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Isaiah 6:1-12:6
The call of ISAIAH. (Is.6.1-13)
61 In the year of King Uzziah's death I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne; his train filled the sanctuary. 2 Above him stood seraphs, each one with six wings: two to cover its face, two to cover its feet and two for flying; 3 and they were shouting these words to each other:
Holy, holy, holy is Yahweh Sabaoth.
His glory fills the whole earth.
4 The door-posts shook at the sound of their shouting, and the Temple was full of smoke. 5 Then I said:
'Woe is me! I am lost,
for I am a man of unclean lips
and I live among a people of unclean lips,
and my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh Sabaoth.'
6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding in its hand a live coal which it had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7 With this it touched my mouth and said: 'Look, this has touched your lips, your guilt has been removed and your sin forgiven.' 8 I then heard the voice of the Lord saying:
'Whom shall I send?
Who will go for us?'
And I said, 'Here am I, send me.' 9 He said:
'Go, and say to this people,
'Listen and listen, but never understand!
Look and look, but never perceive!' 10 Make this people's heart coarse,
make their ears dull, shut their eyes tight,
or they will use their eyes to see,
use their ears to hear,
use their heart to understand,
and change their ways and be healed.'
11 I then said, 'Until when, Lord?' He replied, 'Until towns are in ruins and deserted, houses untenanted and a great desolation reigns in the land, 12 and Yahweh has driven the people away and the country is totally abandoned. 13 And suppose one-tenth of them are left in it, that will be stripped again, like the terebinth, like the oak, cut back to the stock; their stock is a holy seed.'
A message for AHAZ, king of Judah. (Is.7.1-9)
71 In the reign of Ahaz son of Jotham, son of Uzziah king of Judah, Razon king of Aram advanced on Jerusalem with Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel, to attack it; but he was unable to attack it. 2 The House of David was informed: 'Aram has halted in Ephraimite territory.' At this, his heart and his people's hearts shook like forest trees shaking in the wind. 3 Yahweh then said to Isaiah, 'Go out with your son Shear-Jashub, and meet Ahaz at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the road to the Fuller's Field, 4 and say to him, 'Pay attention and keep calm. Do not be frightened or demoralised by these two smouldering sticks of firewood, by the fierce anger of Razon, Aram and the son of Remaliah, 5 or because Aram, Ephraim and the son of Remaliah have been plotting against you and saying: 6 Let us mount an attack on Judah, destroy it, force it onto our side and install the son of Tabeel there as king. 7 'Lord Yahweh says this:
This will not happen, it will never occur, 8 for the head of Aram is Damascus,
and the head of Damascus is Razon;
another sixty-five years,
and Ephraim will cease to be a people. 9 The head of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.
If you will not take your stand on me
you will not stand firm.' '
The sign of Emmanuel. (Is.7.10-25)
10 Yahweh spoke to Ahaz again and said: 11 Ask Yahweh your God for a sign, either in the depths of Sheol or in the heights above. 12 But Ahaz said, 'I will not ask. I will not put Yahweh to the test.' 13 He then said: Listen now, House of David: are you not satisfied with trying human patience that you should try my God's patience too? 14 The Lord will give you a sign in any case: It is this:
the young woman is with child and will give birth to a son whom she will call Immanuel. 15 On curds and honey will he feed until he knows how to refuse the bad and choose the good. 16 Before the child knows how to refuse the bad and choose the good, the lands whose two kings are frightening you will be deserted. 17 Yahweh will bring times for you, your people and your ancestral House, such as have not been seen since Ephraim broke away from Judah (the king of Assyria). 18 When that day comes, Yahweh will whistle up mosquitoes from the distant streams of Egypt and bees from the land of Assyria, 19 and they will all come and settle on the streams in the gullies, in the holes in the rocks, on all the thorn-bushes and on all the water-points. 20 That day the Lord will shave, with a razor hired from the other side of the River (with the king of Assyria), the head and the hair of the leg, and take off the beard, too. 21 When that day comes, each man will raise one heifer and two sheep, 22 and because of the abundant milk they give (on curds will he feed) all who are left in the country will feed on curds and honey. 23 When that day comes, wherever there used to be a thousand vines worth a thousand pieces of silver, all will be brambles and thorn-bushes; 24 to be ventured into only with arrows and bow, for the country will be nothing but brambles and thorn-bushes. 25 No more will you venture on any hillside formerly under the hoe for fear of the brambles and thorn-bushes; it will be fit only for pasturing the cattle, a tramping-ground for sheep.
Isaiah's son - a sign to the people. (Is.8.1-4)
81 Yahweh said to me, 'Take a large tablet and on it with an ordinary stylus write, 'Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz'. 2 And take reliable witnesses, the priest Uriah and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah.' 3 I then had intercourse with the prophetess, who then conceived and gave birth to a son. Yahweh said to me, 'Call him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz, 4 for before the child knows how to say 'mother' or 'father', the wealth of Damascus and the booty of Samaria will be carried away while the king of Assyria looks on.'
The king of Assyria is coming (Is.8.5-10)
5 Yahweh spoke to me again and said, 6 'Since this people has rejected the waters of Shiloah which flow smoothly, and has trembled before Razon and the son of Remaliah, 7 now, against it, the Lord will bring the mighty, swelling waters of the River (the king of Assyria and all his glory); the River will flood up all its channels and overflow all its banks; 8 it will flow into Judah, flooding everything and passing on; it will reach right up to the neck, and the spreading of its wings will cover the whole extent of your country, Immanuel!
9 Realise this, peoples, and be afraid,
listen, all members of far-off nations!
Arm yourselves yet be afraid!
Arm yourselves yet be afraid! 10 Devise plans as you may: they will come to nothing!
Make what pronouncements you like; it will not come about!
For God is with us!' 11 For this was how Yahweh spoke to me when his hand seized hold of me
and he taught me not to follow the path of this people, saying,
The LORD warns Isaiah. (Is.8.11-15)
12 'Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy;
do not dread what they dread, have no fear of that. 13 Yahweh Sabaoth is the one you will proclaim holy,
him you will dread, him you will fear. 14 He will be a sanctuary, a stumbling-stone, a rock to trip up the two Houses of Israel;
a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, 15 over which many of them will stumble, fall and be broken, be ensnared and made captive.
Warning against consulting fortune-tellers & mediums. (Is.8.16-20)
16 Bind up the testimony, seal the instruction in the heart of my disciples.' 17 My trust is in Yahweh who hides his face from the House of Jacob;
I put my hope in him. 18 Look, I and the children whom Yahweh has given me shall become signs and portents in Israel on behalf of Yahweh Sabaoth who dwells on Mount Zion. 19 And should people say to you, 'Go and consult ghosts and wizards that whisper and mutter'—
a people should certainly consult its gods and the dead on behalf of the living! 20 As regards instruction and testimony,
without doubt this is how they will talk,
and hence there will be no dawn for them.
A time of trouble. (Is.8.21-9.1)
21 Oppressed and starving he will wander the country;
and, once starving, he will become frenzied and curse his king and his God;
turning his gaze upward, 22 then down to earth,
there will be only anguish, gloom,
the confusion of night, swirling darkness. 23 For is not everything as night for a country in distress?
As the past humbled the land of Zebulon and the land of Naphtali, so the future will glorify the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, the territory of the nations.
The future king. (Is.9.1-7)
91 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light;
on the inhabitants of a country in shadow dark as death light has blazed forth. 2 You have enlarged the nation, you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you as people rejoice at harvest time,
as they exult when they are dividing the spoils. 3 For the yoke that weighed on it, the bar across its shoulders,
the rod of its oppressor,
these you have broken as on the day of Midian. 4 For all the footgear clanking over the ground and all the clothing rolled in blood, will be burnt, will be food for the flames. 5 For a son has been born for us,
a son has been given to us,
and dominion has been laid on his shoulders;
and this is the name he has been given,
'Wonder-Counsellor, Mighty-God,
Eternal-Father, Prince-of-Peace' 6 to extend his dominion in boundless peace,
over the throne of David and over his kingdom
to make it secure and sustain it
in fair judgement and integrity.
From this time onwards and for ever,
the jealous love of Yahweh Sabaoth will do this. 7 The Lord has launched a word at Jacob and it has fallen on Israel; 8 and the people will all soon know it,
Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,
who say in the pride of their arrogant hearts, 9 'The bricks have fallen down but we shall rebuild with dressed stone;
the sycamores have been felled but we shall replace them with cedars.'
The LORD will punish ISRAEL. (Is.9.8-10.4)
10 But, against them, Yahweh has raised their foe Razon,
he has whipped up their enemies, 11 Aram to the east, Philistines to the west,
to devour Israel with gaping jaws.
After all this, his anger is not spent.
No, his hand is still raised! 12 But the people would not come back to him who struck them,
they would not seek out Yahweh Sabaoth; 13 hence Yahweh has topped and tailed Israel,
cutting off palm and reed in a single day. 14 (The 'top' is the elder and the man of rank;
the 'tail' is the prophet teaching lies.) 15 This people's leaders have led them astray,
and those who are led by them are swallowed up. 16 Hence the Lord will no longer take delight in their young people,
or pity on their orphans and widows,
since all of them are godless and evil,
and everything they say is madness.
After all this, his anger is not spent.
No, his hand is still raised! 17 Yes, wickedness has been burning like a fire,
devouring bramble and thorn-bush,
setting the forest thickets ablaze—
up they go in billowing smoke! 18 The country has been set on fire by the fury of Yahweh Sabaoth,
and the people are like food for the flames.
No one spares a thought for his brother. 19 They have sliced to the right and are still hungry,
they have eaten to the left and are not satisfied;
each devours the flesh of his own arm. 20 Manasseh devours Ephraim, Ephraim Manasseh,
together they turn against Judah.
After all this, his anger is not spent.
No, his hand is still raised!
101 Woe to those who enact unjust decrees,
who compose oppressive legislation 2 to deny justice to the weak
and to cheat the humblest of my people of fair judgement,
to make widows their prey and to rob the orphan. 3 What will you do on the day of punishment, when disaster comes from far away?
To whom will you run for help and where will you leave your riches, 4 to avoid squatting among the captives or falling among the slain?
After all this, his anger is not spent.
No, his hand is still raised!
Assyria as the instrument of God. (Is.10.5-19)
5 Woe to Assyria, rod of my anger,
the club in their hands is my fury! 6 I was sending him against a godless nation,
commissioning him against the people who enraged me,
to pillage and plunder at will
and trample on them like the mud in the streets. 7 But this was not his intention nor did his heart plan it so,
for he dreamed of putting an end to them,
of liquidating nations without number! 8 For he thought, 'Are not my officers all kings? 9 Is not Calno like Carchemish,
Hamath like Arpad,
Samaria like Damascus? 10 As my hand has found the kingdoms of the false gods,
where there were more images than in Jerusalem and Samaria, 11 as I have treated Samaria and her false gods
shall I not treat Jerusalem and her statues too?'
12 When the Lord has completed all his work on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
he will punish the fruit of the king of Assyria's boastful heart and the insolence of his haughty looks. 13 For he thinks:
'By the strength of my own arm I have done this and by my own wisdom:
how intelligent I have been!
I have abolished the frontiers between peoples,
I have plundered their treasures,
like a hero, I have subjugated their inhabitants. 14 My hand has found, as though a bird's nest, the riches of the peoples.
Like someone collecting deserted eggs, I have collected the whole world
while no one has fluttered a wing or opened a beak to squawk.' 15 Does the axe claim more credit than the man who wields it,
or the saw more strength than the man who handles it?
As though a staff controlled those who raise it,
or the club could raise what is not made of wood! 16 That is why Yahweh Sabaoth is going to inflict leanness on his stout men,
and beneath his glory kindle a fever burning like a fire. 17 The light of Israel will become a fire and its Holy One a flame
burning and devouring his thorn-bushes and brambles in a day. 18 He will consume his luxuriant forest and productive ground,
he will ravage body and soul:
it will be like a consumptive wasting away; 19 and what remain of the trees of his forest
will be so few that a child could write their number.
A remnant will return. (Is.10.20-23)
20 When that day comes,
the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the House of Jacob
will stop relying on the man who strikes them
and will truly rely on Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel. 21 A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. 22 Israel, though your people are like the sand of the sea,
only a remnant of them will return:
a destruction has been decreed which will make justice overflow, 23 for, throughout the country,
the Lord Yahweh Sabaoth will enforce the destruction now decreed.
The LORD will punish Assyria. (Is.10.24-34)
24 That is why the Lord Yahweh Sabaoth says this:
My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of Assyria!
He may strike you with the rod,
he may raise the club against you
(on the way from Egypt),
25 but in a very short time the retribution will come to an end,
and my anger will destroy them. 26 Yahweh Sabaoth will brandish a whip at him as he struck Midian at Oreb's Rock,
will brandish his rod at the Sea as he raised it on the way from Egypt. 27 When that day comes,
his burden will fall from your shoulder,
and his yoke from your neck,
and the yoke will be destroyed . . . 28 He has reached Aiath,
he has moved on to Migron,
he has left his baggage train at Michmash. 29 They have passed through the defile,
they have bivouacked at Geba.
Ramah quaked, Gibeah of Saul has fled. 30 Cry your loudest, Bath-Gallim!
Pay attention, Laish!
Answer her, Anathoth! 31 Madmenah has run away,
the inhabitants of Gebim have taken cover. 32 This very day,
as he halts at Nob,
he will shake his fist at the mountain of the daughter of Zion,
the hill of Jerusalem. 33 See how the Lord Yahweh Sabaoth violently lops off the foliage!
The ones standing highest are cut down,
the proudest are laid low! 34 The forest thickets fall beneath the axe,
and the Lebanon falls to the blows of a Mighty One.
The peaceful kingdom. (Is.11.1-9)
111 A shoot will spring from the stock of Jesse,
a new shoot will grow from his roots. 2 On him will rest the spirit of Yahweh,
the spirit of wisdom and insight,
the spirit of counsel and power,
the spirit of knowledge and fear of Yahweh: 3 his inspiration will lie in fearing Yahweh.
His judgement will not be by appearances.
His verdict not given on hearsay. 4 He will judge the weak with integrity
and give fair sentence for the humblest in the land.
He will strike the country with the rod of his mouth
and with the breath of his lips bring death to the wicked. 5 Uprightness will be the belt around his waist,
and constancy the belt about his hips. 6 The wolf will live with the lamb,
the panther lie down with the kid,
calf, lion and fat-stock beast together,
with a little boy to lead them. 7 The cow and the bear will graze,
their young will lie down together.
The lion will eat hay like the ox. 8 The infant will play over the den of the adder;
the baby will put his hand into the viper's lair. 9 No hurt, no harm will be done on all my holy mountain,
for the country will be full of knowledge of Yahweh
as the waters cover the sea.
The exiled people will return. (Is.11.10-16)
10 That day, the root of Jesse,
standing as a signal for the peoples,
will be sought out by the nations
and its home will be glorious. 11 When that day comes,
the Lord will raise his hand a second time to ransom the remnant of his people,
those still left, from Assyria, from Egypt,
from Pathros, Cush and Elam,
from Shinar, Hamath and the islands of the Sea. 12 He will hoist a signal for the nations and assemble the outcasts of Israel;
he will gather the scattered people of Judah from the four corners of the earth. 13 Then Ephraim's jealousy will cease and Judah's enemies be suppressed;
Ephraim will no longer be jealous of Judah
nor Judah any longer hostile to Ephraim, 14 but together they will swoop on the Philistines' back, to the west,
and together pillage the people of the east.
Edom and Moab will be subject to their sway
and the Ammonites will obey them. 15 Then Yahweh will dry up the gulf of the Sea of Egypt,
he will raise his hand against the River with the heat of his breath.
He will divide it into seven streams for them to cross dry-shod. 16 And there will be a highway for the remnant of his people
for those still left, from Assyria,
as there was for Israel when he came out of Egypt.
Hymn of thanksgiving. (Is.12.1-6)
121 And, that day, you will say:
'I praise you, Yahweh,
you have been angry with me
but your anger is now appeased and you have comforted me. 2 Look, he is the God of my salvation:
I shall have faith and not be afraid,
for Yahweh is my strength and my song,
he has been my salvation.' 3 Joyfully you will draw water from the springs of salvation 4 and, that day, you will say,
'Praise Yahweh, invoke his name.
Proclaim his deeds to the people,
declare his name sublime. 5 Sing of Yahweh, for his works are majestic,
make them known throughout the world. 6 Cry and shout for joy, you who live in Zion,
For the Holy One of Israel is among you in his greatness.'
- katapi - New Study Bible ... by URL bible references -
| DB1 | New Jerusalem Bible