CHAPTERS 17--32

CHAPTER 17

1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away, that it be not a city; For it shall be a heap of ruins.

2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken; They shall be changed into sheepfolds; They shall lie down, And there shall be none to terrify them.

3 And the fortress shall cease from Ephraim, And the kingdom from Damascus; And the remnant of Syria shall be As the glory of the children of Israel, Saith Jehovah of hosts.

4 And it shall be in that day, The glory of Jacob shall be diminished, And the fatness of his flesh shall become lean.

5 And it shall be as he who gathereth the harvest of the corn, Who reapeth the ears with his arm, Like as one gleaneth grapes in the valley of Rephaim.

6 And in thee shall be left a gleaning, as the shaking of an olive-tree; There two or three berries remain on the top of the highest branch. Four or five on the spreading branches of its fruit, Saith Jehovah, the God of Israel.

7 In that day shall a man look to his Maker, And his eyes shall be fixed on the Holy One of Israel.

8 And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his own hands. Nor view the things which his fingers have made, Nor the groves, Nor the graven images.

9 In that day the cities of his strength shall be, As the forsaking of a thicket And of a branch, In like manner as they left before the children of Israel; And there shall be desolation.

10 Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, And hast not been mindful of the God of thy strength; Therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, And thou shalt engraft a foreign shoot.

11 In the day of thy plantation shalt thou make it to grow, And in the morning thou shalt make the seed to sprout; But in the day of enjoying shall the harvest fail. And the grief shall be desperate.

12 Alas! the multitude of many peoples; Like the sound of many peoples shall they sound, And like the noise of nations; Like the noise of mighty waters shall they rush.

13 Like the noise of mighty waters Shall the peoples make a noise, And he will rebuke them, And will drive them far away; They shall be chased. As the chaff of the mountains before the wind, And as a rolling thing before the whirlwind.

14 In the evening time, behold! trouble: Ere it be morning, it shall not at all be. This is the portion of them that tread us down, And the lot of them that plunder us.

CHAPTER 18

1 Alas! the land shadowing with wings, Which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia.

2 Sending ambassadors by the sea, In ships of reeds on the waters. Go, ye swift messengers, To a nation scattered And plundered, To a people terrible from that time And till now, To a nation trodden down on every side, Whose land the rivers have plundered.

3 All ye inhabitants of the world, And dwellers on the earth, When he shall set up a standard on the mountains, you shall see it; When he shall sound a trumpet, you shall hear it.

4 Thus also hath Jehovah said to me, I will rest, And will look in my tabernacle, As the heat that drieth up the rain, And as a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.

5 For when the harvest shall be at hand, The bud shall be perfect, And the ripening fruit shall go out of the flower Then will he prune the twigs with pruning-hooks, And cut down And take away the branches.

6 They shall be left together to the fowls of the mountains, And to the beasts of the earth. The fowls shall spend the summer upon them, And all the beasts of the earth shall spend the winter upon them.

7 At that time shall a present be brought to Jehovah of hosts, A people torn And plundered, And from a people terrible from the beginning hitherto; From a nation trodden down on every side, Whose land the rivers have plundered, To the place of the name of Jehovah of hosts, To Mount Zion.

CHAPTER 19

1 The burden of Egypt. Behold, Jehovah rideth on a swift cloud, And will come into Egypt; And the idols of Egypt shall be moved before his face, And the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of her.

2 And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians; Then shall they fight every one against his brother, Every one against his neighbor; City against city, And kingdom against kingdom.

3 And the spoil of Egypt shall be emptied in the midst of her, And I will destroy her counsel, Even though they seek to the idols, to the magicians, To the soothsayers, to the diviners.

4 And I will deliver the Egyptians . into the hand of a cruel master, And a powerful king shall rule over them, Saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts.

5 Then shall the waters fail from the sea, And the flood shall be wasted And dried up.

6 The rivers shall be turned aside; The brooks of defense shall be emptied And dried up; The reed And the flag shall wither.

7 The herbs at the brook, And on the mouth of the brook, And all the seed of the river, Shall wither, And be driven away, that it may be no more.

8 And the fishers shall mourn, And all who cast a hook into the brook shall lament; They who spread a net on the face of the waters shall anguish.

9 They who work in the finest flax shall blush, And they who weave perforated ¹ meshes.

10 For their nets shall be broken, And all that make a net shall be sad in their heart.

11 Surely the princes of Zoan are fools; The counsel of the wise counselors of Pharaoh is foolish. How say ye to Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, And the son of ancient kings?

12 Where are now thy wise men? That they may declare to thee, Or that they may even know, What Jehovah of hosts hath decreed concerning Egypt.

13 The princes of Zoan are become infatuated, The princes of Noph are deceived; Egypt hath been led astray By a corner of her tribes.

14 Jehovah hath mingled a spirit of perverseness in the midst of her; And they have misled Egypt in all her work, As a drunken man staggereth in his vomit.

15 Neither shall Egypt have any work to do, The head or the tail. The branch or the rush.

16 In that day shall Egypt be like women; For it shall shudder And tremble, From before the shaking of the hand of Jehovah of hosts, Which he shall shake over it.

17 And to the Egyptians shall the land of Judah be a terror. Every one that shall mention it Shall tremble on account of her, Because of the purpose of Jehovah of hosts, Which he hath decreed concerning her.

18 In that day shall there be five cities in the land of Egypt. Speaking with the lip of Canaan, And swearing by Jehovah of hosts. One shall be called, The city of desolation.

19 In that day shall there be an altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt, And a statue to Jehovah near its border.

20 And it shall be for a sign And for a witness To Jehovah of hosts, in the land of Egypt; For they shall cry to Jehovah because of the oppressors. And he will send to them a savior, And a ruler, that he may deliver them.

21 And Jehovah shall be known by the Egyptians; The Egyptians shall know Jehovah in that day. And shall make sacrifice And oblation, And shall vow vows to Jehovah, And perform them.

22 Therefore will the Lord smite Egypt. Smiting And healing; For they shall be turned to Jehovah, And he will be entreated by them, And will heal them.

23 In that day shall there be a way from Egypt into Assyria; The Assyrians shall go into Egypt, And the Egyptians into Assyria; And the Egyptians shall serve the Assyrians. ²

24 In that day shall Israel be, With Egypt And with Assyria, The third blessing in the midst of the land.

25 For Jehovah of hosts will bless him, saying, Blessed be the Egyptian, my people, And the Assyrian, the work of my hands, And Israel, my inheritance.

CHAPTER 20

1 In the year that Tartan came to Ashdot, (when Sargon, the king of Assyria, sent him,) And attacked Ashdod, And took it.

2 At that time Jehovah spoke by the hand of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saying, Go And loose the sackcloth from thy loins, And put off thy shoe from thy foot.

3 And he did so, walking naked And barefooted. And Jehovah said: As my servant Isaiah for three years, Hath walked naked And barefooted, A sign And a wonder. Concerning Egypt And concerning Ethiopia;

4 So will the king of Assyria lead away the captivity of Egypt, And the removal of Ethiopia, Of the young And of the old, Naked And barefooted, And with their hinder parts uncovered, To the disgrace of Egypt.

5 And they shall be afraid And ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, And of Egypt their glory. ³

6 And in that day shall the inhabitant of this island say, Behold! what is become of our expectation, To which we fled for aid, That we might be delivered from the face of the king of Assyria; And how shall we escape?

CHAPTER 21

1 The burden of the desert of the sea. As storms that pass from a southerly direction, It will come from the wilderness, From a terrible land.

2 A harsh vision hath been declared to me, The transgressor to the transgressor, And the plunderer to the plunderer. Go up, O Persian! Besiege, O Mede! All his groaning have I made to cease.

3 Therefore are my loins filled with pain; Pangs have seized me, as the pangs of a woman in labor; I am bowed down at hearing, And am dismayed at seeing.

4 My heart is shaken; Terror hath overwhelmed me; The night of my pleasures He hath changed to terror.

5 Prepare the table; Watch in the watch-tower; Eat, drink; Arise, ye princes, And anoint the shield.

6 For thus hath the Lord said to me: Go, appoint a watchman, That he may declare what he seeth.

7 And he saw a chariot of a couple of horsemen, A chariot of an ass, And a chariot of a camel; Next, he looked attentively, And watched eagerly.

8 Then he cried, A lion. On my watch-tower, my lord, I continually stand by day, And in my ward am I stationed whole nights.

9 And behold, here cometh a chariot of a man, A couple of horsemen. And he spoke, And said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen! And all the graven images of her gods, Hath he broken to the ground.

10 O my thrashing, And the corn of my floor! I have related to you what I have heard From Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel.

11 The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir: Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?

12 The watchman said: The morning cometh, afterwards the night. If ye will inquire, inquire ye. Return, come.

13 The burden in Arabia. In the forest in Arabia shall ye lodge, In the ways of Dedanim.

14 To meet the thirsty bring waters, O inhabitants of the land of Tema! Relieve the fugitive with thy bread.

15 For they flee from the face of the swords, From the face of the drawn sword, From the face of the bent bow, From the face of the grievousness of war.

16 For thus hath the Lord said to me: Yet a year, according to the years of a hireling, Then shall all the glory of Kedar fail;

17 And then shall be diminished the number of the archers, Which shall be reckoned among the mighty sons of Kedar; For Jehovah, the God of Israel, hath spoken it.

CHAPTER 22

1 The burden of the valley of vision. What hast thou here, ⁴ That thou art entirely gone up upon the roofs?

2 Full of miseries, Tumultuous city, joyful city; Thy slain men are not slain by the sword, And are not dead in battle.

3 All thy rulers have fled; Together have they been made prisoners by the archers; All that were found in thee have been made prisoners together, Who have fled from afar.

4 Therefore I said, Let me alone; I will be bitter in my weeping; Labor not to comfort me Because of the plundering of the daughters of my people.

5 For it is a day of trouble, And of treading down, And of perplexity, From the Lord Jehovah of hosts, in the valley of vision, Demolishing the city, And crying to the mountain.

6 Yet Elam beareth the quiver, In a chariot of men And horsemen, And Kir uncovereth the shield.

7 And the choice of thy valleys was filled with chariots, And horsemen set themselves in array at the gate.

8 And he took away the covering of Judah; And thou didst look in that day To the armory of the house of the forest.

9 And ye have seen the breaches of the city of David, which were many; And ye collected the waters of the lower pool.

10 And the houses of Jerusalem have ye numbered, And ye have thrown down houses to fortify the wall.

11 For the waters of the old pool, Have ye also made a ditch between the walls; And ye have not looked to him that made it, And have not seen him that formed it in ancient times. ⁵

12 And in that day the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, Called to weeping And to lamentation, To baldness And girding with sackcloth;

13 And, behold! joy And gladness, Slaying oxen, killing sheep, Eating flesh, And drinking wine, Eating And drinking; For tomorrow we shall die!

14 It was revealed in my ears by Jehovah of hosts, If this iniquity shall be forgiven you till ye die, Saith the Lord Jehovah of hosts.

15 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah of hosts, Go, approach to that abettor, To Shebna, the ruler of the house.

16 What hast thou here? And whom hast thou here? That thou hast hewed out here for thyself a sepulchre, As he who heweth out his sepulchre on high, Or who cutteth out a habitation for himself in the rock.

17 Behold, Jehovah will carry thee away with a remarkable carrying away, And covering will cover thee.

18 Whirling he will turn thee with whirling, As a ball with the hands, into a distant country; There shalt thou die; And there the chariot of thy glory, Shall be the disgrace of the house of thy lord.

19 And I will drive thee from thy post, And from thy abode shall he east thee out.

20 And it shall be in that day, I will call my servant, Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah.

21 And I will clothe him with thy raiment, And will strengthen him with thy girdle, And will deliver thy power into his hand; And he shall be a father of the inhabitant of Jerusalem, And of the house of Judah.

22 And I will lay the key of the house of David upon his shoulder; He will open, And none shall shut; He will shut, And none shall open.

23 And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place, And to the house of his father he shall become a throne of glory.

24 And all the glory of his fathers house, Grandchildren And great-grandchildren, All smaller vessels, From vessels of cups to all vessels of musical instruments, They shall hang upon him.

25 In that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, The nail fixed in a sure place shall be removed, And shall be cut down, And shall fall; And the burden which was upon it shall be cut off; For Jehovah hath spoken it.

CHAPTER 23

1 The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; For desolation has been made. So that there is no house, That there is no entering in from the land of Chittim. This was revealed to them.

2 Be silent, ye inhabitants of the islands, The merchant of Sidon; they that crossed the sea; Who supplied thee.

3 By great waters was the seed of the Nile; Her fruits were the harvest of the river; And she was a mart of nations.

4 Be ashamed, O Sidon; For the sea hath spoken, The strength of the sea, saying, I have not conceived nor brought forth, And I have not brought up young men, And have not reared virgins.

5 As soon as the report shall reach the Egyptians, They shall be grieved according to the report of Tyre.

6 Pass ye over to Tarshish; Howl, ye inhabitants of the islands.

7 Is this your exulting city? From ancient days is her antiquity. Her feet shall carry her, To travel into a distant country.

8 Who hath consulted this concerning crowning, Pyre, Whose merchants are princes, Whose traders are the nobles of the land

9 Thus hath Jehovah of hosts decreed, To profane the pride of all that are illustrious, To bring into contempt all the renowned of the land.

10 Cross over from thy land, like a river, To the daughter of Tarshish; For there is no longer any girdle.

11 He laid his hand upon the sea, He shook kingdoms. Jehovah hath commanded concerning Canaan, To weaken her strength.

12 And he saith, O virgin daughter of Sidon, When thou shalt be oppressed, Thou shalt not add any more to rejoice. Arise, that thou mayest pass over into Chittim; Yet even there thou shalt not have rest.

13 Behold, the land of the Chaldeans; This was not a people; Assyria founded it for the inhabitants of the wilderness; They have reared its fortresses; They have built its palaces; He hath reduced it to desolation.

14 Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; For your strength is laid waste.

15 It shall come to pass in that day, That Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, According to the days of one king; At the end of seventy years, Shall Tyre have a song like that of a harlot.

16 Take a harp, go about the city, O harlot, devoted to forgetfulness! Make sweet melody, multiply song, That thou mayest be kept in remembrance.

17 It shall then be at the end of seventy years, That Jehovah will visit Tyre; And then shall she return to her hire, And shall commit fornication With all the kingdoms of the earth Which are upon the earth.

18 Yet her merchandise And her hire, Shall be holy to Jehovah; It shall not be treasured nor laid up; But her merchandise shall be, For them that dwell before Jehovah, That they may eat sufficiently, And may have a thick covering.

CHAPTER 24

1 Behold, Jehovah emptieth the earth, Maketh it bare, Overturneth its face, And scattereth its inhabitants.

2 And it shall be, as the people, so the priest; As the servant, so his master; As the maid, so her mistress; As the buyer, so the seller; As the lender, so the borrower; As the usurer, so he that giveth usury. ⁶

3 By emptying shall the earth be emptied, And by plundering shall it be plundered; For Jehovah hath spoken this word.

4 The earth hath lamented, And hath fallen; The world hath languished, And hath fallen; They who were the lofty people of the earth have languished.

5 And the earth hath been deceitful under its inhabitants; Because they have transgressed the laws, They have changed the ordinance, They have broken the covenant of eternity.

6 Therefore hath the curse consumed the earth, And its inhabitants are made desolate; Therefore are the inhabitants of the earth burned, And few men have been left.

7 The wine hath failed; The vine hath languished; All who were of joyful heart have groaned.

8 The joy of tabrets hath ceased, The noise of them that exult is ended, The mirth of the harp is silent.

9 They shall not drink wine with a song; Strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it.

10 The city of vanity is broken down; Every house is shut up, that none may enter.

11 There is a cry about wine in the streets; All joy is darkened; The mirth of the land hath departed.

12 Desolation is left in the city, And the gate is smitten with desolation.

13 For in the midst of the land, In the midst of the peoples, Thus shall it be as the shaking of an olive-tree, And as the shaking of the grapes, when the vintage is ended.

14 They shall lift up their voice; They shall shout for the majesty of the Lord; They shall cry aloud from the sea.

15 Therefore glorify ye Jehovah in the valleys, The name of Jehovah, the God of Israel, in the isles of the sea.

16 From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, Glory to the Righteous One! And I said, I have leanness! I have leanness! Wo to me! The treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; With treachery have the treacherous dealers dealt treacherously.

17 Fears And the pit, And the snare, Are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth!

18 And it shall come to pass, That he who fleeth from the voice of fear, Shall fall into the pit, And he who goeth up out of the midst of the pit, Shall be taken in the snare; For the windows from on high are opened, And the foundations of the earth are shaken.

19 By bruising is the earth bruised; By breaking down is the earth broken down; By shaking is the earth shaken.

20 With reeling doth the earth reel, like a drunkard; And it shall be removed, like a tabernacle; And its transgression shall be heavy upon it; And it shall fall, And shall not add to rise again.

21 And it shall be in that days, Jehovah will visit, Upon the high army on high, And upon the kings of the earth on the earth.

22 And with gathering together shall they be gathered together Like prisoners in a dungeon; And they shall be shut up in a prison; Afterwards at the end of many days shall they be visited.

23 The moon shall be confounded, And the sun shall be ashamed, When Jehovah of hosts shall reign In Mount Zion, And in Jerusalem; And before his elders glory.

CHAPTER 25

1 O Jehovah, thou art my God; I will exalt thee; I will praise thy name; For thou hast done a wonderful thing; Counsels which have been already decreed of old; Firm truth.

2 For thou hast made of a city a heap; A fortified city to be a ruin; A palace of foreigners, that it may not be a city, That it may never be built.

3 Therefore shall the mighty people glorify thee; The city of the powerful nations shall fear thee.

4 For thou hast been strength to the poor; Strength to the needy in his affliction; A refuge from the flood, A shadow from the heat; For the breath of the strong ⁷ ones Was as a storm ⁸ against the wall.

5 As the heat in a dry place, Thou wilt lay low the noise of foreigners, As the heat by the shadow of a cloud; The shouting ⁹ of the strong ones wilt thou lay low.

6 And Jehovah of hosts will make For all people in that mountain A feast of fat things, A feast of liquids purified, Of fat things full of marrow, Of liquids purified.

7 And he will destroy in that mountain, The free of the covering with which all nations were covered, And the veil which was spread over all nations.

8 He hath destroyed death eternally. And the Lord Jehovah will wipe away tears from all faces, And will take away the disgrace of his people from all the earth; For Jehovah hath spoken it.

9 And it shall he said in that day: Lo, this is our God; We have waited for him, And he will save us; This is Jehovah; We have waited for him; We will rejoice And be glad in his salvation.

10 For the hand of Jehovah shall rest on that mountain; And Moab shall be trodden down under him, As straw is trodden down on the dunghill.

11 And he will spread out his hand under the midst of them, As a swimmer spreadeth forth his hands to swim; And he will lay low their pride, With the arms of their hands.

12 And the fortress of the loftiness of thy walls He will bring down, He will lay low, And he will cast down to the ground, To the dust.

CHAPTER 26

1 In that day shall a song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a city of strength; He hath made salvation to be walls And a rampart.

2 Open ye the gates, And the righteous nation shall enter, Which keepeth the truth.

3 The thought is fixed; Thou wilt keep peace, peace; For they have trusted in thee.

4 Hope ye in Jehovah for ever; For in Jah Jehovah is the strength of ages.

5 For he will bow down the inhabitants of loftiness; He will lay low the elevated city; He will lay it low to the ground; He will bring it to the dust.

6 The foot shall tread it down; The feet of the poor, The steps of the needy.

7 Straightnesses are the path of the righteous man; The straight way of the righteous man thou wilt weigh. ¹⁰

8 Even in the way of thy judgments, O Jehovah, We have waited for thee; To thy name, And to the remembrance of thee, Is the desire of the soul.

9 My soul hath desired thee in the night; Yea, with my spirit within me I will seek thee in the morning; ¹¹ For so soon as thy judgments shall be in the earth, The inhabitants of the earth shall learn righteousness.

10 The wicked man will obtain favor, And will not learn righteousness; In the land of upright actions he will deal unjustly, And will not behold the majesty of Jehovah.

11 Jehovah, though thy hand is lifted up, They will not see; They shall see, And be ashamed, Through their envy of the people; Yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them.

12 O Jehovah, thou wilt ordain peace for us; For thou also hast wrought all our works for us.

13 O Jehovah our God, Lords besides thee have had dominion over us; By thee only will we call thy name to remembrance.

14 The dead shall not live; The slain shall not rise again; Therefore thou hast visited and driven them away, And hast destroyed all remembrance of them.

15 Thou hast added to the nation, O Jehovah! Thou hast added to the nation; Thou art glorified; Thou hast enlarged all the boundaries of the earth.

16 O Jehovah, in trouble have they visited thee; They poured out a prayer, when thy chastening was upon them.

17 As a woman with Child, who draweth near to her delivery, Is in pain, And crieth out in her pains; So have we been before thy face, O Jehovah.

18 We have been in labor, We have had pain, As if we had brought forth wind; Salvation hath not been wrought for the earth, And the inhabitants of the world have not fallen.

19 Thy dead men shall live; My dead body, they shall arise; Awake And sing, ye inhabitants of the dust; For thy dew is the dew of herbs; And the earth shall cast out the dead. ¹²

20 Come, O my people; Enter thou into thy chambers; Shut the door behind thee; Hide thyself a little for a moment, Till the indignation pass over.

21 For, behold, Jehovah cometh out of his place, To visit the iniquity of the inhabitant of the earth against him; And the earth shall disclose her blood, And shall no longer cover her slain.

CHAPTER 27

1 In that day will Jehovah visit, With his hard, And great, And strong sword, On leviathan the piercing serpent, And on leviathan the crooked serpent; And he will slay the dragon that is in the sea.

2 In that day sing ye to the vineyard of redness.

3 I Jehovah keep it; Every moment will I water it; That (the enemy) may not visit it, I will keep it night And day.

4 Fury doth not dwell in me. Who shall engage me in battle with the brier And thorn? ¹³ I will pass through it in a hostile manner, I will utterly burn it up.

5 Will she take hold of my strength, That she may make peace with me? Yea, that she may make peace with me?

6 Afterwards shall Jacob put forth roots; Israel shall bud And blossom; And the face of the world shall be filled with fruit.

7 Hath he smitten him according to the stroke of him that smote him? Hath he been slain according to the slaughter of them that slew him?

8 In measure, in her shooting forth, Thou wilt contend with her; Even though he blow with his violent wind, In the day of the east wind.

9 Therefore in this manner shall the iniquity of Jacob be expiated; And this is all the fruit, The taking away of his sin; When he shall make all the stones of the altar As lime-stones broken in pieces, That groves And images may not rise again.

10 Yet the fortified city shall be desolate; The inhabited place shall be deserted, And forsaken like a wilderness. There the calf shall feed, And there shall lie down, And shall browse on its tops.

11 When its harvest shall wither, they shall break ¹⁴ it; Women coming shall burn it; For it is a people that doth not understand; Therefore their Maker will not have compassion on them, And he who formed them will not be gracious to them.

12 Yet in that day it shall come to pass That Jehovah will thrash From the channel of the river To the river of Egypt; And ye shall be gathered one by one, O children of Israel.

13 It shall also come to pass in that day, That the great trumpet shall be blown; And they shall come who were perishing in the land of Assyria, And who had been scattered in the land of Egypt; And they shall worship Jehovah, In the holy mountain, in Jerusalem.

CHAPTER 28

1 Wo to the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim; For the splendor of his glory shall be a fading flower, Which is on the head of the valley of the fat ones, Of them that are overcome by wine.

2 Behold, the Lord hath a mighty And strong one; As a deluge of hail, A desolating whirlwind; As the violence of mighty waters overflowing, Casting down to the earth with the hand.

3 The crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim, Shall be trodden under feet.

4 And the splendor of his glory shall be a fading flower, Which is on the head of the valley of the fat ones; Like the premature fig before the summer, Which, while he looketh at it, While it is yet in his hand, He that seeth it devoureth.

5 In that day will Jehovah of hosts :Become a crown of glory And a diadem of excellence To the remnant of his people,

6 And a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth on the judgment-seat, And strength to them that drive back the battle to the gate.

7 But they also have erred through wine; Through strong drink they have gone astray. The priest And the prophet have erred through strong drink; They have been swallowed up by wine; They have gone astray through strong drink; They have erred in vision, They have stumbled in judgment.

8 For all tables are full of nauseous vomiting, So that no place is unoccupied.

9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? And whom shall he make to understand doctrine? Them that are weaned from the milk? Them that are withdrawn from the breasts?

10 For precept must be on precept, precept on precept; Instruction on instruction, instruction on instruction; Here a little, there a little.

11 For with stammering lips will he speak to this people, And with a foreign tongue.

12 For he said to them, This is the rest; Cause the weary to rest; And this is the refreshing; And they refused to hear.

13 The word of Jehovah shall therefore be to them. Rule upon rule, rule upon rule; Instruction upon instruction, instruction upon instruction; Here a little, there a little; Therefore they shall go, And shall fall backward, Shall be broken, And snared, And taken.

14 Therefore hear the word of Jehovah, ye scornful men, Who govern this people, which is in Jerusalem.

15 Because ye have said, We have struck a league with death, And with hell have we made a compact; When the overflowing scourge shall pass through, It shall not come to us; For we have made falsehood our refuge, And under vanity have we hidden ourselves.

16 Wherefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will lay in Zion a stone, a stone of trial, A precious corner-stone, a sure foundation. He that believeth shall not make haste.

17 And I will lay judgment to the line, And righteousness to the measure. ¹⁵ The hail shall sweep away the reliance of falsehood, And the waters shall overflow the hiding-place.

18 And your compact with death shall be disannulled; Your agreement with hell shall not stand; When the overflowing scourge shall pass through, Then shall ye become a treading down to it.

19 From the time that it shall pass, It shall seize you every morning, And shall pass every day by day And by night; And it shall be that terror ¹⁶ alone, Shall cause them to understand the report.

20 For the bed is short, so that it is not enough; The covering shall be narrow for wrapping,

21 For as in Mount Perazim will Jehovah stand up, And as in the valley of Gibeon will he be angry; ¹⁷ To do his work, his strange work; To perform his act, his strange act.

22 Now therefore he ye not mockers, Lest your chains be more firmly fastened; For I have heard from the Lord Jehovah of hosts a consumption, And a completion on the whole earth.

23 Listen ye, And hear my voice; Hearken, And hear my speech.

24 Doth the ploughman plough every day, that he may sow? Doth he open And break the clods of his field.

25 When he hath leveled its surface, Will he not then scatter fitches, And sow cummin, And allot wheat in measure, And barley measured, And spelt in its order?

26 His God instructeth him, And teacheth him what is right.

27 Certainly vetches shall not be thrashed with a toothed instrument, Nor shall the wheel of a cart be turned round on the cummin; For vetches are beaten with a staff, And cummin with a rod.

28 Though wheat be bruised, He doth not bruise it continually, Nor always cause the wheel of his cart to grind it, Lest he crush it with its teeth.

29 This also hath proceeded from Jehovah of hosts, Who is wonderful in counsel, And majestic in procedure.

CHAPTER 29

1 Alas! Ariel, Ariel, The city which David inhabited, Add ye year to year, That the lambs may be slain.

2 Yet I will bring Ariel into distress, And there shall be grief And sorrow, And it shall be to me as Ariel.

3 And I will encamp against thee round about, And will attack thee with a military force, And will erect ramparts against thee.

4 Then shalt thou be brought low, Thou shalt speak out of the earth, And thy speech shall come out of the dust, And thy voice shall be like that of a sorcerer out of the earth, And thy speech shall mutter out of the dust.

5 And the sound of thy foreigners shall be as the small dust, And the multitude of thy mighty men as the passing chaff, And it shall be in a moment suddenly.

6 Thou shalt be visited by Jehovah of hosts With thunder, And earthquake, And great noise, With whirlwind And tempest, And with the flame of devouring fire.

7 And as a dream of a vision of the night shall be, The multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, Of every one that fighteth, And that raiseth fortifications against her, And that distresseth her.

8 It shall therefore be, As when a hungry man dreameth, And behold! he eateth, But when he awaketh, his soul is empty; And as when a thirsty man dreameth, And behold! He drinketh, But when he awaketh, he is faint, And his soul hath appetite; So shall be the multitude of all the nations That fight against Mount Zion.

9 Tarry And wonder; They are blinded And they blind; They are drunken, but not with wine; They stagger, And not with strong drink.

10 For Jehovah hath overpowered you with the spirit of slumber, And hath closed your eyes; Your prophets And principal seers He hath struck with darkness.

11 Therefore every vision hath become to you, As the words of a sealed book; Which if they deliver to one who knoweth letters, And say, Read in it, I pray, Then shall he say, I cannot, For it is sealed:

12 And if the book be delivered to one who hath not learned letters, And it be said, Read in it, I pray, Then shall he say, I know not letters.

13 Therefore the Lord saith: Because this people draw near to me with their mouth, And honor me with their lips, And have removed their heart far from me, And their fear toward me hath been taught by the commandment of men;

14 Therefore, behold! I add to do, A wonderful work among this people, A miracle And a prodigy; For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, And the prudence of their prudent men shall vanish away.

15 Wo to them that conceal themselves from Jehovah, That they may hide counsel; For their works are in the dark, And they say, Who seeth us? And, Who knoweth us?

16 Is your turning reckoned like potters clay? Doth a work say of its author, He did not make me? And doth a thing framed say of its framer, He did not understand?

17 Is it not yet a little, a little, And Lebanon shall be changed into Carmel, And Carmel shall be reckoned a forest?

18 And in that day shall the deaf hear, The words of the book, And the eyes of the blind shall see, Out of obscurity And out of darkness.

19 Then shall the humble again take joy in Jehovah, And the poor of men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

20 For the violent man is brought to naught, The mocker is despised; And they who hastened early to iniquity are ruined.

21 Who make a man to offend in word, Who have laid snares for him that reproveth in the gate, And have turned aside the righteous man for nothing.

22 Therefore Jehovah, who redeemed Abraham, Speaketh thus to the house of Jacob: Jacob shall not now be confounded. Nor shall his face now become pale.

23 For when he shall see in the midst of him His children, the work of my hands, They shall sanctify my name, They shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, They shall fear the God of Israel.

24 Then they that erred in spirit shall learn understanding, And the murmurers shall learn doctrine.

CHAPTER 30

1 Wo to the rebellious ¹⁸ children, saith Jehovah, That they may take counsel. And not from me; That they may cover a secret, ¹⁹ And not from my Spirit; That they may add sin to sin.

2 Who set out that they may go down into Egypt, And have not inquired at my mouth; Strengthening themselves with the strength of Pharaoh, And trusting in the shadow of Egypt.

3 But the strength of Pharaoh, Shall become to you shame; And reliance on the shadow of Egypt, Shall become disgrace.

4 For his princes were in Zoan, And his ambassadors came to Hanes.

5 All shall be ashamed, Of a people that will not profit them, And will not become a help, And will not yield advantage, But will become shame, And even disgrace.

6 The burden of the beasts of the south. In the land of trouble And anguish, The lion And the stronger lion, The viper And the flying serpent; While they shall carry their riches On the shoulders of young asses, And on the bunches of camels, To a people that will not profit them.

7 Surely the Egyptians are vanity, And shall help in vain. Therefore have I cried to her, Their strength is to sit still.

8 Now go, And write this vision on a tablet before them, And engrave it in a book, That it may be till the last day, For ever And ever.

9 For this is a rebellious people, Lying children, Children who refuse to hear the law of Jehovah.

10 Who say to the seers, Do not see, And to the foreseers, Do not foresee to us right things; Speak ye to us flatteries, See ye errors.

11 Go out of the way; Turn aside from the path; Cause the Holy One of Israel To depart from our presence.

12 Therefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel: Because ye have disdained this word, And have trusted in violence And wickedness, And have rested on it;

13 Therefore shall your iniquity be to you, Like a breach falling, Like the bulging out in a lofty wall, The fall of which comes suddenly And unexpectedly.

14 And the breaking of it shall be, As the breaking of a potters vessel, Which is broken without mercy; And in its breaking there is not found a sherd To carry fire from the hearth, Or to draw water from a well.

15 For thus saith the Lord Jehovah, The Holy One of Israel: "In rest And quietness shall you be safe; In peace And confidence shall be your strength; But ye would not.

16 And ye said, ]No, but we will flee on horses; Therefore shall ye flee; We will ride on the swift; Therefore they that shall pursue you shall be more swift.

17 A thousand as one from the face of the rebuke of one, From the face of the rebuke of five shall ye flee, Until ye shall be left, As the mast of a ship on the top of a mountain. And as a banner on a hill.

18 Therefore will Jehovah wait for you, That he may have compassion on you; And therefore will he be exalted, That he may have compassion on you; For Jehovah is a God of judgment: Blessed are all they that wait for him.

19 Surely the people in Zion shall dwell in Jerusalem: Weeping thou shalt not weep; With compassion will he have compassion on thee; At the voice of thy cry, as soon as he shall hear it, He will answer thee.

20 When the Lord shall have given to you, Bread of anguish, And water of affliction, Thy rain shall not be withheld, And thine eyes shall see thy rain.

21 Then shall thine ears hear a word behind thee, Saying, This is the way; Walk ye in it; another ye go to the right, Or go to the left.

22 Then shall ye profane, The covering of the graven images of thy silver, And the covering of thy molten gold; And thou shalt put it away from thee as a menstruous cloths. And shalt say to it, Depart. ²⁰

23 Then will he give rain to thy seed, When thou shalt have sowed the ground, And bread of the produce of the earth; And it shall be plentiful And fat; And in that day thy cattle Shall feed in large pastures.

24 Thine oxen also, And the young asses that labor the ground, Shall eat clean provender, Which shall be winnowed with the shovel, And with the sieve.

25 And it shall come to pass, That on every high mountain, And on every lofty hill, Shall be streams, streams of waters, In the day of the great slaughter When the towers shall have fallen.

26 And the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, And the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, As the light of seven days, In the day when Jehovah, Shall have bound up the breach of his people, And shall have healed the stroke of their wound.

27 Behold! the name of Jehovah cometh From a distant place: His face burneth, And the burden is heavy; His lips are full of indignation, And his tongue as a devouring fire.

28 And his breath, as an overflowing torrent, Shall divide even to the neck; To sift the nations with a useless sieve; And on the cheeks of the peoples There shall be a bridle causing to err.

29 You shall have a song, as in the night When a festival is kept. And gladness of heart, As of him. that moveth to a pipe, That he may come to the mountain of Jehovah, To the Mighty One of Israel.

30 And Jehovah shall cause to be heard the power of his voice, And shall cause to be seen the descent of his arm, With rage of countenance, And with the flame of devouring fire, With scattering, with flood, And with hailstones.

31 Verily by the voice of Jehovah shall the Assyrian be crushed, Who smote with a rod.

32 And in every passage shall be the fastened staff, Which Jehovah shall lay upon him With tabrets And harps, And with battles of lifting up Shall he fight against her.

33 For Prophet is ordained since yesterday; Yea, for the king it is prepared: He hath made it deep And large; The pile of it is fire, And much wood; The breath of Jehovah, like a torrent of brimstone, Doth kindle it.

CHAPTER 31

1 Wo to them that go clown into Egypt for help, And who rely on horses, And who trust to chariots, because they are numerous, And to horses, because they are very strong, And have not looked to the Holy One of Israel, Nor have sought Jehovah.

2 Yet he also is wise: Therefore he will bring evil, And will not make void his words; he will rise up against the house of the evil-doers, And against the aid of the workers of vanity.

3 And verily the Egyptian is a man, And not God; And his horses are flesh, And not spirit. Therefore, as soon as Jehovah shall stretch out his arm, The helper shall fall, And he who is helped shall fall down, And all shall fail together.

4 For thus hath Jehovah said to me: As the lion roareth, And the young lion for his prey, Against whom, if a multitude of shepherds be gathered together, He shall not be alarmed by their cry, And shall not humble himself on account of their noise; Thus will Jehovah of hosts come down To fight for Mount Zion, And for its hill.

5 As birds which fly, So will Jehovah of hosts defend Jerusalem; Defending, he will deliver it, And passing over, he will preserve it.

6 Return ye, As ye have made a deep revolt, O children of Israel

7 For in that day shall a man cast away The idols of his silver, And the idols of his gold, Which your hands have made for you, a sin.

8 Then shall the Assyrian fall by the sword, not of a mighty man; And the sword, not of a man, shall devour him; And by flight shall he seek safety from the face of the sword, And his young men shall melt away.

9 He shall pass to his stronghold through fear, And his princes shall tremble at the banner, saith Jehovah, Who hath a fire ²¹ in Zion, And who hath a furnace in Jerusalem.

CHAPTER 32

1 Behold! a king shall reign in righteousness, And princes shall rule in judgment.

2 And that man shall be, As a hiding-place from the wind, As a covert from the rainy, As streams of waters on dry ground, As the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

3 Then the eyes of them that see shall not be closed up, And the ears of them that hear shall hearken.

4 And the heart of fools shall be eagerly directed to knowledge, And the tongue of stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.

5 No longer shall the base man be called liberal, Nor shall the parsimonious man be called bountiful.

6 For the vile person will speak vileness, And his heart will contrive iniquity, To commit wickedness, That he may utter mockery against Jehovah, That he may make empty the hungry soul, And that he may withhold drink from him that is thirsty.

7 The instruments of the covetous man are evil; ²² He contriveth wickednesses, That he may deceive the simple by lying words, And that he may speak against the poor man in judgment.

8 But the liberal man shall devise liberal things, And in acting liberally he shall make progress.

9 Ye women at ease, arise; Hear my voice, ye careless daughters; Hearken to my speech.

10 Days above a year shall ye tremble, ye careless women; For the vintage shall fail, And the gathering shall not come.

11 Tremble, ye women that are at ease; Be troubled, ye careless women; Strip you, make you bare, gird your limbs.

12 Mourning over the udders, Over the pleasant fields, Over the fruitful vine.

13 There shall come up t. he thorn And brier, On the land of my people, Even on all the houses of gladness in the city of rejoicing.

14 For the palace shall be forsaken; The noise of the city shall be left; The tower And the fortress, Shall be reduced to dens for ever, Where wild asses may delight themselves, And where flocks may feed.

15 Till the Spirit be poured out upon you from on high, And the wilderness become a cultivated field, And the cultivated field be reckoned like a forest.

16 And judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, And justice shall have its abode in the cultivated field.

17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; The effect of righteousness shall be Safety And quietness for ever.

18 And my people shall dwell in a tabernacle of peace, And in safe dwellings, And in quiet resting-places.

19 And in coming down the hail shall turn aside on the forest, And the city shall be situated in a low place.

20 Blessed are ye who sow on all waters, Who send forth the feet of the ox And of the ass.