"How the faithful city has become a whore, she who used to be filled with justice! Righteousness used to reside within her, but now only murderers live there.

"Zion will be redeemed by justice, and her repentant ones by righteousness.

"And it will come about that instead of fragrance there will be a stench; instead of a belt, a rope; instead of well-set hair, baldness; instead of a fine robe, sackcloth; and instead of beauty, shame.

and her gates lament and mourn. Ravaged, she will sit on the ground."

The LORD of the Heavenly Armies has declared this so I could hear it: "Surely many houses will become desolate, great and beautiful houses, without occupants.

Therefore Sheol's appetite has grown; it has opened its mouth beyond limit. Jerusalem's nobility and her multitudes will go there, along with her brawlers and whoever is reveling within her.

Then I heard the voice of the LORD as he was asking, "Whom will I send? Who will go for us?" "Here I am!" I replied. "Send me."

Dull the mind of this people, deafen their ears, and blind their eyes. By doing so, they won't see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their minds, turn back, and be healed."

At that time, the LORD will hire a barber to come from beyond the Euphrates River that is, the king of Assyria and he will shave your heads, your leg hair, and your beards, too.

But there will be no gloom for her who was in distress. Formerly, he brought contempt to the region of Zebulun and the region of Naphtali, but in the future he will have made glorious the way of the sea, the territory beyond the Jordan Galilee of the nations.

will I not deal with Jerusalem and her idols as I have dealt with Samaria and her images?'"

His delight will be in the fear of the LORD. He won't judge by what his eyes see, nor decide disputes by what his ears hear,

"I will rise up against them," declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, "and I will eliminate from Babylon her name and survivors, her offspring and descendants," declares the LORD.

My heart cries out over Moab; her fugitives flee as far as Zoar, as far as Eglath-shelishiyah. For at the ascent to Luhith they go up weeping; on the road to Horonaim they raise a cry of destruction.

For the cry has gone out along the border of Moab; her wailing reaches as far as Eglaim, her wailing reaches as far as Beer-elim.

All you inhabitants of the world, you who live on the earth, when a banner is raised on the mountains, you'll see it. When a trumpet sounds, you'll hear it!

At that time, the Egyptians will be like women they will shudder and be afraid before the uplifted hand of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, when he brandishes his hand against her.

Therefore my body is racked with pain; pangs have seized me, like the pangs of a woman in labor; I am so upset that I cannot hear; I am so frightened that I cannot see while I'm reeling around.

Look! Here come riders, each man with a pair of horses!" They're shouting out the answer: "Babylon has fallen, has fallen, and they have shattered all the images of her gods on the ground!

"Come, go to this steward, to Shebna who is in charge of the household, and ask him: "What are you doing here, and who are your relatives here that you could carve out a grave for yourself here cutting out a tomb at the choicest location, chiseling out a resting place for yourself out of solid rock?

and were on mighty waters. Her revenue was the grain of Shihor, the harvest of the Nile; and she became the marketplace of nations.

Is this your exciting city, that was founded long ago, whose feet carried her to settle in far-off lands?

"Look at the land of the Chaldeans! This is a people that no longer exist; Assyria destined her for desert creatures. They raised up her siege towers, they stripped her fortresses bare and turned her into a ruin.

At the end of 70 years, the LORD will deal with Tyre, at which time she'll return to her courtesan's trade, and prostitute herself with the kingdoms of the world on the surface of the earth.

Nevertheless, her profits and her earnings will be dedicated to the LORD; they will not be stored up or hoarded but her profits will go to those who live in the LORD's presence, for abundant food and choice clothing.

From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise: "Glory to the Righteous One!' "But I say, "I am pining away, I'm pining away. How terrible things are for me! For treacherous people betray treacherous people are betraying with treachery!'"

Just as a pregnant woman writhes and cries out during her labor when she is about to give birth, so were we because of you, LORD.

For it is: "Do this and do that, do this and do that, Line upon line, line upon line, a little here, a little there."

So, then, the message from the LORD to them will become: "Do this and do that, do this and do that, line upon line, line upon line, a little here, a little there," so that they will go, but fall backward, and be injured, snared, and captured.

"Therefore hear the message from the LORD, you scoffers who rule this people that are in Jerusalem.

"Pay attention! Listen to what I have to say; Pay attention, and hear my speech.

Then the hordes of all the nations that fight against Aruel, all that attack her and her fortification and besiege her, will become like a dream, with its visions in the night

On that day the deaf will hear the words of a scroll, and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.

to Egypt, which gives help that is worthless and useless. Therefore I call her, "Rahab, who just sits still.'"

For they are a rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to hear the LORD's instruction.

And whether you turn to the right or turn to the left, your ears will hear a message behind you: "This is the way, walk in it."

And every stroke of his punishing rod that the LORD brings down on them will be to the sound of tambourines and harps, as he fights against her in battle with a brandished arm.

Then the eyes of those who can see won't turn away, and the ears of those who can hear will listen.

"As for you ladies of leisure Get up and listen to my voice! You daughters who feel so complacent hear what I have to say!

"Come near, you nations, to listen, and pay attention, you nations! Let the earth hear, and all that fills it; the world, and all that comes out of it.

Say to those with anxious hearts, "Be strong, do not be afraid! Here is your God he will bring vengeance, he will bring divine retribution, and he will save you.'

Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah replied to him, "Please speak with your servants with us in Aramaic, since we understand it. Don't speak to us in Hebrew where the people sitting on the wall can hear."

"Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! This is what the king of Assyria says: "Don't let Hezekiah deceive you for he cannot save you!

"Here is what Hezekiah says," they told him. "This day is a day of trouble, rebuke, and disgrace, as when children come to the point of birth and there is no energy to deliver them.

Perhaps the LORD your God will hear the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, sent to mock the living God, and perhaps he will rebuke the words that the LORD your God has heard. So lift up a prayer for the remnant that still survives in this city."

"Here is what to tell your master," Isaiah told them. "This is what the LORD says: "Don't be afraid of the words you've heard those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have insulted me.

This is the message that the LORD has spoken in opposition to him: ""The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises and mocks you; the Daughter of Jerusalem she tosses her head behind you as you flee.

""Didn't you hear how in the distant past I decided to do it, how I planned from days of old? Now I've made it happen that fortified cities become devastated, besieged heaps.

"Therefore this what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria: "He won't enter this city, build up a siege ramp against it, shoot an arrow here, or threaten it with a shield.

"Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her heavy service has been completed, that her penalty has been paid, that she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins."

"Climb up a high mountain, you messenger of good news to Zion! Lift up your voice with strength, you messenger to Jerusalem! Lift it up! Don't be afraid! Say to the towns of Judah, "Here is your God!'

Let them approach and ask us, "What will happen? As to the former things, what were they? Tell us, so that we may consider them and know. Or the latter things or the things to come let us hear.

Tell us what the future holds, so we may know that you are gods! Yes, do something good or something bad, so we may hear and gaze at it together.'"

"Here is my servant, whom I support, my chosen one, in whom I delight. I've placed my Spirit upon him; and he'll deliver his justice throughout the world.

who carries out the words of his servants, and fulfills the predictions of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, "It will be inhabited," and of Judah's cities, "They will be rebuilt," and of her ruins, "I'll raise them up";

Those who pour out gold in a purse, weigh silver in a balance, hire a goldsmith in order to make a god, and then they bow down and even worship it.

"Now hear this, you wanton creature, lounging with no cares, and saying to herself: "I am the one, and there will be none besides me; I won't live as a widow, nor will I see the loss of children.'

"You have heard now look at them all! How can you not admit them? From now on, I'll make you hear new things, hidden things that you have not known.

They are created now, and not long ago; you didn't hear them before today, so you cannot say, "Yes, I knew them.'

"Can a woman forget her nursing child, or have no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these mothers may forget; But as for me, I'll never forget you!

This is what the LORD says: "Where is your mother's certificate of divorce with which I sent her away? Or to which of my creditors did I sell you? Look! It's because of your sins that you were sold, and because of your transgressions that your mother was sent away.

For the LORD will have compassion on Zion, have compassion on all her ruins. He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her deserts like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving, and the sound of singing. Sorrow and sighing will flee away.

There is no one to guide you out of all the children she bore, no one to take her by the hand out of all the children she brought up.

"Now therefore, what am I doing here," asks the LORD, "seeing that my people are taken away without cause? Those who rule over them are deluded," says the LORD, "and continuously, all the day long, my name is blasphemed.

Therefore my people will know my name; in that day they'll know that it is I who speaks, "Here I am!'

"Depart! Depart! Go out from there; touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves, you who carry the vessels of the LORD.

"Sing, you barren woman, even the one who never bore a child! Burst into song and shout for joy, even you who were never in labor! For the children of the desolate woman will be more than the children of her that is married," says the LORD.

"For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

"But as for you, come here, you children of a sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes!

Then you'll call, and the LORD will answer; you'll cry for help, and he'll respond, "Here I am.' "If you do away with the yoke among you, and pointing fingers and malicious talk;

"See, the LORD's hand is not too short to save, nor are his ears too dull to hear.

"I will heartily rejoice in the LORD, my soul will delight in my God; for he has wrapped me in garments of salvation; he has arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, just like a bridegroom, like a priest with a garland, and like a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

"And I won't remain silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I won't stay quiet, until her vindication shines out like brightness, and her salvation like a burning torch.

Here is the LORD! Proclaim to the ends of the earth, say to the inhabitants of Zion: "See, your salvation is coming! See, his reward is with him, and his recompenses are before him.'

"I let myself be sought by those who didn't ask for me; I let myself be found by those who didn't seek me. I said, "Here I am! Here I am!' to a nation that didn't call on my name.

Before they call, I will answer, while they are still speaking, I'll hear.

"Hear this message from the LORD, you who tremble at his words: "Your own brothers who hate you and exclude you because of my name have said: "Let the LORD be glorified; he will see your joy,' yet it is they who will be put to shame.

"Before she goes into labor she gives birth; before her pains come upon her she has delivered a son.

Who has ever heard of such a thing? And who ever sees such things? Can a country be born in a single day, or can a nation be brought forth in a single moment? Yet no sooner was Zion in labor than she delivered her children.

"Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be happy for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in gladness, all you who mourn over her,

so that you may nurse and be satisfied at her consoling breasts, and so that you may drink deeply and take delight from her glorious bosom."

This is what the LORD says: "See, I will extend prosperity to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; and you will nurse, and you will be carried on her hip, and bounced upon her knees.