Isaiah 20; Isaiah 21; Isaiah 22

1 In the year when King Sargon of Assyria sent his commander-in-chief to fight against Ashdod, he captured it.

2 At that time the LORD told Isaiah, son of Amoz, "Take off the sackcloth that you are wearing, and take off your sandals!" Isaiah did this and walked around barefoot and naked.

3 Then the LORD said, "My servant Isaiah has gone barefoot and naked for three years as a sign and as an omen to Egypt and Sudan.

4 The king of Assyria will lead away both the young and the old--captives from Egypt and exiles from Sudan. They will be barefoot and naked. Their buttocks will be exposed in order to disgrace Egypt.

5 Then the people will be shattered and ashamed because Sudan was their hope and Egypt was their beauty.

6 When that day comes, those who live on this coastland will say, 'Look at what has happened to our hope. We ran [to Egypt] for help to be rescued from the king of Assyria. How can we escape?'"

1 This is the divine revelation about the desert by the sea. Like a storm sweeping through the Negev, an invader will come from the desert, from a terrifying land.

2 I was shown a harsh vision. The traitor betrays. The destroyer destroys. Go to war, Elam! Surround them, Media! I will put an end to all the groaning.

3 That is why my body is full of trembling. Pain grips me like the pain of childbirth. I'm disturbed by what I hear. I'm terrified by what I see.

4 I'm confused. I'm shaking with terror. The twilight hours I longed for make me tremble.

5 Set the table. Spread the rugs [by the table]. Eat. Drink. Get up, you leaders! Prepare your shields for battle!

6 This is what the Lord says to me: Post a watchman. Have him report whatever he sees.

7 He will see chariots, pairs of horsemen, riders on donkeys, and riders on camels. Let him watch carefully, very carefully.

8 The watchman called, "Sir, I stand on the watchtower every day. Every night, I stand guard at my post.

9 Look! Here come chariots and horsemen in pairs." Then he said, "Babylon has fallen! It has fallen! All the idols they worship lie shattered on the ground."

10 You, my people, have been threshed and winnowed. I make known to you what I heard from the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel.

11 This is the divine revelation about Dumah. Someone is calling to me from Seir, "Watchman, how much of the night is left? Watchman, how much of the night is left?"

12 The watchman answers, "Morning is coming, and night will come again. If you need to ask, come back and ask."

13 This is the divine revelation about Arabia. You caravan of travelers from the people of Dedan will spend the night in the forest of Arabia.

14 Bring water for the thirsty, you inhabitants of the land of Tema. Bring food to the fugitives.

15 They flee from swords, from swords ready to kill, from bows ready to shoot, and from the thick of battle.

16 This is what the Lord says to me: All of Kedar's honor will be gone in another year. I will count it like workers count the years left on their contracts.

17 The remaining number of archers, Kedar's mighty archers, will be few. The LORD God of Israel has spoken.

1 This is the divine revelation about the valley of Vision. What's the matter with you? Why do all of you go up on the roofs?

2 You are a city filled with shouting, a town filled with noise and excitement. Your people weren't killed with swords. Your dead didn't die in battle.

3 All your leaders fled together and were captured without their bows and arrows. All those who were found were taken prisoner before any of them could get far away.

4 That is why I say, "Turn away from me so that I can cry bitterly. Don't try to comfort me because of the destruction brought on my people."

5 The Almighty LORD of Armies has chosen a special day. It will be a day of confusion and trampling in the valley of Vision, [a day of] tearing down walls and crying for help in the mountains.

6 Elam takes its quiver of arrows, manned chariots, and horsemen. Kir uncovers its shields.

7 Then your fertile valleys will be filled with chariots, and horsemen will stand ready in front of the gate.

8 On that day the LORD will remove the defenses of Judah. You will look for weapons in the House of the Forest.

9 You will see how many places in David's wall are broken. You will store water in the Lower Pool.

10 You will count the houses in Jerusalem. You will tear down those houses in order to fortify the walls.

11 You will build a reservoir between the two walls to hold the water of the Old Pool. You didn't look to Jerusalem's maker. You didn't see the one who formed it long ago.

12 On that day the Almighty LORD of Armies will call for crying and for mourning, for shaving your heads and for wearing sackcloth.

13 Instead, you will rejoice, celebrate, slaughter cattle, and butcher sheep. You will eat meat, drink wine, and say, "Let's eat and drink because tomorrow we're going to die."

14 The LORD of Armies revealed this to me: "Certainly, this wrong will not be forgiven even when you die," says the Almighty LORD of Armies.

15 This is what the Almighty LORD of Armies says: Go to Shebna, the man in charge of the palace, and say [to him],

16 "What are you doing here? What right do you have to dig a tomb for yourself? What right do you have to cut it out in a prominent place? What right do you have to carve out a resting place for yourself in the rock?

17 Look, mighty man! The LORD will throw you out. He will grab you.

18 He will wrap you up tightly like a turban. He will throw you far away into another land. There you will die. There your splendid chariots will remain. There you will become a disgrace to your master's household.

19 "I will remove you from your office and do away with your position.

20 When that day comes, I will call my servant Eliakim, son of Hilkiah.

21 I will dress him in your linen robe and fasten it with your belt. I will give him your authority, and he will be like a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the nation of Judah.

22 I will place the key of the house of David around his neck. What he opens no one will shut. What he shuts no one will open.

23 I will fasten him firmly in place like a peg, and he will be a source of honor for his father's household.

24 They will hang on him the whole weight of his father's household, descendants and offspring and all the little utensils, from bowls to jars of every kind."

25 The LORD of Armies declares, "On that day the peg which I firmly fastened in place will be removed. It will be cut off and will fall, and everything hanging on it will be destroyed." The LORD has spoken.