New King James Version (NKJV)

Isaiah Called to Be a Prophet

1 In the year thatKing Uzziah died, Isaw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of Hisrobefilled the temple.

2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face,with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

3 And one cried to another and said:

# “Holy, holy, holyistheLordof hosts;

# The whole earthisfull of His glory!”

4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.

5 So I said:

“Woeisme, for I am undone!

# Because Iama man ofunclean lips,

And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;

For my eyes have seen the King,

TheLordof hosts.”

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coalwhichhe had taken with the tongs fromthe altar.

7 And hetouched my mouthwithit,and said:

“Behold, this has touched your lips;

Your iniquity is taken away,

And your sin purged.”

8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:

“Whom shall I send,

# And who will go forUs?”

Then I said, “HereamI! Send me.”

9 And He said, “Go, andtell this people:

‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;

Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’

10 “Makethe heart of this people dull,

And their ears heavy,

And shut their eyes;

# Lest they see with their eyes,

And hear with their ears,

And understand with their heart,

And return and be healed.”

11 Then I said, “Lord, how long?”

And He answered:

# “Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant,

The houses are without a man,

The land is utterly desolate,

12 TheLordhas removed men far away,

And the forsaken placesaremany in the midst of the land.

13 But yet a tenthwillbein it,

And will return and be for consuming,

As a terebinth tree or as an oak,

Whose stumpremainswhen it is cut down.

# Sothe holy seedshallbeits stump.”

Isaiah Sent to King Ahaz

1 Now it came to pass in the days ofAhaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah,thatRezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem tomakewar againstit, but could not prevail against it.

2 And it was told to the house of David, saying, “Syria’s forces are deployed in Ephraim.” So his heart and the heart of his people were moved as the trees of the woods are moved with the wind.

3 Then theLordsaid to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-Jashub your son, at the end of the aqueduct from the upper pool, on the highway to the Fuller’s Field,

4 and say to him: ‘Take heed, and bequiet; do not fear or be fainthearted for these two stubs of smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and the son of Remaliah.

5 Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah have plotted evil against you, saying,

6 “Let us go up against Judah and trouble it, and let us make a gap in its wall for ourselves, and set a king over them, the son of Tabel”—

7 thus says the LordGod:

# “It shall not stand,

Nor shall it come to pass.

8 For the head of SyriaisDamascus,

And the head of DamascusisRezin.

Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken,

Sothatitwillnotbea people.

9 The head of EphraimisSamaria,

And the head of SamariaisRemaliah’s son.

# If you will not believe,

Surely you shall not be established.” ’ ”

The Immanuel Prophecy

10 Moreover theLordspoke again to Ahaz, saying,

11 “Ask a sign for yourself from theLordyour God; ask it either in the depth or in the height above.”

12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test theLord!”

13 Then he said, “Hear now, O house of David!Isita small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also?

14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign:Behold, the virgin shall conceive and beara Son, and shall call His nameImmanuel.

15 Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good.

16 For before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you dread will be forsaken byboth her kings.

17 TheLordwill bring the king of Assyria upon you and your people and your father’s house—days that have not come since the day thatEphraim departed from Judah.”

18 And it shall come to pass in that day

# ThattheLordwill whistle for the fly

Thatisin the farthest part of the rivers of Egypt,

And for the bee thatisin the land of Assyria.

19 They will come, and all of them will rest

# In the desolate valleys and inthe clefts of the rocks,

And on all thorns and in all pastures.

20 In the same day the Lord will shave with ahiredrazor,

With those from beyond the River, with the king of Assyria,

The head and the hair of the legs,

And will also remove the beard.

21 It shall be in that day

Thata man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep;

22 So it shall be, from the abundance of milk they give,

That he will eat curds;

For curds and honey everyone will eat who is left in the land.

23 It shall happen in that day,

Thatwherever there could be a thousand vines

Wortha thousandshekelsof silver,

# It will be for briers and thorns.

24 With arrows and bowsmenwill come there,

Because all the land will become briers and thorns.

25 And to any hill which could be dug with the hoe,

You will not go there for fear of briers and thorns;

But it will become a range for oxen

And a place for sheep to roam.

Assyria Will Invade the Land

1 Moreover theLordsaid to me, “Take a large scroll, andwrite on it with a man’s pen concerning Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.

2 And I will take for Myself faithful witnesses to record,Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.”

3 Then I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then theLordsaid to me, “Call his name Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz;

4 for before the child shall have knowledge to cry ‘My father’ and ‘My mother,’the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be taken away before the king of Assyria.”

5 TheLordalso spoke to me again, saying:

6 “Inasmuch as these people refused

# The waters ofShiloah that flow softly,

# And rejoicein Rezin and in Remaliah’s son;

7 Now therefore, behold, the Lord brings up over them

The waters of the River, strong and mighty—

The king of Assyria and all his glory;

He will go up over all his channels

And go over all his banks.

8 He will pass through Judah,

He will overflow and pass over,

# He will reach up to the neck;

And the stretching out of his wings

# Will fill the breadth of Your land, OImmanuel.

9 “Beshattered, O you peoples, and be broken in pieces!

Give ear, all you from far countries.

Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces;

Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces.

10 Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing;

# Speak the word,but it will not stand,

# For Godiswith us.”

Fear God, Heed His Word

11 For theLordspoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying:

12 “Do not say, ‘A conspiracy,’

Concerning all that this people call a conspiracy,

Nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.

13 TheLordof hosts, Him you shall hallow;

LetHimbeyour fear,

AndletHimbeyour dread.

14 He will be as a sanctuary,

# Buta stone of stumbling and a rock of offense

To both the houses of Israel,

As a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

15 And many among them shallstumble;

They shall fall and be broken,

Be snared and taken.”

16 Bind up the testimony,

Seal the law among my disciples.

17 And I will wait on theLord,

# Whohides His face from the house of Jacob;

# And Iwill hope in Him.

18 Here am I and the children whom theLordhas given me!

# Weare for signs and wonders in Israel

From theLordof hosts,

Who dwells in Mount Zion.

19 And when they say to you,“Seek those who are mediums and wizards,who whisper and mutter,” should not a people seek their God?Shouldtheyseek the dead on behalf of the living?

20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word,itisbecausethere is no light in them.

21 They will pass through it hard-pressed and hungry; and it shall happen, when they are hungry, that they will be enraged andcurse their king and their God, and look upward.

22 Then they will look to the earth, and see trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish; andtheywillbedriven into darkness.

The Government of the Promised Son

1 Neverthelessthe gloomwillnotbeupon her whoisdistressed,

# As when atfirst He lightly esteemed

The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,

# Andafterward more heavily oppressedher,

Bythe way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,

In Galilee of the Gentiles.

2 The people who walked in darkness

Have seen a great light;

Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death,

Upon them a light has shined.

3 You have multiplied the nation

Andincreased its joy;

They rejoice before You

According to the joy of harvest,

# Asmenrejoicewhen they divide the spoil.

4 For You have broken the yoke of his burden

And the staff of his shoulder,

The rod of his oppressor,

# As in the day ofMidian.

5 For every warrior’s sandal from the noisy battle,

And garments rolled in blood,

# Will be used for burningandfuel of fire.

6 For unto us a Child is born,

# Unto us aSon is given;

# Andthe government will be upon His shoulder.

And His name will be called

# Wonderful, Counselor,Mighty God,

# Everlasting Father,Prince of Peace.

7 Of the increase ofHisgovernment and peace

# Therewillbeno end,

Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,

To order it and establish it with judgment and justice

From that time forward, even forever.

# Thezeal of theLordof hosts will perform this.

The Punishment of Samaria

8 The Lord sent a word againstJacob,

And it has fallen on Israel.

9 All the people will know—

Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria—

Who say in pride and arrogance of heart:

10 “The bricks have fallen down,

But we will rebuild with hewn stones;

The sycamores are cut down,

But we will replacethemwith cedars.”

11 Therefore theLordshall set up

The adversaries of Rezin against him,

And spur his enemies on,

12 The Syrians before and the Philistines behind;

And they shall devour Israel with an open mouth.

For all this His anger is not turned away,

But His handisstretched out still.

13 For the people do not turn to Him who strikes them,

Nor do they seek theLordof hosts.

14 Therefore theLordwill cut off head and tail from Israel,

# Palm branch and bulrushin one day.

15 The elder and honorable, heisthe head;

The prophet who teaches lies, heisthe tail.

16 Forthe leaders of this people causethemto err,

Andthosewhoareled by them are destroyed.

17 Therefore the Lordwill have no joy in their young men,

Nor have mercy on their fatherless and widows;

For everyoneisa hypocrite and an evildoer,

And every mouth speaks folly.

# For all this His anger is not turned away,

But His handisstretched out still.

18 For wickednessburns as the fire;

It shall devour the briers and thorns,

And kindle in the thickets of the forest;

They shall mount uplikerising smoke.

19 Through the wrath of theLordof hosts

# The land is burned up,

And the people shall be as fuel for the fire;

# No man shall spare his brother.

20 And he shall snatch on the right hand

And be hungry;

He shall devour on the left hand

# And not be satisfied;

# Every man shall eat the flesh of his own arm.

21 ManassehshalldevourEphraim, and Ephraim Manasseh;

# Together theyshallbeagainst Judah.

# For all this His anger is not turned away,

But His handisstretched out still.

1 “Woe to those whodecree unrighteous decrees,

Who write misfortune,

Whichthey have prescribed

2 To rob the needy of justice,

And to take what is right from the poor of My people,

That widows may be their prey,

Andthatthey may rob the fatherless.

3 What will you do inthe day of punishment,

# And in the desolationwhichwill come fromafar?

To whom will you flee for help?

And where will you leave your glory?

4 Without Me they shall bow down among theprisoners,

And they shall fall among the slain.”

# For all this His anger is not turned away,

But His handisstretched out still.

Arrogant Assyria Also Judged

5 “Woe to Assyria,the rod of My anger

And the staff in whose hand is My indignation.

6 I will send him againstan ungodly nation,

And against the people of My wrath

# I willgive him charge,

To seize the spoil, to take the prey,

And to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

7 Yet he does not mean so,

Nor does his heart think so;

Butitisin his heart to destroy,

And cut off not a few nations.

8 For he says,

‘Arenot my princes altogether kings?

9 IsnotCalnolike Carchemish?

Isnot Hamath like Arpad?

# Isnot Samarialike Damascus?

10 As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols,

Whose carved images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria,

11 As I have done to Samaria and her idols,

Shall I not do also to Jerusalem and her idols?’ ”

12 Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Lord has performed all His workon Mount Zion and on Jerusalem,thatHewillsay,“I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty looks.”

13 For he says:

“By the strength of my hand I have doneit,

And by my wisdom, for I am prudent;

Also I have removed the boundaries of the people,

And have robbed their treasuries;

So I have put down the inhabitants like a valiantman.

14 My hand has found like a nest the riches of the people,

And as one gathers eggsthatareleft,

I have gathered all the earth;

And there was no one who movedhiswing,

Nor openedhismouth with even a peep.”

15 Shallthe ax boast itself against him who chops with it?

Orshall the saw exalt itself against him who saws with it?

As if a rod could wielditselfagainst those who lift it up,

Oras if a staff could lift up,asifitwerenot wood!

16 Therefore the Lord, the Lord of hosts,

Will send leanness among his fat ones;

And under his glory

He will kindle a burning

Like the burning of a fire.

17 So the Light of Israel will be for a fire,

And his Holy One for a flame;

# It will burn and devour

His thorns and his briers in one day.

18 And it will consume the glory of his forest and ofhis fruitful field,

Both soul and body;

And they will be as when a sick man wastes away.

19 Then the rest of the trees of his forest

Will be so few in number

That a child may write them.

The Returning Remnant of Israel

20 And it shall come to pass in that day

Thatthe remnant of Israel,

And such as have escaped of the house of Jacob,

# Will never again depend on him who defeated them,

But will depend on theLord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.

21 The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob,

# To theMighty God.

22 For though your people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea,

# A remnant of them will return;

The destruction decreed shall overflow with righteousness.

23 For the LordGodof hosts

Will make a determined end

In the midst of all the land.

24 Therefore thus says the LordGodof hosts: “O My people, who dwell in Zion,do not be afraid of the Assyrian. He shall strike you with a rod and lift up his staff against you, in the manner ofEgypt.

25 For yet a very little whileand the indignation will cease, as will My anger in their destruction.”

26 And theLordof hosts will stir upa scourge for him like the slaughter ofMidian at the rock of Oreb;asHis rod was on the sea, so will He lift it up in the manner of Egypt.

27 It shall come to pass in that day

Thathis burden will be taken away from your shoulder,

And his yoke from your neck,

# And the yoke will be destroyed because ofthe anointing oil.

28 He has come to Aiath,

He has passed Migron;

At Michmash he has attended to his equipment.

29 They have gone alongthe ridge,

They have taken up lodging at Geba.

Ramah is afraid,

# Gibeah of Saul has fled.

30 Lift up your voice,

# O daughterof Gallim!

# Cause it to be heard as far asLaish—

O poor Anathoth!

31 Madmenah has fled,

The inhabitants of Gebim seek refuge.

32 As yet he will remainat Nob that day;

# He willshake his fist at the mount ofthe daughter of Zion,

The hill of Jerusalem.

33 Behold, the Lord,

TheLordof hosts,

Will lop off the bough with terror;

# Those of high staturewillbehewn down,

And the haughty will be humbled.

34 He will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron,

And Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One.

The Reign of Jesse’s Offspring

1 Thereshall come forth a Rod from the stem ofJesse,

# Anda Branch shall grow out of his roots.

2 The Spirit of theLordshall rest upon Him,

The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

The Spirit of counsel and might,

The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of theLord.

3 His delightisin the fear of theLord,

And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes,

Nor decide by the hearing of His ears;

4 Butwith righteousness He shall judge the poor,

And decide with equity for the meek of the earth;

# He shallstrike the earth with the rod of His mouth,

And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.

5 Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins,

And faithfulness the belt of His waist.

6 “Thewolf also shall dwell with the lamb,

The leopard shall lie down with the young goat,

The calf and the young lion and the fatling together;

And a little child shall lead them.

7 The cow and the bear shall graze;

Their young ones shall lie down together;

And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

8 The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole,

And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den.

9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,

# Forthe earth shall be full of the knowledge of theLord

As the waters cover the sea.

10 “Andin that daythere shall be a Root of Jesse,

# Who shall stand as abanner to the people;

# For theGentiles shall seek Him,

And His resting place shall be glorious.”

11 It shall come to pass in that day

Thatthe Lord shall set His hand again the second time

To recover the remnant of His people who are left,

# From Assyria and Egypt,

From Pathros and Cush,

From Elam and Shinar,

From Hamath and the islands of the sea.

12 He will set up a banner for the nations,

And will assemble the outcasts of Israel,

# And gather togetherthe dispersed of Judah

From the four corners of the earth.

13 Alsothe envy of Ephraim shall depart,

And the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off;

Ephraim shall not envy Judah,

And Judah shall not harass Ephraim.

14 But they shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines toward the west;

Together they shall plunder the people of the East;

# They shall lay their hand on Edom and Moab;

And the people of Ammon shall obey them.

15 TheLordwill utterly destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt;

With His mighty wind He will shake His fist over the River,

And strike it in the seven streams,

And makemencross over dry-shod.

16 There will be a highway for the remnant of His people

Who will be left from Assyria,

# As it was for Israel

In the day that he came up from the land of Egypt.

A Hymn of Praise

1 Andin that day you will say:

“OLord, I will praise You;

Though You were angry with me,

Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me.

2 Behold, Godismy salvation,

I will trust and not be afraid;

# ‘ForYah, theLord,ismy strength and song;

He also has become my salvation.’ ”

3 Therefore with joy you will drawwater

From the wells of salvation.

4 And in that day you will say:

# “Praise theLord, call upon His name;

# Declare His deeds among the peoples,

# Make mention that Hisname is exalted.

5 Sing to theLord,

For He has done excellent things;

Thisisknown in all the earth.

6 Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion,

# For greatisthe Holy One of Israel in your midst!”

Proclamation Against Babylon

1 Theburden against Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.

2 “Liftup a banneron the high mountain,

Raise your voice to them;

# Wave your hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles.

3 I have commanded My sanctified ones;

# I have also calledMy mighty ones for My anger—

# Those whorejoice in My exaltation.”

4 Thenoise of a multitude in the mountains,

Like that of many people!

A tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together!

TheLordof hosts musters

The army for battle.

5 They come from a far country,

From the end of heaven—

# TheLordand His weapons of indignation,

# To destroy the wholeland.

6 Wail,for the day of theLordisat hand!

# It will come as destruction from the Almighty.

7 Therefore all hands will be limp,

Every man’s heart will melt,

8 And they will be afraid.

# Pangs and sorrows will take hold ofthem;

They will be in pain as a woman in childbirth;

They will be amazed at one another;

Their faceswillbelikeflames.

9 Behold,the day of theLordcomes,

Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger,

To lay the land desolate;

# And He will destroyits sinners from it.

10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations

Will not give their light;

# The sun will bedarkened in its going forth,

And the moon will not cause its light to shine.

11 “I willpunish the world foritsevil,

And the wicked for their iniquity;

# I will halt the arrogance of the proud,

And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.

12 I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold,

A man more than the golden wedge of Ophir.

13 Therefore I will shake the heavens,

And the earth will move out of her place,

In the wrath of theLordof hosts

# And inthe day of His fierce anger.

14 It shall be as the hunted gazelle,

And as a sheep that no man takes up;

# Every man will turn to his own people,

And everyone will flee to his own land.

15 Everyone who is found will be thrust through,

And everyone who is captured will fall by the sword.

16 Their children also will bedashed to pieces before their eyes;

Their houses will be plundered

# And their wivesravished.

17 “Behold,I will stir up the Medes against them,

Who will not regard silver;

Andasforgold, they will not delight in it.

18 Alsotheirbows will dash the young men to pieces,

And they will have no pity on the fruit of the womb;

Their eye will not spare children.

19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms,

The beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride,

# Will be as when God overthrewSodom and Gomorrah.

20 It will never be inhabited,

Nor will it be settled from generation to generation;

Nor will the Arabian pitch tents there,

Nor will the shepherds make their sheepfolds there.

21 But wild beasts of the desert will lie there,

And their houses will be full of owls;

Ostriches will dwell there,

And wild goats will caper there.

22 The hyenas will howl in their citadels,

And jackals in their pleasant palaces.

# Her timeisnear to come,

And her days will not be prolonged.”

Mercy on Jacob

1 For theLordwill have mercy on Jacob, andwill still choose Israel, and settle them in their own land.The strangers will be joined with them, and they will cling to the house of Jacob.

2 Then people will take themand bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them for servants and maids in the land of theLord; they will take them captive whose captives they were,and rule over their oppressors.

Fall of the King of Babylon

3 It shall come to pass in the day theLordgives you rest from your sorrow, and from your fear and the hard bondage in which you were made to serve,

4 that youwill take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say:

“How the oppressor has ceased,

# Thegolden city ceased!

5 TheLordhas brokenthe staff of the wicked,

The scepter of the rulers;

6 He who struck the people in wrath with a continual stroke,

He who ruled the nations in anger,

Is persecutedandno one hinders.

7 The whole earth is at restandquiet;

They break forth into singing.

8 Indeed the cypress trees rejoice over you,

Andthe cedars of Lebanon,

Saying,‘Since you were cut down,

No woodsman has come up against us.’

9 “Hellfrom beneath is excited about you,

To meetyouat your coming;

It stirs up the dead for you,

All the chief ones of the earth;

It has raised up from their thrones

All the kings of the nations.

10 They all shallspeak and say to you:

‘Have you also become as weak as we?

Have you become like us?

11 Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,

Andthe sound of your stringed instruments;

The maggot is spread under you,

And worms cover you.’

The Fall of Lucifer

12 “Howyou are fallen from heaven,

O Lucifer, son of the morning!

Howyou are cut down to the ground,

You who weakened the nations!

13 For you have said in your heart:

# ‘I will ascend into heaven,

# I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;

# I will also sit on themount of the congregation

# On the farthest sides of the north;

14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,

# I will be like the Most High.’

15 Yet youshall be brought down to Sheol,

To the lowest depths of the Pit.

16 “Those who see you will gaze at you,

Andconsider you,saying:

‘Isthis the man who made the earth tremble,

Who shook kingdoms,

17 Who made the world as a wilderness

And destroyed its cities,

Whodid not open the house of his prisoners?’

18 “All the kings of the nations,

All of them, sleep in glory,

Everyone in his own house;

19 But you are cast out of your grave

Like an abominable branch,

Likethe garment of those who are slain,

Thrust through with a sword,

Who go down to the stones of the pit,

Like a corpse trodden underfoot.

20 You will not be joined with them in burial,

Because you have destroyed your land

Andslain your people.

# The brood of evildoers shall never be named.

21 Prepare slaughter for his children

# Because of the iniquity of their fathers,

Lest they rise up and possess the land,

And fill the face of the world with cities.”

Babylon Destroyed

22 “For I will rise up against them,” says theLordof hosts,

# “And cut off from Babylonthe name andremnant,

# And offspring and posterity,” says theLord.

23 “I will also make it a possession for theporcupine,

And marshes of muddy water;

I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” says theLordof hosts.

Assyria Destroyed

24 TheLordof hosts has sworn, saying,

“Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass,

# And as I have purposed,soit shallstand:

25 That I will break theAssyrian in My land,

And on My mountains tread him underfoot.

# Thenhis yoke shall be removed from them,

And his burden removed from their shoulders.

26 Thisisthepurpose that is purposed against the whole earth,

And thisisthe hand that is stretched out over all the nations.

27 For theLordof hosts haspurposed,

And who will annulit?

His handisstretched out,

And who will turn it back?”

Philistia Destroyed

28 This is the burden which came in the year thatKing Ahaz died.

29 “Do not rejoice, all you of Philistia,

# Because the rod that struck you is broken;

For out of the serpent’s roots will come forth a viper,

# And its offspringwillbea fiery flying serpent.

30 The firstborn of the poor will feed,

And the needy will lie down in safety;

I will kill your roots with famine,

And it will slay your remnant.

31 Wail, O gate! Cry, O city!

All you of Philistiaaredissolved;

For smoke will come from the north,

And no onewillbealone in his appointed times.”

32 What will they answer the messengers of the nation?

# ThattheLordhas founded Zion,

# Andthe poor of His people shall take refuge in it.

Proclamation Against Moab

1 Theburden against Moab.

# Because in the nightAr ofMoab is laid waste

Anddestroyed,

Because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste

Anddestroyed,

2 He has gone up to the temple and Dibon,

To the high places to weep.

Moab will wail over Nebo and over Medeba;

# On all their headswillbebaldness,

Andevery beard cut off.

3 In their streets they will clothe themselves with sackcloth;

On the tops of their houses

And in their streets

# Everyone will wail,weeping bitterly.

4 Heshbon and Elealeh will cry out,

# Their voice shall be heard as far asJahaz;

Therefore the armed soldiers of Moab will cry out;

His life will be burdensome to him.

5 “Myheart will cry out for Moab;

His fugitivesshallfleeto Zoar,

Likea three-year-old heifer.

# Forby the Ascent of Luhith

They will go up with weeping;

For in the way of Horonaim

They will raise up a cry of destruction,

6 For the watersof Nimrim will be desolate,

For the green grass has withered away;

The grass fails, there is nothing green.

7 Therefore the abundance they have gained,

And what they have laid up,

They will carry away to the Brook of the Willows.

8 For the cry has gone all around the borders of Moab,

Its wailing to Eglaim

And its wailing to Beer Elim.

9 For the waters of Dimon will be full of blood;

Because I will bring more upon Dimon,

# Lions upon him who escapes from Moab,

And on the remnant of the land.”