Isaiah: Into Darkness (Intro)#
Introduction#
I’m imagining this bible study will be more based around discussion, as we do pre-reading of some of the sections. While reading, we can accumulate discussion topics, reference followups, and such either individually (or recorded into this spreadsheet). We’ll see how this works in the first week! I’ll try to fill out the site with references from the spreadsheet before we meet, and possibly update the site afterward with summaries (if we think it would be useful).
Isaiah is translated as “salvation of the Lord” or “the Lord is salvation”. Through our reading of Isaiah, we hope to deepen our understanding of this ultimate gift of grace.
The subtitle “into darkness”, in addition to being a Star Trek joke, represents one of the major motifs that appears in Isaiah, that of light and darkness. Light imagery is used extensively for contrast and to The first Biblical reference to the “light for/unto the nations” occurs in Isaiah.
⁶ I, the Lord, have called you for justice,I have grasped you by the hand;I formed you, and set youas a covenant for the people,a light for the nations,
The first five chapters are an indictment of Israel that culminates in Isaiah’s call to prophecy in the sixth chapter. For this week, we’ll stop after the first five, leaving us temporarily with the darkness closing in:
³⁰ They will growl over it, on that day,
like the growling of the sea,
Look to the land—
darkness closing in,
the light dark with clouds!
before we return to light:
⁵ Now this is the message that we have heard from him and proclaim to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we say, “We have fellowship with him,” while we continue to walk in darkness, we lie and do not act in truth. ⁷ But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of his Son Jesus cleanses us from all sin.
Pre-reading#
Isaiah’s writings and oracles span before and through the reign of Ahaz and Hezekiah in Judahh and later addresses Jews in exile. The different behaviors of King Ahaz and King Hezekiah and their trust in God is a major contrast we will also observe in Isaiah.
The description of this time period in 2 Kings 16-20 sets the stage for us to jump into Isaiah.
Read 2 Kings, chapters 16, 17 (1-23), 18, 19, and 20
¹ In the seventeenth year of Pekah, son of Remaliah, Ahaz, son of Jotham, king of Judah, became king. ² Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem.
³ He walked in the way of the kings of Israel; he even immolated his child by fire, in accordance with the abominable practices of the nations whom the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites. ⁴ Further, he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on hills, and under every green tree.
⁵ Then Rezin, king of Aram, and Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to attack it. Although they besieged Ahaz, they were unable to do battle. ⁶ (In those days Rezin, king of Aram, recovered Elath for Aram, and drove the Judahites out of it. The Edomites then entered Elath, which they have occupied until the present.)
⁷ Meanwhile, Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, with the plea: “I am your servant and your son. Come up and rescue me from the power of the king of Aram and the king of Israel, who are attacking me.” ⁸ Ahaz took the silver and gold that were in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king’s house and sent them as a present to the king of Assyria. ⁹ The king of Assyria listened to him and moved against Damascus, captured it, deported its inhabitants to Kir, and put Rezin to death.
¹⁰ King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria. When he saw the altar in Damascus, King Ahaz sent to Uriah the priest a model of the altar and a detailed design of its construction. ¹¹ Uriah the priest built an altar according to the plans which King Ahaz sent him from Damascus, and had it completed by the time King Ahaz returned from Damascus. ¹² On his arrival from Damascus, the king inspected the altar; the king approached the altar, went up ¹³ and sacrificed his burnt offering and grain offering, pouring out his libation, and sprinkling the blood of his communion offerings on the altar. ¹⁴ The bronze altar that stood before the Lord he brought from the front of the temple—that is, from the space between the new altar and the house of the Lord—and set it on the north side of his altar. ¹⁵ King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, “Upon the large altar sacrifice the morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering, the king’s burnt offering and grain offering, and the burnt offering and grain offering of the people of the land. Their libations you must sprinkle on it along with all the blood of burnt offerings and sacrifices. But the old bronze altar shall be mine for consultation.” ¹⁶ Uriah the priest did just as King Ahaz had commanded. ¹⁷ King Ahaz detached the panels from the stands and removed the basins from them; he also took down the bronze sea from the bronze oxen that supported it, and set it on a stone pavement. ¹⁸ In deference to the king of Assyria he removed the sabbath canopy that had been set up in the house of the Lord and the king’s outside entrance to the temple.
¹⁹ The rest of the acts of Ahaz, with what he did, are recorded in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah. ²⁰ Ahaz rested with his ancestors; he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David, and his son Hezekiah succeeded him as king.
¹ In the twelfth year of Ahaz, king of Judah, Hoshea, son of Elah, became king in Samaria over Israel for nine years.
² He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, yet not to the extent of the kings of Israel before him. ³ Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, advanced against him, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute. ⁴ But the king of Assyria found Hoshea guilty of conspiracy for sending messengers to the king of Egypt at Sais, and for failure to pay the annual tribute to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria arrested and imprisoned him. ⁵ Then the king of Assyria occupied the whole land and attacked Samaria, which he besieged for three years.
⁶ In Hoshea’s ninth year, the king of Assyria took Samaria, deported the Israelites to Assyria, and settled them in Halah, and at the Habor, a river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. ⁷ This came about because the Israelites sinned against the Lord, their God, who had brought them up from the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. They venerated other gods, ⁸ they followed the rites of the nations whom the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites and those that the kings of Israel had practiced. ⁹ They adopted unlawful practices toward the Lord, their God. They built high places in all their cities, from guard post to garrisoned town. ¹⁰ They set up pillars and asherahs for themselves on every high hill and under every green tree. ¹¹ They burned incense there, on all the high places, like the nations whom the Lord had sent into exile at their coming. They did evil things that provoked the Lord, ¹² and served idols, although the Lord had told them: You must not do this.
¹³ The Lord warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and seer: Give up your evil ways and keep my commandments and statutes, in accordance with the entire law which I enjoined on your ancestors and which I sent you by my servants the prophets. ¹⁴ But they did not listen. They grew as stiff-necked as their ancestors, who had not believed in the Lord, their God. ¹⁵ They rejected his statutes, the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and the warnings he had given them. They followed emptiness and became empty; they followed the surrounding nations whom the Lord had commanded them not to imitate. ¹⁶ They abandoned all the commandments of the Lord, their God: they made for themselves two molten calves; they made an asherah; they bowed down to all the host of heaven; they served Baal. ¹⁷ They immolated their sons and daughters by fire. They practiced augury and divination. They surrendered themselves to doing what was evil in the Lord’s sight, and provoked him.
¹⁸ The Lord became enraged, and removed them from his presence. Only the tribe of Judah was left. ¹⁹ Even the people of Judah did not keep the commandments of the Lord, their God, but followed the rites practiced by Israel. ²⁰ So the Lord rejected the entire people of Israel: he afflicted them and delivered them over to plunderers, finally casting them from his presence. ²¹ When he tore Israel away from the house of David, they made Jeroboam, son of Nebat, king; but Jeroboam lured the Israelites away from the Lord, causing them to commit a great sin. ²² The Israelites imitated Jeroboam in all the sins he committed; they would not depart from them.
²³ Finally, the Lord removed Israel from his presence, just as he had declared through all his servants, the prophets. Thus Israel went into exile from their native soil to Assyria until this very day.
¹ In the third year of Hoshea, son of Elah, king of Israel, Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, king of Judah, became king. ² He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi, daughter of Zechariah.
³ He did what was right in the Lord’s sight, just as David his father had done. ⁴ It was he who removed the high places, shattered the pillars, cut down the asherah, and smashed the bronze serpent Moses had made, because up to that time the Israelites were burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.) ⁵ He put his trust in the Lord, the God of Israel; and neither before nor after him was there anyone like him among all the kings of Judah. ⁶ Hezekiah held fast to the Lord and never turned away from following him, but observed the commandments the Lord had given Moses. ⁷ The Lord was with him, and he succeeded in all he set out to do. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. ⁸ It was he who struck the Philistines as far as Gaza, and all its territory from guard post to garrisoned town.
⁹ In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea, son of Elah, king of Israel, Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, attacked Samaria and laid siege to it, ¹⁰ and after three years they captured it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, the ninth year of Hoshea, king of Israel, Samaria was taken. ¹¹ The king of Assyria then deported the Israelites to Assyria and led them off to Halah, and the Habor, a river of Gozan, and the cities of the Medes. ¹² This happened because they did not obey the Lord, their God, but violated his covenant; they did not obey nor do all that Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded.
¹³ In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. ¹⁴ Hezekiah, king of Judah, sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: “I have done wrong. Leave me, and whatever you impose on me I will bear.” The king of Assyria exacted three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold from Hezekiah, king of Judah. ¹⁵ Hezekiah gave him all the funds there were in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king’s house. ¹⁶ At the same time, Hezekiah removed the nave doors and the uprights of the house of the Lord, which the king of Judah had ordered to be overlaid with gold, and gave them to the king of Assyria.
¹⁷ The king of Assyria sent the general, the lord chamberlain, and the commander from Lachish with a great army to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They went up and came to Jerusalem, to the conduit of the upper pool on the highway of the fuller’s field, where they took their stand. ¹⁸ They called for the king, but Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, the master of the palace, came out, along with Shebnah the scribe and the chancellor Joah, son of Asaph.
¹⁹ The commander said to them, “Tell Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you base this trust of yours? ²⁰ Do you think mere words substitute for strategy and might in war? In whom, then, do you place your trust, that you rebel against me? ²¹ Do you trust in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it? That is what Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is to all who trust in him. ²² Or do you people say to me, “It is in the Lord our God we trust!”? Is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, commanding Judah and Jerusalem, “Worship before this altar in Jerusalem”?’
²³ “Now, make a wager with my lord, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses if you are able to put riders on them. ²⁴ How then can you turn back even a captain, one of the least servants of my lord, trusting, as you do, in Egypt for chariots and horses? ²⁵ Did I come up to destroy this place without the Lord? The Lord himself said to me: Go up and destroy that land!”
²⁶ Then Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah and Joah said to the commander: “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic; we understand it. Do not speak to us in the language of Judah within earshot of the people who are on the wall.” ²⁷ But the commander replied: “Was it to your lord and to you that my lord sent me to speak these words? Was it not rather to those sitting on the wall, who, with you, will have to eat their own excrement and drink their urine?”
²⁸ Then the commander stepped forward and cried out in a loud voice in the language of Judah, “Listen to the words of the great king, the king of Assyria. ²⁹ Thus says the king: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he cannot rescue you from my hand. ³⁰ And do not let Hezekiah induce you to trust in the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord will surely rescue us, and this city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.’ ³¹ Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: Make peace with me, and surrender to me! Eat, each of you, from your vine, each from your own fig tree. Drink water, each from your own well, ³² until I arrive and take you to a land like your own, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of rich olives and honey. Live, and do not die! And do not listen to Hezekiah when he would incite you by saying, ‘The Lord will rescue us.’ ³³ Has any of the gods of the nations ever rescued his land from the power of the king of Assyria? ³⁴ Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Did they indeed rescue Samaria from my power? ³⁵ Which of the gods for all these lands ever rescued his land from my power? Will the Lord then rescue Jerusalem from my power?” ³⁶ But the people remained silent and did not answer at all, for the king’s command was, “Do not answer him.”
³⁷ Then the master of the palace, Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, Shebnah the scribe, and the chancellor Joah, son of Asaph, came to Hezekiah with their garments torn, and reported to him the words of the commander.
¹ When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his garments, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. ² He sent Eliakim, the master of the palace, Shebnah the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to tell the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, ³ “Thus says Hezekiah:
A day of distress and rebuke,
a day of disgrace is this day!
Children are due to come forth,
but the strength to give birth is lacking.
⁴ Perhaps the Lord, your God, will hear all the words of the commander, whom his lord, the king of Assyria, sent to taunt the living God, and will rebuke him for the words which the Lord, your God, has heard. So lift up a prayer for the remnant that is here.” ⁵ When the servants of King Hezekiah had come to Isaiah, ⁶ he said to them, “Tell this to your lord: Thus says the Lord: Do not be frightened by the words you have heard, by which the deputies of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. ⁷ I am putting in him such a spirit that when he hears a report he will return to his land. I will make him fall by the sword in his land.”
⁸ When the commander, on his return, heard that the king of Assyria had withdrawn from Lachish, he found him besieging Libnah.
⁹ The king of Assyria heard a report: “Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, has come out to fight against you.” Again he sent messengers to Hezekiah to say: ¹⁰ “Thus shall you say to Hezekiah, king of Judah: Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by saying, ‘Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.’ ¹¹ You, certainly, have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands: they put them under the ban! And are you to be rescued? ¹² Did the gods of the nations whom my fathers destroyed deliver them—Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, or the Edenites in Telassar? ¹³ Where are the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, or the kings of the cities Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?”
¹⁴ Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; then he went up to the house of the Lord, and spreading it out before the Lord, ¹⁵ Hezekiah prayed in the Lord’s presence: “Lord, God of Israel, enthroned on the cherubim! You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. It is you who made the heavens and the earth. ¹⁶ Incline your ear, Lord, and listen! Open your eyes, Lord, and see! Hear the words Sennacherib has sent to taunt the living God. ¹⁷ Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands. ¹⁸ They gave their gods to the fire—they were not gods at all, but the work of human hands—wood and stone, they destroyed them. ¹⁹ Therefore, Lord, our God, save us from this man’s power, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, Lord, are God.”
²⁰ Then Isaiah, son of Amoz, sent this message to Hezekiah: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you have prayed concerning Sennacherib, king of Assyria: I have listened! ²¹ This is the word the Lord has spoken concerning him:
She despises you, laughs you to scorn,
the virgin daughter Zion!
Behind you she wags her head,
daughter Jerusalem.
²² Whom have you insulted and blasphemed,
at whom have you raised your voice
And lifted up your eyes on high?
At the Holy One of Israel!
²³ Through the mouths of your messengers
you insulted the Lord when you said,
‘With my many chariots I went up
to the tops of the peaks,
to the recesses of Lebanon,
To cut down its lofty cedars,
its choice cypresses;
I reached to the farthest shelter,
the forest ranges.
²⁴ I myself dug wells
and drank foreign waters,
Drying up all the rivers of Egypt
beneath the soles of my feet.’
²⁵ “Have you not heard?
A long time ago I prepared it,
from days of old I planned it.
Now I have brought it about:
You are here to reduce
fortified cities to heaps of ruins,
²⁶ Their people powerless,
dismayed and distraught.
They are plants of the field,
green growth,
thatch on the rooftops,
Grain scorched by the east wind.
²⁷ I know when you stand or sit,
when you come or go
and how you rage against me.
²⁸ Because you rage against me,
and your smugness has reached my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth,
And make you leave by the way you came.
²⁹ “This shall be a sign for you:
This year you shall eat the aftergrowth,
next year, what grows of itself;
But in the third year, sow and reap,
plant vineyards and eat their fruit!
³⁰ The remaining survivors of the house of Judah
shall again strike root below
and bear fruit above.
³¹ For out of Jerusalem shall come a remnant,
and from Mount Zion, survivors.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.
³² “Therefore, thus says the Lord about the king:
He shall not come as far as this city,
nor shoot there an arrow,
nor confront it with a shield,
Nor cast up a siege-work against it.
³³ By the way he came he shall leave,
never coming as far as this city,
oracle of the Lord.
³⁴ I will shield and save this city
for my own sake and the sake of David my servant.”
³⁵ That night the angel of the Lord went forth and struck down one hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. Early the next morning, there they were, dead, all those corpses! ³⁶ So Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, broke camp, departed, returned home, and stayed in Nineveh.
³⁷ When he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword and fled into the land of Ararat. His son Esarhaddon reigned in his place.
¹ In those days, when Hezekiah was mortally ill, the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, came and said to him: “Thus says the Lord: Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you shall not recover.” ² He turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord: ³ “Ah, Lord, remember how faithfully and wholeheartedly I conducted myself in your presence, doing what was good in your sight!” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. ⁴ Before Isaiah had left the central courtyard, the word of the Lord came to him: ⁵ Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people: “Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father:
I have heard your prayer;
I have seen your tears.
Now I am healing you.
On the third day you shall go up
to the house of the Lord.
⁶ I will add to your life fifteen years.
I will rescue you and this city
from the hand of the king of Assyria;
I will be a shield to this city
for my own sake and the sake of David my servant.”
⁷ Then Isaiah said, “Bring a poultice of figs and apply it to the boil for his recovery.” ⁸ Hezekiah asked Isaiah, “What is the sign that the Lord will heal me and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord on the third day?” ⁹ Isaiah replied, “This will be the sign for you from the Lord that he will carry out the word he has spoken: Shall the shadow go forward or back ten steps?” ¹⁰ “It is easy for the shadow to advance ten steps,” Hezekiah answered. “Rather, let it go back ten steps.” ¹¹ So Isaiah the prophet invoked the Lord. He made the shadow go back the ten steps it had descended on the staircase to the terrace of Ahaz.
¹² At that time, Berodach-baladan, son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and gifts to Hezekiah when he heard that he had been ill. ¹³ Hezekiah listened to the envoys and then showed off his whole treasury: his silver, gold, spices and perfumed oil, his armory, and everything in his storerooms; there was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them. ¹⁴ Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and asked him: “What did these men say to you? Where did they come from?” Hezekiah replied, “They came from a distant land, from Babylon.” ¹⁵ He asked, “What did they see in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They saw everything in my house. There is nothing in my storerooms that I did not show them.” ¹⁶ Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah: “Hear the word of the Lord: ¹⁷ The time is coming when all that is in your house, everything that your ancestors have stored up until this day, shall be carried off to Babylon; nothing shall be left, says the Lord. ¹⁸ Some of your own descendants, your offspring, your progeny, shall be taken and made attendants in the palace of the king of Babylon.” ¹⁹ Hezekiah replied to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “There will be peace and stability in my lifetime.”
²⁰ The rest of the acts of Hezekiah, with all his valor, and how he constructed the pool and conduit and brought water into the city, are recorded in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah. ²¹ Hezekiah rested with his ancestors, and his son Manasseh succeeded him as king.
¹ In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remali′ah, Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, began to reign. ² Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God, as his father David had done, ³ but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He even burned his son as an offering, according to the abominable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. ⁴ And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.
⁵ Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remali′ah, king of Israel, came up to wage war on Jerusalem, and they besieged Ahaz but could not conquer him. ⁶ At that time the king of Edom recovered Elath for Edom, and drove the men of Judah from Elath; and the E′domites came to Elath, where they dwell to this day. ⁷ So Ahaz sent messengers to Tig′lath-pile′ser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up, and rescue me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.” ⁸ Ahaz also took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasures of the king’s house, and sent a present to the king of Assyria. ⁹ And the king of Assyria hearkened to him; the king of Assyria marched up against Damascus, and took it, carrying its people captive to Kir, and he killed Rezin.
¹⁰ When King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tig′lath-pile′ser king of Assyria, he saw the altar that was at Damascus. And King Ahaz sent to Uri′ah the priest a model of the altar, and its pattern, exact in all its details. ¹¹ And Uri′ah the priest built the altar; in accordance with all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, so Uri′ah the priest made it, before King Ahaz arrived from Damascus. ¹² And when the king came from Damascus, the king viewed the altar. Then the king drew near to the altar, and went up on it, ¹³ and burned his burnt offering and his cereal offering, and poured his drink offering, and threw the blood of his peace offerings upon the altar. ¹⁴ And the bronze altar which was before the Lord he removed from the front of the house, from the place between his altar and the house of the Lord, and put it on the north side of his altar. ¹⁵ And King Ahaz commanded Uri′ah the priest, saying, “Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening cereal offering, and the king’s burnt offering, and his cereal offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their cereal offering, and their drink offering; and throw upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice; but the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by.” ¹⁶ Uri′ah the priest did all this, as King Ahaz commanded.
¹⁷ And King Ahaz cut off the frames of the stands, and removed the laver from them, and he took down the sea from off the bronze oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pediment of stone. ¹⁸ And the covered way for the sabbath which had been built inside the palace, and the outer entrance for the king he removed from the house of the Lord, because of the king of Assyria. ¹⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz which he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ²⁰ And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and Hezeki′ah his son reigned in his stead.
¹ In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah Hoshe′a the son of Elah began to reign in Samar′ia over Israel, and he reigned nine years. ² And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him. ³ Against him came up Shalmane′ser king of Assyria; and Hoshe′a became his vassal, and paid him tribute. ⁴ But the king of Assyria found treachery in Hoshe′a; for he had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year; therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison. ⁵ Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land and came to Samar′ia, and for three years he besieged it. ⁶ In the ninth year of Hoshe′a the king of Assyria captured Samar′ia, and he carried the Israelites away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
⁷ And this was so, because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods ⁸ and walked in the customs of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel, and in the customs which the kings of Israel had introduced. ⁹ And the people of Israel did secretly against the Lord their God things that were not right. They built for themselves high places at all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city; ¹⁰ they set up for themselves pillars and Ashe′rim on every high hill and under every green tree; ¹¹ and there they burned incense on all the high places, as the nations did whom the Lord carried away before them. And they did wicked things, provoking the Lord to anger, ¹² and they served idols, of which the Lord had said to them, “You shall not do this.” ¹³ Yet the Lord warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.” ¹⁴ But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the Lord their God. ¹⁵ They despised his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and the warnings which he gave them. They went after false idols, and became false, and they followed the nations that were round about them, concerning whom the Lord had commanded them that they should not do like them. ¹⁶ And they forsook all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made for themselves molten images of two calves; and they made an Ashe′rah, and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Ba′al. ¹⁷ And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings, and used divination and sorcery, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. ¹⁸ Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight; none was left but the tribe of Judah only.
¹⁹ Judah also did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the customs which Israel had introduced. ²⁰ And the Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel, and afflicted them, and gave them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight.
²¹ When he had torn Israel from the house of David they made Jerobo′am the son of Nebat king. And Jerobo′am drove Israel from following the Lord and made them commit great sin. ²² The people of Israel walked in all the sins which Jerobo′am did; they did not depart from them, ²³ until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight, as he had spoken by all his servants the prophets. So Israel was exiled from their own land to Assyria until this day.
¹ In the third year of Hoshe′a son of Elah, king of Israel, Hezeki′ah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. ² He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechari′ah. ³ And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done. ⁴ He removed the high places, and broke the pillars, and cut down the Ashe′rah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had burned incense to it; it was called Nehush′tan. ⁵ He trusted in the Lord the God of Israel; so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. ⁶ For he held fast to the Lord; he did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses. ⁷ And the Lord was with him; wherever he went forth, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria, and would not serve him. ⁸ He smote the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city.
⁹ In the fourth year of King Hezeki′ah, which was the seventh year of Hoshe′a son of Elah, king of Israel, Shalmane′ser king of Assyria came up against Samar′ia and besieged it ¹⁰ and at the end of three years he took it. In the sixth year of Hezeki′ah, which was the ninth year of Hoshe′a king of Israel, Samar′ia was taken. ¹¹ The king of Assyria carried the Israelites away to Assyria, and put them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, ¹² because they did not obey the voice of the Lord their God but transgressed his covenant, even all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded; they neither listened nor obeyed.
¹³ In the fourteenth year of King Hezeki′ah Sennach′erib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. ¹⁴ And Hezeki′ah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; withdraw from me; whatever you impose on me I will bear.” And the king of Assyria required of Hezeki′ah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. ¹⁵ And Hezeki′ah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasuries of the king’s house. ¹⁶ At that time Hezeki′ah stripped the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the doorposts which Hezeki′ah king of Judah had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria. ¹⁷ And the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rab′saris, and the Rab′shakeh with a great army from Lachish to King Hezeki′ah at Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. When they arrived, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway to the Fuller’s Field. ¹⁸ And when they called for the king, there came out to them Eli′akim the son of Hilki′ah, who was over the household, and Shebnah the secretary, and Jo′ah the son of Asaph, the recorder.
¹⁹ And the Rab′shakeh said to them, “Say to Hezeki′ah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this confidence of yours? ²⁰ Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? On whom do you now rely, that you have rebelled against me? ²¹ Behold, you are relying now on Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him. ²² But if you say to me, “We rely on the Lord our God,” is it not he whose high places and altars Hezeki′ah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem”? ²³ Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders upon them. ²⁴ How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master’s servants, when you rely on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? ²⁵ Moreover, is it without the Lord that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.’”
²⁶ Then Eli′akim the son of Hilki′ah, and Shebnah, and Jo′ah, said to the Rab′shakeh, “Pray, speak to your servants in the Aramaic language, for we understand it; do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” ²⁷ But the Rab′shakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and to drink their own urine?”
²⁸ Then the Rab′shakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah: “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! ²⁹ Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezeki′ah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you out of my hand. ³⁰ Do not let Hezeki′ah make you to rely on the Lord by saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’ ³¹ Do not listen to Hezeki′ah; for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make your peace with me and come out to me; then every one of you will eat of his own vine, and every one of his own fig tree, and every one of you will drink the water of his own cistern; ³² until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey, that you may live, and not die. And do not listen to Hezeki′ah when he misleads you by saying, The Lord will deliver us. ³³ Has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? ³⁴ Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharva′im, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samar′ia out of my hand? ³⁵ Who among all the gods of the countries have delivered their countries out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’”
³⁶ But the people were silent and answered him not a word, for the king’s command was, “Do not answer him.” ³⁷ Then Eli′akim the son of Hilki′ah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Jo′ah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezeki′ah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of the Rab′shakeh.
¹ When King Hezeki′ah heard it, he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. ² And he sent Eli′akim, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz. ³ They said to him, “Thus says Hezeki′ah, This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; children have come to the birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. ⁴ It may be that the Lord your God heard all the words of the Rab′shakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words which the Lord your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.” ⁵ When the servants of King Hezeki′ah came to Isaiah, ⁶ Isaiah said to them, “Say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have reviled me. ⁷ Behold, I will put a spirit in him, so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.’”
⁸ The Rab′shakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah; for he heard that the king had left Lachish. ⁹ And when the king heard concerning Tirha′kah king of Ethiopia, “Behold, he has set out to fight against you,” he sent messengers again to Hezeki′ah, saying, ¹⁰ “Thus shall you speak to Hezeki′ah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God on whom you rely deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. ¹¹ Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, destroying them utterly. And shall you be delivered? ¹² Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations which my fathers destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Tel-assar? ¹³ Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharva′im, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?’”
¹⁴ Hezeki′ah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezeki′ah went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. ¹⁵ And Hezeki′ah prayed before the Lord, and said: “O Lord the God of Israel, who art enthroned above the cherubim, thou art the God, thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth. ¹⁶ Incline thy ear, O Lord, and hear; open thy eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennach′erib, which he has sent to mock the living God. ¹⁷ Of a truth, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, ¹⁸ and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone; therefore they were destroyed. ¹⁹ So now, O Lord our God, save us, I beseech thee, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou, O Lord, art God alone.”
²⁰ Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezeki′ah, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Your prayer to me about Sennach′erib king of Assyria I have heard. ²¹ This is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him:
“She despises you, she scorns you—
the virgin daughter of Zion;
she wags her head behind you—
the daughter of Jerusalem.
²² “Whom have you mocked and reviled?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and haughtily lifted your eyes?
Against the Holy One of Israel!
²³ By your messengers you have mocked the Lord,
and you have said, ‘With my many chariots
I have gone up the heights of the mountains,
to the far recesses of Lebanon;
I felled its tallest cedars,
its choicest cypresses;
I entered its farthest retreat,
its densest forest.
²⁴ I dug wells
and drank foreign waters,
and I dried up with the sole of my foot
all the streams of Egypt.’
²⁵ “Have you not heard
that I determined it long ago?
I planned from days of old
what now I bring to pass,
that you should turn fortified cities
into heaps of ruins,
²⁶ while their inhabitants, shorn of strength,
are dismayed and confounded,
and have become like plants of the field,
and like tender grass,
like grass on the housetops;
blighted before it is grown?
²⁷ “But I know your sitting down
and your going out and coming in,
and your raging against me.
²⁸ Because you have raged against me
and your arrogance has come into my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth,
and I will turn you back on the way
by which you came.
²⁹ “And this shall be the sign for you: this year you shall eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs of the same; then in the third year sow, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. ³⁰ And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward; ³¹ for out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lord will do this.
³² “Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it. ³³ By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, says the Lord. ³⁴ For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”
³⁵ And that night the angel of the Lord went forth, and slew a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. ³⁶ Then Sennach′erib king of Assyria departed, and went home, and dwelt at Nin′eveh. ³⁷ And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adram′melech and Share′zer, his sons, slew him with the sword, and escaped into the land of Ar′arat. And Esarhad′don his son reigned in his stead.
¹ In those days Hezeki′ah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Set your house in order; for you shall die, you shall not recover.’” ² Then Hezeki′ah turned his face to the wall, and prayed to the Lord, saying, ³ “Remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in thy sight.” And Hezeki′ah wept bitterly. ⁴ And before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him: ⁵ “Turn back, and say to Hezeki′ah the prince of my people, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you; on the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. ⁶ And I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David’s sake.” ⁷ And Isaiah said, “Bring a cake of figs. And let them take and lay it on the boil, that he may recover.”
⁸ And Hezeki′ah said to Isaiah, “What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord on the third day?” ⁹ And Isaiah said, “This is the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he has promised: shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?” ¹⁰ And Hezeki′ah answered, “It is an easy thing for the shadow to lengthen ten steps; rather let the shadow go back ten steps.” ¹¹ And Isaiah the prophet cried to the Lord; and he brought the shadow back ten steps, by which the sun had declined on the dial of Ahaz.
¹² At that time Mero′dach-bal′adan the son of Bal′adan, king of Babylon, sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezeki′ah; for he heard that Hezeki′ah had been sick. ¹³ And Hezeki′ah welcomed them, and he showed them all his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his armory, all that was found in his storehouses; there was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezeki′ah did not show them. ¹⁴ Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezeki′ah, and said to him, “What did these men say? And whence did they come to you?” And Hezeki′ah said, “They have come from a far country, from Babylon.” ¹⁵ He said, “What have they seen in your house?” And Hezeki′ah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.”
¹⁶ Then Isaiah said to Hezeki′ah, “Hear the word of the Lord: ¹⁷ Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left, says the Lord. ¹⁸ And some of your own sons, who are born to you, shall be taken away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” ¹⁹ Then said Hezeki′ah to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?”
²⁰ The rest of the deeds of Hezeki′ah, and all his might, and how he made the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ²¹ And Hezeki′ah slept with his fathers; and Manas′seh his son reigned in his stead.
Read Isaiah, chapters 1-5
¹ The vision which Isaiah, son of Amoz, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
² Hear, O heavens, and listen, O earth,
for the Lord speaks:
Sons have I raised and reared,
but they have rebelled against me!
³ An ox knows its owner,
and an ass, its master’s manger;
But Israel does not know,
my people has not understood.
⁴ Ah! Sinful nation, people laden with wickedness,
evil offspring, corrupt children!
They have forsaken the Lord,
spurned the Holy One of Israel,
apostatized,
⁵ Why would you yet be struck,
that you continue to rebel?
The whole head is sick,
the whole heart faint.
⁶ From the sole of the foot to the head
there is no sound spot in it;
Just bruise and welt and oozing wound,
not drained, or bandaged,
or eased with salve.
⁷ Your country is waste,
your cities burnt with fire;
Your land—before your eyes
strangers devour it,
a waste, like the devastation of Sodom.
⁸ And daughter Zion is left
like a hut in a vineyard,
Like a shed in a melon patch,
like a city blockaded.
⁹ If the Lord of hosts had not
left us a small remnant,
We would have become as Sodom,
would have resembled Gomorrah.
¹⁰ Hear the word of the Lord,
princes of Sodom!
Listen to the instruction of our God,
people of Gomorrah!
¹¹ What do I care for the multitude of your sacrifices?
says the Lord.
I have had enough of whole-burnt rams
and fat of fatlings;
In the blood of calves, lambs, and goats
I find no pleasure.
¹² When you come to appear before me,
who asks these things of you?
¹³ Trample my courts no more!
To bring offerings is useless;
incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and sabbath, calling assemblies—
festive convocations with wickedness—
these I cannot bear.
¹⁴ Your new moons and festivals I detest;
they weigh me down, I tire of the load.
¹⁵ When you spread out your hands,
I will close my eyes to you;
Though you pray the more,
I will not listen.
Your hands are full of blood!
¹⁶ Wash yourselves clean!
Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes;
cease doing evil;
¹⁷ learn to do good.
Make justice your aim: redress the wronged,
hear the orphan’s plea, defend the widow.
¹⁸ Come now, let us set things right,
says the Lord:
Though your sins be like scarlet,
they may become white as snow;
Though they be red like crimson,
they may become white as wool.
¹⁹ If you are willing, and obey,
you shall eat the good things of the land;
²⁰ But if you refuse and resist,
you shall be eaten by the sword:
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken!
²¹ How she has become a prostitute,
the faithful city, so upright!
Justice used to lodge within her,
but now, murderers.
²² Your silver is turned to dross,
your wine is mixed with water.
²³ Your princes are rebels
and comrades of thieves;
Each one of them loves a bribe
and looks for gifts.
The fatherless they do not defend,
the widow’s plea does not reach them.
²⁴ Now, therefore, says the Lord,
the Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel:
Ah! I will take vengeance on my foes
and fully repay my enemies!
²⁵ I will turn my hand against you,
and refine your dross in the furnace,
removing all your alloy.
²⁶ I will restore your judges as at first,
and your counselors as in the beginning;
After that you shall be called
city of justice, faithful city.
²⁷ Zion shall be redeemed by justice,
and her repentant ones by righteousness.
²⁸ Rebels and sinners together shall be crushed,
those who desert the Lord shall be consumed.
²⁹ You shall be ashamed of the terebinths which you desired,
and blush on account of the gardens which you chose.
³⁰ You shall become like a terebinth whose leaves wither,
like a garden that has no water.
³¹ The strong tree shall turn to tinder,
and the one who tends it shall become a spark;
Both of them shall burn together,
and there shall be none to quench them.
¹ This is what Isaiah, son of Amoz, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
² In days to come,
The mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest mountain
and raised above the hills.
All nations shall stream toward it.
³ Many peoples shall come and say:
“Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
That he may instruct us in his ways,
and we may walk in his paths.”
For from Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
⁴ He shall judge between the nations,
and set terms for many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks;
One nation shall not raise the sword against another,
nor shall they train for war again.
⁵ House of Jacob, come,
let us walk in the light of the Lord!
⁶ You have abandoned your people,
the house of Jacob!
Because they are filled with diviners,
and soothsayers, like the Philistines;
with foreigners they clasp hands.
⁷ Their land is full of silver and gold,
there is no end to their treasures;
Their land is full of horses,
there is no end to their chariots.
⁸ Their land is full of idols;
they bow down to the works of their hands,
what their fingers have made.
⁹ So all shall be abased,
each one brought low.
Do not pardon them!
¹⁰ Get behind the rocks,
hide in the dust,
From the terror of the Lord
and the splendor of his majesty!
¹¹ The eyes of human pride shall be lowered,
the arrogance of mortals shall be abased,
and the Lord alone will be exalted, on that day.
¹² For the Lord of hosts will have his day
against all that is proud and arrogant,
against all that is high, and it will be brought low;
¹³ Yes, against all the cedars of Lebanon
and against all the oaks of Bashan,
¹⁴ Against all the lofty mountains
and all the high hills,
¹⁵ Against every lofty tower
and every fortified wall,
¹⁶ Against all the ships of Tarshish
and all stately vessels.
¹⁷ Then human pride shall be abased,
the arrogance of mortals brought low,
And the Lord alone will be exalted on that day.
¹⁸ The idols will vanish completely.
¹⁹ People will go into caves in the rocks
and into holes in the earth,
At the terror of the Lord
and the splendor of his majesty,
as he rises to overawe the earth.
²⁰ On that day people shall throw to moles and bats
their idols of silver and their idols of gold
which they made for themselves to worship.
²¹ And they shall go into caverns in the rocks
and into crevices in the cliffs,
At the terror of the Lord
and the splendor of his majesty,
as he rises to overawe the earth.
²² As for you, stop worrying about mortals,
in whose nostrils is but a breath;
for of what worth are they?
¹ The Lord, the Lord of hosts,
will take away from Jerusalem and from Judah
Support and staff—
all support of bread,
all support of water:
² Hero and warrior,
judge and prophet, diviner and elder,
³ The captain of fifty and the nobleman,
counselor, skilled magician, and expert charmer.
⁴ I will place boys as their princes;
the fickle will govern them,
⁵ And the people will oppress one another,
yes, each one the neighbor.
The child will be insolent toward the elder,
and the base toward the honorable.
⁶ When anyone seizes a brother
in their father’s house, saying,
“You have clothes! Be our ruler,
and take in hand this ruin!”—
⁷ He will cry out in that day:
“I cannot be a healer,
when there is neither bread nor clothing in my own house!
You will not make me a ruler of the people!”
⁸ Jerusalem has stumbled, Judah has fallen;
for their speech and deeds affront the Lord,
a provocation in the sight of his majesty.
⁹ Their very look bears witness against them;
they boast of their sin like Sodom,
They do not hide it.
Woe to them!
They deal out evil to themselves.
¹⁰ Happy the just, for it will go well with them,
the fruit of their works they will eat.
¹¹ Woe to the wicked! It will go ill with them,
with the work of their hands they will be repaid.
¹² My people—infants oppress them,
women rule over them!
My people, your leaders deceive you,
they confuse the paths you should follow.
¹³ The Lord rises to accuse,
stands to try his people.
¹⁴ The Lord enters into judgment
with the people’s elders and princes:
You, you who have devoured the vineyard;
the loot wrested from the poor is in your houses.
¹⁵ What do you mean by crushing my people,
and grinding down the faces of the poor?
says the Lord, the God of hosts.
¹⁶ The Lord said:
Because the daughters of Zion are haughty,
and walk with necks outstretched,
Ogling and mincing as they go,
their anklets tinkling with every step,
¹⁷ The Lord shall cover the scalps of Zion’s daughters with scabs,
and the Lord shall lay bare their heads.
¹⁸ On that day the Lord will do away with the finery of the anklets, sunbursts, and crescents; ¹⁹ the pendants, bracelets, and veils; ²⁰ the headdresses, bangles, cinctures, perfume boxes, and amulets; ²¹ the signet rings, and the nose rings; ²² the court dresses, wraps, cloaks, and purses; ²³ the lace gowns, linen tunics, turbans, and shawls.
²⁴ Instead of perfume there will be stench,
instead of a girdle, a rope,
And instead of elaborate coiffure, baldness;
instead of a rich gown, a sackcloth skirt.
Then, instead of beauty, shame.
²⁵ Your men will fall by the sword,
and your champions, in war;
²⁶ Her gates will lament and mourn,
as the city sits desolate on the ground.
¹ Seven women will take hold of one man
on that day, saying:
“We will eat our own food
and wear our own clothing;
Only let your name be given us,
put an end to our disgrace!”
² On that day,
The branch of the Lord will be beauty and glory,
and the fruit of the land will be honor and splendor
for the survivors of Israel.
³ Everyone who remains in Zion,
everyone left in Jerusalem
Will be called holy:
everyone inscribed for life in Jerusalem.
⁴ When the Lord washes away
the filth of the daughters of Zion,
And purges Jerusalem’s blood from her midst
with a blast of judgment, a searing blast,
⁵ Then will the Lord create,
over the whole site of Mount Zion
and over her place of assembly,
A smoking cloud by day
and a light of flaming fire by night.
⁶ For over all, his glory will be shelter and protection:
shade from the parching heat of day,
refuge and cover from storm and rain.
¹ Now let me sing of my friend,
my beloved’s song about his vineyard.
My friend had a vineyard
on a fertile hillside;
² He spaded it, cleared it of stones,
and planted the choicest vines;
Within it he built a watchtower,
and hewed out a wine press.
Then he waited for the crop of grapes,
but it yielded rotten grapes.
³ Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem, people of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard:
⁴ What more could be done for my vineyard
that I did not do?
Why, when I waited for the crop of grapes,
did it yield rotten grapes?
⁵ Now, I will let you know
what I am going to do to my vineyard:
Take away its hedge, give it to grazing,
break through its wall, let it be trampled!
⁶ Yes, I will make it a ruin:
it shall not be pruned or hoed,
but will be overgrown with thorns and briers;
I will command the clouds
not to rain upon it.
⁷ The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel,
the people of Judah, his cherished plant;
He waited for judgment, but see, bloodshed!
for justice, but hark, the outcry!
⁸ Ah! Those who join house to house,
who connect field with field,
Until no space remains, and you alone dwell
in the midst of the land!
⁹ In my hearing the Lord of hosts has sworn:
Many houses shall be in ruins,
houses large and fine, with nobody living there.
¹⁰ Ten acres of vineyard
shall yield but one bath,
And a homer of seed
shall yield but an ephah.
¹¹ Ah! Those who rise early in the morning
in pursuit of strong drink,
lingering late
inflamed by wine,
¹² Banqueting on wine with harp and lyre,
timbrel and flute,
But the deed of the Lord they do not regard,
the work of his hands they do not see!
¹³ Therefore my people go into exile
for lack of understanding,
Its nobles starving,
its masses parched with thirst.
¹⁴ Therefore Sheol enlarges its throat
and opens its mouth beyond measure;
Down into it go nobility and masses,
tumult and revelry.
¹⁵ All shall be abased, each one brought low,
and the eyes of the haughty lowered,
¹⁶ But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted by judgment,
by justice the Holy God shown holy.
¹⁷ Lambs shall graze as at pasture,
young goats shall eat in the ruins of the rich.
¹⁸ Ah! Those who tug at guilt with cords of perversity,
and at sin as if with cart ropes!
¹⁹ Who say, “Let him make haste,
let him speed his work, that we may see it;
On with the plan of the Holy One of Israel!
let it come to pass, that we may know it!”
²⁰ Ah! Those who call evil good, and good evil,
who change darkness to light, and light into darkness,
who change bitter to sweet, and sweet into bitter!
²¹ Ah! Those who are wise in their own eyes,
prudent in their own view!
²² Ah! Those who are champions at drinking wine,
masters at mixing drink!
²³ Those who acquit the guilty for bribes,
and deprive the innocent of justice!
²⁴ Therefore, as the tongue of fire licks up stubble,
as dry grass shrivels in the flame,
Their root shall rot
and their blossom scatter like dust;
For they have rejected the instruction of the Lord of hosts,
and scorned the word of the Holy One of Israel.
²⁵ Therefore the wrath of the Lord blazes against his people,
he stretches out his hand to strike them;
The mountains quake,
their corpses shall be like refuse in the streets.
For all this, his wrath is not turned back,
his hand is still outstretched.
²⁶ He will raise a signal to a far-off nation,
and whistle for it from the ends of the earth.
Then speedily and promptly they will come.
²⁷ None among them is weary, none stumbles,
none will slumber, none will sleep.
None with waist belt loose,
none with sandal thong broken.
²⁸ Their arrows are sharp,
and all their bows are bent,
The hooves of their horses like flint,
and their chariot wheels like the whirlwind.
²⁹ They roar like the lion,
like young lions, they roar;
They growl and seize the prey,
they carry it off and none can rescue.
³⁰ They will growl over it, on that day,
like the growling of the sea,
Look to the land—
darkness closing in,
the light dark with clouds!
¹ The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzzi′ah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezeki′ah, kings of Judah.
² Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth;
for the Lord has spoken:
“Sons have I reared and brought up,
but they have rebelled against me.
³ The ox knows its owner,
and the ass its master’s crib;
but Israel does not know,
my people does not understand.”
⁴ Ah, sinful nation,
a people laden with iniquity,
offspring of evildoers,
sons who deal corruptly!
They have forsaken the Lord,
they have despised the Holy One of Israel,
they are utterly estranged.
⁵ Why will you still be smitten,
that you continue to rebel?
The whole head is sick,
and the whole heart faint.
⁶ From the sole of the foot even to the head,
there is no soundness in it,
but bruises and sores
and bleeding wounds;
they are not pressed out, or bound up,
or softened with oil.
⁷ Your country lies desolate,
your cities are burned with fire;
in your very presence
aliens devour your land;
it is desolate, as overthrown by aliens.
⁸ And the daughter of Zion is left
like a booth in a vineyard,
like a lodge in a cucumber field,
like a besieged city.
⁹ If the Lord of hosts
had not left us a few survivors,
we should have been like Sodom,
and become like Gomor′rah.
¹⁰ Hear the word of the Lord,
you rulers of Sodom!
Give ear to the teaching of our God,
you people of Gomor′rah!
¹¹ “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?
says the Lord;
I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of fed beasts;
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
or of lambs, or of he-goats.
¹² “When you come to appear before me,
who requires of you
this trampling of my courts?
¹³ Bring no more vain offerings;
incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and sabbath and the calling of assemblies—
I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.
¹⁴ Your new moons and your appointed feasts
my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me,
I am weary of bearing them.
¹⁵ When you spread forth your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood.
¹⁶ Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your doings
from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,
¹⁷ learn to do good;
seek justice,
correct oppression;
defend the fatherless,
plead for the widow.
¹⁸ “Come now, let us reason together,
says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
¹⁹ If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land;
²⁰ but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be devoured by the sword;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
²¹ How the faithful city
has become a harlot,
she that was full of justice!
Righteousness lodged in her,
but now murderers.
²² Your silver has become dross,
your wine mixed with water.
²³ Your princes are rebels
and companions of thieves.
Every one loves a bribe
and runs after gifts.
They do not defend the fatherless,
and the widow’s cause does not come to them.
²⁴ Therefore the Lord says,
the Lord of hosts,
the Mighty One of Israel:
“Ah, I will vent my wrath on my enemies,
and avenge myself on my foes.
²⁵ I will turn my hand against you
and will smelt away your dross as with lye
and remove all your alloy.
²⁶ And I will restore your judges as at the first,
and your counselors as at the beginning.
Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness,
the faithful city.”
²⁷ Zion shall be redeemed by justice,
and those in her who repent, by righteousness.
²⁸ But rebels and sinners shall be destroyed together,
and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed.
²⁹ For you shall be ashamed of the oaks
in which you delighted;
and you shall blush for the gardens
which you have chosen.
³⁰ For you shall be like an oak
whose leaf withers,
and like a garden without water.
³¹ And the strong shall become tow,
and his work a spark,
and both of them shall burn together,
with none to quench them.
¹ The word which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
² It shall come to pass in the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and shall be raised above the hills;
and all the nations shall flow to it,
³ and many peoples shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
⁴ He shall judge between the nations,
and shall decide for many peoples;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.
⁵ O house of Jacob,
come, let us walk
in the light of the Lord.
⁶ For thou hast rejected thy people,
the house of Jacob,
because they are full of diviners from the east
and of soothsayers like the Philistines,
and they strike hands with foreigners.
⁷ Their land is filled with silver and gold,
and there is no end to their treasures;
their land is filled with horses,
and there is no end to their chariots.
⁸ Their land is filled with idols;
they bow down to the work of their hands,
to what their own fingers have made.
⁹ So man is humbled,
and men are brought low—
forgive them not!
¹⁰ Enter into the rock,
and hide in the dust
from before the terror of the Lord,
and from the glory of his majesty.
¹¹ The haughty looks of man shall be brought low,
and the pride of men shall be humbled;
and the Lord alone will be exalted
in that day.
¹² For the Lord of hosts has a day
against all that is proud and lofty,
against all that is lifted up and high;
¹³ against all the cedars of Lebanon,
lofty and lifted up;
and against all the oaks of Bashan;
¹⁴ against all the high mountains,
and against all the lofty hills;
¹⁵ against every high tower,
and against every fortified wall;
¹⁶ against all the ships of Tarshish,
and against all the beautiful craft.
¹⁷ And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled,
and the pride of men shall be brought low;
and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
¹⁸ And the idols shall utterly pass away.
¹⁹ And men shall enter the caves of the rocks
and the holes of the ground,
from before the terror of the Lord,
and from the glory of his majesty,
when he rises to terrify the earth.
²⁰ In that day men will cast forth
their idols of silver and their idols of gold,
which they made for themselves to worship,
to the moles and to the bats,
²¹ to enter the caverns of the rocks
and the clefts of the cliffs,
from before the terror of the Lord,
and from the glory of his majesty,
when he rises to terrify the earth.
²² Turn away from man
in whose nostrils is breath,
for of what account is he?
¹ For, behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts,
is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah
stay and staff,
the whole stay of bread,
and the whole stay of water;
² the mighty man and the soldier,
the judge and the prophet,
the diviner and the elder,
³ the captain of fifty
and the man of rank,
the counselor and the skilful magician
and the expert in charms.
⁴ And I will make boys their princes,
and babes shall rule over them.
⁵ And the people will oppress one another,
every man his fellow
and every man his neighbor;
the youth will be insolent to the elder,
and the base fellow to the honorable.
⁶ When a man takes hold of his brother
in the house of his father, saying:
“You have a mantle;
you shall be our leader,
and this heap of ruins
shall be under your rule”;
⁷ in that day he will speak out, saying:
“I will not be a healer;
in my house there is neither bread nor mantle;
you shall not make me
leader of the people.”
⁸ For Jerusalem has stumbled,
and Judah has fallen;
because their speech and their deeds are against the Lord,
defying his glorious presence.
⁹ Their partiality witnesses against them;
they proclaim their sin like Sodom,
they do not hide it.
Woe to them!
For they have brought evil upon themselves.
¹⁰ Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them,
for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.
¹¹ Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him,
for what his hands have done shall be done to him.
¹² My people—children are their oppressors,
and women rule over them.
O my people, your leaders mislead you,
and confuse the course of your paths.
¹³ The Lord has taken his place to contend,
he stands to judge his people.
¹⁴ The Lord enters into judgment
with the elders and princes of his people:
“It is you who have devoured the vineyard,
the spoil of the poor is in your houses.
¹⁵ What do you mean by crushing my people,
by grinding the face of the poor?”
says the Lord God of hosts.
Because the daughters of Zion are haughty
and walk with outstretched necks,
glancing wantonly with their eyes,
mincing along as they go,
tinkling with their feet;
¹⁷ the Lord will smite with a scab
the heads of the daughters of Zion,
and the Lord will lay bare their secret parts.
¹⁶ The Lord said:
¹⁸ In that day the Lord will take away the finery of the anklets, the headbands, and the crescents; ¹⁹ the pendants, the bracelets, and the scarfs; ²⁰ the headdresses, the armlets, the sashes, the perfume boxes, and the amulets; ²¹ the signet rings and nose rings; ²² the festal robes, the mantles, the cloaks, and the handbags; ²³ the garments of gauze, the linen garments, the turbans, and the veils.
²⁴ Instead of perfume there will be rottenness;
and instead of a girdle, a rope;
and instead of well-set hair, baldness;
and instead of a rich robe, a girding of sackcloth;
instead of beauty, shame.
²⁵ Your men shall fall by the sword
and your mighty men in battle.
²⁶ And her gates shall lament and mourn;
ravaged, she shall sit upon the ground.
¹ And seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away our reproach.”
² In that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and glory of the survivors of Israel. ³ And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, every one who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem, ⁴ when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning. ⁵ Then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a canopy and a pavilion. ⁶ It will be for a shade by day from the heat, and for a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.
¹ Let me sing for my beloved
a love song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
² He digged it and cleared it of stones,
and planted it with choice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
and hewed out a wine vat in it;
and he looked for it to yield grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes.
³ And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem
and men of Judah,
judge, I pray you, between me
and my vineyard.
⁴ What more was there to do for my vineyard,
that I have not done in it?
When I looked for it to yield grapes,
why did it yield wild grapes?
⁵ And now I will tell you
what I will do to my vineyard.
I will remove its hedge,
and it shall be devoured;
I will break down its wall,
and it shall be trampled down.
⁶ I will make it a waste;
it shall not be pruned or hoed,
and briers and thorns shall grow up;
I will also command the clouds
that they rain no rain upon it.
⁷ For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts
is the house of Israel,
and the men of Judah
are his pleasant planting;
and he looked for justice,
but behold, bloodshed;
for righteousness,
but behold, a cry!
⁸ Woe to those who join house to house,
who add field to field,
until there is no more room,
and you are made to dwell alone
in the midst of the land.
⁹ The Lord of hosts has sworn in my hearing:
“Surely many houses shall be desolate,
large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.
¹⁰ For ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath,
and a homer of seed shall yield but an ephah.”
¹¹ Woe to those who rise early in the morning,
that they may run after strong drink,
who tarry late into the evening
till wine inflames them!
¹² They have lyre and harp,
timbrel and flute and wine at their feasts;
but they do not regard the deeds of the Lord,
or see the work of his hands.
¹³ Therefore my people go into exile
for want of knowledge;
their honored men are dying of hunger,
and their multitude is parched with thirst.
¹⁴ Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite
and opened its mouth beyond measure,
and the nobility of Jerusalem and her multitude go down,
her throng and he who exults in her.
¹⁵ Man is bowed down, and men are brought low,
and the eyes of the haughty are humbled.
¹⁶ But the Lord of hosts is exalted in justice,
and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness.
¹⁷ Then shall the lambs graze as in their pasture,
fatlings and kids shall feed among the ruins.
¹⁸ Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood,
who draw sin as with cart ropes,
¹⁹ who say: “Let him make haste,
let him speed his work
that we may see it;
let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near,
and let it come, that we may know it!”
²⁰ Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter!
²¹ Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
and shrewd in their own sight!
²² Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine,
and valiant men in mixing strong drink,
²³ who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
and deprive the innocent of his right!
²⁴ Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble,
and as dry grass sinks down in the flame,
so their root will be as rottenness,
and their blossom go up like dust;
for they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts,
and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
²⁵ Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against his people,
and he stretched out his hand against them and smote them,
and the mountains quaked;
and their corpses were as refuse
in the midst of the streets.
For all this his anger is not turned away
and his hand is stretched out still.
²⁶ He will raise a signal for a nation afar off,
and whistle for it from the ends of the earth;
and lo, swiftly, speedily it comes!
²⁷ None is weary, none stumbles,
none slumbers or sleeps,
not a waistcloth is loose,
not a sandal-thong broken;
²⁸ their arrows are sharp,
all their bows bent,
their horses’ hoofs seem like flint,
and their wheels like the whirlwind.
²⁹ Their roaring is like a lion,
like young lions they roar;
they growl and seize their prey,
they carry it off, and none can rescue.
³⁰ They will growl over it on that day,
like the roaring of the sea.
And if one look to the land,
behold, darkness and distress;
and the light is darkened by its clouds.
Discussion points#
Isaiah’s description of the religious condition of Judah in the latter part of the eighth century is anything but flattering. Jerusalem is compared to Sodom and Gomorrah; apparently the bulk of the people were superstitious rather than religious. Sacrifices were offered out of routine; witchcraft and divination were in honour; nay more, foreign deities were openly invoked side by side with the true God, and in secret the immoral worship of some of these idols was widely indulged in, the higher-class and the Court itself giving in this regard an abominable example. Throughout the kingdom there was corruption of higher officials, ever-increasing luxury among the wealthy, wanton haughtiness of women, ostentation among the middle-class people, shameful partiality of the judges, unscrupulous greed of the owners of large estates, and oppression of the poor and lowly. The Assyrian suzerainty did not change anything in this woeful state of affairs.
In the eyes of Isaiah this order of things was intolerable; and he never tired repeating it could not last. The first condition of social reformation was the downfall of the unjust and corrupt rulers; the Assyrians were the means appointed by God to level their pride and tyranny with the dust. With their mistaken ideas about God, the nation imagined He did not concern Himself about the dispositions of His worshippers.
But God loathes sacrifices offered by “… hands full of blood. Wash yourselves, be clean, … relieve the oppressed, judge for the fatherless, defend the widow… . But if you will not, … the sword shall devour you” (i, 15-20). God here appears as the avenger of disregarded human justice as much as of His Divine rights. He cannot and will not let injustice, crime, and idolatry go unpunished. The destruction of sinners will inaugurate an era of regeneration, and a little circle of men faithful to God will be the first-fruits of a new Israel free from past defilements and ruled by a scion of David’s House.
Isaiah warns of many sins here, the first involved with hypocrisy and the other with the woe oracles:
¹⁰ Hear the word of the Lord,
princes of Sodom!
Listen to the instruction of our God,
people of Gomorrah!
¹¹ What do I care for the multitude of your sacrifices?
says the Lord.
I have had enough of whole-burnt rams
and fat of fatlings;
In the blood of calves, lambs, and goats
I find no pleasure.
¹² When you come to appear before me,
who asks these things of you?
¹³ Trample my courts no more!
To bring offerings is useless;
incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and sabbath, calling assemblies—
festive convocations with wickedness—
these I cannot bear.
¹⁴ Your new moons and festivals I detest;
they weigh me down, I tire of the load.
¹⁵ When you spread out your hands,
I will close my eyes to you;
Though you pray the more,
I will not listen.
Your hands are full of blood!
¹⁰ Hear the word of the Lord,
you rulers of Sodom!
Give ear to the teaching of our God,
you people of Gomor′rah!
¹¹ “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?
says the Lord;
I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of fed beasts;
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
or of lambs, or of he-goats.
¹² “When you come to appear before me,
who requires of you
this trampling of my courts?
¹³ Bring no more vain offerings;
incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and sabbath and the calling of assemblies—
I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.
¹⁴ Your new moons and your appointed feasts
my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me,
I am weary of bearing them.
¹⁵ When you spread forth your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood.
Questions:
Despite the continued practice of religious sacrifices, what is God warning against?
How have you compartmentalized or separated God and religious practice from other parts of your life?
How do you practice intentionality at Mass/adoration/during prayer?
How do you invite Jesus into your daily life?
⁸ Ah! Those who join house to house,
who connect field with field,
Until no space remains, and you alone dwell
in the midst of the land!
⁹ In my hearing the Lord of hosts has sworn:
Many houses shall be in ruins,
houses large and fine, with nobody living there.
¹⁰ Ten acres of vineyard
shall yield but one bath,
And a homer of seed
shall yield but an ephah.
¹¹ Ah! Those who rise early in the morning
in pursuit of strong drink,
lingering late
inflamed by wine,
¹² Banqueting on wine with harp and lyre,
timbrel and flute,
But the deed of the Lord they do not regard,
the work of his hands they do not see!
¹³ Therefore my people go into exile
for lack of understanding,
Its nobles starving,
its masses parched with thirst.
¹⁴ Therefore Sheol enlarges its throat
and opens its mouth beyond measure;
Down into it go nobility and masses,
tumult and revelry.
¹⁵ All shall be abased, each one brought low,
and the eyes of the haughty lowered,
¹⁶ But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted by judgment,
by justice the Holy God shown holy.
¹⁷ Lambs shall graze as at pasture,
young goats shall eat in the ruins of the rich.
¹⁸ Ah! Those who tug at guilt with cords of perversity,
and at sin as if with cart ropes!
¹⁹ Who say, “Let him make haste,
let him speed his work, that we may see it;
On with the plan of the Holy One of Israel!
let it come to pass, that we may know it!”
²⁰ Ah! Those who call evil good, and good evil,
who change darkness to light, and light into darkness,
who change bitter to sweet, and sweet into bitter!
²¹ Ah! Those who are wise in their own eyes,
prudent in their own view!
²² Ah! Those who are champions at drinking wine,
masters at mixing drink!
²³ Those who acquit the guilty for bribes,
and deprive the innocent of justice!
⁸ Woe to those who join house to house,
who add field to field,
until there is no more room,
and you are made to dwell alone
in the midst of the land.
⁹ The Lord of hosts has sworn in my hearing:
“Surely many houses shall be desolate,
large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.
¹⁰ For ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath,
and a homer of seed shall yield but an ephah.”
¹¹ Woe to those who rise early in the morning,
that they may run after strong drink,
who tarry late into the evening
till wine inflames them!
¹² They have lyre and harp,
timbrel and flute and wine at their feasts;
but they do not regard the deeds of the Lord,
or see the work of his hands.
¹³ Therefore my people go into exile
for want of knowledge;
their honored men are dying of hunger,
and their multitude is parched with thirst.
¹⁴ Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite
and opened its mouth beyond measure,
and the nobility of Jerusalem and her multitude go down,
her throng and he who exults in her.
¹⁵ Man is bowed down, and men are brought low,
and the eyes of the haughty are humbled.
¹⁶ But the Lord of hosts is exalted in justice,
and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness.
¹⁷ Then shall the lambs graze as in their pasture,
fatlings and kids shall feed among the ruins.
¹⁸ Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood,
who draw sin as with cart ropes,
¹⁹ who say: “Let him make haste,
let him speed his work
that we may see it;
let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near,
and let it come, that we may know it!”
²⁰ Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter!
²¹ Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
and shrewd in their own sight!
²² Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine,
and valiant men in mixing strong drink,
²³ who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
and deprive the innocent of his right!
Questions:
How do the various denounced sins affect both the person and the entire community?
How should we gain wisdom in light of the the wisdom woe statement (v. 21)?
What good does society call evil, and evil good?
Song of the Vineyard and the Parable of the Tenants#
¹ Now let me sing of my friend,
my beloved’s song about his vineyard.
My friend had a vineyard
on a fertile hillside;
² He spaded it, cleared it of stones,
and planted the choicest vines;
Within it he built a watchtower,
and hewed out a wine press.
Then he waited for the crop of grapes,
but it yielded rotten grapes.
³ Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem, people of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard:
⁴ What more could be done for my vineyard
that I did not do?
Why, when I waited for the crop of grapes,
did it yield rotten grapes?
⁵ Now, I will let you know
what I am going to do to my vineyard:
Take away its hedge, give it to grazing,
break through its wall, let it be trampled!
⁶ Yes, I will make it a ruin:
it shall not be pruned or hoed,
but will be overgrown with thorns and briers;
I will command the clouds
not to rain upon it.
⁷ The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel,
the people of Judah, his cherished plant;
He waited for judgment, but see, bloodshed!
for justice, but hark, the outcry!
¹ He began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and left on a journey. ² At the proper time he sent a servant to the tenants to obtain from them some of the produce of the vineyard. ³ But they seized him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. ⁴ Again he sent them another servant. And that one they beat over the head and treated shamefully. ⁵ He sent yet another whom they killed. So, too, many others; some they beat, others they killed. ⁶ He had one other to send, a beloved son. He sent him to them last of all, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ ⁷ But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ ⁸ So they seized him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. ⁹ What [then] will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come, put the tenants to death, and give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰ Have you not read this scripture passage:
‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
¹¹ by the Lord has this been done,
and it is wonderful in our eyes’?”
¹ Let me sing for my beloved
a love song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
² He digged it and cleared it of stones,
and planted it with choice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
and hewed out a wine vat in it;
and he looked for it to yield grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes.
³ And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem
and men of Judah,
judge, I pray you, between me
and my vineyard.
⁴ What more was there to do for my vineyard,
that I have not done in it?
When I looked for it to yield grapes,
why did it yield wild grapes?
⁵ And now I will tell you
what I will do to my vineyard.
I will remove its hedge,
and it shall be devoured;
I will break down its wall,
and it shall be trampled down.
⁶ I will make it a waste;
it shall not be pruned or hoed,
and briers and thorns shall grow up;
I will also command the clouds
that they rain no rain upon it.
⁷ For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts
is the house of Israel,
and the men of Judah
are his pleasant planting;
and he looked for justice,
but behold, bloodshed;
for righteousness,
but behold, a cry!
¹ And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, and set a hedge around it, and dug a pit for the wine press, and built a tower, and let it out to tenants, and went into another country. ² When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. ³ And they took him and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. ⁴ Again he sent to them another servant, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully. ⁵ And he sent another, and him they killed; and so with many others, some they beat and some they killed. ⁶ He had still one other, a beloved son; finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ⁷ But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ ⁸ And they took him and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. ⁹ What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants, and give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰ Have you not read this scripture:
‘The very stone which the builders rejected
has become the head of the corner;
¹¹ this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”
Questions:
How do you interpret these two parables in combination? How are the
Salvation through Zion#
² In days to come,
The mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest mountain
and raised above the hills.
All nations shall stream toward it.
³ Many peoples shall come and say:
“Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
That he may instruct us in his ways,
and we may walk in his paths.”
For from Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
⁴ He shall judge between the nations,
and set terms for many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks;
One nation shall not raise the sword against another,
nor shall they train for war again.
⁵ House of Jacob, come,
let us walk in the light of the Lord!
² On that day,
The branch of the Lord will be beauty and glory,
and the fruit of the land will be honor and splendor
for the survivors of Israel.
³ Everyone who remains in Zion,
everyone left in Jerusalem
Will be called holy:
everyone inscribed for life in Jerusalem.
⁴ When the Lord washes away
the filth of the daughters of Zion,
And purges Jerusalem’s blood from her midst
with a blast of judgment, a searing blast,
⁵ Then will the Lord create,
over the whole site of Mount Zion
and over her place of assembly,
A smoking cloud by day
and a light of flaming fire by night.
⁶ For over all, his glory will be shelter and protection:
shade from the parching heat of day,
refuge and cover from storm and rain.
¹⁶ Therefore, thus says the Lord God:
See, I am laying a stone in Zion,
a stone that has been tested,
A precious cornerstone as a sure foundation;
whoever puts faith in it will not waver.
² It shall come to pass in the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and shall be raised above the hills;
and all the nations shall flow to it,
³ and many peoples shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
⁴ He shall judge between the nations,
and shall decide for many peoples;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.
⁵ O house of Jacob,
come, let us walk
in the light of the Lord.
² In that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and glory of the survivors of Israel. ³ And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, every one who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem, ⁴ when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning. ⁵ Then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a canopy and a pavilion. ⁶ It will be for a shade by day from the heat, and for a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.
¹⁶ therefore thus says the Lord God,
“Behold, I am laying in Zion for a foundation
a stone, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation:
‘He who believes will not be in haste.’
Let’s see how this is fulfilled:
¹ Rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, insincerity, envy, and all slander; ² like newborn infants, long for pure spiritual milk so that through it you may grow into salvation, ³ for you have tasted that the Lord is good. ⁴ Come to him, a living stone, rejected by human beings but chosen and precious in the sight of God, ⁵ and, like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶ For it says in scripture:
“Behold, I am laying a stone in Zion,
a cornerstone, chosen and precious,
and whoever believes in it shall not be put to shame.”
⁷ Therefore, its value is for you who have faith, but for those without faith:
“The stone which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,”
⁸ and
“A stone that will make people stumble,
and a rock that will make them fall.”
They stumble by disobeying the word, as is their destiny.
⁹ But you are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises” of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
¹⁰ Once you were “no people”
but now you are God’s people;
you “had not received mercy”
but now you have received mercy.
¹ So put away all malice and all guile and insincerity and envy and all slander. ² Like newborn babes, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation; ³ for you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.
⁴ Come to him, to that living stone, rejected by men but in God’s sight chosen and precious; ⁵ and like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶ For it stands in scripture:
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious,
and he who believes in him will not be put to shame.”
⁷ To you therefore who believe, he is precious, but for those who do not believe,
“The very stone which the builders rejected
has become the head of the corner,”
⁸ and
“A stone that will make men stumble,
a rock that will make them fall”;
for they stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
⁹ But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. ¹⁰ Once you were no people but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy but now you have received mercy.
The earlier reference is explicitly addressed in Revelation:
¹⁸ Come now, let us set things right,
says the Lord:
Though your sins be like scarlet,
they may become white as snow;
Though they be red like crimson,
they may become white as wool.
¹³ Then one of the elders spoke up and said to me, “Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?” ¹⁴ I said to him, “My lord, you are the one who knows.” He said to me, “These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
¹⁵ “For this reason they stand before God’s throne
and worship him day and night in his temple.
The one who sits on the throne will shelter them.
¹⁶ They will not hunger or thirst anymore,
nor will the sun or any heat strike them.
¹⁷ For the Lamb who is in the center of the throne will shepherd them
and lead them to springs of life-giving water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
¹⁸ “Come now, let us reason together,
says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
¹³ Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and whence have they come?” ¹⁴ I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
¹⁵ Therefore are they before the throne of God,
and serve him day and night within his temple;
and he who sits upon the throne will shelter them with his presence.
¹⁶ They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more;
the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.
¹⁷ For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water;
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Questions:
Amid the looming destruction of these chapters, what is required from us to walk in the light of the Lord?
What stood out to you in these readings?
What takeaways for our everyday spiritual life do these imply?