Ah, sinful nation, a people heavy [with] iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly. They have forsaken Yahweh; they have despised the holy one of Israel. They are estranged [and gone] backward.

When you come to appear before me, who asked for this from your hand: you trampling my courts?

Zion will be redeemed by justice, and those of her who repent, by righteousness.

But [the] destruction [of] rebels and sinners [shall be] together, and those who forsake Yahweh will perish.

Turn away from humanity, who [has] breath in its nostrils, for by what [is] it esteemed?

And this shall happen: He who is left in Zion and he who remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone written for life in Jerusalem,

Ah! Those who {join} house with house, they join field together with field until {there is no place} and you are caused to dwell alone in the midst of the land.

Ah! Those who rise early in the morning, they pursue strong drink. Those who linger in the evening, wine inflames them.

Therefore Sheol has enlarged its throat, and it has opened wide its mouth without limit, and her nobles will go down, and her multitude, her tumult and those who revel in her.

Ah! Those who drag iniquity along with the cords of falsehood and sin as with rope of the cart,

those who say, "Let him make haste; let him hurry his work so that we may see it and let it draw near and let the plan of the holy one of Israel come so that we may know [it]!"

Ah! Those who call evil good and good evil, those who put darkness for light and light for darkness, those who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

Ah! [Those who are] wise in their own eyes and have understanding {in their view}!

Those who acquit the guilty because of a bribe and remove [the] justice of [the] innocent from him.

And the pivots of the thresholds shook from the sound of those who called, and the house was filled [with] smoke.

Then I heard [the] voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "I [am] here! Send me!"

And I will wait for Yahweh, who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will await him.

Look! I and the children whom Yahweh has given to me [are] like signs and portents in Israel from Yahweh of hosts, the one who dwells on the mountain of Zion.

Now if they tell you, "Consult the ghosts and the spirits, those who chirp and those who mutter. Should not a people consult its gods, the dead on behalf of the living,

for teaching and for testimony?" {surely they [who] speak like this have no dawn}.

{But there will be no gloom for those who were in distress}. In former times he treated [the] land of Zebulun and Naphtali with contempt, but in the future he will honor the way of the sea beyond the Jordan, Galilee [of] the nations.

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; light has shined on those who lived in a land of darkness.

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

Elders and {the respectable} [are] the head, and prophets who teach lies [are] the tail.

And the leaders of this people were misleading [them], and those who were led [were] confused.

Ah! Those who decree decrees of evil, and writers who have written harm,

And what will you do at [the] day of punishment, and at calamity? It comes from afar! To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your wealth,

Does the ax boast against the one who cuts with it, or the saw magnify itself against [the] one who moves it to and fro? {As if a rod should move the one who lifts it}! {As if a staff should lift up that which is not wood}!

And he will destroy the glory of his forest and orchard {completely}, and it will be like the wasting away of one who is sick.

And this shall happen: on that day, the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will not continue to lean on [the] one who struck it but will lean on Yahweh, the holy one of Israel, in truth.

Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh of hosts: "My people who live [in] Zion, you must not be afraid of Assyria. It beats you with the rod, and it lifts up its staff against you {as the Egyptians did}.

I myself I have commanded my consecrated ones, I have also summoned my mighty warriors concerning my anger, the {ones who exalt over} my majesty.

Everyone who is found will be pierced through, and everyone who is carried away will fall by the sword.

Look! I [am] stirring the Medes up against them, who do not value silver and do not delight in gold.

Those who see you will stare at you, they will look closely at you: '[Is] this the man who made the earth tremble, who caused kingdoms to shake,

who made [the] world like the desert and destroyed its cities, [who] would not let his prisoners go home?'

But [as for] you, you are thrown away from your grave, like an abhorrent shoot, clothed with [the] slain, those pierced [by the] sword, those who go down to [the] stones of [the] pit, like a corpse that is trodden down.

For Yahweh of hosts has planned, and who will frustrate [it]? And his hand [is] stretched out, and who will turn it back?

Let my outcasts [of] Moab dwell as aliens among you; be a hiding place for them from [the] presence of [the] destroyer." When the oppressor is no more, destruction has stopped, [the] {one who tramples has} disappeared from the land,

And it shall be as {when a reaper gathers} standing grain and he reaps grain [with] his arm, and it shall be like one who gathers ears of grain in the valley of Rephaim.

At [the] time of evening, and look, terror! Before morning he is no more. This [is] the fate of those who plunder us and [the] lot of those who plunder us.

And the fishers will mourn, and all of those who cast fishhooks in the Nile will lament, and those who spread out fishing nets on [the] {surface} of [the] water will languish.

And [the] workers of combed flax will be ashamed, and those who weave white linen.

And the land of Judah will become a terror to Egypt, everyone [to] whom one mentions it will be afraid in himself because of the plan of Yahweh of hosts that he [is] planning against him.

whom Yahweh of hosts blessed, saying, "May Egypt my people be blessed, and Assyria, the work of my hands, and my inheritance, Israel."

And [the] inhabitant [of] the coastland will say this on that day: 'Look! This [is] our hope [to] whom we fled for help, to be delivered {from} the king of Assyria, and how shall we escape?'"

All of your rulers have fled together without a bow; all of {you who were found} were captured. They were captured together; they had fled far away.

And you made a reservoir between the walls for the waters of the old pool, but you did not look to its maker, and you did not see {the one who created it long ago}.

The Lord, Yahweh of hosts, says this: "Go! Go to this steward, to Shebna, who [is] over the house:

'What {business do you have} here, and who {do you have} here, that you have cut a grave cutting here for yourself, carving his grave [on] the height, a dwelling place for him in the rock?

Be still, inhabitants of [the] coast, merchant of Sidon, who travels over [the] sea, they filled you.

Who has planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, whose merchants [were] princes, her traders [the] honored ones of [the] earth?

And this shall happen: her merchandise and her harlot's wages [will be] set apart for Yahweh; it will not be stored up, and it will not be hoarded, but her merchandise will be for those who live before the {presence} of Yahweh, for eating to satiation and for fine clothing.

And it shall be as [with] the people, so [with] the priest; as [with] the slave, so [with] his master; as [with] the female slave, so [with] her mistress; as [with] the buyer, so [with] the seller; as [with] the lender, so [with] the borrower; as [with] the creditor, so [with] [the one] to whom he lends.

They do not drink wine with song; strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.

And this shall happen: The one who flees from the sound of the terror shall fall into the pit, and the one who goes up from {inside the pit} shall be caught in the snare, for [the] windows from heaven are opened, and [the] foundations of [the] earth tremble.

Open [the] gates {so that} [the] righteous nation who keeps faithfulness may enter!

Does he strike him {as he struck down those who struck him}? Or is he killed {as those who killed him were killed}?

And this shall happen: on that day, a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were lost in the land of Assyria will come, and those who were scattered in the land of Egypt, and they will bow down to Yahweh on the {holy mountain} at Jerusalem.

and [the] withering flower of the glory of its beauty which [is] at [the] head of {the rich valley} will be like its early fig before summer, {which the one who sees it swallows} while it [is] still in his hand.

and a spirit of justice to the one who sits over judgment, and strength [to] those who turn back [the] battle [at the] gate.

[To] whom will he teach knowledge, and [to] whom will he explain [the] message? Those who are weaned from milk, [those] taken from [the] breast?

to whom he has said, "This [is] rest; give rest to the weary; and this [is] repose"; yet they were not willing to hear.

Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this: "Look! I [am] laying a stone in Zion, a {tested} stone, a precious cornerstone, a founded foundation: 'The one who trusts will not {panic}.'

And the multitude of all the nations who fight against Ariel, all those who fight [against] her and her stronghold, and those who inflict her shall be like dream, a vision of [the] night.

And it shall be as when the hungry person dreams--look, [he is] eating! And he wakes up and his inner self [is] empty. Or as when the thirsty person dreams--look, [he is] drinking! And he wakes up and look, [he is] faint, and his inner self [is] longing for water. So shall be the multitude of all the nations who fight against Mount Zion.

And the vision of all this has become for you like [the] words of sealed document. When they give it to one who knows the document, saying, "{Read} this now!" He says, "I am not able, for it [is] sealed."

And [if] the document is given to [one] who does not {know how to read}, saying, "{Read} this now!" he says, "I do not {know how to read}."

Ah! Those who make a plan deep, to hide [it] from Yahweh, and their deeds are in a dark place. And they say, "Who sees us? And who knows us?"

those who mislead a person into sin with a word and set a trap for the {arbitrator} in the gate and guide away [the] righteous by emptiness.

Therefore Yahweh, who redeemed Abraham, says this to the house of Jacob: "Jacob will no longer be ashamed, and his face will no longer grow pale.

And those who err [in] spirit will {acquire} understanding, and those who grumble will learn instruction.

Who go to go down [to] Egypt, but they do not ask [of] my mouth, to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh and to take refuge in the shadow of Egypt.

For it [is] a people of rebellion, deceitful children, children [who are] not willing to hear the instruction of Yahweh,

who say to those who do see, "You must not see!" and to the seers, "You must not see truth for us; speak smooth things to us, see illusions,

Therefore Yahweh waits to be gracious [to] you, and therefore he will rise up to show you mercy, for Yahweh [is] a God of justice; blessed [are] all those who wait for him.

{You shall have a song} as [in] [the] night when a holy festival is kept, and a gladness of heart like one who goes with the flute, to go to the mountain of Yahweh, to the rock of Israel.

Ah! Those who go down [to] Egypt for help! They rely on horses and trust in chariots because [they are] many, and in horsemen because they are very numerous, and they do not look to the holy one of Israel, and they do not consult Yahweh.

Turn back to [the one against] whom the sons of Israel have made deep rebellion.

And his rock will pass over because of terror, and his officers will be terrified because of [the] flag," {declares} Yahweh, who has a fire in Zion and has a furnace in Jerusalem.

And [the] eyes of those who see will not gaze, and [the] ears of those who hear will listen.

Women [who are] at ease, rise up; hear my voice! Carefree daughters, listen [to] my word!

Tremble, [you who are] at ease; tremble, carefree ones; strip, and strip yourself, and gird yourself on [your] loins,

Happy [are] you who sow by all waters, who let the foot of the ox and the donkey go free.

[You who are] far away, hear what I have done; and [you who are] near, know my might!"

Sinners are afraid in Zion; trembling has seized [the] godless: "Who of us can {live} [with] devouring fire? Who of us can {live} [with] everlasting consuming hearths?"

He who walks [in] righteousness and speaks uprightness, who rejects [the] gain of extortion, who {refuses} bribe, who stops up his ears from hearing {bloodshed} and shuts his eyes from seeing evil.

Your {mind} will meditate [on the] terror: "Where [is the] one who counted? Where [is the] one who weighed out? Where [is the] one who counted the towers?"

For Yahweh [is] our judge; Yahweh [is] our lawgiver. Yahweh [is] our king; he [is the one who] will save us.

And no inhabitant will say, "I am sick"; the people who live in it, [their] iniquity [will be] taken away.

Night and day it shall not be quenched; its smoke shall go up forever. From generation to generation it shall be in ruins; forever and ever there will be no one who passes through her.

It shall blossom abundantly, and it shall rejoice indeed with rejoicing and exulting. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. {They are the ones who} shall see the glory of Yahweh, the majesty of our God.

Say to those who are hasty of heart, "Be strong; you must not fear! Look! your God will come [with] vengeance, [with] {divine retribution}. He {is the one who} will come and save you."

And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness. [The] unclean shall not travel through it, but it [is] for them, he who walks [on the] way; and fools shall not wander about.

And Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who {was in charge of the palace}, came out to him, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the reminder.

I said, 'Only a word of lips! {War has power and a plan}!' Now, in whom do you trust, that you have rebelled against me?

Look, you trust in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt, which [if] a man leans on it, goes into his hand and bores through it! Such [is] Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to all those who trust in him.

And Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to Rabshakeh, "Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we can understand [it], and you must not speak to us in Judean in the {hearing} of the people who [are] on the wall."

But Rabshakeh said, "Has my master sent me to speak these words to your masters and you? [Was it] not for the people who sit on the wall, to eat their dung and drink their urine with you?"

Who [are there] among all the gods of these countries who have saved their land from my hand, that Yahweh should save Jerusalem from my hand?" '"