In my ears, Yahweh of Armies says: "Surely many houses will be desolate, even great and beautiful, unoccupied.

That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it!

And I say, 'Woe to me, for I have been silent, For a man -- unclean of lips am I, And in midst of a people unclean of lips I am dwelling, Because the King, Jehovah of Hosts, have my eyes seen.'

And he will touch upon my mouth, and say, Behold, this touched upon thy lips; and took away thine iniquity, and thy sin shall be covered.

And I hear the voice of the Lord, saying: 'Whom do I send? and who doth go for Us?' And I say, 'Here am I, send me.'

And he said, Go; and thou shalt say unto this people, Hearing ye shall hear and shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see and shall not perceive.

And I say, 'Till when, O Lord?' And He saith, 'Surely till cities have been wasted without inhabitant, And houses without man, And the ground be wasted -- a desolation,

And Jehovah will say to Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou and Shear-Jashub thy son, at the extremity of the channel of the highest pool of the highway, of the fuller's field;

And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.

For Aram, along with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has plotted harm against you. They say,

They say, "Let's attack Judah, terrorize it, and conquer it. Then we'll set up the son of Tabeel as its king."

for this is what the Lord God says, “It shall not stand nor shall it happen.

And Ahaz will say, I will not ask and I will not tempt Jehovah.

And he will say, Hear ye now, house of David; is it small for you to weary men, but will ye weary God also

And Jehovah will say to me, Take to thee a great tablet, and write upon it with a man's graving tool to hasten the spoil, urging on the plunder.

And I shall draw near to the prophetess; and she will conceive and bear a son, and Jehovah will say to me, Call his name, Hastening the spoil, urging on the plunder.

for before the boy knows how to say, ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the riches of Damascus (Aram’s capital) and the spoil of Samaria (Israel’s capital) will be carried away by the king of Assyria.”

Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.

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?

To the law and to the testimony! If not, let them say after this manner, 'That there is no dawn to it.'

And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart,

For Assyria says, “Are not my princes all kings?

As who say, "I were able to win the kingdom of the Idolaters and their gods, but not Jerusalem and Samaria.

Shall I not do to Jerusalem and her images
Just as I have done to Samaria and her idols?” [declares Assyria].

But when the Lord finishes all His work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for his arrogant acts and the proud look in his eyes.”

For he says, "I have done [it] by the strength of my hand and by my wisdom, for I have understanding, and I have removed [the] boundaries of peoples, and I have plundered their stores, and like a bull I have brought down {the inhabitants}.

Will the axe say high-sounding words against him who is using it, or the blade be full of pride against him who is cutting with it? As if a rod had the power of shaking him who is using it, or as if a stick might take up him who is 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.

They have gone across the mountain; Geba will be our resting-place tonight, they say: Ramah is shaking with fear; Gibeah of Saul has gone in flight.

And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me.

You will draw water joyfully from the wells of salvation. And you will say at that time:

And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted.

I [the Lord] have commanded My consecrated ones,
I have even called My great warriors,
My proudly exulting ones [the Medes and the Persians who triumph for My honor]—
To execute My anger.

That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!

All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?

And thou that didst say in thy heart, I will ascend into the heavens, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit upon the mount of assembly, in the recesses of the north;

Yet dare I say, that thou shalt be brought down to the deep of hell.

“I will rise up against them,” says the Lord of hosts, “and will cut off from Babylon name and survivors, and son and grandson,” declares the Lord.

“I will also make Babylon a possession of the hedgehog and of swamps of water, and I will sweep it away with the broom of destruction,” declares the Lord of hosts.

[Say to the ruler] “Give us advice, make a decision [for Moab, king of Judah];
Cast your shadow [over us] like night in the midst of noon;
Hide the outcasts, do not betray the fugitive [to his pursuer].

And now the Lord says, “In three years, as a hired worker counts years, 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.”

“The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim,
And the kingdom from Damascus
And the remnant of Aram (Syria);
They will be like the [departed] glory of [her ally] the children of Israel,”
Declares the Lord of hosts.

“Yet gleanings will be left in the land [of Israel] like the shaking of the olive tree,
Two or three olives on the topmost branch,
Four or five on the [outermost] branches of the fruitful tree,”
Declares the Lord, the God of Israel.

“And I will hand over the Egyptians to a hard and cruel master,
And a mighty king will rule over them,” declares the Lord God of hosts.

Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, the counsel of the wise counsellers of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?

And Jehovah will say, As my servant Isaiah went naked and barefoot three years, a sign and miracle upon Egypt and upon Cush:

And the inhabitant of this isle shall say in that day, Behold, such is our expectation, whither we flee for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria: and how shall we escape?

A harsh vision has been shown to me;
The treacherous one deals treacherously, and the destroyer destroys.
Go up, Elam! Lay siege, Media!
All the groaning [caused by Babylon’s ruthless oppressions] I [the Lord] have brought to an end.

For thus the Lord says to me,
“Go, station the lookout, let him report what he sees.

And behold, here came a chariot, a man, a pair of horsemen. And he will answer and say, She fell, Babel fell; and the carved images of her god he brake in pieces to the earth.

[The] watchman says, "Morning comes, and also [the] night. If you will inquire, inquire; {come back again}."

So I say: "Don't look at me! I am weeping bitterly. Don't try to console me concerning the destruction of my defenseless people."

But look! There is joy and festivity, slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep, eating meat and drinking wine. "Let us eat and drink, you say, because we die tomorrow."

But the Lord of hosts revealed Himself in my ears,
“This sin absolutely will not be forgiven you
Until you die,” says the Lord God of hosts.

Thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, Go, get thee unto this treasurer, even unto Shebna, which is over the house, and say,

In that day,” declares the Lord of hosts, “the peg (Eliakim) that was driven into the firm place will give way; it will even break off and fall, and the burden hanging on it will be cut off, for the Lord has spoken.”

Be ashamed, O Sidon, for the sea says this, O fortress of the sea: "I have not gone into labor or given birth; I have not raised young men or brought up young women."

And he will say, Thou shalt no more add to exalt, thou violated virgin, daughter of Zidon: arise, pass over to Chittim; also there it shall not be rest to thee.

On that day Tyre will be forgotten for 70 years—the life span of one king. At the end of 70 years, what the song says about the prostitute will happen to Tyre:

"Take thy lute," say men to her, "and go about the city, thou unknown wench: make pastime with sweet melody, whereby thou mayest be had in remembrance."

From the skirt of the earth we heard songs, The desire of the righteous. And I say, 'Leanness is to me, Leanness is to me, woe is to me.' Treacherous dealers dealt treacherously, Yea, treachery, treacherous dealers dealt treacherously.

And one will say, on that day, "Look! This [is] our God! We have waited for him and he saved us! This [is] Yahweh; we waited for him! Let us be glad, and let us rejoice in his salvation."

For he says: “Law after law, law after law,
line after line, line after line,
a little here, a little there.”

Indeed, the Lord will teach this people [in a more humiliating way]
By [men with] stammering lips and a foreign tongue,

For you say, "We have made a treaty with death, with Sheol we have made an agreement. When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by it will not reach us. For we have made a lie our refuge, we have hidden ourselves in a deceitful word."

Therefore the Lord God says 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 not be disturbed or give way [in sudden panic].

And therefore make no mocks at it, that your captivity increase not. For I have heard the LORD God of Hosts say that there shall come a sudden destruction and plague upon the whole earth.

Listen and hear my voice.
Pay attention and hear what I say.

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.”

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

The sovereign master says, "These people say they are loyal to me; they say wonderful things about me, but they are not really loyal to me. Their worship consists of nothing but man-made ritual.

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."

Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?

Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?

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];

“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;

Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:

Therefore, the Holy One of Israel says this,

“Because you have refused and rejected this word [of Mine]
And have put your trust in oppression and guile, and have relied on them,

For this is what the LORD GOD, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest you will be saved; in staying calm and trusting will be your strength. But you refused.

And ye say, No, for on a horse we flee? Therefore ye flee, And on the swift we ride! Therefore swift are your pursuers.

Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence.

But He also is wise and brings disaster.
He does not go back on what He says;
He will rise up against the house of wicked men
and against the allies of evildoers.

For thus says Yahweh to me, "As the lion and the young lion growling over his prey, if a multitude of shepherds is called together against him, will not be dismayed at their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them, so Yahweh of Armies will come down to fight on Mount Zion and on its heights.

“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 foolish man will no longer be named noble, and they will not say of the false man that he is a man of honour.

For the foolish man will say foolish things, having evil thoughts in his heart, working what is unclean, and talking falsely about the Lord, to keep food from him who is in need of it, and water from him whose soul is desiring it.

Stand up, you complacent women;
listen to me.
Pay attention to what I say,
you overconfident daughters.

Wherefore woe be unto thee, O robber: shalt not thou be robbed also? And unto thee that layest wait: as who say there should no wait be laid for thee? Woe unto thee which doest hurt: even so shalt thou be hurt also. And as thou layest wait, so shall wait be laid for thee also.

Lo! their heroes, have cried out openly, - the messengers of peace, in bitterness, continue weeping they say :

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

“You who are far away, hear what I have done;
And you who are near, acknowledge My might.”

Sinners are afraid in Zion; panic grips the godless. They say, 'Who among us can coexist with destructive fire? Who among us can coexist with unquenchable fire?'

He that leadeth a godly life - say I - and speaketh the truth; He that abhorreth to do violence and deceit; he that keepeth his hand that he touch no reward; which stoppeth his ears, that he hear no counsel against the innocent; which holdeth down his eyes, that he see none evil.

And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.

He says, "Indeed, my sword has slaughtered heavenly powers. Look, it now descends on Edom, on the people I will annihilate in judgment."

The jackals will be there, and her great ones will be gone; they will say, There is no longer a kingdom there, and all her chiefs will have come to an end.

Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.

And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?

I say, sayest thou, (but they are but vain words) I have counsel and strength for war: now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?

But if thou say to me, We trust in the LORD our God: is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar?