Judgement and the salvation of Israel and Judah#
Pre-reading#
Idea/question/discussion point spreadsheet.
Read Isaiah, chapters 28-33
¹ Ah! majestic garland
of the drunkards of Ephraim,
Fading blooms of his glorious beauty,
at the head of the fertile valley,
upon those stupefied with wine.
² See, the Lord has a strong one, a mighty one,
who, like an onslaught of hail, a destructive storm,
Like a flood of water, great and overflowing,
levels to the ground with violence;
³ With feet that will trample
the majestic garland of the drunkards of Ephraim.
⁴ The fading blooms of his glorious beauty
at the head of the fertile valley
Will be like an early fig before summer:
whoever sees it,
swallows it as soon as it is in hand.
⁵ On that day the Lord of hosts
will be a glorious crown
And a brilliant diadem
for the remnant of his people,
⁶ A spirit of judgment
for the one who sits in judgment,
And strength for those
who turn back the battle at the gate.
⁷ But these also stagger from wine
and stumble from strong drink:
Priest and prophet stagger from strong drink,
overpowered by wine;
They are confused by strong drink,
they stagger in their visions,
they totter when giving judgment.
⁸ Yes, all the tables
are covered with vomit,
with filth, and no place left clean.
⁹ “To whom would he impart knowledge?
To whom would he convey the message?
To those just weaned from milk,
those weaned from the breast?
¹⁰ For he says,
‘Command on command, command on command,
rule on rule, rule on rule,
here a little, there a little!’”
¹¹ Yes, with stammering lips and in a strange language
he will speak to this people,
¹² to whom he said:
“This is the resting place,
give rest to the weary;
And this is the place of repose”—
but they refused to hear.
¹³ So for them the word of the Lord shall be:
“Command on command, command on command,
Rule on rule, rule on rule,
here a little, there a little!”
So that when they walk, they shall stumble backward,
broken, ensnared, and captured.
¹⁴ Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers,
who rule this people in Jerusalem:
¹⁵ You have declared, “We have made a covenant with death,
with Sheol we have made a pact;
When the raging flood passes through,
it will not reach us;
For we have made lies our refuge,
and in falsehood we have found a hiding place,”—
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.
¹⁷ I will make judgment a measuring line,
and justice a level.—
Hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies,
and waters shall flood the hiding place.
¹⁸ Your covenant with death shall be canceled
and your pact with Sheol shall not stand.
When the raging flood passes through,
you shall be beaten down by it.
¹⁹ Whenever it passes, it shall seize you;
morning after morning it shall pass,
by day and by night.
Sheer terror
to impart the message!
²⁰ For the bed shall be too short to stretch out in,
and the cover too narrow to wrap in.
²¹ For the Lord shall rise up as on Mount Perazim,
bestir himself as in the Valley of Gibeon,
To carry out his work—strange his work!
to perform his deed—alien his deed!
²² Now, cease scoffing,
lest your bonds be tightened,
For I have heard a decree of destruction
from the Lord, the God of hosts,
for the whole land.
²³ Give ear and hear my voice,
pay attention and hear my word:
²⁴ Is the plowman forever plowing in order to sow,
always loosening and harrowing the field?
²⁵ When he has leveled the surface,
does he not scatter caraway and sow cumin,
Put in wheat and barley,
with spelt as its border?
²⁶ His God has taught him this rule,
he has instructed him.
²⁷ For caraway is not threshed with a sledge,
nor does a cartwheel roll over cumin.
But caraway is beaten out with a staff,
and cumin with a rod.
²⁸ Grain is crushed for bread, but not forever;
though he thresh it thoroughly,
and drive his cartwheel and horses over it,
he does not pulverize it.
²⁹ This too comes from the Lord of hosts;
wonderful is his counsel and great his wisdom.
¹ Ah! Ariel, Ariel,
city where David encamped!
Let year follow year,
and feast follow feast,
² But I will bring distress upon Ariel,
and there will be mourning and moaning.
You shall be to me like Ariel:
³ I will encamp like David against you;
I will circle you with outposts
and set up siege works against you.
⁴ You shall speak from beneath the earth,
and from the dust below, your words shall come.
Your voice shall be that of a ghost from the earth,
and your words shall whisper from the dust.
⁵ The horde of your arrogant shall be like fine dust,
a horde of tyrants like flying chaff.
Then suddenly, in an instant,
⁶ you shall be visited by the Lord of hosts,
With thunder, earthquake, and great noise,
whirlwind, storm, and the flame of consuming fire.
⁷ Then like a dream,
a vision of the night,
Shall be the horde of all the nations
who make war against Ariel:
All the outposts, the siege works against it,
all who distress it.
⁸ As when a hungry man dreams he is eating
and awakens with an empty stomach,
Or when a thirsty man dreams he is drinking
and awakens faint, his throat parched,
So shall the horde of all the nations be,
who make war against Mount Zion.
⁹ Stupefy yourselves and stay stupid;
blind yourselves and stay blind!
You who are drunk, but not from wine,
who stagger, but not from strong drink!
¹⁰ For the Lord has poured out on you
a spirit of deep sleep.
He has shut your eyes (the prophets)
and covered your heads (the seers).
¹¹ For you the vision of all this has become like the words of a sealed scroll. When it is handed to one who can read, with the request, “Read this,” the reply is, “I cannot, because it is sealed.” ¹² When the scroll is handed to one who cannot read, with the request, “Read this,” the reply is, “I cannot read.”
¹³ The Lord said:
Since this people draws near with words only
and honors me with their lips alone,
though their hearts are far from me,
And fear of me has become
mere precept of human teaching,
¹⁴ Therefore I will again deal with this people
in surprising and wondrous fashion:
The wisdom of the wise shall perish,
the prudence of the prudent shall vanish.
¹⁵ Ah! You who would hide a plan
too deep for the Lord!
Who work in the dark, saying,
“Who sees us, who knows us?”
¹⁶ Your perversity is as though the potter
were taken to be the clay:
As though what is made should say of its maker,
“He did not make me!”
Or the vessel should say of the potter,
“He does not understand.”
¹⁷ Surely, in a very little while,
Lebanon shall be changed into an orchard,
and the orchard be considered a forest!
¹⁸ On that day the deaf shall hear
the words of a scroll;
And out of gloom and darkness,
the eyes of the blind shall see.
¹⁹ The lowly shall again find joy in the Lord,
the poorest rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
²⁰ For the tyrant shall be no more,
the scoffer shall cease to be;
All who are ready for evil shall be cut off,
²¹ those who condemn with a mere word,
Who ensnare the defender at the gate,
and leave the just with an empty claim.
²² Therefore thus says the Lord,
the God of the house of Jacob,
who redeemed Abraham:
No longer shall Jacob be ashamed,
no longer shall his face grow pale.
²³ For when his children see
the work of my hands in his midst,
They shall sanctify my name;
they shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob,
be in awe of the God of Israel.
²⁴ Those who err in spirit shall acquire understanding,
those who find fault shall receive instruction.
¹ Ah! Rebellious children,
oracle of the Lord,
Who carry out a plan that is not mine,
who make an alliance I did not inspire,
thus adding sin upon sin;
² They go down to Egypt,
without asking my counsel,
To seek strength in Pharaoh’s protection
and take refuge in Egypt’s shadow.
³ Pharaoh’s protection shall become your shame,
refuge in Egypt’s shadow your disgrace.
⁴ When his princes are at Zoan
and his messengers reach Hanes,
⁵ All shall be ashamed
of a people that gain them nothing,
Neither help nor benefit,
but only shame and reproach.
⁶ Oracle on the Beasts of the Negeb.
Through the distressed and troubled land
of the lioness and roaring lion,
of the viper and flying saraph,
They carry their riches on the backs of donkeys
and their treasures on the humps of camels
To a people good for nothing,
⁷ to Egypt whose help is futile and vain.
Therefore I call her
“Rahab Sit-still.”
⁸ Now come, write it on a tablet they can keep,
inscribe it on a scroll;
That in time to come it may be
an eternal witness.
⁹ For this is a rebellious people,
deceitful children,
Children who refuse
to listen to the instruction of the Lord;
¹⁰ Who say to the seers, “Do not see”;
to the prophets, “Do not prophesy truth for us;
speak smooth things to us, see visions that deceive!
¹¹ Turn aside from the way! Get out of the path!
Let us hear no more
of the Holy One of Israel!”
¹² Therefore, thus says the Holy One of Israel:
Because you reject this word,
And put your trust in oppression and deceit,
and depend on them,
¹³ This iniquity of yours shall be
like a descending rift
Bulging out in a high wall
whose crash comes suddenly, in an instant,
¹⁴ Crashing like a potter’s jar
smashed beyond rescue,
And among its fragments cannot be found
a sherd to scoop fire from the hearth
or dip water from the cistern.
¹⁵ For thus said the Lord God,
the Holy One of Israel:
By waiting and by calm you shall be saved,
in quiet and in trust shall be your strength.
But this you did not will.
¹⁶ “No,” you said,
“Upon horses we will flee.”
Very well, you shall flee!
“Upon swift steeds we will ride.”
Very well, swift shall be your pursuers!
¹⁷ A thousand shall tremble at the threat of one—
if five threaten, you shall flee.
You will then be left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop,
like a flag on a hill.
¹⁸ Truly, the Lord is waiting to be gracious to you,
truly, he shall rise to show you mercy;
For the Lord is a God of justice:
happy are all who wait for him!
¹⁹ Yes, people of Zion, dwelling in Jerusalem,
you shall no longer weep;
He will be most gracious to you when you cry out;
as soon as he hears he will answer you.
²⁰ The Lord will give you bread in adversity
and water in affliction.
No longer will your Teacher hide himself,
but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher,
²¹ And your ears shall hear a word behind you:
“This is the way; walk in it,”
when you would turn to the right or the left.
²² You shall defile your silver-plated idols
and your gold-covered images;
You shall throw them away like filthy rags,
you shall say, “Get out!”
²³ He will give rain for the seed
you sow in the ground,
And the bread that the soil produces
will be rich and abundant.
On that day your cattle will graze
in broad meadows;
²⁴ The oxen and the donkeys that till the ground
will eat silage tossed to them
with shovel and pitchfork.
²⁵ Upon every high mountain and lofty hill
there will be streams of running water.
On the day of the great slaughter,
when the towers fall,
²⁶ The light of the moon will be like the light of the sun,
and the light of the sun will be seven times greater,
like the light of seven days,
On the day the Lord binds up the wounds of his people
and heals the bruises left by his blows.
²⁷ See, the name of the Lord is coming from afar,
burning with anger, heavy with threat,
His lips filled with fury,
tongue like a consuming fire,
²⁸ Breath like an overflowing torrent
that reaches up to the neck!
He will winnow the nations with a destructive winnowing
and bridle the jaws of the peoples to send them astray.
²⁹ For you, there will be singing
as on a night when a feast is observed,
And joy of heart
as when one marches along with a flute
Going to the mountain of the Lord,
to the Rock of Israel.
³⁰ The Lord will make his glorious voice heard,
and reveal his arm coming down
In raging fury and flame of consuming fire,
in tempest, and rainstorm, and hail.
³¹ For at the voice of the Lord, Assyria will be shattered,
as he strikes with the rod;
³² And every sweep of the rod of his punishment,
which the Lord will bring down on him,
Will be accompanied by timbrels and lyres,
while he wages war against him.
³³ For his tophet has long been ready,
truly it is prepared for the king;
His firepit made both deep and wide,
with fire and firewood in abundance,
And the breath of the Lord, like a stream of sulfur,
setting it afire.
¹ Ah! Those who go down to Egypt for help,
who rely on horses;
Who put their trust in chariots because of their number,
and in horsemen because of their combined power,
But look not to the Holy One of Israel
nor seek the Lord!
² Yet he too is wise and will bring disaster;
he will not turn from his threats.
He will rise up against the house of the wicked
and against those who help evildoers.
³ The Egyptians are human beings, not God,
their horses flesh, not spirit;
When the Lord stretches forth his hand,
the helper shall stumble, the one helped shall fall,
and both of them shall perish together.
⁴ For thus says the Lord to me:
As a lion or its young
growling over the prey,
With a band of shepherds
assembled against it,
Is neither dismayed by their shouts
nor cowed by their noise,
So shall the Lord of hosts come down
to wage war upon Mount Zion, upon its height.
⁵ Like hovering birds, so the Lord of hosts
shall shield Jerusalem,
To shield and deliver,
to spare and rescue.
⁶ Return, O Israelites, to him whom you have utterly deserted. ⁷ On that day each one of you shall reject his idols of silver and gold, which your hands have made.
⁸ Assyria shall fall by a sword, not wielded by human being,
no mortal sword shall devour him;
He shall flee before the sword,
and his young men shall be impressed as laborers.
⁹ He shall rush past his crag in panic,
and his princes desert the standard in terror,
Says the Lord who has a fire in Zion
and a furnace in Jerusalem.
¹ See, a king will reign justly
and princes will rule rightly.
² Each of them will be like a shelter from the wind,
a refuge from the rain.
They will be like streams of water in a dry country,
like the shade of a great rock in a parched land.
³ The eyes of those who see will not be closed;
the ears of those who hear will be attentive.
⁴ The hasty of heart shall take thought to know,
and tongues of stutterers shall speak readily and clearly.
⁵ No more will the fool be called noble,
nor the deceiver be considered honorable.
⁶ For the fool speaks folly,
his heart plans evil:
Godless actions,
perverse speech against the Lord,
Letting the hungry go empty
and the thirsty without drink.
⁷ The deceits of the deceiver are evil,
he plans devious schemes:
To ruin the poor with lies,
and the needy when they plead their case.
⁸ But the noble plan noble deeds,
and in noble deeds they persist.
⁹ You women so complacent, rise up and hear my voice,
daughters so confident, give heed to my words.
¹⁰ In a little more than a year
your confidence will be shaken;
For the vintage will fail,
no fruit harvest will come in.
¹¹ Tremble, you who are so complacent!
Shudder, you who are so confident!
Strip yourselves bare,
with only a loincloth for cover.
¹² Beat your breasts
for the pleasant fields,
for the fruitful vine;
¹³ For the soil of my people,
overgrown with thorns and briers;
For all the joyful houses,
the exultant city.
¹⁴ The castle will be forsaken,
the noisy city deserted;
Citadel and tower will become wasteland forever,
the joy of wild donkeys, the pasture of flocks;
¹⁵ Until the spirit from on high
is poured out on us.
And the wilderness becomes a garden land
and the garden land seems as common as forest.
¹⁶ Then judgment will dwell in the wilderness
and justice abide in the garden land.
¹⁷ The work of justice will be peace;
the effect of justice, calm and security forever.
¹⁸ My people will live in peaceful country,
in secure dwellings and quiet resting places.
¹⁹ And the forest will come down completely,
the city will be utterly laid low.
²⁰ Happy are you who sow beside every stream,
and let the ox and the donkey go freely!
¹ Ah! You destroyer never destroyed,
betrayer never betrayed!
When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed;
when you have stopped betraying, you will be betrayed.
² Lord, be gracious to us; for you we wait.
Be our strength every morning,
our salvation in time of trouble!
³ At the roaring sound, peoples flee;
when you rise in your majesty, nations are scattered.
⁴ Spoil is gathered up as caterpillars gather,
an onrush like the rush of locusts.
⁵ The Lord is exalted, enthroned on high;
he fills Zion with right and justice.
⁶ That which makes her seasons certain,
her wealth, salvation, wisdom, and knowledge,
is the fear of the Lord, her treasure.
⁷ See, the men of Ariel cry out in the streets,
the messengers of Shalem weep bitterly.
⁸ The highways are desolate,
travelers have quit the paths,
Covenants are broken, witnesses spurned;
yet no one gives it a thought.
⁹ The country languishes in mourning,
Lebanon withers with shame;
Sharon is like the Arabah,
Bashan and Carmel are stripped bare.
¹⁰ Now I will rise up, says the Lord,
now exalt myself,
now lift myself up.
¹¹ You conceive dry grass, bring forth stubble;
my spirit shall consume you like fire.
¹² The peoples shall be burned to lime,
thorns cut down to burn in fire.
¹³ Hear, you who are far off, what I have done;
you who are near, acknowledge my might.
¹⁴ In Zion sinners are in dread,
trembling grips the impious:
“Who of us can live with consuming fire?
who of us can live with everlasting flames?”
¹⁵ Whoever walks righteously and speaks honestly,
who spurns what is gained by oppression,
Who waves off contact with a bribe,
who stops his ears so as not to hear of bloodshed,
who closes his eyes so as not to look on evil—
¹⁶ That one shall dwell on the heights,
with fortresses of rock for stronghold,
food and drink in steady supply.
¹⁷ Your eyes will see a king in his splendor,
they will look upon a vast land.
¹⁸ Your mind will dwell on the terror:
“Where is the one who counted, where the one who weighed?
Where the one who counted the towers?”
¹⁹ You shall no longer see a defiant people,
a people of speech too obscure to comprehend,
stammering in a tongue not understood.
²⁰ Look to Zion, the city of our festivals;
your eyes shall see Jerusalem
as a quiet abode, a tent not to be struck,
Whose pegs will never be pulled up,
nor any of its ropes severed.
²¹ Indeed the Lord in majesty will be there for us
a place of rivers and wide streams
on which no galley may go,
where no majestic ship may pass.
²² For the Lord is our judge,
the Lord is our lawgiver,
the Lord is our king;
he it is who will save us.
²³ The rigging hangs slack;
it cannot hold the mast in place,
nor keep the sail spread out.
Then the blind will divide great spoils
and the lame will carry off the loot.
²⁴ No one who dwells there will say, “I am sick”;
the people who live there will be forgiven their guilt.
¹ Woe to the proud crown of the drunkards of E′phraim,
and to the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
which is on the head of the rich valley of those overcome with wine!
² Behold, the Lord has one who is mighty and strong;
like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest,
like a storm of mighty, overflowing waters,
he will cast down to the earth with violence.
³ The proud crown of the drunkards of E′phraim
will be trodden under foot;
⁴ and the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
which is on the head of the rich valley,
will be like a first-ripe fig before the summer:
when a man sees it, he eats it up
as soon as it is in his hand.
⁵ In that day the Lord of hosts will be a crown of glory,
and a diadem of beauty, to the remnant of his people;
⁶ and a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment,
and strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.
⁷ These also reel with wine
and stagger with strong drink;
the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink,
they are confused with wine,
they stagger with strong drink;
they err in vision,
they stumble in giving judgment.
⁸ For all tables are full of vomit,
no place is without filthiness.
⁹ “Whom will he teach knowledge,
and to whom will he explain the message?
Those who are weaned from the milk,
those taken from the breast?
¹⁰ For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
line upon line, line upon line,
here a little, there a little.”
¹¹ Nay, but by men of strange lips
and with an alien tongue
the Lord will speak to this people,
¹² to whom he has said,
“This is rest;
give rest to the weary;
and this is repose”;
yet they would not hear.
¹³ Therefore the word of the Lord will be to them
precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
line upon line, line upon line,
here a little, there a little;
that they may go, and fall backward,
and be broken, and snared, and taken.
¹⁴ Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers,
who rule this people in Jerusalem!
¹⁵ Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
and with Sheol we have an agreement;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through
it will not come to us;
for we have made lies our refuge,
and in falsehood we have taken shelter”;
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.’
¹⁷ And I will make justice the line,
and righteousness the plummet;
and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
and waters will overwhelm the shelter.”
¹⁸ Then your covenant with death will be annulled,
and your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through
you will be beaten down by it.
¹⁹ As often as it passes through it will take you;
for morning by morning it will pass through,
by day and by night;
and it will be sheer terror to understand the message.
²⁰ For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on it,
and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in it.
²¹ For the Lord will rise up as on Mount Pera′zim,
he will be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon;
to do his deed—strange is his deed!
and to work his work—alien is his work!
²² Now therefore do not scoff,
lest your bonds be made strong;
for I have heard a decree of destruction
from the Lord God of hosts upon the whole land.
²³ Give ear, and hear my voice;
hearken, and hear my speech.
²⁴ Does he who plows for sowing plow continually?
does he continually open and harrow his ground?
²⁵ When he has leveled its surface,
does he not scatter dill, sow cummin,
and put in wheat in rows
and barley in its proper place,
and spelt as the border?
²⁶ For he is instructed aright;
his God teaches him.
²⁷ Dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge,
nor is a cart wheel rolled over cummin;
but dill is beaten out with a stick,
and cummin with a rod.
²⁸ Does one crush bread grain?
No, he does not thresh it for ever;
when he drives his cart wheel over it
with his horses, he does not crush it.
²⁹ This also comes from the Lord of hosts;
he is wonderful in counsel,
and excellent in wisdom.
¹ Ho Ariel, Ariel,
the city where David encamped!
Add year to year;
let the feasts run their round.
² Yet I will distress Ariel,
and there shall be moaning and lamentation,
and she shall be to me like an Ariel.
³ And I will encamp against you round about,
and will besiege you with towers
and I will raise siegeworks against you.
⁴ Then deep from the earth you shall speak,
from low in the dust your words shall come;
your voice shall come from the ground like the voice of a ghost,
and your speech shall whisper out of the dust.
⁵ But the multitude of your foes shall be like small dust,
and the multitude of the ruthless like passing chaff.
And in an instant, suddenly,
⁶ you will be visited by the Lord of hosts
with thunder and with earthquake and great noise,
with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire.
⁷ And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel,
all that fight against her and her stronghold and distress her,
shall be like a dream, a vision of the night.
⁸ As when a hungry man dreams he is eating
and awakes with his hunger not satisfied,
or as when a thirsty man dreams he is drinking
and awakes faint, with his thirst not quenched,
so shall the multitude of all the nations be
that fight against Mount Zion.
⁹ Stupefy yourselves and be in a stupor,
blind yourselves and be blind!
Be drunk, but not with wine;
stagger, but not with strong drink!
¹⁰ For the Lord has poured out upon you
a spirit of deep sleep,
and has closed your eyes, the prophets,
and covered your heads, the seers.
¹¹ And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” ¹² And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot read.”
¹³ And the Lord said:
“Because this people draw near with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
while their hearts are far from me,
and their fear of me is a commandment of men learned by rote;
¹⁴ therefore, behold, I will again
do marvelous things with this people,
wonderful and marvelous;
and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hid.”
¹⁵ Woe to those who hide deep from the Lord their counsel,
whose deeds are in the dark,
and who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?”
¹⁶ You turn things upside down!
Shall the potter be regarded as the clay;
that the thing made should say of its maker,
“He did not make me”;
or the thing formed say of him who formed it,
“He has no understanding”?
¹⁷ Is it not yet a very little while
until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest?
¹⁸ In that day the deaf shall hear
the words of a book,
and out of their gloom and darkness
the eyes of the blind shall see.
¹⁹ The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord,
and the poor among men shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.
²⁰ For the ruthless shall come to nought and the scoffer cease,
and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off,
²¹ who by a word make a man out to be an offender,
and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,
and with an empty plea turn aside him who is in the right.
²² Therefore thus says the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:
“Jacob shall no more be ashamed,
no more shall his face grow pale.
²³ For when he sees his children,
the work of my hands, in his midst,
they will sanctify my name;
they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob,
and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
²⁴ And those who err in spirit will come to understanding,
and those who murmur will accept instruction.”
¹ “Woe to the rebellious children,” says the Lord,
“who carry out a plan, but not mine;
and who make a league, but not of my spirit,
that they may add sin to sin;
² who set out to go down to Egypt,
without asking for my counsel,
to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh,
and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!
³ Therefore shall the protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame,
and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your humiliation.
⁴ For though his officials are at Zo′an
and his envoys reach Ha′nes,
⁵ every one comes to shame
through a people that cannot profit them,
that brings neither help nor profit,
but shame and disgrace.”
⁶ An oracle on the beasts of the Negeb.
Through a land of trouble and anguish,
from where come the lioness and the lion,
the viper and the flying serpent,
they carry their riches on the backs of asses,
and their treasures on the humps of camels,
to a people that cannot profit them.
⁷ For Egypt’s help is worthless and empty,
therefore I have called her
“Rahab who sits still.”
⁸ And now, go, write it before them on a tablet,
and inscribe it in a book,
that it may be for the time to come
as a witness for ever.
⁹ For they are a rebellious people,
lying sons,
sons who will not hear
the instruction of the Lord;
¹⁰ who say to the seers, “See not”;
and to the prophets, “Prophesy not to us what is right;
speak to us smooth things,
prophesy illusions,
¹¹ leave the way, turn aside from the path,
let us hear no more of the Holy One of Israel.”
¹² Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel,
“Because you despise this word,
and trust in oppression and perverseness,
and rely on them;
¹³ therefore this iniquity shall be to you
like a break in a high wall, bulging out, and about to collapse,
whose crash comes suddenly, in an instant;
¹⁴ and its breaking is like that of a potter’s vessel
which is smashed so ruthlessly
that among its fragments not a sherd is found
with which to take fire from the hearth,
or to dip up water out of the cistern.”
¹⁵ For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel,
“In returning and rest you shall be saved;
in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”
¹⁶ but you said,
“No! We will speed upon horses,”
therefore you shall speed away;
and, “We will ride upon swift steeds,”
therefore your pursuers shall be swift.
¹⁷ A thousand shall flee at the threat of one,
at the threat of five you shall flee,
till you are left
like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain,
like a signal on a hill.
¹⁸ Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you;
therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
blessed are all those who wait for him.
¹⁹ Yea, O people in Zion who dwell at Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when he hears it, he will answer you. ²⁰ And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself any more, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. ²¹ And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. ²² Then you will defile your silver-covered graven images and your gold-plated molten images. You will scatter them as unclean things; you will say to them, “Begone!”
²³ And he will give rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and grain, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous. In that day your cattle will graze in large pastures; ²⁴ and the oxen and the asses that till the ground will eat salted provender, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork. ²⁵ And upon every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. ²⁶ Moreover the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when the Lord binds up the hurt of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.
²⁷ Behold, the name of the Lord comes from far,
burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke;
his lips are full of indignation,
and his tongue is like a devouring fire;
²⁸ his breath is like an overflowing stream
that reaches up to the neck;
to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction,
and to place on the jaws of the peoples a bridle that leads astray.
²⁹ You shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel. ³⁰ And the Lord will cause his majestic voice to be heard and the descending blow of his arm to be seen, in furious anger and a flame of devouring fire, with a cloudburst and tempest and hailstones. ³¹ The Assyrians will be terror-stricken at the voice of the Lord, when he smites with his rod. ³² And every stroke of the staff of punishment which the Lord lays upon them will be to the sound of timbrels and lyres; battling with brandished arm he will fight with them. ³³ For a burning place has long been prepared; yea, for the king it is made ready, its pyre made deep and wide, with fire and wood in abundance; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, kindles it.
¹ Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help
and rely on horses,
who trust in chariots because they are many
and in horsemen because they are very strong,
but do not look to the Holy One of Israel
or consult the Lord!
² And yet he is wise and brings disaster,
he does not call back his words,
but will arise against the house of the evildoers,
and against the helpers of those who work iniquity.
³ The Egyptians are men, and not God;
and their horses are flesh, and not spirit.
When the Lord stretches out his hand,
the helper will stumble, and he who is helped will fall,
and they will all perish together.
⁴ For thus the Lord said to me,
As a lion or a young lion growls over his prey,
and when a band of shepherds is called forth against him
is not terrified by their shouting
or daunted at their noise,
so the Lord of hosts will come down
to fight upon Mount Zion and upon its hill.
⁵ Like birds hovering, so the Lord of hosts
will protect Jerusalem;
he will protect and deliver it,
he will spare and rescue it.
⁶ Turn to him from whom you have deeply revolted, O people of Israel. ⁷ For in that day every one shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which your hands have sinfully made for you.
⁸ “And the Assyrian shall fall by a sword, not of man;
and a sword, not of man, shall devour him;
and he shall flee from the sword,
and his young men shall be put to forced labor.
⁹ His rock shall pass away in terror,
and his officers desert the standard in panic,”
says the Lord, whose fire is in Zion,
and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.
¹ Behold, a king will reign in righteousness,
and princes will rule in justice.
² Each will be like a hiding place from the wind,
a covert from the tempest,
like streams of water in a dry place,
like the shade of a great rock in a weary land.
³ Then the eyes of those who see will not be closed,
and the ears of those who hear will hearken.
⁴ The mind of the rash will have good judgment,
and the tongue of the stammerers will speak readily and distinctly.
⁵ The fool will no more be called noble,
nor the knave said to be honorable.
⁶ For the fool speaks folly,
and his mind plots iniquity:
to practice ungodliness,
to utter error concerning the Lord,
to leave the craving of the hungry unsatisfied,
and to deprive the thirsty of drink.
⁷ The knaveries of the knave are evil;
he devises wicked devices
to ruin the poor with lying words,
even when the plea of the needy is right.
⁸ But he who is noble devises noble things,
and by noble things he stands.
⁹ Rise up, you women who are at ease, hear my voice;
you complacent daughters, give ear to my speech.
¹⁰ In little more than a year
you will shudder, you complacent women;
for the vintage will fail,
the fruit harvest will not come.
¹¹ Tremble, you women who are at ease,
shudder, you complacent ones;
strip, and make yourselves bare,
and gird sackcloth upon your loins.
¹² Beat upon your breasts for the pleasant fields,
for the fruitful vine,
¹³ for the soil of my people
growing up in thorns and briers;
yea, for all the joyous houses
in the joyful city.
¹⁴ For the palace will be forsaken,
the populous city deserted;
the hill and the watchtower
will become dens for ever,
a joy of wild asses,
a pasture of flocks;
¹⁵ until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high,
and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field,
and the fruitful field is deemed a forest.
¹⁶ Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,
and righteousness abide in the fruitful field.
¹⁷ And the effect of righteousness will be peace,
and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust for ever.
¹⁸ My people will abide in a peaceful habitation,
in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.
¹⁹ And the forest will utterly go down,
and the city will be utterly laid low.
²⁰ Happy are you who sow beside all waters,
who let the feet of the ox and the ass range free.
¹ Woe to you, destroyer,
who yourself have not been destroyed;
you treacherous one,
with whom none has dealt treacherously!
When you have ceased to destroy,
you will be destroyed;
and when you have made an end of dealing treacherously,
you will be dealt with treacherously.
² O Lord, be gracious to us; we wait for thee.
Be our arm every morning,
our salvation in the time of trouble.
³ At the thunderous noise peoples flee,
at the lifting up of thyself nations are scattered;
⁴ and spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers;
as locusts leap, men leap upon it.
⁵ The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high;
he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness;
⁶ and he will be the stability of your times,
abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge;
the fear of the Lord is his treasure.
⁷ Behold, the valiant ones cry without;
the envoys of peace weep bitterly.
⁸ The highways lie waste,
the wayfaring man ceases.
Covenants are broken,
witnesses are despised,
there is no regard for man.
⁹ The land mourns and languishes;
Lebanon is confounded and withers away;
Sharon is like a desert;
and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.
¹⁰ “Now I will arise,” says the Lord,
“now I will lift myself up;
now I will be exalted.
¹¹ You conceive chaff, you bring forth stubble;
your breath is a fire that will consume you.
¹² And the peoples will be as if burned to lime,
like thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire.”
¹³ Hear, you who are far off, what I have done;
and you who are near, acknowledge my might.
¹⁴ The sinners in Zion are afraid;
trembling has seized the godless:
“Who among us can dwell with the devouring fire?
Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?”
¹⁵ He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly,
who despises the gain of oppressions,
who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe,
who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed
and shuts his eyes from looking upon evil,
¹⁶ he will dwell on the heights;
his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks;
his bread will be given him, his water will be sure.
¹⁷ Your eyes will see the king in his beauty;
they will behold a land that stretches afar.
¹⁸ Your mind will muse on the terror:
“Where is he who counted, where is he who weighed the tribute?
Where is he who counted the towers?”
¹⁹ You will see no more the insolent people,
the people of an obscure speech which you cannot comprehend,
stammering in a tongue which you cannot understand.
²⁰ Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts!
Your eyes will see Jerusalem,
a quiet habitation, an immovable tent,
whose stakes will never be plucked up,
nor will any of its cords be broken.
²¹ But there the Lord in majesty will be for us
a place of broad rivers and streams,
where no galley with oars can go,
nor stately ship can pass.
²² For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our ruler,
the Lord is our king; he will save us.
²³ Your tackle hangs loose;
it cannot hold the mast firm in its place,
or keep the sail spread out.
Then prey and spoil in abundance will be divided;
even the lame will take the prey.
²⁴ And no inhabitant will say, “I am sick”;
the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.
Discussion points#
Oracles on Earthly empires#
Futility of Judah’s Egyptian alliance#
¹⁴ Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers,
who rule this people in Jerusalem:
¹⁵ You have declared, “We have made a covenant with death,
with Sheol we have made a pact;
When the raging flood passes through,
it will not reach us;
For we have made lies our refuge,
and in falsehood we have found a hiding place,”—
¹¹ For they have openly rebelled against me,
both the house of Israel and the house of Judah—
oracle of the Lord.
¹² They denied the Lord,
saying, “He is nothing,
No evil shall come to us,
neither sword nor famine shall we see.
¹³ The prophets are wind,
and the word is not with them.
Let it be done to them!”
¹⁷ I will make judgment a measuring line,
and justice a level.—
Hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies,
and waters shall flood the hiding place.
¹⁸ Your covenant with death shall be canceled
and your pact with Sheol shall not stand.
When the raging flood passes through,
you shall be beaten down by it.
¹⁹ Whenever it passes, it shall seize you;
morning after morning it shall pass,
by day and by night.
Sheer terror
to impart the message!
¹ Ah! Rebellious children,
oracle of the Lord,
Who carry out a plan that is not mine,
who make an alliance I did not inspire,
thus adding sin upon sin;
² They go down to Egypt,
without asking my counsel,
To seek strength in Pharaoh’s protection
and take refuge in Egypt’s shadow.
³ Pharaoh’s protection shall become your shame,
refuge in Egypt’s shadow your disgrace.
⁴ When his princes are at Zoan
and his messengers reach Hanes,
⁵ All shall be ashamed
of a people that gain them nothing,
Neither help nor benefit,
but only shame and reproach.
⁹ For this is a rebellious people,
deceitful children,
Children who refuse
to listen to the instruction of the Lord;
¹⁰ Who say to the seers, “Do not see”;
to the prophets, “Do not prophesy truth for us;
speak smooth things to us, see visions that deceive!
¹¹ Turn aside from the way! Get out of the path!
Let us hear no more
of the Holy One of Israel!”
¹² Therefore, thus says the Holy One of Israel:
Because you reject this word,
And put your trust in oppression and deceit,
and depend on them,
¹³ This iniquity of yours shall be
like a descending rift
Bulging out in a high wall
whose crash comes suddenly, in an instant,
¹ Ah! Those who go down to Egypt for help,
who rely on horses;
Who put their trust in chariots because of their number,
and in horsemen because of their combined power,
But look not to the Holy One of Israel
nor seek the Lord!
² Yet he too is wise and will bring disaster;
he will not turn from his threats.
He will rise up against the house of the wicked
and against those who help evildoers.
³ The Egyptians are human beings, not God,
their horses flesh, not spirit;
When the Lord stretches forth his hand,
the helper shall stumble, the one helped shall fall,
and both of them shall perish together.
⁹ He shall rush past his crag in panic,
and his princes desert the standard in terror,
Says the Lord who has a fire in Zion
and a furnace in Jerusalem.
⁹ You women so complacent, rise up and hear my voice,
daughters so confident, give heed to my words.
¹⁰ In a little more than a year
your confidence will be shaken;
For the vintage will fail,
no fruit harvest will come in.
¹¹ Tremble, you who are so complacent!
Shudder, you who are so confident!
Strip yourselves bare,
with only a loincloth for cover.
¹² Beat your breasts
for the pleasant fields,
for the fruitful vine;
¹³ For the soil of my people,
overgrown with thorns and briers;
For all the joyful houses,
the exultant city.
¹⁴ The castle will be forsaken,
the noisy city deserted;
Citadel and tower will become wasteland forever,
the joy of wild donkeys, the pasture of flocks;
¹⁴ Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers,
who rule this people in Jerusalem!
¹⁵ Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
and with Sheol we have an agreement;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through
it will not come to us;
for we have made lies our refuge,
and in falsehood we have taken shelter”;
¹¹ For the house of Israel and the house of Judah
have been utterly faithless to me,
says the Lord.
¹² They have spoken falsely of the Lord,
and have said, ‘He will do nothing;
no evil will come upon us,
nor shall we see sword or famine.
¹³ The prophets will become wind;
the word is not in them.
Thus shall it be done to them!’”
¹⁷ And I will make justice the line,
and righteousness the plummet;
and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
and waters will overwhelm the shelter.”
¹⁸ Then your covenant with death will be annulled,
and your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through
you will be beaten down by it.
¹⁹ As often as it passes through it will take you;
for morning by morning it will pass through,
by day and by night;
and it will be sheer terror to understand the message.
¹ “Woe to the rebellious children,” says the Lord,
“who carry out a plan, but not mine;
and who make a league, but not of my spirit,
that they may add sin to sin;
² who set out to go down to Egypt,
without asking for my counsel,
to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh,
and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!
³ Therefore shall the protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame,
and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your humiliation.
⁴ For though his officials are at Zo′an
and his envoys reach Ha′nes,
⁵ every one comes to shame
through a people that cannot profit them,
that brings neither help nor profit,
but shame and disgrace.”
⁹ For they are a rebellious people,
lying sons,
sons who will not hear
the instruction of the Lord;
¹⁰ who say to the seers, “See not”;
and to the prophets, “Prophesy not to us what is right;
speak to us smooth things,
prophesy illusions,
¹¹ leave the way, turn aside from the path,
let us hear no more of the Holy One of Israel.”
¹² Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel,
“Because you despise this word,
and trust in oppression and perverseness,
and rely on them;
¹³ therefore this iniquity shall be to you
like a break in a high wall, bulging out, and about to collapse,
whose crash comes suddenly, in an instant;
¹ Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help
and rely on horses,
who trust in chariots because they are many
and in horsemen because they are very strong,
but do not look to the Holy One of Israel
or consult the Lord!
² And yet he is wise and brings disaster,
he does not call back his words,
but will arise against the house of the evildoers,
and against the helpers of those who work iniquity.
³ The Egyptians are men, and not God;
and their horses are flesh, and not spirit.
When the Lord stretches out his hand,
the helper will stumble, and he who is helped will fall,
and they will all perish together.
⁹ His rock shall pass away in terror,
and his officers desert the standard in panic,”
says the Lord, whose fire is in Zion,
and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.
⁹ Rise up, you women who are at ease, hear my voice;
you complacent daughters, give ear to my speech.
¹⁰ In little more than a year
you will shudder, you complacent women;
for the vintage will fail,
the fruit harvest will not come.
¹¹ Tremble, you women who are at ease,
shudder, you complacent ones;
strip, and make yourselves bare,
and gird sackcloth upon your loins.
¹² Beat upon your breasts for the pleasant fields,
for the fruitful vine,
¹³ for the soil of my people
growing up in thorns and briers;
yea, for all the joyous houses
in the joyful city.
¹⁴ For the palace will be forsaken,
the populous city deserted;
the hill and the watchtower
will become dens for ever,
a joy of wild asses,
a pasture of flocks;
Marching on Jerusalem#
²¹ For the Lord shall rise up as on Mount Perazim,
bestir himself as in the Valley of Gibeon,
To carry out his work—strange his work!
to perform his deed—alien his deed!
²² Now, cease scoffing,
lest your bonds be tightened,
For I have heard a decree of destruction
from the Lord, the God of hosts,
for the whole land.
¹⁸ Meanwhile the Philistines had come and deployed themselves in the valley of Rephaim. ¹⁹ David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I attack the Philistines, and will you deliver them into my power?” The Lord answered David: Attack, for I will surely deliver the Philistines into your power. ²⁰ So David went to Baal-perazim, and he defeated them there. He said, “The Lord has broken through my enemies before me just as water breaks through a dam.” Therefore that place was called Baal-perazim. ²¹ The Philistines abandoned their gods there, and David and his men carried them away. ²² Once again the Philistines came up and deployed themselves in the valley of Rephaim, ²³ and again David inquired of the Lord, who replied: Do not attack the front—circle behind them and come against them near the balsam trees. ²⁴ When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, act decisively, for then the Lord has already gone before you to strike the army of the Philistines. ²⁵ David did as the Lord commanded him, and routed the Philistines from Gibeon as far as Gezer.
¹ Ah! Ariel, Ariel,
city where David encamped!
Let year follow year,
and feast follow feast,
² But I will bring distress upon Ariel,
and there will be mourning and moaning.
You shall be to me like Ariel:
³ I will encamp like David against you;
I will circle you with outposts
and set up siege works against you.
⁴ You shall speak from beneath the earth,
and from the dust below, your words shall come.
Your voice shall be that of a ghost from the earth,
and your words shall whisper from the dust.
⁵ The horde of your arrogant shall be like fine dust,
a horde of tyrants like flying chaff.
Then suddenly, in an instant,
⁶ you shall be visited by the Lord of hosts,
With thunder, earthquake, and great noise,
whirlwind, storm, and the flame of consuming fire.
²¹ For the Lord will rise up as on Mount Pera′zim,
he will be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon;
to do his deed—strange is his deed!
and to work his work—alien is his work!
²² Now therefore do not scoff,
lest your bonds be made strong;
for I have heard a decree of destruction
from the Lord God of hosts upon the whole land.
¹⁸ Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the valley of Reph′aim. ¹⁹ And David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Wilt thou give them into my hand?” And the Lord said to David, “Go up; for I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand.” ²⁰ And David came to Ba′al-pera′zim, and David defeated them there; and he said, “The Lord has broken through my enemies before me, like a bursting flood.” Therefore the name of that place is called Ba′al-pera′zim. ²¹ And the Philistines left their idols there, and David and his men carried them away.
²² And the Philistines came up yet again, and spread out in the valley of Reph′aim. ²³ And when David inquired of the Lord, he said, “You shall not go up; go around to their rear, and come upon them opposite the balsam trees. ²⁴ And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then bestir yourself; for then the Lord has gone out before you to smite the army of the Philistines.” ²⁵ And David did as the Lord commanded him, and smote the Philistines from Geba to Gezer.
¹ Ho Ariel, Ariel,
the city where David encamped!
Add year to year;
let the feasts run their round.
² Yet I will distress Ariel,
and there shall be moaning and lamentation,
and she shall be to me like an Ariel.
³ And I will encamp against you round about,
and will besiege you with towers
and I will raise siegeworks against you.
⁴ Then deep from the earth you shall speak,
from low in the dust your words shall come;
your voice shall come from the ground like the voice of a ghost,
and your speech shall whisper out of the dust.
⁵ But the multitude of your foes shall be like small dust,
and the multitude of the ruthless like passing chaff.
And in an instant, suddenly,
⁶ you will be visited by the Lord of hosts
with thunder and with earthquake and great noise,
with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire.
Philistines pushed back by David, after David sweeps up from Hebron. (source)#
Map of the campaign of Sennacherib, king of Assyria, against Judah in the time of Hezekiah. (source: NABRE study bible, 2 Kings 19)#
Destruction of Assyria#
³⁰ The Lord will make his glorious voice heard,
and reveal his arm coming down
In raging fury and flame of consuming fire,
in tempest, and rainstorm, and hail.
³¹ For at the voice of the Lord, Assyria will be shattered,
as he strikes with the rod;
³² And every sweep of the rod of his punishment,
which the Lord will bring down on him,
Will be accompanied by timbrels and lyres,
while he wages war against him.
³³ For his tophet has long been ready,
truly it is prepared for the king;
His firepit made both deep and wide,
with fire and firewood in abundance,
And the breath of the Lord, like a stream of sulfur,
setting it afire.
¹⁰ The king also defiled Topheth in the Valley of Ben-hinnom, so that there would no longer be any immolation of sons or daughters by fire in honor of Molech.
King Ahaz likely burned his son, possibly at Topheth:
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.
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.
The destruction of Assyria is contrasted with the (eventual) salvation of Israel and Judah, transitioning us to oracles of salvation.
¹ Ah! You destroyer never destroyed,
betrayer never betrayed!
When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed;
when you have stopped betraying, you will be betrayed.
⁸ Now come, write it on a tablet they can keep,
inscribe it on a scroll;
That in time to come it may be
an eternal witness.
⁹ For this is a rebellious people,
deceitful children,
Children who refuse
to listen to the instruction of the Lord;
¹⁰ Who say to the seers, “Do not see”;
to the prophets, “Do not prophesy truth for us;
speak smooth things to us, see visions that deceive!
¹¹ Turn aside from the way! Get out of the path!
Let us hear no more
of the Holy One of Israel!”
¹² Therefore, thus says the Holy One of Israel:
Because you reject this word,
And put your trust in oppression and deceit,
and depend on them,
¹³ This iniquity of yours shall be
like a descending rift
Bulging out in a high wall
whose crash comes suddenly, in an instant,
²⁰ Look to Zion, the city of our festivals;
your eyes shall see Jerusalem
as a quiet abode, a tent not to be struck,
Whose pegs will never be pulled up,
nor any of its ropes severed.
²¹ Indeed the Lord in majesty will be there for us
a place of rivers and wide streams
on which no galley may go,
where no majestic ship may pass.
²² For the Lord is our judge,
the Lord is our lawgiver,
the Lord is our king;
he it is who will save us.
¹ Woe to you, destroyer,
who yourself have not been destroyed;
you treacherous one,
with whom none has dealt treacherously!
When you have ceased to destroy,
you will be destroyed;
and when you have made an end of dealing treacherously,
you will be dealt with treacherously.
⁸ And now, go, write it before them on a tablet,
and inscribe it in a book,
that it may be for the time to come
as a witness for ever.
⁹ For they are a rebellious people,
lying sons,
sons who will not hear
the instruction of the Lord;
¹⁰ who say to the seers, “See not”;
and to the prophets, “Prophesy not to us what is right;
speak to us smooth things,
prophesy illusions,
¹¹ leave the way, turn aside from the path,
let us hear no more of the Holy One of Israel.”
¹² Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel,
“Because you despise this word,
and trust in oppression and perverseness,
and rely on them;
¹³ therefore this iniquity shall be to you
like a break in a high wall, bulging out, and about to collapse,
whose crash comes suddenly, in an instant;
²⁰ Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts!
Your eyes will see Jerusalem,
a quiet habitation, an immovable tent,
whose stakes will never be plucked up,
nor will any of its cords be broken.
²¹ But there the Lord in majesty will be for us
a place of broad rivers and streams,
where no galley with oars can go,
nor stately ship can pass.
²² For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our ruler,
the Lord is our king; he will save us.
Oracles of salvation#
The cornerstone#
¹⁴ He shall be a snare,
a stone for injury,
A rock for stumbling
to both the houses of Israel,
A trap and a snare
to those who dwell in Jerusalem;
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.
¹⁹ Open the gates of righteousness;
I will enter and thank the Lord.
²⁰ This is the Lord’s own gate,
through it the righteous enter.
²¹ I thank you for you answered me;
you have been my savior.
²² The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
²³ By the Lord has this been done;
it is wonderful in our eyes.
²⁴ This is the day the Lord has made;
let us rejoice in it and be glad.
²⁵ Lord, grant salvation!
Lord, grant good fortune!
¹⁴ And he will become a sanctuary, and a stone of offense, and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
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.’
¹⁹ Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them
and give thanks to the Lord.
²⁰ This is the gate of the Lord;
the righteous shall enter through it.
²¹ I thank thee that thou hast answered me
and hast become my salvation.
²² The stone which the builders rejected
has become the head of the corner.
²³ This is the Lord’s doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
²⁴ This is the day which the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
²⁵ Save us, we beseech thee, O Lord!
O Lord, we beseech thee, give us success!
Interestingly, Jewish scholars during the time of Jesus translate the “cornerstone” verse explicitly in a Messianic way, from this translation into Aramaic of verse 16:
Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I appoint a king in Zion; a king mighty, powerful, and terrible: I will make him powerful, and I will strengthen Him, saith the prophet. But the righteous, who believe these things shall not be moved, when distress shall come.
These references are repeatedly cited in the New Testament, starting with Jesus’s own words in the Parable of the Tenets, as we read in the first week. Peter and John also reference Jesus’s fulfillment of this, very explicitly, when they are before the Sanhedrin:
⁵ On the next day, their leaders, elders, and scribes were assembled in Jerusalem, ⁶ with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly class. ⁷ They brought them into their presence and questioned them, “By what power or by what name have you done this?” ⁸ Then Peter, filled with the holy Spirit, answered them, “Leaders of the people and elders: ⁹ If we are being examined today about a good deed done to a cripple, namely, by what means he was saved, ¹⁰ then all of you and all the people of Israel should know that it was in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead; in his name this man stands before you healed. ¹¹ He is ‘the stone rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.’ ¹² There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved.”
⁵ On the morrow their rulers and elders and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem, ⁶ with Annas the high priest and Ca′iaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. ⁷ And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” ⁸ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, ⁹ if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a cripple, by what means this man has been healed, ¹⁰ be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man is standing before you well. ¹¹ This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, but which has become the head of the corner. ¹² And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
and also in Romans:
³⁰ What then shall we say? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have achieved it, that is, righteousness that comes from faith; ³¹ but that Israel, who pursued the law of righteousness, did not attain to that law? ³² Why not? Because they did it not by faith, but as if it could be done by works. They stumbled over the stone that causes stumbling, ³³ as it is written:
“Behold, I am laying a stone in Zion
that will make people stumble
and a rock that will make them fall,
and whoever believes in him shall not be put to shame.”
³⁰ What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, righteousness through faith; ³¹ but that Israel who pursued the righteousness which is based on law did not succeed in fulfilling that law. ³² Why? Because they did not pursue it through faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, ³³ as it is written,
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone that will make men stumble,
a rock that will make them fall;
and he who believes in him will not be put to shame.”
Finally, salvation#
²² Therefore thus says the Lord,
the God of the house of Jacob,
who redeemed Abraham:
No longer shall Jacob be ashamed,
no longer shall his face grow pale.
²³ For when his children see
the work of my hands in his midst,
They shall sanctify my name;
they shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob,
be in awe of the God of Israel.
²⁴ Those who err in spirit shall acquire understanding,
those who find fault shall receive instruction.
¹⁸ Truly, the Lord is waiting to be gracious to you,
truly, he shall rise to show you mercy;
For the Lord is a God of justice:
happy are all who wait for him!
¹⁹ Yes, people of Zion, dwelling in Jerusalem,
you shall no longer weep;
He will be most gracious to you when you cry out;
as soon as he hears he will answer you.
²⁰ The Lord will give you bread in adversity
and water in affliction.
No longer will your Teacher hide himself,
but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher,
²¹ And your ears shall hear a word behind you:
“This is the way; walk in it,”
when you would turn to the right or the left.
²² Therefore thus says the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:
“Jacob shall no more be ashamed,
no more shall his face grow pale.
²³ For when he sees his children,
the work of my hands, in his midst,
they will sanctify my name;
they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob,
and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
²⁴ And those who err in spirit will come to understanding,
and those who murmur will accept instruction.”
¹⁸ Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you;
therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
blessed are all those who wait for him.
¹⁹ Yea, O people in Zion who dwell at Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when he hears it, he will answer you. ²⁰ And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself any more, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. ²¹ And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.
Verse 20 has been translated in different ways, with our modern translations using “thy Teacher”, with older ones using “thy teachers”. The original Hebrew (seemingly) has subject-verb disagreement, with the “shall be removed/hide” verb uses a singular conjugation, whereas the “teachers” noun is normally plural.
Using the same Aramaic translation from around 10 AD, we see that contemporary translations explicitly identified what we translate as “Teacher” as a locus of divine presence:
And the Lord shall give unto you the treasures of the enemy, and the spoil of the oppressor, and He will no more take away His Shekinah from the house of the sanctuary, and thine eyes shall behold my Shekinah in the house of the sanctuary.
where Shekinah is a rabbinic introduction and means a dwelling place / settling of divine presence. It is used to describe God’s presence in theophanies like the burning bush and pillar of fire, but also in the Tabernacle and Temple, which neatly dovetails with our messianic understanding of the verses.
¹ See, a king will reign justly
and princes will rule rightly.
² Each of them will be like a shelter from the wind,
a refuge from the rain.
They will be like streams of water in a dry country,
like the shade of a great rock in a parched land.
³ The eyes of those who see will not be closed;
the ears of those who hear will be attentive.
⁴ The hasty of heart shall take thought to know,
and tongues of stutterers shall speak readily and clearly.
⁵ No more will the fool be called noble,
nor the deceiver be considered honorable.
¹ Behold, a king will reign in righteousness,
and princes will rule in justice.
² Each will be like a hiding place from the wind,
a covert from the tempest,
like streams of water in a dry place,
like the shade of a great rock in a weary land.
³ Then the eyes of those who see will not be closed,
and the ears of those who hear will hearken.
⁴ The mind of the rash will have good judgment,
and the tongue of the stammerers will speak readily and distinctly.
⁵ The fool will no more be called noble,
nor the knave said to be honorable.
Israel, stupefied#
⁹ Stupefy yourselves and stay stupid;
blind yourselves and stay blind!
You who are drunk, but not from wine,
who stagger, but not from strong drink!
¹⁰ For the Lord has poured out on you
a spirit of deep sleep.
He has shut your eyes (the prophets)
and covered your heads (the seers).
¹¹ For you the vision of all this has become like the words of a sealed scroll. When it is handed to one who can read, with the request, “Read this,” the reply is, “I cannot, because it is sealed.” ¹² When the scroll is handed to one who cannot read, with the request, “Read this,” the reply is, “I cannot read.”
¹³ The Lord said:
Since this people draws near with words only
and honors me with their lips alone,
though their hearts are far from me,
And fear of me has become
mere precept of human teaching,
¹⁴ Therefore I will again deal with this people
in surprising and wondrous fashion:
The wisdom of the wise shall perish,
the prudence of the prudent shall vanish.
¹⁵ Ah! You who would hide a plan
too deep for the Lord!
Who work in the dark, saying,
“Who sees us, who knows us?”
¹⁶ Your perversity is as though the potter
were taken to be the clay:
As though what is made should say of its maker,
“He did not make me!”
Or the vessel should say of the potter,
“He does not understand.”
⁹ Stupefy yourselves and be in a stupor,
blind yourselves and be blind!
Be drunk, but not with wine;
stagger, but not with strong drink!
¹⁰ For the Lord has poured out upon you
a spirit of deep sleep,
and has closed your eyes, the prophets,
and covered your heads, the seers.
¹¹ And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” ¹² And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot read.”
¹³ And the Lord said:
“Because this people draw near with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
while their hearts are far from me,
and their fear of me is a commandment of men learned by rote;
¹⁴ therefore, behold, I will again
do marvelous things with this people,
wonderful and marvelous;
and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hid.”
¹⁵ Woe to those who hide deep from the Lord their counsel,
whose deeds are in the dark,
and who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?”
¹⁶ You turn things upside down!
Shall the potter be regarded as the clay;
that the thing made should say of its maker,
“He did not make me”;
or the thing formed say of him who formed it,
“He has no understanding”?
We’ve asked this question a lot of times in this bible study: what does it mean for God to shut eyes, or cover heads? Paul reasons through this too in Romans:
¹⁰ And not only that, but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one husband, our father Isaac— ¹¹ before they had yet been born or had done anything, good or bad, in order that God’s elective plan might continue, ¹² not by works but by his call—she was told, “The older shall serve the younger.” ¹³ As it is written:
“I loved Jacob
but hated Esau.”
¹⁴ What then are we to say? Is there injustice on the part of God? Of course not! ¹⁵ For he says to Moses:
“I will show mercy to whom I will,
I will take pity on whom I will.”
¹⁶ So it depends not upon a person’s will or exertion, but upon God, who shows mercy. ¹⁷ For the scripture says to Pharaoh, “This is why I have raised you up, to show my power through you that my name may be proclaimed throughout the earth.” ¹⁸ Consequently, he has mercy upon whom he wills, and he hardens whom he wills.
¹⁹ You will say to me then, “Why [then] does he still find fault? For who can oppose his will?” ²⁰ But who indeed are you, a human being, to talk back to God? Will what is made say to its maker, “Why have you created me so?” ²¹ Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for a noble purpose and another for an ignoble one? ²² What if God, wishing to show his wrath and make known his power, has endured with much patience the vessels of wrath made for destruction? ²³ This was to make known the riches of his glory to the vessels of mercy, which he has prepared previously for glory, ²⁴ namely, us whom he has called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles.
¹⁰ And not only so, but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, ¹¹ though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad, in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of his call, ¹² she was told, “The elder will serve the younger.” ¹³ As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
¹⁴ What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! ¹⁵ For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” ¹⁶ So it depends not upon man’s will or exertion, but upon God’s mercy. ¹⁷ For the scripture says to Pharaoh, “I have raised you up for the very purpose of showing my power in you, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.” ¹⁸ So then he has mercy upon whomever he wills, and he hardens the heart of whomever he wills.
¹⁹ You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” ²⁰ But who are you, a man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me thus?” ²¹ Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for beauty and another for menial use? ²² What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the vessels of wrath made for destruction, ²³ in order to make known the riches of his glory for the vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory, ²⁴ even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?
More broadly, how does this touch on free will and our choices to be a “vessel of wrath” or a “vessel of mercy”?
The middle verse is also mentioned by Jesus in the parable of the heart of man:
¹ Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, ² “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They do not wash [their] hands when they eat a meal.” ³ He said to them in reply, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴ For God said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and ‘Whoever curses father or mother shall die.’ ⁵ But you say, ‘Whoever says to father or mother, “Any support you might have had from me is dedicated to God,” ⁶ need not honor his father.’ You have nullified the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷ Hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy about you when he said:
⁸ ‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
⁹ in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines human precepts.’”
¹⁰ He summoned the crowd and said to them, “Hear and understand. ¹¹ It is not what enters one’s mouth that defiles that person; but what comes out of the mouth is what defiles one.” ¹² Then his disciples approached and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?” ¹³ He said in reply, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. ¹⁴ Let them alone; they are blind guides (of the blind). If a blind person leads a blind person, both will fall into a pit.” ¹⁵ Then Peter said to him in reply, “Explain [this] parable to us.” ¹⁶ He said to them, “Are even you still without understanding? ¹⁷ Do you not realize that everything that enters the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled into the latrine? ¹⁸ But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile. ¹⁹ For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, unchastity, theft, false witness, blasphemy. ²⁰ These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.”
¹ Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, ² “Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.” ³ He answered them, “And why do you transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴ For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him surely die.’ ⁵ But you say, ‘If any one tells his father or his mother, What you would have gained from me is given to God, he need not honor his father.’ ⁶ So, for the sake of your tradition, you have made void the word of God. ⁷ You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:
⁸ ‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;
⁹ in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’”
¹⁰ And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand: ¹¹ not what goes into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.” ¹² Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” ¹³ He answered, “Every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. ¹⁴ Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” ¹⁵ But Peter said to him, “Explain the parable to us.” ¹⁶ And he said, “Are you also still without understanding? ¹⁷ Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and so passes on? ¹⁸ But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a man. ¹⁹ For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. ²⁰ These are what defile a man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”