And no one living there will say, "I am ill.' The people living there will have their sins forgiven."

Their slain will be thrown out; and as for their dead bodies their stench will ascend; the mountains will be soaked with their blood.

The valleys will be split, all the stars in the heavens will fall down, and the skies will be rolled up like a scroll. All their starry host will fade away like leaves withering on a vine, or fruit withering on a fig tree.

For my sword will be seen in the heavens. Look! It descends in judgment on Edom, on the people I have doomed to destruction.

Wild oxen will fall together with them young steers and mighty bulls. Their land will be drenched with blood, and their soil will be swollen with fat.

Edom's streams will be turned into burning sulfur, and its dust into sulfur; its land will become pitch.

It will burn night and day, and will never be extinguished. Its smoke will rise from generation to generation, and it will lie desolate forever and ever. And no one will pass through it.

"But hawks and hedgehogs will possess it; owls and ravens will nest in it. God will stretch out over it a measuring line, and chaos, and plumb lines of emptiness, and its nobles.

They will name it "No Kingdom There," and all its princes will come to nothing.

Thorns will grow over its palaces, nettles and brambles its fortresses. It will become a haunt for jackals, a home for ostriches.

And desert creatures will meet with hyenas, and goat-demons will call out to each other. There also Liliths will settle, and find for themselves a resting place.

Owls will nest there, lay eggs, hatch them, and care for their young under the shadow of their wings; yes indeed, vultures will gather there, each one with its mate."

"Study and read from the book of the LORD: And not one will be missing, each will not long for its mate. For it is the mouth of the LORD that has issued the order, and it is his Spirit that has gathered them.

It is he who has allotted their portions, and his hand has divided it for them with a measuring line forever. They will possess it forever; from generation to generation they will live in it."

"The desert and the dry land will rejoice; the desert will celebrate and blossom. Like crocuses,

it will burst into bloom, and rejoice with gladness and shouts of joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God.

Say to those with anxious hearts, "Be strong, do not be afraid! Here is your God he will bring vengeance, he will bring divine retribution, and he will save you.'

"Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf unblocked;

then the lame will leap like deer, and the tongues of speechless people will sing for joy. Yes, waters will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams will run through the desert;

the burning sands will become a pool, and the thirsty ground fountains of water. In the haunts of jackals there will be a verdant resting place with reeds and rushes."

"A highway will be there yes, there and people will call it "The Holy Way'. As for unclean people, they will not journey on it, but it will be for whomever is traveling on that Way not even fools will get lost.

No lions will be there no nor will any ferocious beasts get up on it, and they will not be found there. "But the redeemed will walk there,

and the LORD's ransomed ones will return and enter Zion with singing. Everlasting joy will rest upon their heads, gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and mourning will flee away."

Come now, all of you, make a bet with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you can furnish riders for them!

But the field commander asked, "Was it only to all of you and to your master that my master sent me to speak these things? Wasn't it also to the men sitting on the wall who, like you, will have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?"

Don't let Hezekiah persuade you to rely on the LORD when he says, "The LORD will really deliver us!" and "This city will never be handed over to the king of Assyria!"

Don't listen to Hezekiah, because this is what the king of Assyria says: "Make your peace with me and come out to me. Then everyone will eat from his own vine and from his own fig tree, and everyone will drink water from his own cistern,

Be careful not to let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, "The LORD will save us." Has any god of any nation ever delivered his country from the king of Assyria?

Perhaps the LORD your God will hear the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, sent to mock the living God, and perhaps he will rebuke the words that the LORD your God has heard. So lift up a prayer for the remnant that still survives in this city."

When he heard it, he returned and sent messengers to Hezekiah: "Say this to Hezekiah king of Judah: "Don't let your God on whom you depend deceive you when he says, "Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria."

Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all countries, dooming them to destruction. So do you think you will be saved?

"And this will be your sign, Hezekiah: Eat this year what grows on its own, and in the second year what springs from that. But in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.

Then the ones belonging to the house of Judah who have escaped will gather, and those who are found will take root downward and bear fruit upward.

For a remnant will come out of Zion, and a band of survivors from Jerusalem. The zeal of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies will accomplish this.

By the same way that he came, he will return; he won't enter this city,' declares the LORD,

"because I will defend this city and deliver it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David!'"

"Go tell Hezekiah, "This is what the LORD God of your ancestor David has to say: "I've heard your prayer and I've seen your tears; so I will add fifteen years to your life.

This is the LORD's sign to you that the LORD will carry out this thing he has promised:

Watch! I will make the shadow on the steps of the upper dial of Ahaz that marks the sun go ten steps backwards."'" Then the sunlight turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had gone down.

What can I say, so I tell myself, since he has done this to me? I will walk slowly all my years because of my soul's anguish.

The living yes the living they thank you, just as I am doing today; fathers will tell their children about your faithfulness.

The LORD will save me, and we will play my music on strings all the days of our lives in the LORD's Temple.

Hezekiah also had asked, "What will be the sign for me to go up to the LORD's Temple?"

"The days are surely coming when everything in your palace and all that your ancestors have stored up to this day will be carried off to Babylon. They will come in, and nothing will be left,' says the LORD.

"Then some of your own sons, who will come from your loins, whom you will father, will be taken away to become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.'"

"The message from the LORD that you have spoken is good," Hezekiah replied to Isaiah, since he was thinking, ""at least there will be peace and security in my lifetime."

Every valley will be lifted up, and every mountain and hill will be lowered; the rough ground will become level, and the mountain ridges made a plain.

Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all humanity will see it at once; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."

Grass withers and flowers fade away, when the LORD's breath blows on them, but the word of our God will stand forever."

"To whom, then, will you compare me, the One who is God? Or to what image will you liken me?

"To whom, then, will you compare me, and to whom should I be equal?" asks the Holy One.

but those who keep waiting for the LORD will renew their strength. Then they'll soar on wings like eagles; they'll run and not grow weary; they'll walk and not grow tired."

Who has performed and carried this out, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD the first and will be with the last I am the One!"

"Look! All who are enraged at you will be put to shame and disgraced; those who contend with you will all die.

Those who quarrel with you will be as nothing; those who fight you like nothing at all!"

Don't be afraid, you little worm Jacob, and you insects of Israel! I myself will help you,' declares the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel."

You'll winnow them, and the wind will lift them up, and a tempest will blow them away. Then you'll rejoice in the LORD, and you'll make your boast in the Holy One of Israel."

"As for the poor, the needy, those seeking water when there is none and their tongues are parched from thirst I, the LORD, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, won't abandon them.

Let them approach and ask us, "What will happen? As to the former things, what were they? Tell us, so that we may consider them and know. Or the latter things or the things to come let us hear.

"You are stirring up one from the north, and they are coming from the rising of the sun; and he will be called by his name. Rulers will arrive like mud; just like a potter, he will trample the clay.

A crushed reed he will not break, and a fading candle he won't snuff out. He'll bring forth justice for the truth.

I'll help the blind walk, even on a road they do not know; I'll guide them in directions they do not know. I'll turn the dark places into light in front of them, and the rough places into level ground. These are the things I will do, and I won't abandon them.

Those who trust in carved idols will turn back and be completely disappointed, along with those who say to metal images, "You are our gods.'"

"Who among you will listen, and pay attention, and listen for the time to come?"

Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the nations be assembled. "Who is there among them who can declare this, or announce the former things? Let them produce their witnesses to prove them right, and let them proclaim so people will say, "It's true.'

"You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and trust me and understand that I am the One. Before me no God was formed, nor will there be one after me.

This is what the LORD says, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "For your sake I will send to Babylon, and bring them all down as fugitives. Now as for the Babylonians, their ringing cry will become lamentation.

Wild animals, jackals, and owls will honor me because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wilderness to give drink to my people, my chosen ones,

This what the LORD says, the one who made you, formed you from the womb, and who will help you: "Don't be afraid, Jacob my servant, and Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.

For I'll pour water upon thirsty ground and streams on parched land. So will I pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing upon your descendants.

One will say, "I belong to the LORD,' and another will call himself by the name of Jacob; still another will have written on his hand, "the LORD's,' and will adopt the name of Israel."

Who is like me? Let him proclaim and declare it, and lay it out for himself since he made an ancient people. And let him speak future events; let them tell him what will happen.

Now, all the forming of images means nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Their own witnesses cannot see, and they know nothing. So they will be put to shame.

To be sure, all who associate with it will be put to shame; and as for the craftsmen, they are only human. Let them all gather together and take their stand. Then let them be terrified they will be humiliated together.

"Shout for joy, you heavens, for the LORD has done it! Shout aloud, you depths of the earth! Burst out with singing, you mountains, you forest, and all your trees! For the LORD has redeemed Jacob and will display his glory in Israel.

who carries out the words of his servants, and fulfills the predictions of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, "It will be inhabited," and of Judah's cities, "They will be rebuilt," and of her ruins, "I'll raise them up";

who says to the watery deep, "Be dry I will dry up your rivers;"

"I myself will go before you, and he will make the mountains level; I'll shatter bronze doors and cut through iron bars.

"I have aroused him in righteousness, and I'll make all his pathways smooth. It is he who will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price nor reward, " says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

This is what the LORD says: "The wealth of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia, those Sabeans, men of great heights. They'll come over to you and will be yours; They'll trudge behind you coming over in chains, they'll bow down to you. They'll plead with you, "Surely God is in you; and there is no other God at all.'"

All of them will be put to shame indeed, disgraced! The makers of idols will go off in disgrace together.

But Israel will be saved by the LORD with everlasting salvation; you won't be put to shame or disgraced ever again."

By myself I have sworn from my mouth has gone out integrity, a promise that won't be revoked: "To me every knee will bow, and every tongue will swear.'

One will say of me, "Only in the LORD are victories and might.' All who raged against him will come to him and will be put to shame.

In the LORD all the descendants of Israel will triumph and make their boast."

Even until your old age, I am the one, and I'll carry you even until your gray hairs come. It is I who have created, and I who will carry, and it is I who will bear and save.

"To whom will you compare me, count me equal, or liken me, so that I may be compared?

I declare from the beginning things to follow, and from ancient times things that have not yet been done; saying, "My purpose will stand, and he will accomplish everything that I please.'

I am calling a bird of prey from the east, and from a far country a man with his purpose. Indeed, I've spoken; I will certainly make it happen; I've planned it; and I will certainly carry it out.

"Come down and sit in the dust, Virgin Daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a chair, Daughter of the Chaldeans! For no longer will they call you tender and attractive.

Your nakedness will be exposed, and your disgrace will also be seen. I'll take vengeance, and I will spare no mortal.

"Sit silent, and enter into the darkness, you daughter of the Chaldeans; for no more will they call you Queen of Kingdoms.

You said, "I will always continue Queen forever!' You didn't take these things into your thinking, nor did you think about their consequences.

"Now hear this, you wanton creature, lounging with no cares, and saying to herself: "I am the one, and there will be none besides me; I won't live as a widow, nor will I see the loss of children.'

Both of these things will overtake you suddenly on a single day: loss of children and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, despite the multitude of your incantations and the great power of your spells."

"You trusted in your own knowledge. You said, "No one sees me.' Your wisdom and knowledge have misled you. You said in your heart, "I am the one, and there will be none besides me.'

"But disaster will come upon you, and you will not know how to charm it away. A calamity will befall you that you will not be able to ward off; and devastation will come upon you suddenly, and you won't anticipate it.

"See, they are just like stubble; fire burns them up. They could not even save themselves from the power of the flame. There will be no coals for warming oneself, no fire to sit by.

So will they be to you those with whom you toiled and did business since your childhood they wander about, each in his own direction; there is not one who can save you.

Let all of them come together and listen: Who is there among them that could declare these things? "The LORD loves me, and he will accomplish my purpose against Babylon; his arm will be against the Chaldeans.