to keep the poor from getting fair treatment, and to deprive the oppressed among my people of justice, so they can steal what widows own, and loot what belongs to orphans.

And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?

But this is not what is in his mind, and this is not his design; but his purpose is destruction, and the cutting off of more and more nations.

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

shall I not do to Jerusalem and its idols what I have done to Samaria and her idols?"

But when the sovereign master finishes judging Mount Zion and Jerusalem, then I will punish the king of Assyria for what he has proudly planned and for the arrogant attitude he displays.

Does an ax exalt itself
above the one who chops with it?
Does a saw magnify itself
above the one who saws with it?
It would be like a staff waving the one who lifts it!
It would be like a rod lifting a man who isn’t wood!

What survives of the trees in his forest will be so few that a child can count them."

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 he will not be guided in his judging by what he sees, or give decisions by the hearing of his ears:

And thus shall he make a way for his people, that remaineth from the Assyrians, like as it happened to the Israelites, what time they departed out of the land of Egypt.

The LORD of the Heavenly Armies has sworn: "Surely as I have planned, that's what she will become; and just as I have determined, so will it remain

"This is what I've planned for the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations.

What then shall one answer the messengers of the nation? That Jehovah hath founded Zion, and in her shall the afflicted of his people take refuge.

They went up to the temple, the people of Dibon went up to the high places to lament. Because of what happened to Nebo and Medeba, Moab wails. Every head is shaved bare, every beard is trimmed off.

For this reason what they have made and stored up, they carry over the Stream of the Poplars.

Then in the tent of David
a throne will be established by faithful love.
A judge who seeks what is right
and is quick to execute justice
will sit on the throne forever.

So Moab wails over its demise -- they all wail! Completely devastated, they moan about what has happened to the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth.

For this cause, mine inward parts - for Moab, like a lyre, shall make a plaintive sound, - Yea what is within me, for Kir-heres.

it will not look to the altars, the work of its hands, and it will not see what its fingers made and the poles of Asherah worship and the incense altars.

For you ignore the God who rescues you; you pay no attention to your strong protector. So this is what happens: You cultivate beautiful plants and plant exotic vines.

The day you begin cultivating, you do what you can to make it grow; the morning you begin planting, you do what you can to make it sprout. Yet the harvest will disappear in the day of disease and incurable pain.

When the evening arrives, watch out sudden terror! By morning they will be there no longer! So it will be for those who plunder us and what will happen to those who rob us."

For this is what the Lord has said to me: I will be quiet, watching from my place; like the clear heat when the sun is shining, like a mist of dew in the heat of summer.

Where are they then, thy wise men? Let them now tell thee, and let them make known what Jehovah of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt.

The land of Judah will terrify Egypt; whenever Judah is mentioned, Egypt will tremble because of what the Lord of Hosts has planned against it.

In the same year that Tartan came unto Ashdod, where Sargon the king of the Assyrians sent him; what time as he also besieged Ashdod, and won it the same season:

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.

They shall be also at their wits end, and ashamed one of another: the Egyptians of the Ethiopians, and the Ethiopians of the Egyptians, considering what glory they were in afore.

And those living by the sea will say in that day, See the fate of our hope to whom we went for help and salvation from the king of Assyria: what hope have we then of salvation?

For this cause I am full of bitter grief; pains like the pains of a woman in childbirth have come on me: I am bent down with sorrow at what comes to my ears; I am shocked by what I see.

For thus hath the Lord said unto me: Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth.

Look what's coming! A charioteer, a team of horses." When questioned, he replies, "Babylon has fallen, fallen! All the idols of her gods lie shattered on the ground!"

O my threshing, and the corn of my floor! What I have heard of Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared unto you.

The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?

For this is what the sovereign master has told me: "Within exactly one year all the splendor of Kedar will come to an end.

The burden of the valley of vision. What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops?

This is what the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, says: "Go visit this administrator, Shebna, who supervises the palace, and tell him:

What hast thou here? and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewn thee out a sepulchre here, as he that heweth out his sepulchre on high, cutting out in the rock a habitation for himself?

And I will give the key of the family of David into his care; and what he keeps open will be shut by no one, and what he keeps shut no one will make open.

When the news reaches Egypt, they will be shaken by what has happened to Tyre.

On that day Tyre will be forgotten for 70 years—the life span of one king. At the end of 70 years, what the song says about the prostitute will happen to Tyre:

And the people will be like the priest, the servant like his master, the maid like her mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the borrower, the creditor like the debtor [as God’s impartial judgment of sin comes on all].

They howl in the streets because of what happened to the wine; all joy turns to sorrow; celebrations disappear from the earth.

This is what will happen throughout the earth, among the nations. It will be like when they beat an olive tree, and just a few olives are left at the end of the harvest.

They say “To whom would He teach knowledge?
And to whom would He explain the message?
Those just weaned from milk?
Those just taken from the breast?

Because you have said, We have made death our friend, and with the underworld we have made an agreement; when the overflowing waters come through they will not come near us; for we are looking to false words for help, taking cover in what is untrue:

Therefore, this is what the sovereign master, the Lord, says: "Look, I am laying a stone in Zion, an approved stone, set in place as a precious cornerstone for the foundation. The one who maintains his faith will not panic.

“As often as it passes through, it will seize you;
For morning after morning it will pass through, anytime during the day or night,
And it will be sheer terror to understand what it means.”

For the bed is shorter than what a man can stretch himself on it, and the covering narrower than what he can wrap himself in it.

Let your ears be open to my voice; give attention to what I say.

And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book which is shut, which men give to one who has knowledge of writing, saying, Make clear to us what is in the book: and he says, I am not able to, for the book is shut:

And they give it to one without learning, saying, Make clear to us what is in the book: and he says, I have no knowledge of writing.

Those who try to hide their plans from the Lord are as good as dead, who do their work in secret and boast, "Who sees us? Who knows what we're doing?"

You have turned things around,
as if the potter were the same as the clay.
How can what is made say about its maker,
“He didn’t make me”?
How can what is formed
say about the one who formed it,
“He doesn’t understand what he’s doing”?

So this is what the Lord, the one who delivered Abraham, says to the family of Jacob: "Jacob will no longer be ashamed; their faces will no longer show their embarrassment.

Who say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Do not give us word of what is true, but say false things to give us pleasure:

For this reason this is what the Holy One of Israel says: "You have rejected this message; you trust instead in your ability to oppress and trick, and rely on that kind of behavior.

For this is what the master, the Lord, the Holy One of Israel says: "If you repented and patiently waited for me, you would be delivered; if you calmly trusted in me you would find strength, but you are unwilling.

And you will make unclean what is covering your pictured images of silver, and the plating of your images of gold: you will send them away as an unclean thing, saying, Be gone!

But He also is wise and brings disaster.
He does not go back on what He says;
He will rise up against the house of wicked men
and against the allies of evildoers.

For this is what the Lord said to me:

As a lion or young lion growls over its prey
when a band of shepherds is called out against it,
and is not terrified by their shouting
or subdued by their noise,
so the Lord of Hosts will come down
to fight on Mount Zion
and on its hill.

They will surrender their stronghold because of fear; their officers will be afraid of the Lord's battle flag." This is what the Lord says -- the one whose fire is in Zion, whose firepot is in Jerusalem.

For the foolish man will say foolish things, having evil thoughts in his heart, working what is unclean, and talking falsely about the Lord, to keep food from him who is in need of it, and water from him whose soul is desiring it.

As for a rogue, his weapons are evil;
He devises wicked schemes
To destroy the afflicted with slander,
Even though the needy one speaks what is right.

But the noble man conceives noble and magnificent things;
And he stands by what is noble and magnificent.

Stand up, you complacent women;
listen to me.
Pay attention to what I say,
you overconfident daughters.

Tremble, ye women in comfort, Be troubled ye daughters so confident, - Strip! and bare yourselves, and gird some-what on your loins:

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

The sinners at Zion are afraid, and a sudden fearfulness is come upon the hypocrites. "What is he among us," say they, "that will dwell by that consuming fire? Which of us may abide that everlasting heat?"

and his heart shall delight in the fear of God. What shall then become of the scribe? Of the receiver of our money? What of him that taxed our fair houses?

Then shall be dissolved all the host of the heavens, And the heavens shall roll up as a scroll, - Yea, all their host, shall fade - Like the fading and falling of a leaf from a vine, and Like what fadeth and falleth from a fig-tree.

See what is recorded in the book of the Lord: all these will be there, not one without the other: the mouth of the Lord has given the order, and his spirit has made them come together.

And Rabshakeh said to them, "Now say to Hezekiah, 'Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: "What [is] this confidence [in] which you trust?

"Tell Hezekiah, king of Judah, "This is what the mighty king, the king of Assyria, has to say: What is this "guarantee" that makes you yourself rely on it? Do you really think that guarantees alone can withstand strategy and military strength? On whom are you now depending, that you're rebelling against me?

Look, you must be trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed staff. If someone leans on it for support, it punctures his hand and wounds him. That is what Pharaoh king of Egypt does to all who trust in him!

But Rabshakeh said - Is it unto thy lord and unto thee, that my lord hath sent me, to speak these things? Is it not concerning the men who are tarrying upon the wall, that they may eat and drink what cometh from them, with you?

This is what the king says: Do not be tricked by Hezekiah, for there is no salvation for you in him.

Do not give ear to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says, Make peace with me, and come out to me; and everyone will be free to take the fruit of his vine and of his fig-tree, and the water of his spring;

Then Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothing parted as a sign of grief, and gave him an account of what the Rab-shakeh had said.

"This is what Hezekiah says: 'This is a day of distress, insults, and humiliation, as when a baby is ready to leave the birth canal, but the mother lacks the strength to push it through.

And Isaiah said to them, This is what you are to say to your master: The Lord says, Be not troubled by the words which the servants of the king of Assyria have said against me in your hearing.

This is what you are to say to Hezekiah, king of Judah: Let not your God, in whom is your faith, give you a false hope, saying, Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.

Look! you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands to destroy them, and you--shall you be delivered?

Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: "This is what the Lord God of Israel says: 'Because you prayed to me concerning King Sennacherib of Assyria,

this is what the Lord says about him: "The virgin daughter Zion despises you -- she makes fun of you; daughter Jerusalem shakes her head after you.

Hast thou not heard - That, long ago, that, is what I appointed, And from days of old, devised? Now, have I brought it to pass, That thou mightest Serve to lay waste, in desolate ruins, fortified cities;

And this will be the sign to you: you will get your food this year from what comes up of itself, and in the second year from the produce of the same; and in the third year you will put in your seed, and get in the grain, and make vine-gardens, and take of their fruit.

“Therefore, this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria:

He will not enter this city
or shoot an arrow there
or come before it with a shield
or build up an assault ramp against it.

In those days Hezekiah became terminally ill. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Put your affairs in order, for you are about to die; you will not recover.’”

O Lord, keep in mind how I have been true to you with all my heart, and have done what is good in your eyes. And Hezekiah gave way to bitter weeping.

“Go and tell Hezekiah that this is what the Lord God of your ancestor David says: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I am going to add 15 years to your life.

And Isaiah said, This is the sign the Lord will give you, that he will do what he has said:

I said: I will never see the Lord,
the Lord in the land of the living;
I will not look on humanity any longer
with the inhabitants of what is passing away.

What can I say? For he has spoken to me, and he himself has done [it]. I will walk slowly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul.

And Hezekiah said, "What [is the] sign that I shall go up [to] the temple of Yahweh?"

And Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, "What did these men say, and from where did they come to you?" And Hezekiah {answered}, "They came to me from a distant country, from Babylon."

And he said, "What have they seen in your house?" And Hezekiah {answered}, "They have seen all that [is] in my house. There is nothing that I have not shown them in my storehouses."

A voice [is] saying, "Call!" And he said, "What shall I call?" All {humankind} [are] grass, and all his loyalty [is] like the flowers of the field.

Who has directed the Spirit of Jehovah, and what man taught Him counsel?