- 16In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His robe filled the temple. 2Seraphs gathered around Him. Each one had six wings: with two he veiled his face, and with two he covered his legs, and with two he would fly. 3And one would call to the other, saying: Holy, holy, holy! The Lord of Hosts! The whole earth is within His view! 4And the doorframe would shake at the sound of that voice, and clouds billowed around God’s throne.
- 5Then I said: Woe is me, I’m lost, for my lips are unclean, and I live among people whose lips are also unclean, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts. 6Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he used tongs to take from the altar. 7And he touched my lips and declared: Hear now, this has touched your lips, your guilt is taken away, and your iniquity cleaned away. 8Then I heard the voice of the Lord asking: Whom do I send? Who will go for us? And I said: Here am I; send me. 9And He said: Go tell the people: Listen to this message — but they won’t understand what you tell them; and tell them to see your message — but they’ll fail to perceive its meaning. 10Their minds have become dull, their ears plugged, and their eyes closed, otherwise they would see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and be healed. 11Then I asked: Lord, how long will they remain like this? And He said: Until their cities have been destroyed and left desolate, and their houses abandoned, and the land deserted, 12until the Lord has driven everyone far away, and there are many abandoned places throughout the land. 13But a tithe of the people will remain and will be burned. Like a linden tree or oak tree, leaving a stump with living roots although cut down, likewise a holy remnant to be restored still survives in the residue.
- 17When Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, king Rezin of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem, but they couldn’t defeat it. 2When the report reached the house of David that Syria is allied with Ephraim, they all panicked and trembled like the trees of the forest wave in the wind.
- 3Then the Lord directed Isaiah: Go out with your son Shear-jashub to meet Ahaz at the end of the channel of the upper pool on the road to the Laundry Field. 4Tell him: Relax and be quiet; don’t be afraid of these two smoldering embers of firewood because of the anger of Rezin of Syria and Remaliah’s son. 5Syria, Ephraim, and Remaliah’s son have plotted your defeat, saying: 6Let’s invade Judah, tear it apart, and divide it up between us, and put the son of Tabeal over it as the king. 7The Lord God says: It won’t happen, I won’t let it take place. 8For the center of Syria is Damascus, and the king of Damascus is Rezin. And within 65 years Ephraim will be shattered, no longer identifiable. 9The center of Ephraim is Samaria, and the king of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. If you won’t stand faithful, you won’t stand at all.
- 10The Lord invited Ahaz to: 11Ask the Lord your God for a sign; anything from the deepest to the highest place. 12But Ahaz said: I won’t ask, nor will I test the Lord. 13Then Isaiah said: Listen now, you house of David: Is it not enough you try the patience of men? Now you want to try God’s patience also? 14Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and will call Him Immanuel. 15By the time He learns to reject the bad and choose the good, people will be eating butter and honey. 16Before the lad learns to reject evil and choose good, the land of these two kings will be wasted. 17The Lord will bring upon you and your people and your father’s house the worst days since Ephraim broke away from Judah — that king of Assyria. 18In that day the Lord will whistle for flies from the Nile delta in Egypt, and for bees from the land of Assyria. 19They’ll come and land in the rugged valleys, and in the cracks of the rocks, and on thorn bushes, and beside your ponds. 20On the same day the Lord will hire the king of Assyria like a razor to shave your head, legs, and beard.
- 21And in that day, a man will raise a young cow and two sheep. 22And because of the abundance of milk they produce, he’ll have butter. Everyone remaining in the land will have butter and honey. 23And at that time, every place where there were 1,000 grapevines worth 1,000 silver coins, there will only be weeds and thorns left. 24Hunters will go there with bows and arrows because the land is covered with weeds and thorns. 25As for the once plowed and cultivated hills, you’ll no longer go there to see weeds and thorns, since only cattle will graze and only sheep will roam on these places.
- 18The Lord said to me: Take a large scroll and write on it with a pen: For Maher-shalal-hash-baz. 2Call two reliable witnesses, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah, to witness it. 3I then impregnated the prophetess, and she gave birth to a son. The Lord told me: Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz. 4Before the child learns to call, Father and Mother, the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.
- 5The Lord spoke to me again, saying: 6Because this people are ungrateful for the gentle waters of Shiloah, and admire Rezin and Remaliah’s son, 7know this, the Lord will bring to them a flood of violent water from the Euphrates, indeed, the king of Assyria and his army. He’ll flood over the riverbanks, 8like a flash flood upon Judah, reaching up to the neck. Surely the wings of Immanuel will stretch out as wide as the land. 9Even if you people gather together people, you’ll too be broken into pieces. Listen, those who are in distant lands: Even if you prepare for battle, you’ll be broken into pieces; you may prepare for battle, but you’ll be broken in pieces! 10Though you prepare your battle strategy, it will be defeated; though you make your plans, they won’t stand, because God is with us.
- 11The Lord said to me, taking me by the hand, and telling me to not walk in the path this people follow, saying: 12Don’t say: A conspiracy! to everything this people says is a conspiracy; don’t be afraid of what they fear. 13Only the Lord of Hosts is to be regarded as holy, and He alone inspires awe. 14He can make things holy, but for the people of Jerusalem, He’ll be a stumbling stone and a rock that trips both houses of Israel, and a trap and a snare for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15Many of them will stumble, fall down, and be injured, and be caught and taken captive.
- 16Deliver the testimony, seal up the law among My disciples. 17I’ll wait for the Lord who hides His face from the house of Jacob, and I’ll put my trust in Him. 18Here am I and the children the Lord has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the Lord of Hosts, who lives on Mount Zion. 19When people advise you to ask gurus and false spirits that whisper and moan — shouldn’t people instead ask God? Why ask the dead for advice for the living? 20Shouldn’t people look for direction from God’s law and His warning testimony? And if anyone speaks contrary to this word, it’s because there’s no light in them. 21And they’ll wander lost, wretched, and hungry; and when they’re hungry, they’ll become angry, look up to heaven and curse their King and their God. 22And they’ll look at the earth and see trouble and darkness, gloom and fear, and won’t see the dawn.
- 19Nevertheless, the gloom will depart from those who were in distress. In the past, He humbled the land of Zebulun, and the land of Naphtali, but in the future, He’ll honor Galilee by the Way of the Sea, on the other side of the Jordan. 2The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; those living in the land of deep darkness have had the light dawn on them. 3You’ve enlarged that nation and given it great joy; they rejoice before You like the harvest celebration, and like warriors are happy when dividing their loot. 4Because you’ve broken their chains, and the bar across their shoulders, the club used by their oppressor, 5every warrior’s boot worn in battle and all the bloodstained clothes will become fuel for the fire. 6For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. 7His government and peace will endlessly increase, He’ll sit on the throne of David and reign over His kingdom, establishing and upholding it with righteousness and with justice from that time continuing forever. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will cause this to happen.
- 8The Lord sent a message condemning Jacob, and it will fall upon Israel. 9Everyone will know it — Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria — who say in their pride and arrogance: 10The bricks are fallen down, but we’ll rebuild with cut stones; the sycamores are cut down, but we’ll replace them with cedars. 11So the Lord allowed the enemies of Rezin to come against him, and his enemies joined together — 12the Syrians from the east and the Philistines from the west — and they’ll swallow up Israel. Despite this His anger remains, and His control over everything remains intact.
- 13But His people haven’t returned to Him who punished them; they reject the Lord of Hosts. 14Therefore the Lord cut off the head and tail from Israel, palm branch and reed, in a single day. 15The leaders and teachers are the head, and the lying prophets are the tail. 16The guides of this people mislead them, and those who follow stumble in the dark. 17Therefore the Lord will have no sympathy for their young men, nor pity the orphans and widows; for every one of them is a hypocrite and ungodly, and every mouth speaks foolishness. Despite this His anger remains, and His control over everything remains intact.
- 18Wickedness burns like a fire destroying weeds and thorns, and sets ablaze the forests, rolling forward like a pillar of smoke. 19It’s the wrath of the Lord of Hosts that scorches the land and the people become fuel for the fire; they won’t spare one another. 20On the right hand they gobble up but remain hungry, on the left they eat but are never satisfied. They’ll eat their own families — 21Ephraim eating Manasseh’s, and Manasseh eating Ephraim’s — and together they eat Judah’s. Nevertheless, His anger remains, and His control over everything remains intact.
- 20Woe to those who make unjust laws, and to those who issue oppressive orders, 2subverting the rights of the poor, denying justice and imposing tyranny, victimizing widows and orphans. 3What will you do on the day of judgment, when disaster comes from far away? Where will you run for help? Where will you hide your riches? 4You’ll have no choice but to cower among the prisoners or be killed with the others. Despite this His anger remains, and His control over everything remains intact.
- 5But the Assyrians are only the club I use to impose My discipline. 6I send them against a godless nation, and against the people who have angered Me, to loot and plunder, and trample over them like mud in the streets. 7But this isn’t what the Assyrians intend, not at all what they have in mind. They intend to destroy and defeat many nations. 8Their king tells himself: Aren’t my commanders all kings? 9Hasn’t Calno fallen just like Carchemish? Isn’t Hamath just like Arpad? Isn’t Samaria just like Damascus? 10My hand has conquered the kingdoms of the idols, kingdoms whose idols are better than those of Jerusalem and Samaria. 11Should I not deal with Jerusalem and her idols as I dealt with Samaria and her idols?
- 12But when the Lord has finished all His discipline of Mount Zion and Jerusalem, He’ll then punish the prideful king of Assyria for his arrogance. 13For he says it’s his strong hand and his wisdom that accomplished this, because he claims understanding. He says he’s the one that changed national boundaries and pilfered their wealth, like a great hero, saying: 14I’ve taken the wealth of other countries like reaching your hand into a nest to gather eggs, and they didn’t flap a wing or cluck when I took it all. 15Is the ax greater than the one who swings it? Does the saw brag it cuts wood without the one using it? As if a club could control the one holding it, or a staff steer the person as if it weren’t mere wood. 16Therefore, the Lord, the Lord of Hosts will inflict disease on his army; and under his pomposity a fire will be kindled. 17The Light of Israel will be that fire, and Israel’s Holy One the flame, and in a single day it will turn his weeds and thorns to ash 18and burn up his splendid forest and fertile fields, everything. It will be like a gravely ill person wastes away. 19What’s left of his forest will be so small that a little boy can count them all.
- 20When that happens the remnant of Israel and survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer fear those who struck them down, but will truly trust in the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. 21A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God. 22Even though Israel’s people are like the sand of the sea, only a remnant will return. The destruction decreed is overwhelming and righteous. 23The Lord God of Hosts will carry out the destruction decreed upon the whole land.
- 24Therefore the Lord God of Hosts tells you: My people who live in Zion, don’t fear the Assyrians who beat you with a club and capture you like Egypt once did. 25Very soon My anger with you will end and I’ll impose destruction upon them. 26The Lord of Hosts will horsewhip them like He struck down Midian at the rock of Oreb; and He’ll raise His staff to part the waters, as He did in Egypt. 27And at that time the burden will be removed from your shoulders, and their chains taken off your neck, because of the anointing.
- 28They enter Aiath, they pass through Migron; they store supplies at Michmash. 29They go through the pass, and they plan to camp overnight at Geba. Ramath is afraid, and Gibeah of Saul runs in fear. 30Shout out daughter of Gallim; listen Laish! Poor Anathot! 31Madmenah is running in fear; take cover people of Gebim! 32They will be stopped at Nob that day; they’ll shake their fist at the mount of Daughter Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem. 33Just watch as the Lord, the Lord Almighty chops down the mighty branches with power, and the tall trees will be cut down, and the arrogant will be humbled. 34He’ll cut down the thick forests with an ax, and Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One.
- 21A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a Branch will produce fruit. 2The Spirit of the Lord will rest upon Him — the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of respect for the Lord — 3and He’ll have insight and love for the Lord. He won’t judge by what He sees with His eyes, nor decide by what He hears with His ears, 4but with righteousness He’ll judge the needy, and with justice decide matters for the poor. He’ll control the earth with words from His mouth, and with His breath He’ll slay the wicked. 5And righteousness will be His belt, and faithfulness the sash around His waist. 6Wolves will live beside lambs, leopards will lay beside goats; and the calf, young lion, and yearling together, and a little child will lead them. 7And the cow will eat beside the bear, their young will lie down to rest together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. 8The infant will play at the cobra’s den, and a young child will put his hand in the viper’s nest. 9They’ll neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mountain, because the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord like the waters cover the sea.
- 10In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the people; the Gentiles will rally to Him, and His peace will be glorious. 11On that day the Lord will reach out His hand a second time to reclaim the remaining remnant of His people from Assyria — also from Lower and Upper Egypt, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. 12He’ll set up a banner for the Gentiles, and will gather the lost people of Israel, and assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four corners of the earth. 13All the outcasts of Israel will be gathered to His house, and the jealousy of Ephraim and Judah will end; Ephraim won’t envy Judah and Judah won’t provoke Ephraim. 14They’ll pounce upon the shoulders of the Philistines to the west, together they’ll take the wealth of the east, they’ll subdue Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites will obey them. 15The Lord will dry up the gulf of the Egyptian Sea, and dry up the Euphrates River to let His returning people step over the remaining seven brooks. 16There will be a highway for the returning remnant of His people from Assyria, as there had been earlier when Israel departed from Egypt.
- 22And on that day, people will proclaim: Give praise to the Lord; although You were angry with me, Your anger has turned away and You’ve comforted me. 2God is my Savior. I’ll trust and not fear, for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my defense; He provided my salvation. 3You’ll joyfully draw water from the wells of salvation. 4And on that day you’ll say: Give praise to the Lord, Proclaim His name, testify about the great things He’s done for His people. 5Sing hymns to the Lord, for He’s done glorious things; let it be known throughout the world. 6Shout joyfully and sing, people of Zion, for the Holy One of Israel dwells among you.
Chapter 9