Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.

And unto the land it looketh attentively, And lo, adversity and darkness! -- Dimness, distress, and thick darkness is driven away, But not the dimness for which she is in distress!

For all they which inform the people that they be in a right cause, such be deceivers. Such as men think also to be perfect among these, are but cast aways.

Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;

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?

Assyria, the club I use to vent my anger, is as good as dead, a cudgel with which I angrily punish.

“As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols,
Whose carved images were greater and more feared than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,

And I have put my hands on the wealth of the peoples, as on the place where a bird has put her eggs; and as a man may take the eggs from which a bird has gone, so I have taken all the earth for myself: and not a wing was moved, and not a mouth gave out a sound.

-- Doth the axe glorify itself Against him who is hewing with it? Doth the saw magnify itself Against him who is shaking it? As a rod waving those lifting it up! As a staff lifting up that which is not wood!

So shall, the Light of Israel, become, a fire, And his Holy One, a flame, Which shall burn and consume his thorns and his briars, in one day;

For though Your people Israel are like the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return; the full end which is decreed shall overflow with righteousness.

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

The voice of the noise of thy horses, O daughter of Gallim, shall be heard unto Laish and to Anathoth, which also shall be in trouble.

And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.

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.

And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.

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

Watch out! The Day of the LORD is coming cruel, with wrath and fierce anger to turn the entire inhabited earth into a desolation and to annihilate sinners from it.

Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.

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.

And it will be in the day when the Lord gives you rest from your pain and turmoil and from the harsh service in which you have been enslaved,

Which used to strike the peoples in fury with unceasing strokes,
Which subdued the nations in anger with unrestrained persecution.

‘Your pomp and magnificence have been brought down to Sheol,
Along with the music of your harps;
The maggots [which prey on the dead] are spread out under you [as a bed]
And worms are your covering [Babylonian rulers].’

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

Those who see you shall stare and closely watch you, saying, Is this the man who made the earth to tremble; who shook kingdoms;

Is this he that made the world in a manner waste, and laid the cities to the ground, which let not his prisoners go home?"

“But you [king of Babylon] have been cast out of your tomb (denied burial)
Like a rejected branch,
Clothed with the slain who are pierced by the sword,
Who go down to the stones of the pit [into which carcasses are thrown],
Like a dead body trampled [underfoot].

This is the counsel which is purposed concerning the whole earth; and this is the hand which is stretched out upon all the nations.

Be not glad, O Philistia, all of you, because the rod which was on you is broken: for out of the snake's root will come a poison-snake, and its fruit will be a winged poison-snake.

Woe is my heart for Moab's sake. They fled unto the city of Zoar, which is like a fair young bullock of three years old; they went up to Luhith, weeping. The way toward Horonaim was full of lamentation for the hurt.

Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have laid up, shall they carry away to the brook of the willows.

Indeed, the cries of distress echo throughout Moabite territory; their wailing can be heard in Eglaim and Beer Elim.

For the waters of Dimon are full of blood, for I will lay yet more upon Dimon: a lion upon them that are escaped of Moab, and upon that which remaineth of the land.

Send lambs to the ruler of the land [you Moabites],
From Sela [that is, Petra in Edom] through the wilderness to the mountain of the Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem).

For the daughters of Moab will be like wandering birds, like a place from which the young birds have gone in flight, at the ways across the Arnon.

For the fields of Heshbon languish, and the vine of Sibmah; the lords of the nations have broken down the choice branches thereof, which reached even unto Jazer, which wandered into the wilderness; its shoots were spread abroad, they passed over the sea.

This is the word which Jehovah hath spoken from of old concerning Moab.

But now the LORD sayeth thus: In three years, which shall be as the years of a hired servant, shall the glory of Moab be turned into confusion throughout all his multitude, which is very great. And as for the remnant of them, they shall be small and feeble.

The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.

And he shall be as one that gathereth up corn in the harvest, which cutteth his handful with the sickle, and when one gathereth the sheaves together in the valley, of Rephaim.

And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images.

In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch, which they left because of the children of Israel: and there shall be desolation.

Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!

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."

Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:

Which sends its representatives by the sea, even in ships of papyrus on the waters. Go back quickly, O representatives, to a nation tall and smooth, to a people causing fear through all their history; a strong nation, crushing down its haters, whose land is cut through by rivers.

For this is what the LORD told me: "I will remain quiet and watch in my dwelling place like dazzling heat in sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest."

In that time shall there be a present brought to the LORD of Hosts: even a people that is scattered abroad, and robbed of that they had - that same people which hat been fearful from their beginning hitherto; a nation trodden down by little and little, whose land the floods have spoiled. To the place of the name of the LORD of Hosts: even to the mount Zion.

A message about Egypt: "Watch out! The LORD rides on a swift cloud, and is coming to Egypt. The idols of Egypt tremble before him, and the hearts of the Egyptians melt within them.

Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do.

In that day shall Egypt be like unto women: and it shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the LORD of hosts, which he shaketh over it.

And the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt, every one that maketh mention thereof shall be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the LORD of hosts, which he hath determined against it.

Because of the blessing of the Lord of armies which he has given them, saying, A blessing on Egypt my people, and on Assyria the work of my hands, and on Israel my heritage.

The Lord revealed the following message during the year in which King Sargon of Assyria sent his commanding general to Ashdod, and he fought against it and captured it.

And they will be full of fear, and will no longer have faith in Ethiopia which was their hope, or in Egypt which was their glory.

And the inhabitant of this coastland shall say in that day, Behold, such is our hope, to which we flee for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria: how then shall we escape?

The [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning the Desert of the Sea (the seasonally flooded plains just south of Babylon):

As windstorms in the Negev (the South) sweep through,
So it (God’s judgment) comes from the desert, from [the hostile armies of] a terrifying land.

My mind reels, horror overwhelms me;
The twilight I longed for has been turned into fear and trembling for me.

Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink: arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield.

For thus said the Lord unto me: 'Go, station the watchman, That which he seeth let him declare.'

And he cried as a lion: O Lord, I stand continually upon the watch-tower in the day-time, and am set in my ward whole nights;

O my threshing, and the corn of my floor: that which I have heard of the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared unto you.

The burden of Dumah. He called to me from Seir, Watch, what of the night? watch, what of the night?

The watch said, I will mark out morning, and also night; if ye will seek, seek ye: turn back, come.

All thy rulers are fled together, they are bound by the archers: all that are found in thee are bound together, which have fled from far.

Thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, Go, get thee unto this treasurer, even unto Shebna, which is over the house, and say,

He will wind you up tightly into a ball and throw you into a wide, open land. There you will die, and there with you will be your impressive chariots, which bring disgrace to the house of your master.

In that day, says Jehovah of armies, shall the peg fastened in a faithful place give way, and it was cut down, and it fell; and the lifting up which was upon it was cut off: for Jehovah spake.

Be shamed, O Zidon: for the sea, the strong place of the sea has said, I have not been with child, or given birth; I have not taken care of young men, or kept watch over the growth of virgins

Is this the town which was full of joy, whose start goes back to times long past, whose wanderings took her into far-off countries?

Lo, the land of the Chaldeans -- this people was not, Asshur founded it for the Ziim, They raised its watch-towers, They lifted up her palaces, -- He hath appointed her for a ruin!

At the end of 70 years, the LORD will deal with Tyre, at which time she'll return to her courtesan's trade, and prostitute herself with the kingdoms of the world on the surface of the earth.

"Watch out! The LORD is about to depopulate the land and devastate it; he will turn it upside down and scatter its inhabitants.

Jehovah, thou art my God: I will exalt thee; I will celebrate thy name, for thou hast done wonderful things; counsels of old which are faithfulness and truth.

And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the veil which veileth all the peoples, and the covering that is spread over all the nations.

Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.

And thou, which art the doer and hast the matter in hand: shall provide for peace, even the peace that men hope for in thee.

Jehovah, thy hand is lifted up, but they do not see: yet they shall see thy jealousy for the people, and be ashamed; yea, the fire which is for thine adversaries shall devour them.

In that day the Lord, with his great and strong and cruel sword, will send punishment on Leviathan, the quick-moving snake, and on Leviathan, the twisted snake; and he will put to death the dragon which is in the sea.

I, Yahweh, watch over it;
I water it regularly.
I guard it night and day
so that no one disturbs it.

I am not angry. I wish I could confront some thorns and briers! Then I would march against them for battle; I would set them all on fire,

Their harvest shall be burnt; their wives, which were their beauty when they came forth, shall be defiled. For it is a people without understanding, and therefore he that created them, shall not favour them; and he that made them, shall not be merciful to them.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.

Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine!

Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand.

And the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the summer; which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up.

Whom then shall such one teach knowledge? And whom shall he make to understand the thing that he heareth? For they are as ignorant as young children, which are weeded from suck or taken from the breasts.

To whom he said, This is the rest with which ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.

Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.

For this cause says the Lord God, See, I am placing in Zion as a base, a stone, a tested stone, an angle-stone which is certain and of great value: and he who has faith will not give way.

The bed is too short on which to stretch out,
And the blanket is too small to wrap oneself in.

Now do not carry on as scoffers,
Or the bands which bind you will be made stronger;
For I have heard from the Lord God of hosts [a decree]
Of decisive destruction on all the earth.

This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.

Ho! Ariel, Ariel, the town against which David made war; put year to year, let the feasts come round:

And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with watch-posts, and I will raise forts against thee.

And thou shalt be brought low, and speak out of the earth, and thy words shall go humbly out of the ground. Thy voice shall come out of the earth, like the voice of a witch, and thy talking shall groan out of the mire.

But the multitude of your enemies will become like fine dust,
And the multitude of the ruthless ones like the chaff which blows away;
And it will happen instantly, suddenly.

And it will be like a man desiring food, and dreaming that he is feasting; but when he is awake there is nothing in his mouth: or like a man in need of water, dreaming that he is drinking; but when he is awake he is feeble and his soul is full of desire: so will all the nations be which make war on Mount Zion.

For the LORD shall give you a hard-sleeping spirit, and close your eyes. Your Prophets also, and heads which should see; them shall he cover.

And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed: