like the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb; and His staff will be over the [Red] Sea and He will lift it up the way He did in [the flight from] Egypt.

Today he will stand at Nob,
shaking his fist at the mountain of Daughter Zion,
the hill of Jerusalem.

Strike the chords to Jehovah, for he did a lifting up: this being known in all the earth.

The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.

Whoever is captured will be thrust through, and whoever is caught will fall dead, killed by the sword.

And thou tookest up this parable against the king of Babel, and thou saidst, How did he oppressing, cease! oppression ceased.

Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.

‘Your pomp and magnificence have been brought down to Sheol,
Along with the music of your harps;
The maggots [which prey on the dead] are spread out under you [as a bed]
And worms are your covering [Babylonian rulers].’

How great is your fall from heaven, O shining one, son of the morning! How are you cut down to the earth, low among the dead bodies!

“But [in fact] you will be brought down to Sheol,
To the remote recesses of the pit (the region of the dead).

They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;

Who made the world a waste, overturning its towns; who did not let his prisoners loose from the prison-house.

But thou art cast forth away from thy sepulchre like an abominable branch, clothed with the slain, that are thrust through with the sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a dead body trodden under foot.

They went up to the idols' house, even to Dibon to the high places, to weep for Nebo; and Moab did mourn for Medeba. All their heads were bald, and all their beards shaven.

The waters of Nimrim will become dry: for the grass is burned up, the young grass is coming to an end, every green thing is dead.

Because fields of Heshbon languish, The vine of Sibmah, Lords of nations did beat her choice vines, Unto Jazer they have come, They have wandered in a wilderness, Her plants have spread themselves, They have passed over a sea.

The many nations massing together are as good as dead, those who make a commotion as loud as the roaring of the sea's waves. The people making such an uproar are as good as dead, those who make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves.

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

The land of buzzing wings is as good as dead, the one beyond the rivers of Cush,

They (warriors) will be left together for the mountain birds of prey,
And for the beasts of the earth;
And the birds of prey will [spend the] summer feeding on them,
And all the beasts of the earth will spend harvest time on them.

And the spirit of {the Egyptians} will be disturbed in his midst, and I will {confuse} his plans, and they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead, and the ghosts and the spiritists.

In that Jehovah of Hosts did bless it, saying, 'Blessed is My people -- Egypt, And the work of My hands -- Asshur, And Mine inheritance -- Israel!'

At the same time spake the LORD by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.

Unto him that was thirsty they brought water; the inhabitants of the land of Tema did meet the fugitives with their bread.

Thou that art full of stirs, a tumultuous city, a joyous city: thy slain men are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle.

And he took away the covering of Judah, and you did look in that day to the armor of the house of the forest.

And the houses of Jerusalem ye did number, And ye break down the houses to fence the wall.

You also made a reservoir between the two walls
For the waters of the Old Pool,
But you did not look to its Maker,
Nor did you recognize Him who planned it long ago.

And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:

Therefore did Yahweh reveal himself in mine ears. Surely there shall be no propitiatory-covering put over this iniquity for you until ye die, Saith My Lord Yahweh of hosts.

‘Listen carefully, the Lord is about to hurl you away violently, O man;
And He is about to grasp you firmly

Behold the land of the Chaldeans: this people did not exist; the Assyrian founded it for the dwellers in the desert: they set up their towers, they destroyed the palaces thereof; he brought it to ruin.

The ruined town is shattered; all of the houses are shut up tight.

They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.

Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.

For the Lord is coming out of his place to send punishment on the people of the earth for their evil-doing: the earth will let the blood drained out on her be seen, and will keep her dead covered no longer.

Did the Lord strike Israel
as He struck the one who struck Israel?
Was he killed like those killed by Him?

Ho! crown of pride of those who are given up to wine in Ephraim, and the dead flower of his glory which is on the head of those who are overcome by strong drink!

And the dead flower of his glory, which is on the head of the fertile valley, will be like the first early fruit before the summer; which a man takes and puts in his mouth the minute he sees it.

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.”

“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.

For as at mount Perazim rise doth Jehovah, As at the valley in Gibeon He is troubled, To do His work -- strange is His work, And to do His deed -- strange is His deed.'

Did he not make level its face and disperse the fennel flower, and he will scatter the cummin, and he set the wheat in order, and designated the barley, and the spilt in his bound?

Ariel is as good as dead -- Ariel, the town David besieged! Keep observing your annual rituals, celebrate your festivals on schedule.

Therefore I will again do an amazing thing for these people -- an absolutely extraordinary deed. Wise men will have nothing to say, the sages will have no explanations."

Those who try to hide their plans from the Lord are as good as dead, who do their work in secret and boast, "Who sees us? Who knows what we're doing?"

Your perversion! as clay is the potter esteemed? That the work saith of its maker, 'He hath not made me?' And the framed thing said of its framer, 'He did not understand?'

"The rebellious children are as good as dead," says the Lord, "those who make plans without consulting me, who form alliances without consulting my Spirit, and thereby compound their sin.

They were all ashamed of a people that did not profit them, nor were a help or profit, but a shame, and also a reproach.

Those who go down to Egypt for help are as good as dead, those who rely on war horses, and trust in Egypt's many chariots and in their many, many horsemen. But they do not rely on the Holy One of Israel and do not seek help from the Lord.

Woe (judgment is coming) to you, O destroyer,
You who were not destroyed,
And he who is treacherous, while others did not deal treacherously with him.
As soon as you finish destroying, you will be destroyed;
As soon as you stop dealing treacherously, others will deal treacherously with you.

Hear, ye afar off, what I did and know, ye drawing near, my strength.

Their slain also shall be cast out, and the stench of their dead bodies shall come up; and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.

And the heavens will be rolled together like the roll of a book: and all their army will be gone, like a dead leaf from the vine, or a dry fruit from the fig-tree.

Then did the king of Assyria send Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto King Hezekiah with a heavy force, - and he took his stand by the upper channel of the pool, in the highway of the fullers field.

But the chief adviser said, "My master did not send me to speak these words only to your master and to you. His message is also for the men who sit on the wall, for they will eat their own excrement and drink their own urine along with you!"

lest Hezekiah mislead you, saying, 'Yahweh will save us!' Did the gods of the nations each save his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?

Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Indeed, did any gods rescue Samaria from my power?

But they were silent and did not answer him a word, for the command of the king was, "You must not answer him."

They said to him, “This is what Hezekiah says: ‘Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace, for children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to deliver them.

Behold, thou heardest what the kings of Assur did to all the lands to destroy them; and shalt thou be delivered?

Did the gods of the nations deliver them whom my fathers destroyed -- Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the sons of Eden, who are in Telassar?

Hast thou not heard that long ago I did it, and that from ancient days I formed it? Now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps.

Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.

And he will say, O Jehovah, remember now how I went before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and I did the good in thine eyes: And Hezekiah will weep a great weeping.

I said, “In mid-life
I am to go through the gates of Sheol (the place of the dead),
I am to be summoned, deprived of the remainder of my years.”

Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me.

What shall I speak? and he said to me, and he did: I shall go slowly all my years upon the bitterness of my soul.

“For Sheol cannot praise or thank You,
Death cannot praise You and rejoice in You;
Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.

[The] living, [the] living one praises you like me today; a father will make your faithfulness known to children.

And Hezekiah was glad of them, and shewed them the house of his precious things, the silver and the gold, and the spices and the fine oil, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found amongst his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah did not shew them.

Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and asked, “What did these men say? From where have they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They came to me from a far country, from Babylon.”

And he said, What have they seen in your house? And Hezekiah said in answer, They saw everything in my house: there is nothing among my stores which I did not let them see.