Category: Isaiah

The Betrayer Betrayed

1-4 A Message concerning the desert at the sea:

As tempests drive through the Negev Desert,

coming out of the desert, that terror-filled place,

A hard vision is given me:

The betrayer betrayed, the plunderer plundered.

Attack, Elam!

Lay siege, Media!

Persians, attack!

Attack, Babylon!

I’ll put an end to

all the moaning and groaning.

Because of this news I’m doubled up in pain,

writhing in pain like a woman having a baby,

Baffled by what I hear,

undone by what I see.

Absolutely stunned,

horror-stricken,

I had hoped for a relaxed evening,

but it has turned into a nightmare.

5 The banquet is spread,

the guests reclining in luxurious ease,

Eating and drinking, having a good time,

and then, “To arms, princes! The fight is on!”

6-9 The Master told me, “Go, post a lookout.

Have him report whatever he spots.

When he sees horses and wagons in battle formation,

lines of donkeys and columns of camels,

Tell him to keep his ear to the ground,

note every whisper, every rumor.”

Just then, the lookout shouted,

“I’m at my post, Master,

Sticking to my post day after day

and all through the night!

I watched them come,

the horses and wagons in battle formation.

I heard them call out the war news in headlines:

‘Babylon fallen! Fallen!

And all its precious god-idols

smashed to pieces on the ground.’”

10 Dear Israel, you’ve been through a lot,

you’ve been put through the mill.

The good news I get fromGod-of-the-Angel-Armies,

the God of Israel, I now pass on to you.

11-12 A Message concerning Edom:

A voice calls to me

from the Seir mountains in Edom,

“Night watchman! How long till daybreak?

How long will this night last?”

The night watchman calls back,

“Morning’s coming,

But for now it’s still night.

If you ask me again, I’ll give the same answer.”

13-15 A Message concerning Arabia:

You’ll have to camp out in the desert badlands,

you caravans of Dedanites.

Haul water to the thirsty,

greet fugitives with bread.

Show your desert hospitality,

you who live in Tema.

The desert’s swarming with refugees

escaping the horrors of war.

16-17 The Master told me, “Hang on. Within one year—I’ll sign a contract on it!—the arrogant brutality of Kedar, those hooligans of the desert, will be over, nothing much left of the Kedar toughs.” TheGodof Israel says so.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/ISA/21-88c05cd25ceae75f9fb7478b898fbcea.mp3?version_id=97—

A Country of Cowards

1-3 A Message concerning the Valley of Vision:

What’s going on here anyway?

All this partying and noisemaking,

Shouting and cheering in the streets,

the city noisy with celebrations!

You have no brave soldiers to honor,

no combat heroes to be proud of.

Your leaders were all cowards,

captured without even lifting a sword,

A country of cowards

captured escaping the battle.

You Looked, but You Never Looked to Him

4-8 In the midst of the shouting, I said, “Let me alone.

Let me grieve by myself.

Don’t tell me it’s going to be all right.

These people are doomed. It’snotall right.”

For the Master,God-of-the-Angel-Armies,

is bringing a day noisy with mobs of people,

Jostling and stampeding in the Valley of Vision,

knocking down walls

and hollering to the mountains, “Attack! Attack!”

Old enemies Elam and Kir arrive armed to the teeth—

weapons and chariots and cavalry.

Your fine valleys are noisy with war,

chariots and cavalry charging this way and that.

God has left Judah exposed and defenseless.

8-11 You assessed your defenses that Day, inspected your arsenal of weapons in the Forest Armory. You found the weak places in the city walls that needed repair. You secured the water supply at the Lower Pool. You took an inventory of the houses in Jerusalem and tore down some to get bricks to fortify the city wall. You built a large cistern to ensure plenty of water.

You looked and looked and looked, but you never looked to him who gave you this city, never once consulted the One who has long had plans for this city.

12-13 The Master,God-of-the-Angel-Armies,

called out on that Day,

Called for a day of repentant tears,

called you to dress in somber clothes of mourning.

But what doyoudo? You throw a party!

Eating and drinking and dancing in the streets!

You barbecue bulls and sheep, and throw a huge feast—

slabs of meat, kegs of beer.

“Seize the day! Eat and drink!

Tomorrow we die!”

14 God-of-the-Angel-Armies whispered to me his verdict on this frivolity: “You’ll pay for this outrage until the day you die.” The Master,God-of-the-Angel-Armies, says so.

The Key of the Davidic Heritage

15-19 The Master,God-of-the-Angel-Armies, spoke: “Come. Go to this steward, Shebna, who is in charge of all the king’s affairs, and tell him: What’s going on here? You’re an outsider here and yet you act like you own the place, make a big, fancy tomb for yourself where everyone can see it, making sure everyone will think you’re important.Godis about to sack you, to throw you to the dogs. He’ll grab you by the hair, swing you round and round dizzyingly, and then let you go, sailing through the air like a ball, until you’re out of sight. Where you’ll land, nobody knows. And there you’ll die, and all the stuff you’ve collected heaped on your grave. You’ve disgraced your master’s house! You’re fired—and good riddance!

20-24 “On that Day I’ll replace Shebna. I will call my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah. I’ll dress him in your robe. I’ll put your belt on him. I’ll give him your authority. He’ll be a father-leader to Jerusalem and the government of Judah. I’ll give him the key of the Davidic heritage. He’ll have the run of the place—open any door and keep it open, lock any door and keep it locked. I’ll pound him like a nail into a solid wall. He’ll secure the Davidic tradition. Everything will hang on him—not only the fate of Davidic descendants but also the detailed daily operations of the house, including cups and cutlery.

25 “And then the Day will come,” saysGod-of-the-Angel-Armies, “when that nail will come loose and fall out, break loose from that solid wall—and everything hanging on it will go with it.” That’s what will happen.Godsays so.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/ISA/22-3ec3ff09091ac339d2bc0e1f787b7cbf.mp3?version_id=97—

It Was All Numbers, Dead Numbers, Profit and Loss

1-4 Wail, ships of Tarshish,

your strong seaports all in ruins!

When the ships returned from Cyprus,

they saw the destruction.

Hold your tongue, you who live on the seacoast,

merchants of Sidon.

Your people sailed the deep seas,

buying and selling,

Making money on wheat from Shihor,

grown along the Nile—

multinational broker in grains!

Hang your head in shame, Sidon. The Sea speaks up,

the powerhouse of the ocean says,

“I’ve never had labor pains, never had a baby,

never reared children to adulthood,

Never gave life, never worked with life.

It was all numbers, dead numbers, profit and loss.”

5 When Egypt gets the report on Tyre,

what wailing! what wringing of hands!

Nothing Left Here to Be Proud Of

6-12 Visit Tarshish, you who live on the seacoast.

Take a good, long look and wail—yes, cry buckets of tears!

Is this the city you remember as energetic and alive,

bustling with activity, this historic old city,

Expanding throughout the globe,

buying and selling all over the world?

And who is behind the collapse of Tyre,

the Tyre that controlled the world markets?

Tyre’s merchants were the business tycoons.

Tyre’s traders called all the shots.

God-of-the-Angel-Armies ordered the crash

to show the sordid backside of pride

and puncture the inflated reputations.

Sail for home, O ships of Tarshish.

There are no docks left in this harbor.

Godreached out to the sea and sea traders,

threw the sea kingdoms into turmoil.

Godordered the destruction

of the seacoast cities, the centers of commerce.

Godsaid, “There’s nothing left here to be proud of,

bankrupt and bereft Sidon.

Do you want to make a new start in Cyprus?

Don’t count on it. Nothing there will work out for you either.”

13 Look at what happened to Babylon: There’s nothing left of it. Assyria turned it into a desert, into a refuge for wild dogs and stray cats. They brought in their big siege engines, tore down the buildings, and left nothing behind but rubble.

14 Wail, ships of Tarshish,

your strong seaports all in ruins!

15-16 For the next seventy years, a king’s lifetime, Tyre will be forgotten. At the end of the seventy years, Tyre will stage a comeback, but it will be the comeback of a worn-out whore, as in the song:

“Take a harp, circle the city,

unremembered whore.

Sing your old songs, your many old songs.

Maybe someone will remember.”

17-18 At the end of the seventy years,Godwill look in on Tyre. She’ll go back to her old whoring trade, selling herself to the highest bidder, doing anything with anyone—promiscuous with all the kingdoms of earth—for a fee. But everything she gets, all the money she takes in, will be turned over toGod. It will not be put in banks. Her profits will be put to the use ofGod-Aware,God-Serving-People, providing plenty of food and the best of clothing.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/ISA/23-a3b6f7dbb3420b03de95b1ec4230f7ad.mp3?version_id=97—

The Landscape Will Be a Moonscape

1-3 Danger ahead!God’s about to ravish the earth

and leave it in ruins,

Rip everything out by the roots

and send everyone scurrying:

priests and laypeople alike,

owners and workers alike,

celebrities and nobodies alike,

buyers and sellers alike,

bankers and beggars alike,

the haves and have-nots alike.

The landscape will be a moonscape,

totally wasted.

And why? BecauseGodsays so.

He’s issued the orders.

4 The earth turns gaunt and gray,

the world silent and sad,

sky and land lifeless, colorless.

Earth Polluted by Its Very Own People

5-13 Earth is polluted by its very own people,

who have broken its laws,

Disrupted its order,

violated the sacred and eternal covenant.

Therefore a curse, like a cancer,

ravages the earth.

Its people pay the price of their sacrilege.

They dwindle away, dying out one by one.

No more wine, no more vineyards,

no more songs or singers.

The laughter of castanets is gone,

the shouts of celebrants, gone,

the laughter of fiddles, gone.

No more parties with toasts of champagne.

Serious drinkers gag on their drinks.

The chaotic cities are unlivable. Anarchy reigns.

Every house is boarded up, condemned.

People riot in the streets for wine,

but the good times are gone forever—

no more joy for this old world.

The city is dead and deserted,

bulldozed into piles of rubble.

That’s the way it will be on this earth.

This is the fate of all nations:

An olive tree shaken clean of its olives,

a grapevine picked clean of its grapes.

14-16 But there are some who will break into glad song.

Out of the west they’ll shout ofGod’s majesty.

Yes, from the eastGod’s glory will ascend.

Every island of the sea

Will broadcastGod’s fame,

the fame of the God of Israel.

From the four winds and the seven seas we hear the singing:

“All praise to the Righteous One!”

16-20 But I said, “That’s all well and good for somebody,

but all I can see is doom, doom, and more doom.”

All of them at one another’s throats,

yes, all of them at one another’s throats.

Terror and pits and booby traps

are everywhere, whoever you are.

If you run from the terror,

you’ll fall into the pit.

If you climb out of the pit,

you’ll get caught in the trap.

Chaos pours out of the skies.

The foundations of earth are crumbling.

Earth is smashed to pieces,

earth is ripped to shreds,

earth is wobbling out of control,

Earth staggers like a drunk,

sways like a shack in a high wind.

Its piled-up sins are too much for it.

It collapses and won’t get up again.

21-23 That’s whenGodwill call on the carpet

rebel powers in the skies and

Rebel kings on earth.

They’ll be rounded up like prisoners in a jail,

Corralled and locked up in a jail,

and then sentenced and put to hard labor.

Shamefaced moon will cower, humiliated,

red-faced sun will skulk, disgraced,

BecauseGod-of-the-Angel-Armies will take over,

ruling from Mount Zion and Jerusalem,

Splendid and glorious

before all his leaders.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/ISA/24-98341f4aa441e7f737040fce5c68d9b5.mp3?version_id=97—

God’s Hand Rests on This Mountain

1-5 God, you aremyGod.

I celebrate you. I praise you.

You’ve done your share of miracle-wonders,

well-thought-out plans, solid and sure.

Here you’ve reduced the city to rubble,

the strong city to a pile of stones.

The enemy Big City is a non-city,

never to be a city again.

Superpowers will see it and honor you,

brutal oppressors bow in worshipful reverence.

They’ll see that you take care of the poor,

that you take care of poor people in trouble,

Provide a warm, dry place in bad weather,

provide a cool place when it’s hot.

Brutal oppressors are like a winter blizzard

and vicious foreigners like high noon in the desert.

But you, shelter from the storm and shade from the sun,

shut the mouths of the big-mouthed bullies.

6-8 But here on this mountain,God-of-the-Angel-Armies

will throw a feast for all the people of the world,

A feast of the finest foods, a feast with vintage wines,

a feast of seven courses, a feast lavish with gourmet desserts.

And here on this mountain,Godwill banish

the pall of doom hanging over all peoples,

The shadow of doom darkening all nations.

Yes, he’ll banish death forever.

AndGodwill wipe the tears from every face.

He’ll remove every sign of disgrace

From his people, wherever they are.

Yes!Godsays so!

9-10 Also at that time, people will say,

“Look at what’s happened! This is our God!

We waited for him and he showed up and saved us!

ThisGod, the one we waited for!

Let’s celebrate, sing the joys of his salvation.

God’s hand rests on this mountain!”

10-12 As for the Moabites, they’ll be treated like refuse,

waste shoveled into a cesspool.

Thrash away as they will,

like swimmers trying to stay afloat,

They’ll sink in the sewage.

Their pride will pull them under.

Their famous fortifications will crumble to nothing,

those mighty walls reduced to dust.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/ISA/25-65dcc879929db1d5ec47ddbb3b70c7d3.mp3?version_id=97—

Stretch the Borders of Life

1-6 At that time, this song

will be sung in the country of Judah:

We have a strong city, Salvation City,

built and fortified with salvation.

Throw wide the gates

so good and true people can enter.

People with their minds set on you,

you keep completely whole,

Steady on their feet,

because they keep at it and don’t quit.

Depend onGodand keep at it

because in theLordGodyou have a sure thing.

Those who lived high and mighty

he knocked off their high horse.

He used the city built on the hill

as fill for the marshes.

All the exploited and outcast peoples

build their lives on the reclaimed land.

7-10 The path of right-living people is level.

The Leveler evens the road for the right-living.

We’re in no hurry,God. We’re content to linger

in the path sign-posted with your decisions.

Who you are and what you’ve done

are all we’ll ever want.

Through the night my soul longs for you.

Deep from within me my spirit reaches out to you.

When your decisions are on public display,

everyone learns how to live right.

If the wicked are shown grace,

they don’t seem to get it.

In the land of right living, they persist in wrong living,

blind to the splendor ofGod.

11-15 You hold your hand up high,God,

but they don’t see it.

Open their eyes to what you do,

to see your zealous love for your people.

Shame them. Light a fire under them.

Get the attention of these enemies of yours.

God, order a peaceful and whole life for us

because everything we’ve done, you’ve done for us.

OGod, our God, we’ve had other masters rule us,

but you’re the only Master we’ve ever known.

The dead don’t talk,

ghosts don’t walk,

Because you’ve said, “Enough—that’s all for you,”

and wiped them off the books.

But the living you make larger than life.

The more life you give, the more glory you display,

and stretch the borders to accommodate more living!

16-18 OGod, they begged you for help when they were in trouble,

when your discipline was so heavy

they could barely whisper a prayer.

Like a woman having a baby,

writhing in distress, screaming her pain

as the baby is being born,

That’s how we were because of you, OGod.

We were pregnant full-term.

We writhed in labor but bore no baby.

We gave birth to wind.

Nothing came of our labor.

We produced nothing living.

We couldn’t save the world.

19 But friends, your dead will live,

your corpses will get to their feet.

All you dead and buried,

wake up! Sing!

Your dew is morning dew

catching the first rays of sun,

The earth bursting with life,

giving birth to the dead.

20-21 Come, my people, go home

and shut yourselves in.

Go into seclusion for a while

until the punishing wrath is past,

BecauseGodis sure to come from his place

to punish the wrong of the people on earth.

Earth itself will point out the bloodstains;

it will show where the murdered have been hidden away.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/ISA/26-dda04ba155e7f4a3a5dd5949752e10c2.mp3?version_id=97—

Selected Grain by Grain

1 At that timeGodwill unsheathe his sword,

his merciless, massive, mighty sword.

He’ll punish the serpent Leviathan as it flees,

the serpent Leviathan thrashing in flight.

He’ll kill that old dragon

that lives in the sea.

2-5 “At that same time, a fine vineyard will appear.

There’s something to sing about!

I,God, tend it.

I keep it well-watered.

I keep careful watch over it

so that no one can damage it.

I’m not angry. I care.

Even if it gives me thistles and thornbushes,

I’ll just pull them out

and burn them up.

Let that vine cling to me for safety,

let it find a good and whole life with me,

let it hold on for a good and whole life.”

6 The days are coming when Jacob

shall put down roots,

Israel blossom and grow fresh branches,

and fill the world with its fruit.

7-11 HasGodknocked them to the ground

as he knocked down those who hit them? Oh, no.

Were they killed

as their killers were killed? Again, no.

He was hard on them all right. The exile was a harsh sentence.

He blew them away on a fierce blast of wind.

But the good news is that through this experience

Jacob’s guilt was taken away.

The evidence that his sin is removed will be this:

He will tear down the alien altars,

take them apart stone by stone,

And then crush the stones into gravel

and clean out all the sex-and-religion shrines.

For there’s nothing left of that pretentious grandeur.

Nobody lives there anymore. It’s unlivable.

But animals do just fine,

browsing and bedding down.

And it’s not a bad place to get firewood.

Dry twigs and dead branches are plentiful.

It’s the leavings of a people with no sense of God.

So, the God who made them

Will have nothing to do with them.

He who formed them will turn his back on them.

12-13 At that timeGodwill thresh

from the River Euphrates to the Brook of Egypt,

And you, people of Israel,

will be selected grain by grain.

At that same time a great trumpet will be blown,

calling home the exiles from Assyria,

Welcoming home the refugees from Egypt

to come and worshipGodon the holy mountain, Jerusalem.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/ISA/27-a5a1a3dfc7dee8f57a2325a1188ae064.mp3?version_id=97—

God Will Speak in Baby Talk

1-4 Doom to the pretentious drunks of Ephraim,

shabby and washed out and seedy—

Tipsy, sloppy-fat, beer-bellied parodies

of a proud and handsome past.

Watch closely:Godhas someone picked out,

someone tough and strong to flatten them.

Like a hailstorm, like a hurricane, like a flash flood,

one-handed he’ll throw them to the ground.

Samaria, the party hat on Israel’s head,

will be knocked off with one blow.

It will disappear quicker than

a piece of meat tossed to a dog.

5-6 At that time,God-of-the-Angel-Armies will be

the beautiful crown on the head of what’s left of his people:

Energy and insights of justice to those who guide and decide,

strength and prowess to those who guard and protect.

7-8 These also, the priest and prophet, stagger from drink,

weaving, falling-down drunks,

Besotted with wine and whiskey,

can’t see straight, can’t talk sense.

Every table is covered with vomit.

Theylivein vomit.

9-10 “Is that so? And who do you think you are to teach us?

Who are you to lord it over us?

We’re not babies in diapers

to be talked down to by such as you—

‘Da, da, da, da,

blah, blah, blah, blah.

That’s a good little girl,

that’s a good little boy.’”

11-12 But that’s exactly how you will be addressed.

God will speak to this people

In baby talk, one syllable at a time—

and he’ll do it through foreign oppressors.

He said before, “This is the time and place to rest,

to give rest to the weary.

This is the place to lay down your burden.”

But they won’t listen.

13 SoGodwill start over with the simple basics

and address them in baby talk, one syllable at a time—

“Da, da, da, da,

blah, blah, blah, blah.

That’s a good little girl,

that’s a good little boy.”

And like toddlers, they will get up and fall down,

get bruised and confused and lost.

14-15 Now listen toGod’s Message, you scoffers,

you who rule this people in Jerusalem.

You say, “We’ve taken out good life insurance.

We’ve hedged all our bets, covered all our bases.

No disaster can touch us. We’ve thought of everything.

We’re advised by the experts. We’re set.”

The Meaning of the Stone

16-17 But the Master,God, has something to say to this:

“Watch closely. I’m laying a foundation in Zion,

a solid granite foundation, squared and true.

And this is the meaning of the stone:

a trusting life won’t topple.

I’ll make justice the measuring stick

and righteousness the plumb line for the building.

A hailstorm will knock down the shantytown of lies,

and a flash flood will wash out the rubble.

18-22 “Then you’ll see that your precious life insurance policy

wasn’t worth the paper it was written on.

Your careful precautions against death

were a pack of illusions and lies.

When the disaster happens,

you’ll be crushed by it.

Every time disaster comes, you’ll be in on it—

disaster in the morning, disaster at night.”

Every report of disaster

will send you cowering in terror.

There will be no place where you can rest,

nothing to hide under.

Godwill rise to full stature,

raging as he did long ago on Mount Perazim

And in the valley of Gibeon against the Philistines.

But this time it’s againstyou.

Hard to believe, but true.

Not what you’d expect, but it’s coming.

Sober up, friends, and don’t scoff.

Scoffing will just make it worse.

I’ve heard the orders issued for destruction, orders from

God-of-the-Angel-Armies—ending up in an international disaster.

23-26 Listen to me now.

Give me your closest attention.

Do farmers plow and plow and do nothing but plow?

Or harrow and harrow and do nothing but harrow?

After they’ve prepared the ground, don’t they plant?

Don’t they scatter dill and spread cumin,

Plant wheat and barley in the fields

and raspberries along the borders?

They know exactly what to do and when to do it.

Their God is their teacher.

27-29 And at the harvest, the delicate herbs and spices,

the dill and cumin, are treated delicately.

On the other hand, wheat is threshed and milled, but still not endlessly.

The farmer knows how to treat each kind of grain.

He’s learned it all fromGod-of-the-Angel-Armies,

who knows everything about when and how and where.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/ISA/28-eb0480abbebeec973f2c2b5784a546e9.mp3?version_id=97—

Blind Yourselves So That You See Nothing

1-4 Doom, Ariel, Ariel,

the city where David set camp!

Let the years add up,

let the festivals run their cycles,

But I’m not letting up on Jerusalem.

The moaning and groaning will continue.

Jerusalem to me is an Ariel.

Like David, I’ll set up camp against you.

I’ll set siege, build towers,

bring in siege engines, build siege ramps.

Driven into the ground, you’ll speak,

you’ll mumble words from the dirt—

Your voice from the ground, like the muttering of a ghost.

Your speech will whisper from the dust.

5-8 But it will be your enemies who are beaten to dust,

the mob of tyrants who will be blown away like chaff.

Because, surprise, as if out of nowhere,

a visit fromGod-of-the-Angel-Armies,

With thunderclaps, earthquakes, and earsplitting noise,

backed up by hurricanes, tornadoes, and lightning strikes,

And the mob of enemies at war with Ariel,

all who trouble and hassle and torment her,

will turn out to be a bad dream, a nightmare.

Like a hungry man dreaming he’s eating steak

and wakes up hungry as ever,

Like a thirsty woman dreaming she’s drinking iced tea

and wakes up thirsty as ever,

So that mob of nations at war against Mount Zion

will wake up and find they haven’t shot an arrow,

haven’t killed a single soul.

9-10 Drug yourselves so you feel nothing.

Blind yourselves so you see nothing.

Get drunk, but not on wine.

Black out, but not from whiskey.

ForGodhas rocked you into a deep, deep sleep,

put the discerning prophets to sleep,

put the farsighted seers to sleep.

You Have Everything Backward

11-12 What you’ve been shown here is somewhat like a letter in a sealed envelope. If you give it to someone who can read and tell her, “Read this,” she’ll say, “I can’t. The envelope is sealed.” And if you give it to someone who can’t read and tell him, “Read this,” he’ll say, “I can’t read.”

13-14 The Master said:

“These people make a big show of saying the right thing,

but their hearts aren’t in it.

Because they act like they’re worshiping me

but don’t mean it,

I’m going to step in and shock them awake,

astonish them, stand them on their ears.

The wise ones who had it all figured out

will be exposed as fools.

The smart people who thought they knew everything

will turn out to know nothing.”

15-16 Doom to you! You pretend to have the inside track.

You shutGodout and work behind the scenes,

Plotting the future as if you knew everything,

acting mysterious, never showing your hand.

You have everything backward!

You treat the potter as a lump of clay.

Does a book say to its author,

“He didn’t write a word of me”?

Does a meal say to the woman who cooked it,

“She had nothing to do with this”?

17-21 And then before you know it,

and without you having anything to do with it,

Wasted Lebanon will be transformed into lush gardens,

and Mount Carmel reforested.

At that time the deaf will hear

word-for-word what’s been written.

After a lifetime in the dark,

the blind will see.

The castoffs of society will be laughing and dancing inGod,

the down-and-outs shouting praise to The Holy of Israel.

For there’ll be no more gangs on the street.

Cynical scoffers will be an extinct species.

Those who never missed a chance to hurt or demean

will never be heard of again:

Gone the people who corrupted the courts,

gone the people who cheated the poor,

gone the people who victimized the innocent.

22-24 And finally this,God’s Message for the family of Jacob,

the sameGodwho redeemed Abraham:

“No longer will Jacob hang his head in shame,

no longer grow gaunt and pale with waiting.

For he’s going to see his children,

my personal gift to him—lots of children.

And these children will honor me

by living holy lives.

In holy worship they’ll honor the Holy One of Jacob

and stand in holy awe of the God of Israel.

Those who got off-track will get back on-track,

and complainers and whiners learn gratitude.”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/ISA/29-f8f74e56edfce736ce3e0663f2731dcd.mp3?version_id=97—

All Show, No Substance

1-5 “Doom, rebel children!”

God’s Decree.

“You make plans, but not mine.

You make deals, but not in my Spirit.

You pile sin on sin,

one sin on top of another,

Going off to Egypt

without so much as asking me,

Running off to Pharaoh for protection,

expecting to hide out in Egypt.

Well, some protection Pharaoh will be!

Some hideout, Egypt!

They look big and important, true,

with officials strategically established in

Zoan in the north and Hanes in the south,

but there’s nothing to them.

Anyone stupid enough to trust them

will end up looking stupid—

All show, no substance,

an embarrassing farce.”

6-7 And this note on the animals of the Negev

encountered on the road to Egypt:

A most dangerous, treacherous route,

menaced by lions and deadly snakes.

And you’re going to lug all your stuff downthere,

your donkeys and camels loaded down with bribes,

Thinking you can buy protection

from that hollow farce of a nation?

Egypt is all show, no substance.

My name for her is Toothless Dragon.

This Is a Rebel Generation

8-11 So, go now and write all this down.

Put it in a book

So that the record will be there

to instruct the coming generations,

Because this is a rebel generation,

a people who lie,

A people unwilling to listen

to anythingGodtells them.

They tell their spiritual leaders,

“Don’t bother us with irrelevancies.”

They tell their preachers,

“Don’t waste our time on impracticalities.

Tell us what makes us feel better.

Don’t bore us with obsolete religion.

That stuff means nothing to us.

Quit hounding us with The Holy of Israel.”

12-14 Therefore, The Holy of Israel says this:

“Because you scorn this Message,

Preferring to live by injustice

and shape your lives on lies,

This perverse way of life

will be like a towering, badly built wall

That slowly, slowly tilts and shifts,

and then one day, without warning, collapses—

Smashed to bits like a piece of pottery,

smashed beyond recognition or repair,

Useless, a pile of debris

to be swept up and thrown in the trash.”

God Takes the Time to Do Everything Right

15-17 God, the Master, The Holy of Israel,

has this solemn counsel:

“Your salvation requires you to turn back to me

and stop your silly efforts to save yourselves.

Your strength will come from settling down

in complete dependence on me—

The very thing

you’ve been unwilling to do.

You’ve said, ‘Nothing doing! We’ll rush off on horseback!’

You’ll rush off, all right! Just not far enough!

You’ve said, ‘We’ll ride off on fast horses!’

Do you think your pursuers ride old nags?

Think again: A thousand of you will scatter before one attacker.

Before a mere five you’ll all run off.

There’ll be nothing left of you—

a flagpole on a hill with no flag,

a signpost on a roadside with the sign torn off.”

18 ButGod’s not finished. He’s waiting around to be gracious to you.

He’s gathering strength to show mercy to you.

Godtakes the time to do everything right—everything.

Those who wait around for him are the lucky ones.

19-22 Oh yes, people of Zion, citizens of Jerusalem, your time of tears is over. Cry for help and you’ll find it’s grace and more grace. The moment he hears, he’ll answer. Just as the Master kept you alive during the hard times, he’ll keep your teacher alive and present among you. Your teacher will be right there, local and on the job, urging you on whenever you wander left or right: “This is the right road. Walk down this road.” You’ll scrap your expensive and fashionable god-images. You’ll throw them in the trash as so much garbage, saying, “Good riddance!”

23-26 God will provide rain for the seeds you sow. The grain that grows will be abundant. Your cattle will range far and wide. Oblivious to war and earthquake, the oxen and donkeys you use for hauling and plowing will be fed well near running brooks that flow freely from mountains and hills. Better yet, on the DayGodheals his people of the wounds and bruises from the time of punishment, moonlight will flare into sunlight, and sunlight, like a whole week of sunshine at once, will flood the land.

27-28 Look,God’s on his way,

and from a long way off!

Smoking with anger,

immense as he comes into view,

Words steaming from his mouth,

searing, indicting words!

A torrent of words, a flash flood of words

sweeping everyone into the vortex of his words.

He’ll shake down the nations in a sieve of destruction,

herd them into a dead end.

29-33 Butyouwill sing,

sing through an all-night holy feast!

Your hearts will burst with song,

make music like the sound of flutes on parade,

En route to the mountain ofGod,

on the way to the Rock of Israel.

Godwill sound out in grandiose thunder,

display his hammering arm,

Furiously angry, showering sparks—

cloudburst, storm, hail!

Oh yes, atGod’s thunder

Assyria will cower under the clubbing.

Every blowGodlands on them with his club

is in time to the music of drums and pipes,

Godin all-out, two-fisted battle,

fighting against them.

Topheth’s fierce fires are well prepared,

ready for the Assyrian king.

The Topheth furnace is deep and wide,

well stoked with hot-burning wood.

God’s breath, like a river of burning pitch,

starts the fire.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/ISA/30-1e22a70b8799b6e403aeac8e7101ab42.mp3?version_id=97—