Isaiah 20; Isaiah 21; Isaiah 22

1 Sargon king of Assyria sent a military com mander to Ashdod to attack that city. So the commander attacked and captured it.

2 Then the Lord spoke through Isaiah son of Amoz, saying, "Take the rough cloth off your body, and take your sandals off your feet." So Isaiah obeyed and walked around naked and barefoot.

3 Then the Lord said, "Isaiah my servant has walked around naked and barefoot for three years as a sign against Egypt and Cush.

4 The king of Assyria will carry away prisoners from Egypt and Cush. Old people and young people will be led away naked and barefoot, with their buttocks bare. So the Egyptians will be shamed.

5 People who looked to Cush for help will be afraid, and those who were amazed by Egypt's glory will be shamed.

6 People who live near the sea will say, 'Look at those countries. We trusted them to help us. We ran to them so they would save us from the king of Assyria. So how will we be able to escape?'"

1 This is a message about the Desert by the Sea: Disaster is coming from the desert like wind blowing in the south. It is coming from a terrible country.

2 I have seen a terrible vision. I see traitors turning against you and people taking your wealth. Elam, attack the people! Media, surround the city and attack it! I will bring an end to the pain the city causes.

3 I saw those terrible things, and now I am in pain; my pains are like the pains of giving birth. What I hear makes me very afraid; what I see causes me to shake with fear.

4 I am worried, and I am shaking with fear. My pleasant evening has become a night of fear.

5 They set the table; they spread the rugs; they eat and drink. Leaders, stand up. Prepare the shields for battle!

6 The Lord said to me, "Go, place a lookout for the city and have him report what he sees.

7 If he sees chariots and teams of horses, donkeys, or camels, he should pay very close attention."

8 Then the lookout called out, "My master, each day I stand in the watchtower watching; every night I have been on guard.

9 Look, I see a man coming in a chariot with a team of horses." The man gives back the answer, "Babylon has fallen. It has fallen! All the statues of her gods lie broken on the ground."

10 My people are crushed like grain on the threshing floor. My people, I tell you what I have heard from the Lord All-Powerful, from the God of Israel.

11 This is a message about Dumah: Someone calls to me from Edom, "Watchman, how much of the night is left? Watchman, how much longer will it be night?"

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

13 This is a message about Arabia: spent the night near some trees in Arabia.

14 They gave water to thirsty travelers; the people of Tema gave food to those who were escaping.

15 They were running from swords, from swords ready to kill, from bows ready to shoot, from a hard battle.

16 This is what the Lord said to me: "In one year all the glory of the country of Kedar will be gone. (This is a year as a hired helper counts time.)

17 At that time only a few of the archers, the soldiers of Kedar, will be left alive." The Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.

1 This is a message about the Valley of Vision: What is wrong with you people? Why are you on your roofs?

2 This city was a very busy city, full of noise and wild parties. Now your people have been killed, but not with swords, nor did they die in battle.

3 All your leaders ran away together, but they have been captured without using a bow. All you who were captured tried to run away before the enemy came.

4 So I say, "Don't look at me. Let me cry loudly. Don't hurry to comfort me about the destruction of Jerusalem."

5 The Lord God All-Powerful has chosen a special day of riots and confusion. People will trample each other in the Valley of Vision. The city walls will be knocked down, and the people will cry out to the mountain.

6 The soldiers from Elam will gather their arrows and their chariots and men on horses. Kir will prepare their shields.

7 Your nicest valleys will be filled with chariots. Horsemen will be ordered to guard the gates of the city.

8 The walls protecting Judah will fall. the weapons kept at the Palace of the Forest.

9 You saw that the walls of Jerusalem had many cracks that needed repairing. You stored up water in the lower pool.

10 You counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you tore down houses to repair the walls with their stones.

11 You made a pool between the two walls to save water from the old pool, but you did not trust the God who made these things; you did not respect the One who planned them long ago.

12 The Lord God All-Powerful told the people to cry and be sad, to shave their heads and wear rough cloth.

13 But look, the people are happy and are having wild parties. They kill the cattle and the sheep; they eat the food and drink the wine. They say, "Let us eat and drink, because tomorrow we will die."

14 The Lord All-Powerful said to me: "You people will die before this guilt is forgiven." The Lord God All-Powerful said this.

15 This is what the Lord God All-Powerful says: "Go to this servant Shebna, the manager of the palace.

16 Say to him, 'What are you doing here? Who said you could cut out a tomb for your self here? Why are you preparing your tomb in a high place? Why are you carving out a tomb from the rock?

17 Look, mighty one! The Lord will throw you away. He will take firm hold of you

18 and roll you tightly into a ball and throw you into another country. There you will die, and there your fine chariots will remain. You are a disgrace to your master's house.

19 I will force you out of your important job, and you will be thrown down from your important place.'

20 "At that time I will call for my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah.

21 I will take your robe and put it on him and give him your belt. I will hand over to him the important job you have, and he will be like a father to the people of Jerusalem and the family of Judah.

22 I will put the key to the house of David around his neck. If he opens a door, no one will be able to close it; if he closes a door, no one will be able to open it.

23 He will be like an honored chair in his father's house. I will make him strong like a peg that is hammered into a strong board.

24 All the honored and important things of his family will depend on him; all the adults and little children will depend on him. They will be like bowls and jars hanging on him.

25 "At that time," says the Lord All-Powerful, "the peg hammered into the strong board will weaken. It will break and fall, and everything hanging on it will be destroyed." The Lord says this.