There shall be foot paths and common streets: this shall be called the holy way. No unclean person shall go through it, for the LORD himself shall go with them that way, and the ignorant shall not err.

And Rabshakeh said unto them, "Tell Hezekiah that the great king of Assyria sayeth thus unto him, 'What presumption is this, that thou trustest unto?

Thou thinkest, peradventure, that thou hast counsel and power enough to maintain this war: or else whereto trustest thou, that thou castest thyself off from me?

But if thou wouldest say unto me: 'We trust in the LORD our God': is not he that God whose High places and altars Hezekiah took down, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem to worship only before this altar?

Moreover, thinkest thou that I am come down hither, to destroy this land without the LORD's will? The LORD said unto me: Go down into the land, that thou mayest destroy it.'"

Then answered Rabshakeh, "Think ye, that the king sent me to speak this only unto you? Hath he not sent me to them also, that lie upon the wall? That they be not compelled to eat their own dung, and drink their own stale with you?"

Moreover, let not Hezekiah comfort you in the LORD, when he sayeth, 'The LORD with out doubt shall defend us, and shall not give over this city into the hands of the king of the Assyrians.' Believe him not!

Unto this Hezekiah's messengers held their tongues, and answered not one word: for the king had charged them that they should give him none answer.

and they said unto him, "Thus sayeth Hezekiah, 'This is the day of trouble, of plague, and of wrath: like as when a child cometh to the birth, but the woman hath no power to bring it forth.

and Isaiah gave them this answer, "Say thus unto your lord, 'Thus sayeth the LORD: Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the king of the Assyrians' servants have blasphemed me.

For there came a rumor, that Tirhakah king of Ethiopia was come forth to war against him. And when the king of Assyria heard that, he sent other messengers to king Hezekiah with this commandment:

And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD on this manner,

this is the answer, that the LORD hath given concerning him: Despised art thou, and mocked, O daughter of Zion, he hath shaken his head at thee, O daughter of Jerusalem.

I will give thee also this token, O Hezekiah: this year shalt thou eat that is kept in store, and the next year such as groweth of himself, and in the third year ye shall sow and reap, yea ye shall plant vineyards, and enjoy the fruits thereof.

For the escaped shall go out of Jerusalem, and the remnant from the mount Zion. And this shall the jealousy of the LORD of Hosts bring to pass.'

The same way that he came, shall he return, and not come at this city, sayeth the LORD.

Not long afore this, was Hezekiah sick unto death: And the Prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came unto him, and said, "Thus commandeth the LORD, 'Set thine house in order: for thou must die, and shall not escape.

"Go and speak unto Hezekiah: The LORD God of David thy father sendeth thee this word, 'I have heard thy prayer, and considered thy tears: behold, I will put fifteen years more unto thy life,

And take thee this token of the LORD, that he will do it, as he hath spoken:

I spake within myself, 'I shall never visit the LORD God in this life: I shall never see man among the dwellers of the world.

but the living, yea the living acknowledge thee, like as I do this day. The father telleth his children of thy faithfulness.

Then said Hezekiah, "O what a great thing is this, that I shall go up in to the house of the LORD."

'Behold, the time will come, that everything which is in thine house, and all that thy progenitors have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried to Babylon, and nothing left behind. Thus sayeth the LORD.

Know ye not this? Heard ye never of it? Hath it not been preached unto you since the beginning? Have ye not been informed of this since the foundation of the earth was laid?

The Smith comforted the molder, and the Ironsmith the hammer man, saying, 'It shall be good, that we fasten this cast work,' and then they fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved.

Be not afraid, for I will be with thee. Look not behind thee, for I will be thy God, to strengthen thee, help thee, and to keep thee with this righthand of mine.

All this do I, that they altogether may see a mark, perceive with their hearts and consider, that the hand of the LORD maketh these things, and that the holy one of Israel bringeth them to pass.

Who declared this from the beginning, and we will know him; or from the old times, and we will confess and say that he is righteous? But there is none that showeth or declareth anything; there is none also that heareth your words.

Behold now therefore, this is my servant whom I will keep to myself: mine elect; In whom my soul shall be pacified. I will give him my spirit, that he may show forth judgment and equity among the Gentiles.

Even I am the LORD, and this is my name: and my glory will I give to none other, neither mine honour to graven images.

But who is he among you, that pondereth this in his mind, that considereth it, and taketh it for a warning in time to come?

I gave warning, I made whole, I taught you when there was no strange god among you. And this record must ye bear me yourselves, sayeth the LORD: that I am God.

This people have I made for myself, and they shall show forth my praise.

which wood serveth for men to burn. Of this he taketh and warmeth himself withal: he maketh a fire of it to bake bread. And afterward maketh a god thereof, to honour it: and an Idol to kneel before it.

Consider this, O Jacob and Israel, for thou art my servant. I have made thee, that thou mightest serve me. O Israel, forget me not.

Let men draw nigh, let them come hither, and ask counsel one at another, and show forth: "What is he, that told this before?" Or, "Who spake of it, ever since the beginning?" Have not I, the LORD, done it: without whom there is none other God? The true God and Saviour, and there is else none but I.

Consider this well, and be ashamed. Go into your own selves, O ye renegades.

Hear this, O thou house of Jacob; ye that are called by the name of Israel, and are come out of one stock with Judah; which swear by the name of the LORD, and bear witness by the God of Israel - but not with truth and right.

Gather you all together, and hearken: Which of yonder gods hath declared this? The LORD God hath a love unto him, and he shall perform his will against Babel and declare his power against the Chaldeans.

I myself alone have told you this before. Yea, I shall call him and bring him forth, and give him a prosperous journey.

Come nigh and hear this: have I spoken anything darkly since the beginning? When a thing beginneth, I am there. Wherefore the LORD God with his spirit hath sent me;

Ye shall go away from Babylon, and escape the Chaldeans with a merry voice. This shall be spoken of, declared abroad, and go forth unto the end of the world: so that it shall be said, "The LORD hath defended his servant Jacob,

Then the child whom the barren shall bring forth unto thee, shall say in thine ear, "This place is too narrow, sit nigh together, that I may have room."

But take heed, ye have all kindled a fire, and girded yourselves with the flame. Ye walk in the glistering of your own fire, and in the flame that ye have kindled. This cometh unto you from my hand, namely that ye shall sleep in sorrow.

And therefore thou miserable and drunken - howbeit not with wine - Hear this!

Up, Zion, up: take thy strength unto thee. Put on thy honest raiment O Jerusalem, thou city of the holy one. For from this time forth, there shall no uncircumcised nor unclean person come in thee.

And this must be unto me as the water of Noah. For like as I have sworn that I will not bring the water of Noah any more upon the world: so have I sworn, that I will never be angry with thee, nor reprove thee.

but all the weapons that are made against thee, shall not prosper. And as for all tongues that shall resist thee in judgment, thou shalt overcome them, and condemn them. This is the heritage of the LORD's servants, and the righteousness that they shall have of me, sayeth the LORD.

For thorns, there shall grow Fir trees, and the Myrtle tree in the stead of briers. And this shall be done to the praise of the LORD, and for an everlasting token, that shall not be taken away.

Blessed is the man that doth this, and the man's child which keepeth the same. He that taketh heed, that he unhallow not the Sabbath; that is, he that keepeth himself that he do no evil.

Should it be such a manner of fast that I should chose? A day that a man should hurt his soul in? Or to bow down his head like a bulrush? Or to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Shouldest thou call this a fast, and a day acceptable unto the LORD?

Or is not this rather the fast that I have chosen? To loose wicked bonds, and to unbind bundles of oppression? And to let the bruised go free? And that ye should break all manner yokes?

And this is the cause that equity is so far from us, and that righteousness cometh not nigh us. We look for light, lo, it is darkness; for the morning shine, see, we walk in the dark.

Yea, the truth is laid in prison, and he that refraineth himself from evil must be spoiled. When the LORD saw this, it displeased him sore that there was nowhere any equity.

I will make this covenant with them, sayeth the LORD: My spirit that is come upon thee, and the words which I have put in thy mouth, shall never go out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy children, nor out of the mouth of thy children's children, from this time forth for evermore.

The youngest and least shall grow into a thousand, and the simplest into a strong people. I the LORD shall shortly bring this thing to pass in his time.

From this time forth thou shalt never be called the forsaken, and thy land shall no more be called the wilderness. But thou shalt be called Hephzibah, that is, my beloved; and thy land Beulah, that is, a married woman: for the LORD loveth thee, and thy land shall be inhabited.

What is he, this that cometh from Edom, with stained red clothes of Bozrah, which is so costly cloth, and cometh in so nimbly with all his strength? "I am he that teacheth righteousness, and am of power to help."

Wilt thou not be intreated, LORD, for all this? Wilt thou hold thy peace, and scourge us so sore?

And when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like a herb. Thus shall the hand of the LORD be known among his servants, and his indignation among his enemies.

and this day do I set thee over the people and kingdoms: that thou mayest root out, break off, destroy, and make waste; and that thou mayest build up and plant."

After this, the LORD spake unto me saying, "Jeremiah, what seest thou?" And I said, "I see a waking rod."

For behold, this day do I make thee a strong fenced town, an iron pillar, and a wall of steel against the whole land; against the kings and mighty men of Judah; against the priests and people of the land.

Cometh not this unto thee, because thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, ever since he led thee by the way?

Commonly, when a man putteth away his wife, and she goeth from him, and marrieth with another, then the question is: should he resort unto her any more after that? Is not this field then defiled and unclean? But as for thee, thou hast played the harlot with many lovers, yet turn again to me, sayeth the LORD.

This is the cause that the rain and evening dew hath ceased. Thou hast gotten thee a whore's forehead, and canst not be ashamed.

Hast thou seen also, when she had done all this, how I said unto her that she should turn again unto me, and yet she is not returned? Judah, that unfaithful sister of hers also saw this:

Namely, that after I had well seen the adultery of the shrinking harlot Israel, I put her away, and gave her a bill of divorcement. For all this, her unfaithful sister Judah was not ashamed, but went back and played the whore also.

but on this condition, that thou know thy great blasphemy: Namely, that thou hast unfaithfully forsaken the LORD thy God, and hast made thyself partaker of strange gods under all green trees, but hast had no will to hear my voice, sayeth the LORD.

So do we also sleep in our confusion, and shame covereth us: for we and our fathers from our youth up unto this day have sinned against the LORD our God, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God."

Then said I, "O LORD God, hast thou then deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, 'Ye shall have peace,' and now the sword goeth through their lives?"

Thy ways and thy thoughts have brought thee unto this. This is thy own wickedness and disobedience, that hath possessed thine heart.

"Nevertheless this shall come upon them because my people is become foolish, and hath utterly no understanding. They are the children of foolishness, and without any discretion. To do evil, they have wit enough: but to do well, they have no wisdom."

"Should I then, for all this, have mercy upon thee? Thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods. And albeit they were bound to me in marriage, yet they fell to adultery, and hunted harlots' houses.

Should I not correct this, sayeth the LORD? Should I not be avenged of every people, that is like unto this?

This people shall eat up thy fruit and thy meat; yea, they shall devour thy sons and thy daughters, thy sheep and thy bullocks. They shall eat up thy grapes and figs. As for thy strong and well-fenced cities, wherein thou didst trust, they shall destroy them with the sword.

But if they say, 'Wherefore doth the LORD our God all this unto us?' Then answer them, 'Because, that like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your own land, even so shall ye serve other gods also in a strange land!'"

Preach this unto the house of Jacob, and cry it out in Judah, and say thus,

"Hear this, thou foolish and indiscreet people: ye have eyes, but ye see not; ears have ye, but ye hear not.

But this people hath a false and an obstinate heart, they are departed and gone away from me.

For thus hath the LORD of Hosts commanded: "Hew down her trees, and set up bulwarks against Jerusalem. This is the city that must be punished, for in her is all maliciousness.

Like as a conduit aboundeth in water, even so this city aboundeth in wickedness. Robbery and unrighteousness is heard in her, sorrow and wounds are ever there in my sight.

Their houses with their lands and wives shall be turned unto strangers, when I stretch out mine hand upon the inhabiters of this land," sayeth the LORD.

Hear thou earth also: behold, I will cause a plague come upon this people, even the fruit of their own imaginations. For they have not been obedient unto my words and to my law, but abhorred them.

And therefore thus sayeth the LORD, 'Behold, I will make this people fall, and there shall fall from among them the father with the children; one neighbour shall perish with another.'"

Then shall this cry be heard, "Our arms are feeble! Heaviness and sorrow is come upon us, as upon a woman travailing with child!

"Stand under the gates of the LORD's house, and cry out these words there, with a loud voice, and say, Hear the word of the LORD all ye of Judah, that go in at this door, to honour the LORD.

Thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts the God of Israel. Amend your ways and your counsels, and I will let you dwell in this place.

If ye will not oppress the stranger, the fatherless and the widow; if ye will not shed innocent blood in this place; if ye will not cleave to strange gods to your own destruction;

then will I let you dwell in this place, yea in the land that I gave afore time unto your fathers forever.

Then come ye, and stand before me in this house, which hath my name given unto it, and say 'Tush, we are absolved quite, though we have done all these abominations.'

What? Think you this house that beareth my name, is a den of thieves? And these things are not done privily, but before mine eyes, sayeth the LORD.

And therefore even as I have done to Shiloh, so will I do to this house that my name is given unto, and that ye put your trust in: yea, unto the place that I have given to you and your fathers.

"Therefore thou shalt not pray for this people; thou shalt neither give thanks, nor bid prayer for them: thou shalt make no intercession to me for them for in no wise will I hear thee.

And therefore thus sayeth the LORD God, "Behold, my wrath and my indignation shall be poured out upon this place, upon men and cattle, upon the trees in the field and all fruit of the land, and it shall burn so, that no man may quench it."

but this I commanded them, saying, 'Hearken and obey my voice, and I shall be your God, and ye shall be my people: so that ye walk in all the ways, which I have commanded you, that ye may prosper.'

And this have they done, from the time that your fathers came out of Egypt, unto this day. Nevertheless, I sent unto them my servants, all the prophets. I rose up early and sent them word,

Therefore shalt thou say unto them, 'This is the people, that neither heareth the voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth his correction. Faithfulness and truth is clean rooted out of their mouth.

Yea, the dead bodies of this people shall be eaten up of the fowls of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away.

And all they that remain of this wicked generation, shall desire rather to die than to live: wheresoever they remain, and whereas I scatter them, sayeth the LORD of Hosts.