'One' in the Bible

Ah, sinful nation,A people loaded down with wickedness [with sin, with injustice, with wrongdoing],Offspring of evildoers,Sons who behave corruptly!They have abandoned (rejected) the Lord,They have despised the Holy One of Israel [provoking Him to anger],They have turned away from Him.

From the sole of the foot even to the headThere is nothing healthy in the nation’s body,Only bruises, welts, and raw wounds,Not pressed out or bandaged,Nor softened with oil [as a remedy].

Therefore the Lord God of hosts,The Mighty One of Israel, declares:“Ah, I will be freed of My adversariesAnd avenge Myself on My enemies.

The brave man and the warrior [He is also removing],The judge and the prophet,The diviner and the elder,

And the people will be oppressed,Each one by another, and each one by his neighbor;The boy will be arrogant and insolent toward the elderAnd the vulgar (common) toward the honorable [person of rank].

He will protest on that day, saying,“I will not be a governor;For in my house there is neither bread nor clothing;You should not make me a judge and ruler of the people.”

head wraps (turbans), [short, jingling] ankle chains, sashes, perfume boxes, amulets (charms),

And in that day seven women will take hold of one man, saying, “We will eat our own food and wear [and provide] our own clothes; only let us be called by your name; take away our shame [of being unmarried].”

“For ten acres of vineyard will yield [only] one bath of wine,And a homer (six bushels) of seed will produce [only] one ephah of grain.”

But the Lord of hosts will be exalted in justice,And God, the Holy One, will show Himself holy in righteousness [through His righteous judgments].

Who say, “Let Him move speedily, let Him expedite His work [His promised vengeance], so that we may see it;And let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel approachAnd come to pass, so that we may know it!”

Therefore, as the tongue of fire consumes the stubble [from straw]And the dry grass collapses into the flame,So their root will become like rot and their blossom blow away like fine dust;Because they have rejected the law of the Lord of hostsAnd despised and discarded the word of the Holy One of Israel.

And in that day they will roar against them (Judah) like the roaring of the sea.And if one looks to the land, in fact, there is darkness and distress;Even the light will be darkened by its clouds.

And one called out to another, saying,“Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts;The whole earth is filled with His glory.”

Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs.

“Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God [one that will convince you that God has spoken and will keep His word]; make your request as deep as Sheol or as high as heaven.”

Therefore the Lord cuts off head and tail [the highest and the lowest] from Israel,Both [the high] palm branch and [the low] bulrush in one day.

“Is not Calno [conquered] like Carchemish [on the Euphrates]?Is not Hamath [subdued] like Arpad [her neighbor]?Is not Samaria [in Israel] like Damascus [in Aram]?

“My hand has found the wealth of the people like a nest,And as one gathers eggs that are abandoned, so I have gathered all the earth;And there was not one that flapped its wing, or that opened its beak and chirped.”

And the Light of Israel will become a fire and His Holy One a flame,And it will burn and devour Assyria’s thorns and briars in a single day.

Now in that day the remnant of Israel, and those of the house of Jacob who have escaped, will never again rely on the one who struck them, but will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.

He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an iron axe,And Lebanon (the Assyrian) will fall by the Mighty One.

Rejoice and shout for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,For great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

Wail, for the day of the Lord is at hand!It will come as destruction from the Almighty (All Sufficient One—Invincible God)!

They [of Babylon] will be shocked and terrified,Pains and anguish will grip them;They will be in pain like a woman in childbirth.They will stare aghast and horrified at one another,Their faces aflame [from the effects of the unprecedented warfare].

Which used to strike the peoples in anger with incessant blows,Which subdued and ruled the nations in wrath with unrelenting persecution.

“All the kings of the nations, all of them lie [dead] in glorious array,Each one in his own sepulcher.

“Then what answer will one give the messengers of the [Philistine] nation?That the Lord has founded Zion,And the afflicted of His people will seek and find refuge in it.”

A throne will be established in lovingkindness,And One will sit on it in faithfulness in the tent (dynasty, family) of David;Judging and seeking justiceAnd being prompt to do righteousness.

“And it will be like the reaper gathering the standing grain,As his arm harvests the ears of grain;Yes, it will be like one gleaning ears of grainIn the [fertile] Valley of Rephaim.

In that day man will have regard for his Maker,And his eyes will regard the Holy One of Israel [with awe-inspired reverence].

“So I will provoke Egyptians against Egyptians;And they will fight, each one against his brother and each one against his neighbor,City against city, kingdom against kingdom.

In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of [the Hebrews of] Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord of hosts. One [of them] will be called the City of Destruction.

It will become a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the Lord because of oppressors, and He will send them a Savior, a [Great] Defender, and He will rescue them.

The [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning Dumah (Edom):Someone keeps calling to me from Seir (Edom),“Watchman, what is left of the night [of Assyrian oppression]?Watchman, what is left of the night? [How long until morning?]”

“Then I will set on his shoulder the key of the house of David;When he opens no one will shut,When he shuts no one will open.

He has said, “You shall never again exult [in triumph], O crushed Virgin Daughter of Sidon.Arise, cross over to Cyprus; even there you will find no rest.”

Now in that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, like the days of one king. At the end of seventy years it will happen to Tyre as in the prostitute’s song:

The city of chaos is broken down;Every house is shut up so that no one may enter.

From the ends of the earth we hear songs, “Glory and honor to the Righteous One,”But I say, “I waste away, I waste away. Woe to me!The treacherous deal treacherously,Indeed, the treacherous deal very treacherously.”

“Or let him (Israel) cling to My strength and rely on My protection [My stronghold],Let him make peace with Me,Let him make peace with Me.”

In that day the Lord will 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.

Listen carefully, the Lord has a strong and mighty agent [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 with His hand.

Bread grain is crushed fine,Indeed, the farmer does not continue to thresh it forever.Because the wheel of his cart and his horses eventually damage it,He does not thresh it longer.

Woe (judgment is coming) to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David [once] camped!Add yet another year; let the feasts run their course [but only one year more].

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.”

The afflicted also will increase their joy in the Lord,And the needy of mankind will rejoice and celebrate in the Holy One of Israel.

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—

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 JacobAnd will stand in awe and reverent fear of the God of Israel.

“Get out of the [true] way, turn aside from the path [of God],Stop bothering us with the Holy One of Israel.”

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,

“Whose collapse is like the smashing of a potter’s jar,Crushed so savagelythat 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.”

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,

A thousand of you will flee at the threat of one man;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.

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

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.

Woe (judgment is coming) to those who go down to Egypt for help,Who rely on horsesAnd 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 seek and consult the Lord!

Each [one of them] will be like a hiding place from the windAnd a shelter from the storm,Like streams of water in a dry land,Like the shade of a huge rock in a parched and weary land [to those who turn to them].

Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts and observances;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.

There the arrow snake will make her nest and lay her eggs,And hatch them and gather her young under her protection;Indeed, the birds of prey will be gathered there [to breed],Every one with its own kind.

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.

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,

Beware that Hezekiah does not mislead you by saying, “The Lord will rescue us.” Has any one of the gods of the nations [ever] rescued his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?

“Whom have you taunted and blasphemed?And against whom have you raised your voiceAnd haughtily lifted up your eyes?Against the Holy One of Israel!

A voice of one is calling out,“Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness [remove the obstacles];Make straight and smooth in the desert a highway for our God.

“To whom then will you compare MeThat I would be his equal?” says the Holy One.

Lift up your eyes on highAnd see who has created these heavenly bodies,The One who brings out their host by number,He calls them all by name;Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power,Not one is missing.

“Who has stirred up and put into action one from the east [the king of Persia, Cyrus the Great]Whom He calls in righteousness to His service and whom victory meets at every step?The Lord turns nations over to himAnd subdues kings.He makes them like dust with his sword,Like wind-driven chaff with his bow.

They each help his neighborAnd say to his brother [as he fashions his idols], “Be of good courage!”

“Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel;I will help you,” declares the Lord, “and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

“You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away,And a high wind will scatter them;But you will rejoice in the Lord,You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.

So that they may see and know,And consider and understand together,That the hand of the Lord has done this,That the Holy One of Israel has created it.

“I have stirred up and put into action one from the north [the king of Persia, Cyrus the Great], and he has come;From the rising of the sun he will call on My Name [in prayer].And he will trample on [the Babylonian] officials as on mortar,Even as a potter treads clay.”

Who is blind but My servant [Israel],Or deaf like My messenger whom I send?Who is blind like the one who is at peace with Me [in a covenant relationship],Or so blind as the servant of the Lord?

But this is a people despoiled and plundered;All of them are trapped in holes,Or are hidden away in prisons.They have become a prey with no one to rescue them,And a spoil, with no one to say, “Give them back!”

“For I am the Lord your God,The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;I have given Egypt [to the Babylonians] as your ransom,Cush (ancient Ethiopia) and Seba [its province] in exchange for you.

“Even from eternity I am He,And there is no one who can rescue from My hand;I act, and who can revoke or reverse it?”

This is what the Lord your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says,“For your sake I have sent [one] to Babylon,And I will bring down all of them as fugitives,Even the Chaldeans [who reign in Babylon], into the ships over which they rejoiced.

“I am the Lord, your Holy One,The Creator of Israel, your King.”

This is what the Lord who made youAnd formed you from the womb, who will help you says,‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant;And Jeshurun (Israel, the upright one) whom I have chosen.

“One will say, ‘I am the Lord’s’;And another will name himself after Jacob;And another will write on his hand, ‘I am the Lord’s,’And be called by the [honorable] name of Israel.

No one remembers, nor has knowledge and understanding [enough] to say [to himself], “I have burned half of this log in the fire, and also baked bread on its coals and have roasted meat and eaten it. Then I make the rest of it into an repulsive thing [to God]; I bow down [to worship] before a block of wood!”

“I am the Lord, and there is no one else;There is no God except Me.I will embrace and arm you, though you have not known Me,

That people may know from the rising to the setting of the sun [the world over]That there is no one except Me.I am the Lord, and there is no other,

For the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker says this,“Ask Me about the things to come concerning My sons,And give Me orders concerning the work of My hands.

For the Lord, who created the heavens (He is God, who formed the earth and made it; He established it and did not create it to be a wasteland, but formed it to be inhabited) says this,“I am the Lord, and there is no one else.

“It shall be said of Me, ‘Only in the Lord are righteousness and strength.’To Him people will come,And all who were angry at Him will be put to shame.

“They lift it on their shoulders [in religious processions or into battle] and carry it;They set it in its place and there it remains standing.It cannot move from its place.Even if one cries to it [for help], the idol cannot answer;It cannot save him from his distress.

“Remember [carefully] the former things [which I did] from ages past;For I am God, and there is no one else;I am God, and there is no one like Me,

Our Redeemer [will do all this], the Lord of hosts is His name,The Holy One of Israel.

“Now, then, hear this, you who live a luxuriant life,You who dwell safely and securely,Who say in your heart (mind),‘I am [the queen], and there is no one besides me.I shall not sit as a widow,Nor know the loss of children.’

“But these two things shall come to you abruptly, in one day:Loss of children and widowhood.They will come on you in full measureIn spite of your many [claims of power through your] sorceries,In spite of the great power of your enchantments.

“For you [Babylon] have trusted and felt confident in your wickedness; you have said,‘No one sees me.’Your wisdom and your knowledge have led you astray,And you have said in your heart (mind),‘I am, and there is no one besides me.’

“This is how they have become to you, those [astrologers and sorcerers] with whom you have labored,Those who have done business with you from your youth;Each has wandered in his own way.There is no one to save you.

This is what the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says,“I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit (benefit),Who leads you in the way that you should go.

This is what the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, Israel’s Holy One says,To the thoroughly despised One,To the One hated by the nationTo the Servant of rulers,“Kings will see and arise,Princes shall also bow down,Because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You.”

“I will make those who oppress you consume their own flesh [in mutually destructive wars]And they will become drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine;And all mankind will know [with a knowledge grounded in personal experience] that I, the Lord, am your SaviorAnd your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

“Why, when I came, was there no man [to greet Me]?When I called, why was there no one to answer?Is My hand really so short that it cannot redeem [My servants]?Or have I no power to rescue?Listen carefully, with My rebuke I dry up the sea,I make the rivers into a desert;Their fish stink because there is no waterAnd die of thirst.

The Lord God has given Me [His Servant] the tongue of disciples [as One who is taught],That I may know how to sustain the weary with a word.He awakens Me morning by morning,He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple [as One who is taught].

“Look to Abraham your fatherAnd to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain;For I called him when he was but one,Then I blessed him and made him many.”