"How do your voluminous sacrifices benefit me?" the LORD is asking. "I've had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts. I don't enjoy the blood of bulls, lambs, or goats.

"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.

He will judge between the nations, and will render verdicts for the benefit of many. "They will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nations will not raise swords against nations, and they will not learn warfare anymore.

He will take his stand against all the cedars of Lebanon, against the proud and self-exalting; and against all the oaks of Bashan;

against all the high mountains, and against all the lofty hills;

against every high tower, and against every fortified wall;

"They will enter caverns in the rocks and holes in the ground to escape the presence of the terror of the LORD, to escape the splendor of his majesty when he arises to terrify the earth.

They will enter caverns in the rocks and clefts in the cliffs, to escape the terror of the LORD and to escape the splendor of his majesty, when he arises to terrorize the earth.

"But at that time, he'll protest! He'll say, "I won't be your healer. I have neither food nor clothing in my house! You're not going to make me a leader of the people!'

"The expressions on their faces give them away. They parade their sin around like Sodom; they don't even try to hide it. How horrible it will be for them, because they have brought disaster on themselves!"

"How terrible it will be for the wicked! Disaster is headed their way, because what they did with their hand will be repaid to them.

The LORD is taking his place to argue his case; he's standing up to judge the people.

How dare you crush my people as you grind down the face of the poor?" declares the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies.

He plowed its land and cleared it of stones. Then he planted it with the choicest vines, built a watchtower in the middle of it, and dug a wine vat in it; He expected it to produce good grapes, but it produced only wild ones."

For the vineyard of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the garden in which he delights. He looked for justice, but saw only bloodshed; he searched for righteousness, but heard only an outcry!

"How terrible it will be for you who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is no more room, and you have settled yourselves alone in the middle of the land!"

"How terrible it will be for those who rise at dawn in order to grab a stiff drink, for those who stay up late at night as wine inflames them!

"How terrible it will be for those who parade iniquity with cords of falsehood, who draw sin along as with a cart rope;

"How terrible it will be for those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute what is bitter for what is sweet and what is sweet for what is bitter!"

"How terrible it will be for those who are wise in their own opinion, and clever in their own reckoning!

"How terrible it will be for those who are heroes at drinking wine, and champions in mixing strong drink,

Therefore the anger of the LORD burned against his people, so he stretched out his hands against them and afflicted them. The mountains quaked, and their corpses were like refuse in the middle of the streets. Throughout all of this, his anger has not turned away, and his hands are still stretched out to attack.

The LORD will signal for nations far away, whistling for them to come from the ends of the earth. Look how quickly and how swiftly they come!

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon his throne, high and exalted. The train of his robe filled the Temple.

The seraphim stood above him. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he was flying.

"How terrible it will be for me!" I cried, "because I am ruined! I'm a man with unclean lips, and I live among a people with unclean lips! And my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of the Heavenly Armies!"

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

He touched my mouth and said, "Look! Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt is taken away, and your sins atoned for."

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."

"Go!" he responded. "Tell this people: ""Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.'

Then I asked, "For how long, LORD?" He replied: "Until cities lie waste, without inhabitants, and houses without people; and the land becomes utterly desolate.

So the LORD told Isaiah, "Go out to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool that proceeds along the highway to Launderer's Field.

"Ask a sign from the LORD your God. Make it as deep as Sheol or as high as heaven above."

He'll eat cheese and honey, when he knows enough to reject what's wrong and choose what's right.

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.

and because of the abundance of milk that they give, he will have cheese to eat, since whoever remains in the land will be eating cheese and honey.

As for all the hills that used to be cultivated with a hoe, you won't go there, because you'll fear iron briars and thorns. Nevertheless, those hills will be reserved as a pasture where cattle will feed and where sheep will graze."

for before the young lad knows how to call out to his father or mother, the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria."

"It's the king of Assyria and all of his arrogance! He will rise over all of the river's channels and run over all of its banks. He will sweep on into Judah, overflowing as he passes through, like flood waters reaching up to a person's neck. His outstretched wings will flow as wide as your land, O Immanuel!"

For this is what the LORD spoke to me, as his forceful hand was resting on me, and as he was warning me not to live the way this people were living:

The LORD of the Heavenly Armies he's the one you are to regard as holy. Let him be the one whom you fear, and let him be the one before whom you stand in terror!

Then he will be a sanctuary, but for both houses of Israel he'll also be a stone with which someone strikes himself, a rock one stumbles over, a trap and a snare to those who live in Jerusalem.

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.

Of the growth of his government and peace there will be no end. He will rule over his kingdom, sitting on the throne of David, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies will accomplish this.

But the LORD has raised adversaries from Rezin against him, and he stirs up his enemies

"How terrible it will be for the one who enacts unjust decrees, for those who write oppressive laws that they have prescribed

"How terrible it will be for Assyria, the rod of my anger! The club is in their hands!

But this is not what he intends, and this is not what he thinks in his mind; but it is in his mind to destroy, and to cut down many nations.

"Because this is what he is saying: "My commanders are all kings, are they not?

"For the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and against Jerusalem; he will punish the speech that comes from that willful heart of Assyria's king and the haughty look in his eyes.

He keeps bragging: "I've done it by the strength of my hand, and by my wisdom, because I'm so clever. I removed the boundaries of nations, and plundered their treasures; like a bull I brought down those who sat on thrones.

The LORD of the Heavenly Armies will brandish a whip against them, as when he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb; and as his staff was stretched out over the sea, so he will lift it up as he did in Egypt.

"The Assyrian commander has come upon Aiath and has passed through Migron; he stores his supplies at Michmash.

He has crossed over by the pass; his overnight lodging is at Geba. Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul has fled.

This very day he will halt at Nob; he will shake his fists at the mountain that is the Daughter of Zion, at Jerusalem's hill.

He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an ax, and Lebanon will fall by the Majestic One."

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,

but with righteousness he will judge the needy, and decide with equity for earth's poor. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and the wicked will be killed with the breath of his lips.

He will raise a banner for the nations and will assemble the dispersed of Israel; he will gather the scattered people of Judah from the corners of the earth.

The LORD will totally destroy the gulf of the Sea of Egypt. He will sweep his hand over the Euphrates River with a violent wind, breaking it up into seven streams, and making a way for people to cross on foot.

And there will be a highway for the remnant that is left of his people out of Assyria, as there was for Israel when they came up from the land of Egypt.

"Look! God yes God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid. For the LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation."

"Sing praises to the LORD, because he has acted gloriously, being made known in all the world.

However, the LORD will have compassion on Jacob and will once again choose Israel. He will settle them in their own land, and foreigners will join them, affiliating themselves with the house of Jacob.

you will lift up this song of mockery against the king of Babylon: "How the oppressor has come to an end! How the attacker has ceased!

"How you have fallen from heaven, Day Star, son of the Dawn! How you have been thrown down to earth, you who laid low the nation!

I'll ascend above the tops of the clouds; I'll make myself like the Most High.'

How will they answer the messengers of the nation? "The LORD has founded Zion, and in it the afflicted among his people will find refuge."

He has gone up to the temple, and to Dibon, to the high places to weep; over Nebo and over Medeba Moab wails. His head is completely bald, and every beard is shaved off.

"Give us advice; reach a decision! Cast your shadow as if night had come at high noon. Shelter the fugitives, And don't betray a single refugee.

"We've heard about Moab's pride so very proud he became! his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence; therefore he is alone.

When Moab appears, when he arrives upon the high place and comes to his sanctuary to pray, he will not prevail."

"How terrible it will be for many nations, who rage like the roaring sea! Oh, how the uproar of nations is like the sound of rushing, mighty water How they roar!

For before the harvest, when the season of budding is over, and sour grapes ripen into mature grapes, he cuts off the shoots with pruning knives, clearing away the spreading branches as he lops them off.

Zoan's princes are nothing but fools; the wisest advisors of Pharaoh give stupid advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, "I'm a descendant of wise men, a descendant of ancient kings"?

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.

It will be a sign and a witness to the LORD of the Heavenly Armies in the land of Egypt; when they cry out to the LORD because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior, and he will come down and rescue them.

At that time, they will worship with sacrifices and offerings, and they will make vows to the LORD and carry them out. The LORD will strike Egypt with a plague, striking but then healing. Then they will turn to the LORD, and he will respond to their pleas and heal them.

At that time, there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will come into Egypt, and the Egyptians into Assyria, and they will worship with the Assyrians.

at that time the LORD spoke through Amoz's son Isaiah: "Go loosen the sackcloth that's around your waist, and take your sandals off your feet." So that's what he did: he went around naked and barefoot.

At that time, the inhabitants of this coastland will say, "See, this is what has happened to those on whom we counted and relied for help and deliverance from the king of Assyria! How, then, can we escape?'"

For this is what the LORD told me: "Go post a lookout. Have him report what he sees.

When he sees chariots, each man with a pair of horses, riders on donkeys or riders on camels, let him pay attention, full attention."

For he has fled from swords, from the drawn sword, from the bent bow, and from the heat of battle."

He has uncovered the defenses of Judah."

Look Out! The LORD is about to hurl you away violently, my strong fellow! He will fold you up completely,

and I'll clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash around him. I'll transfer your authority to him, and he'll be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.

"I'll place on his shoulder the key to the house of David what he opens, no one will shut, and what he shuts, no one will open.

I'll set him like a peg into a secure place; he will become a throne of honor to his father's house.

He has stretched out his hand over the sea; he has made kingdoms tremble. The LORD has issued orders concerning Canaan to destroy its strongholds.

And he said: "You will revel no longer, you virgin daughter of Sidon, now crushed. Get up, cross over to Cyprus but even there you will find no rest.'"

"Watch out! The LORD is about to depopulate the land and devastate it; he will turn it upside down and scatter its inhabitants.

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!'"

And on this mountain, he will swallow up the burial shroud that enfolds all nations, the veil that is spread over all nations

he has swallowed up death forever! Then the Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from all faces, and he will take away the disgrace of his people from the entire earth." for the LORD has spoken.

"And you will say at that time, "Look! It's the LORD! This is our God! We waited for him, and he saved us. This is the LORD! We waited for him, so let us rejoice, and we will be glad that he has saved us."

He brings down the high fortifications of your walls and lays them low; he will raze them to the ground, right down to the dust.

You will keep perfectly peaceful the one whose mind remains focused on you, because he remains in you.

For he has made drunk the inhabitants of the height, the lofty city. He lays it low to the ground casting it down to the dust,

At that time, with his fierce, mighty, and powerful sword, the LORD will punish the gliding serpent Leviathan the coiling serpent Leviathan and he will kill the dragon that's in the sea.