For so Jehovah spoke to me with a strong hand, and warned me against walking in the way of this people, saying,

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

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!

So shall he become a hallowed asylum, - But a stone to strike against, and a rock to stumble over unto both houses of Israel A trap and a snare to the dweller in Jerusalem;

Bind up the testimony, seal the law and the teaching among my (Isaiah’s) disciples.

See, I and the children whom the Lord has given me, are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of armies, whose resting-place is in Mount Zion.

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.'

They will look toward the earth and see only distress, darkness, and the gloom of affliction, and they will be driven into thick darkness.

Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.

The people walking in darkness see a bright light; light shines on those who live in a land of deep darkness.

For You will break the yoke of Israel’s burden and the staff (goad) on their shoulders,
The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian.

For every boot of the marching warrior in the battle tumult,
And [every soldier’s] garment rolled in blood, will be used for burning, fuel for the fire.

His dominion will be vast and he will bring immeasurable prosperity. He will rule on David's throne and over David's kingdom, establishing it and strengthening it by promoting justice and fairness, from this time forward and forevermore. The Lord's intense devotion to his people will accomplish this.

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

So Yahweh strengthened {the adversaries of Rezin} against him, and he provoked his enemies--

The Arameans on the east and the Philistines on the west;
And they devour Israel with gaping jaws.
In spite of all this, God’s anger does not turn away
But His hand is still stretched out [in judgment].

So Yahweh cut off head and tail from Israel, palm branch and reed [in] one day.

Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men,
Nor does He have compassion on their fatherless or their widows;
For every one of them is godless and an evildoer,
And every mouth is speaking foolishness.
In spite of all this, God’s anger does not turn away
But His hand is still stretched out [in judgment].

For wickedness burns like a fire
that consumes thorns and briers
and kindles the forest thickets
so that they go up in a column of smoke.

The land was dark with the wrath of the Lord of armies: the people were like those who take men's flesh for food.

They slice off [in discord] what is on the right hand but are still hungry,
And they eat what is on the left hand but they are not satisfied;
Each eats the flesh of his own arm.

[The tribe of] Manasseh devours [the tribe of his brother] Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh,
And together they are against Judah (the southern kingdom, the house of David).
In spite of all this, God’s anger does not turn away
But His hand is still stretched out [in judgment].

to keep the poor from getting a fair trial
and to deprive the afflicted among my people of justice,
so that widows can be their spoil
and they can plunder the fatherless.

Now what will you do in the day of [God’s] punishment,
And in the storm of devastation which will come from far away?
To whom will you flee for help?
And where will you leave your wealth [for safekeeping]?

Nothing remains but to crouch among the captives
Or fall [dead] among the slain [on the battlefield].
In spite of all this, God’s anger does not turn away,
But His hand is still stretched out [in judgment].

Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger [against Israel],
The staff in whose hand is My indignation and fury [against Israel’s disobedience]!

Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.

For he will say, Are not my chiefs united together kings?

I overpowered kingdoms ruled by idols, whose carved images were more impressive than Jerusalem's or Samaria's.

Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?

And it hath come to pass, When the Lord doth fulfil all His work In mount Zion and in Jerusalem, I see concerning the fruit of the greatness Of the heart of the king of Asshur. And concerning the glory of the height of 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.

“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.”

Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood.

Therefore the Lord, the God of hosts, will send a wasting disease among the stout warriors of Assyria;
And under his glory a fire will be kindled like a burning flame.

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.

The Lord will consume the glory of Assyria’s forest and of its fruitful garden, both soul and body,
And it will be as when a sick man wastes away.

And the remnant of the trees of his forest shall be few, so that a child may write them.

A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.

For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness.

So here is what the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, says: "My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of Assyria, even though they beat you with a club and lift their cudgel against you as Egypt did.

And the LORD of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and as his rod was upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt.

So it will be in that day, that his burden will be removed from your shoulders and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be broken because of fatness.

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.

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.

See, the Lord, the Lord of armies, is cutting off his branches with a great noise, and his strong ones are falling and his high ones are coming down.

Then a Shoot (the Messiah) will spring from the stock of Jesse [David’s father],
And a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.

The Lord's spirit will rest on him -- a spirit that gives extraordinary wisdom, a spirit that provides the ability to execute plans, a spirit that produces absolute loyalty to the Lord.

So will he find fragrance, in the reverence of Yahweh, And not, by the sight of his eyes, will he judge, Nor by the hearing of his ears, will he decide;

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.

Then shall the wolf dwell with the lamb, and the Leopard shall lie down by the goat. Bullocks, Lions and cattle shall keep company together, so that a little child shall rule them.

And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.

They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.

He will lift a signal flag for the nations; he will gather Israel's dispersed people and assemble Judah's scattered people from the four corners of the earth.

Ephraim’s envy will cease;
Judah’s harassment will end.
Ephraim will no longer be envious of Judah,
and Judah will not harass Ephraim.

And they flew upon the shoulder of the rovers to the sea; together shall they plunder the sons of the east: Edom and Moab the sending forth of their hand, and the sons of Ammon their audience.

And the LORD shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod.

So there shall be a highway from Assyria for the remnant of his people that remains, as there was for Israel {when} it went up from the land of Egypt.

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.

See, God is my salvation; I will have faith in the Lord, without fear: for the Lord Jah is my strength and song; and he has become my salvation.

So with joy will you get water out of the springs of salvation.

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.

The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.

Put up a flag on a clear mountain-top, make a loud outcry to them, give directions with the hand, so that they may go into the doors of the great ones.

"Listen! There's a noise on the mountains like that of a great multitude! Listen! There's an uproar among the kingdoms, like that of nations massing together! The LORD of the Heavenly Armies is mustering an army for battle.

Wail, for the Lord's day of judgment is near; it comes with all the destructive power of the sovereign judge.

Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:

See, the day of the Lord is coming, cruel, with wrath and burning passion: to make the land a waste, driving the sinners in it to destruction.

I will make men so small in number, that a man will be harder to get than gold, even the best gold of Ophir.

So I will shake the heavens, and the earth will shake loose from its foundation, because of the fury of the Lord who commands armies, in the day he vents his raging anger.

See, I am driving the Medes against them, who put no value on silver and have no pleasure in gold.

Their arrows will cut young men to ribbons; they have no compassion on a person's offspring, they will not look with pity on children.

And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beautiful town which is the pride of the Chaldaeans, will be like God's destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

But desert creatures will lie down there,
And their houses will be full of owls;
Ostriches also will live there, and wild goats will dance there.

Hyenas will howl in their castles,
And jackals in their luxurious palaces.
Babylon’s time has nearly come,
And her days will not be prolonged.

The nations will escort Israel and bring it to its homeland. Then the house of Israel will possess them as male and female slaves in the Lord’s land. They will make captives of their captors and will rule over their oppressors.

And it hath come to pass, In the day of Jehovah's giving rest to thee, From thy grief, and from thy trouble, And from the sharp bondage, That hath been served upon thee,

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.

They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;

Is this the one who made the world like a desert, who ruined its cities, and refused to free his prisoners so they could return home?"'

and thou art cast out of thy grave like a wild branch - like as dead men's raiment that are shot through with the sword, as they that go down to the stones of the deep, as a dead corpse that is trodden under feet -

“Prepare a slaughtering place for his sons
Because of the wickedness [the sin, the injustice, the wrongdoing] of their fathers.
They must not rise and take possession of the earth,
And fill the face of the world with cities.”

And I will rise up against them, saith Jehovah of hosts, and cut off from Babylon name and remnant, and son and son's son, saith Jehovah.

The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:

to break the Assyrian in My land, and on My mountains I will trample him underfoot. Then the Assyrian’s yoke will be removed from them (the people of Judah) and his burden removed from their shoulder.

This is the plan [of God] decided for the whole earth [regarded as conquered and put under tribute by Assyria]; and this is the hand [of God] that is stretched out over all the nations.

The Lord of Hosts Himself has planned it;
therefore, who can stand in its way?
It is His hand that is outstretched,
so who can turn it back?

Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent.

“Howl, O gate; cry, O city!
Melt away, O Philistia, all of you;
For smoke comes out of the north,
And there is no straggler in his ranks and no one stands detached [in Hezekiah’s battalions].

They have gone up to the temple and to Dibon, even to the high places to weep.
Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba;
Everyone’s head is bald and every beard is cut off.

Heshbon and Elealeh [cities claimed by Moab] cry out;
Their voice is heard as far as Jahaz.
Therefore the armed men of Moab cry out;
Moab’s soul trembles within him.

My heart cries out because of Moab's plight, and for the fugitives stretched out as far as Zoar and Eglath Shelishiyah. For they weep as they make their way up the ascent of Luhith; they loudly lament their demise on the road to Horonaim.

So they carry their wealth and belongings
over the Wadi of the Willows.

For it shall be, that, as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, so the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon.

[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].