Isaiah 28-33 Waiting and Trusting
Psalm 76:1-12 A Whole Lot of Shak'n Going On
Ps 76:1 “In Judah, God is known. His name is great in Israel. 2 His tabernacle is also in Salem; his dwelling place in Zion. 3 There he broke the flaming arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the weapons of war. Selah. 4 Glorious are you, and excellent, more than mountains of game. 5 Valiant men lie plundered, they have slept their last sleep. None of the men of war can lift their hands. 6 At your rebuke, God of Jacob, both chariot and horse are cast into a deep sleep. 7 You, even you, are to be feared. Who can stand in your sight when you are angry? 8 You pronounced judgment from heaven. The earth feared, and was silent, 9 when God arose to judgment, to save all the afflicted ones of the earth. Selah. 10 Surely the wrath against man brings you praise (NIV). The survivors of your wrath are restrained. 11 Make vows to Yahweh your God, and fulfill them! Let all of his neighbors bring presents to him who is to be feared. 12 He will cut off the spirit of princes. He is feared by the kings of the earth.
Observations: 76:1-8 Asaph presents a picture of our awesome, fearsome God, who expresses His glory/power in destroying the wicked. Therefore He is to be feared by the earth and its kings and princes (76:8,12).
76:9-11 Fortunately God uses His judgment to save all the afflicted so they can praise Him. Afflicted people promise vows to God, fear Him and fulfill them or risk judgment.
Application: God reveals His glory in destroying the wicked and saving the afflicted, so make sure you're in the correct camp.
Prayer: God, I praise You for being the fearsome warrior who saves His afflicted people; may my trust and praise reveal You to others. Amen.
Proverbs 19:15-17 We Reap What We Sow
Observations: 19:15-17 The sluggards (who have temporary comfort as their highest objective) lull themselves into a stupor, where they are insensitive to their own needs and real nature of things. Thus they will suffer deprivation of even the basic provisions of life, as well as the rewards of a wise life. The person who focuses their attention on pleasing God, guards themselves from pain and trouble, while the spiritual sluggard, who does only what they want rather than what God wants is headed for destruction and death (die, as in dead). The compassionate and generous person who gives judiciously to those in need, are actually lending to God, who will repay and reward.
Sow a thought...reap an act;
Sow an act...reap a habit;
Sow a habit...reap a character;
Sow a character...reap a destiny.
Application: If we're always thinking of where our actions and steps lead, we'll enjoy the destination as well as the journey.
Prayer: Lord, help me see the consequences of my thoughts and actions, knowing they determine my destiny, and Your recompense. Amen.
Isaiah 28-33 Although the following six woes are arranged more topically than chronologically, they probably occurred during Hezekiah's reign, when the temptation was to trust in Egypt rather than God, in the face of the Assyrian threat. Chapters 28-29 present the problem (Assyria is threatening and Israel isn't trusting God); 30-31 propose a poor solution (trust in Egypt); 32-33 point to the right solution (trust in true Protector). In most chapters God is seen acting in both Isaiah's day, and again in the future when His mighty righteousness and justice will affect all nations.
Isaiah 28 Choice Cornerstone
9 Whom will he teach knowledge? 10 For it is precept on precept, precept on precept; line on line, line on line; here a little, there a little. 11 But he will speak to this nation with stammering lips and in another language; 12 to whom he said, "This is the resting place. Give rest to weary"; and "This is the refreshing"; yet they would not hear. 13 Therefore the word of Yahweh will be to them precept on precept, precept on precept; line on line, line on line; here a little, there a little; that they may go, fall backward, be broken, be snared, and be taken.
23 Give ear, and hear my voice! Listen, and hear my speech! 24 Does he who ploughs to sow plough continually? Does he keep turning the soil and breaking the clods? 25 When he has levelled its surface, doesn’t he plant the dill, and scatter the cumin seed, and put in the wheat in rows, the barley in the appointed place, and the spelt in its place? 26 For his God instructs him in right judgment, and teaches him. 27 For the dill are not threshed with a sharp instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned over the cumin; but the dill is beaten out with a stick, and the cumin with a rod. 28 Bread flour must be ground; so he will not always be threshing it. Although he drives the wheel of his threshing cart over it, his horses don’t grind it. 29 This also comes forth from Yahweh of Hosts, who is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in wisdom.
Observations: 28:1-13 God will judge the leaders of His people, who reject his word and covenant. He will use people speaking a language they don't understand to judge them. In the NT Paul appeals to this concept (28:11), in 1Corinthians 14, referencing tongues, as a sign of judgment against Israel that God was with a “new” group (because they had rejected Him).
28:14-22 People don't listen to God, and reject Him because they think they're secure. They're trusting in something other than God's firm foundation/cornerstone (either the Davidic king, or the choice of Israel as His people), portrayed as a covenant with death, so that they wouldn't be hurt. God will specifically turn their hope into hurt. Those who are trusting in God's provision, the king of the Davidic covenant (2Sam 7), wouldn't be looking elsewhere. This points to the Messiah, as Isaiah broadens the judgment of justice and righteousness to the whole earth (28:22).
1Pt 2:6 Because it is contained in Scripture, "Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, chosen, and precious: he who believes in him will not be disappointed."
28:23-29 God graciously gives hope, as well as an invitation to repentance; He knows what He's doing, and won't always judge, but will eventually get the crop He desires from Israel.
Application: Those who trust God, don't plan to trust other saviors.
Prayer: God, open my eyes to see the total sufficiency of trusting in You and Your promises. Amen.
Isaiah 29 Worthless Ritual and Liturgy
17 Isn’t it yet a very little while, and Lebanon will be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field will be regarded as a forest? 18 In that day, the deaf will hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind will see out of obscurity and out of darkness. 19 The humble also will increase their joy in Yahweh, and the poor among men will rejoice in the Holy one of Israel. 20 For the ruthless is brought to nothing, and the scoffer ceases, and all those who are alert to do evil are cut off— 21 who cause a person to be indicted by a word, and lay a snare for the arbiter in the gate, and who deprive the innocent of justice with false testimony. 22 Therefore thus says Yahweh, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: "Jacob shall no longer be ashamed, neither shall his face grow pale. 23 But when he sees his children, the work of my hands, in the midst of him, they will sanctify my name. Yes, they will sanctify the Holy one of Jacob, and will stand in awe of the God of Israel. 24 They also who err in spirit will come to understanding, and those who grumble will receive instruction."
Observations: 29:1-9 God will judge Jerusalem for its ritual and unrighteous “worship”, but will also suddenly destroy the forces He uses to judge His people.
29:9-16 God gives woe to His people who don't understand and obey His word. He blasts
them for drawing near to him with their lips, reciting liturgy, when they have moved their hearts far from Him. They don't fear God according to His commandments, but instead follow the commandments of men regarding God. They wind up denying the ownership and Lordship of God in their lives, distorting the character of God.
29:17-24 Isaiah looks toward the day (29:18) when God will judge, and turn things upside down. Then the humble who trust God will rejoice, the unrighteous scoffers will be cut off, and the righteous seed of Abraham will multiply, and God will be glorified. Some will see the error of their ways. (That would also be awesome.)
Application: We must worship God as a whole heart, mind, soul, and strength response to His revelation, correctly understood. Anything less incurs judgment.
Prayer: God, may my worship of you not be rote ritual nor liturgical lip service, but based squarely and soundly on the word that You have revealed. Amen.
Isaiah 30 Waiting and Walking
8 Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come forever and ever. 9 For it is a rebellious people, lying children, children who will not hear the law of Yahweh; 10 who tell the seers, "Don’t see!" and to the prophets, "Don’t prophesy to us right things. Tell us pleasant things. Prophesy deceits. 11 Get out of the way. Turn aside from the path. Cause the Holy one of Israel to cease from before us." 12 Therefore thus says the Holy one of Israel, "Because you despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and rely on it; 13 therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking comes suddenly in an instant. 14 He will break it as a potter’s vessel is broken, breaking it in pieces without sparing, so that there won’t be found among the broken piece a piece good enough to take fire from the hearth, or to dip up water out of the cistern." 15 For thus said the Lord Yahweh, the Holy one of Israel, "You will be saved in returning and rest. Your strength will be in quietness and in confidence." You refused, 16 but you said, "No, for we will flee on horses"; therefore you will flee; and, "We will ride on the swift"; therefore those who pursue you will be swift. 17 One thousand will flee at the threat of one. At the threat of five, you will flee until you are left like a beacon on the top of a mountain, and like a banner on a hill.
18 Therefore Yahweh will wait, that he may be gracious to you; and therefore he will be exalted, that he may have mercy on you, for Yahweh is a God of justice. Blessed are all those who wait for him. 19 For the people will dwell in Zion at Jerusalem. You will weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the voice of your cry. When he hears you, he will answer you. 20 Though the Lord may give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teachers won’t be hidden any more, but your eyes will see your teachers; 21 and when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way. Walk in it." 22 You shall defile the overlaying of your engraved images of silver, and the plating of your molten images of gold. You shall cast them away as an unclean thing. You shall tell it, "Go away!"
23 He will give the rain for your seed, with which you will sow the ground; and bread of the increase of the ground will be rich and plentiful. In that day, your livestock will feed in large pastures. 24 The oxen likewise and the young donkeys that till the ground will eat savory provender, which has been winnowed with the shovel and with the fork. 25 There shall be brooks and streams of water on every lofty mountain and on every high hill in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. 26 Moreover the light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, in the day that Yahweh binds up the fracture of his people, and heals the wound they were struck with. 27 Behold, the name of Yahweh comes from far away, burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke. His lips are full of indignation, and his tongue is as a devouring fire. 28 His breath is as an overflowing stream that reaches even to the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction; and a bridle that leads to ruin will be in the jaws of the peoples. 29 You will have a song, as in the night when a holy feast is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goes with a flute to come to Yahweh’s mountain, to Israel’s Rock. 30 Yahweh will cause his glorious voice to be heard, and will show the descent of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and the flame of a devouring fire, with a blast, storm, and hailstones. 31 For through the voice of Yahweh the Assyrian will be dismayed. He will strike him with his rod. 32 Every stroke of the rod of punishment, which Yahweh will lay on him, will be with the sound of tambourines and harps. He will fight with them in battles, brandishing weapons. 33 For his burning place has long been ready. Yes, for the king it is prepared. He has made its pyre deep and large with fire and much wood. Yahweh’s breath, like a stream of sulfur, kindles it.
Observations: 30:1-7 God's rebellious children don't trust Him, nor seek His advice, but give their riches to Egypt to help them, losing both the riches and God's help.
30:8-17 Israel looks to Egypt because they don't want to hear what God had to say. If they listened to His word, they would know that their problems and the impending invasion is due to their iniquity. God graciously calls them to repent, offering rest and security in Himself, but they don't want to hear it. They only want their prophets and preachers to tell them nice lies.
30:18-22 God waits to be gracious to them, and those who wait on God's protection and provision will be blessed. When they repent, He will direct their paths and they will despise their idols.
30:23-33 Isaiah looks to the day when God will be able to pour out His blessings upon Israel as He desires. He will pour out His wrath on their enemies, and a restored Israel will sing for joy. This hasn't happened yet.
Application: God waits to be gracious to those who wait for Him.
Prayer: God, I pray that the intents of my heart and the direction of my steps is pleasing in Your sight, so You can fight my battles and pour out Your blessings upon me. Thanks for showing me any errors I need to correct. Amen.
Isaiah 31 Losing Double
31:1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, and rely on horses, and trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very strong, but they don’t look to the Holy one of Israel, and they don’t seek Yahweh! 2 Yet he also is wise, and will bring disaster, and will not call back his words, but will arise against the house of the evildoers, and against the help of those who work iniquity. 3 Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When Yahweh stretches out his hand, both he who helps shall stumble, and he who is helped shall fall, and they all shall be consumed together.
4 For thus says Yahweh to me, "As the lion and the young lion growling over his prey, if a multitude of shepherds is called together against him, will not be dismayed at their voice, nor abase himself for their noise, so Yahweh of Hosts will come down to fight on Mount Zion and on its heights. 5 As birds hovering, so Yahweh of Hosts will protect Jerusalem. He will protect and deliver it. He will pass over and preserve it." 6 Return to him from whom you have deeply revolted, children of Israel.
7 For in that day everyone shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold—sin which your own hands have made for you. 8 "The Assyrian will fall by the sword, not of man; and the sword, not of mankind, shall devour him. He will flee from the sword, and his young men will become subject to forced labor. 9 His rock/strength will pass away by reason of terror, and his princes will be afraid of the banner," says Yahweh, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem.
Observations: 31:1-3 God has a plan to destroy both those who look to anything or anyone other than Him, for their safety, security, and success, as well as whatever they look to, be it a person, place, position, or ability. The solution is to trust God and His spirit, not anything in the vain temporal realm.
31:4-6 God has a plan to protect Jerusalem and those who trust Him, and graciously calls His revolting children to repent and trust Him alone.
31:7-9 In the day God judges, and His children repent, they will cast away their sin, the work of their hands, apart from Him. God will supernaturally judge and all will fear Him.
Application: When we trust in anything other than God's revealed promises, He knows, and will destroy our false trust and discipline us. (So don't do that.)
Prayer: God, my trust is totally in You, so I will seek Your will and ways, and trust You to protect and prosper me. Thanks for being so trustworthy. Amen.
Isaiah 32 Reign of Righteousness and Justice
32:1 Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in justice. 2 A man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the storm, as streams of water in a dry place, as the shade of a large rock in a weary land. 3 The eyes of those who see will not be dim, and the ears of those who hear will listen. 4 The heart of the rash will understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers will be ready to speak plainly. 5 The fool will no longer be called noble, nor the scoundrel be highly respected. 6 For the fool will speak folly, and his heart will work iniquity, to practice profanity, and to utter error against Yahweh, To make empty the soul of the hungry, and to cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. 7 The ways of the scoundrel are evil. He devises wicked devices to destroy the humble with lying words, even when the needy speaks right. 8 But the noble devises noble things; and he will continue in noble things.
9 Rise up, you women who are at ease! Hear my voice! You careless daughters, give ear to my speech! 10 For days beyond a year you will be troubled, you careless women; for the vintage shall fail. The harvest won’t come. 11 Tremble, you women who are at ease! Be troubled, you careless ones! Strip yourselves, make yourselves naked, and put sackcloth on your waist. 14 For the palace will be forsaken. The populous city will be deserted. 15 Until the Spirit is poured on us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is considered a forest. 16 Then justice will dwell in the wilderness; and righteousness will remain in the fruitful field. 17 The work of righteousness will be peace; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever. 18 My people will live in a peaceful habitation, in safe dwellings, and in quiet resting places. 19 Though hail flattens the forest, and the city is leveled completely. 20 Blessed are you who sow beside all waters, who send out the feet of the ox and the donkey.
Observations: 32:1-8 Isaiah looks to a Messiah who will reign in righteousness and justice. Then, those who do what's right will be blessed and the evildoers will be rebuked and transformed.
32:9-20 The pampered women who dwell in ease will be distressed and will mourn for their losses. But when the Spirit of God is poured out on His people, justice and righteousness will prevail and fortunes will be restored, as God blesses His people.
Application: We won't have heaven on earth until the Messiah reigns in righteousness and justice; but until then God gives a measure of His Spirit to enable us to have peace (Gal 5:22-25).
Prayer: God, thanks that You give all I need to do Your will and experience Your goodness every day. I look forward to the time when Your will is done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.
Isaiah 33 Fear Is Treasure
33:1 Woe to you who destroy, but you weren’t destroyed; and who betray, but nobody betrayed you! When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed; and when you have made an end of betrayal, you will be betrayed. 2 Yahweh, be gracious to us. We have waited for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.
3 At the noise of the thunder, the peoples have fled. When you lift yourself up, the nations are scattered. 5 Yahweh is exalted, for he dwells on high. He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness. 6 There will be stability in your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The fear of Yahweh is your treasure. 7 Behold, their valiant ones cry outside; the ambassadors of peace weep bitterly. 8 The highways are desolate. The traveling man ceases. The covenant is broken. He has despised the cities. He doesn’t respect man. 9 The land mourns and languishes. Lebanon is confounded and withers away. Sharon is like a desert, and Bashan and Carmel are stripped bare. 10 "Now I will arise," says Yahweh; "Now I will lift myself up. Now I will be exalted. 11 You will conceive chaff. You will bring forth stubble. Your breath is a fire that will devour you. 12 The peoples will be like the burning of lime, like thorns that are cut down and burned in the fire.
Observations: 33:1-2 Woe is pronounced on those who destroy. Isaiah asks God to be gracious for those who wait on Him, every morning, strengthening them and delivering them from trouble.
33:3-12 Isaiah again looks to when the Messiah will rule in righteousness and justice, Israel will have abundant peace and prosperity, and the fear of God, doing what pleases Him as their top priority, will be their greatest treasure, for it opens the door to all His blessings. In contrast the nations and the wicked will panic, flee, and be destroyed.
33:13-24 The only ones who can endure the burning fire of God's judgment are those who walk righteously and speak blamelessly and eschew evil, refusing to hear it or set it before his eyes. They are the ones who see the beauty of God and have their needs met by Him. God will judge, save, forgive and bless His people.
Application: Walking righteously, eschewing evil, neither seeing, hearing, nor saying anything blameworthy is not only possible, but required for dwelling in the presence of God.
Prayer: Holy and Mighty God, fearing You is my greatest treasure, may every aspect of my life from purposes to practices, be pleasing in Your sight. Amen.
Digging Deeper:
God in a nutshell: God waits on high to be gracious to those who wait for Him. He gets really annoyed if His people look elsewhere for help or trust in anyone or anything other than Him. He will destroy both the unfaithful, disloyal rebels, and whatever or whomever they trust. He has plans to both restore Israel and ruin her oppressors. He has planned for the Messiah to reign from Jerusalem, in righteousness and justice over all. When the Messiah comes to rule, all rebels will totally regret their stupidity.
Us in a nutshell: If we trust God and wait for Him to fulfill His promises to us, we won't be disappointed. But, if we don't seek God's counsel, and ways, in our pursuit of temporal safety, significance or success, we will suffer and lose. We can dwell in the presence of God and enjoy His protection and prosperity if our ways are blameless before Him (like Job). It's not an impossibility nor optional suggestion, but a command. If fearing God is our treasure, we can live holy lives. If we treasure anything else, we'll wind up with trash.
Where to Go for More:
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Isaiah complete text
Isaiah 28
28:1 Woe to the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fertile valley of those who are overcome with wine! 2 Behold, the Lord has a mighty and strong one. Like a storm of hail, a destroying storm, and like a storm of mighty waters overflowing, he will cast them down to the earth with his hand. 3 The crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim will be trodden under foot. 4 The fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fertile valley, shall be like the first-ripe fig before the summer; which someone picks and eats as soon as he sees it. 5 In that day, Yahweh of Hosts will become a crown of glory, and a diadem of beauty, to the residue 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 They also reel with wine, and stagger with strong drink. The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink. They are swallowed up by wine. They stagger with strong drink. They err in vision. They stumble in judgment. 8 For all tables are completely full of filthy vomit and filthiness.
9 Whom will he teach knowledge? To whom will he explain the message? Those who are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts? 10 For it is precept on precept, precept on precept; line on line, line on line; here a little, there a little. 11 But he will speak to this nation with stammering lips and in another language; 12 to whom he said, "This is the resting place. Give rest to weary"; and "This is the refreshing"; yet they would not hear. 13 Therefore the word of Yahweh will be to them precept on precept, precept on precept; line on line, line on line; here a little, there a little; that they may go, fall backward, be broken, be snared, and be taken.
14 Therefore hear the word of Yahweh, you scoffers, that rule this people in Jerusalem: 15 "Because you have said, ‘We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol are we in agreement. When the overflowing scourge passes through, it won’t come to us; for we have made lies our refuge, and we have hidden ourselves under falsehood.’" 16 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, "Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone of a sure foundation. He who believes shall not act hastily. 17 I will make justice the measuring line, and righteousness the plumb line. The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters will overflow the hiding place. 18 Your covenant with death shall be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol shall not stand. When the overflowing scourge passes through, then you will be trampled down by it. 19 As often as it passes through, it will seize you; for morning by morning it will pass through, by day and by night; and it will be nothing but terror to understand the message." 20 For the bed is too short to stretch out on, and the blanket is too narrow to wrap oneself in. 21 For Yahweh will rise up as on Mount Perazim. He will be angry as in the valley of Gibeon; that he may do his work, his unusual work, and bring to pass his act, his extraordinary act. 22 Now therefore don’t be scoffers, lest your bonds be made strong; for I have heard a decree of destruction from the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts, on the whole earth.
23 Give ear, and hear my voice! Listen, and hear my speech! 24 Does he who ploughs to sow plough continually? Does he keep turning the soil and breaking the clods? 25 When he has levelled its surface, doesn’t he plant the dill, and scatter the cumin seed, and put in the wheat in rows, the barley in the appointed place, and the spelt in its place? 26 For his God instructs him in right judgment, and teaches him. 27 For the dill are not threshed with a sharp instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned over the cumin; but the dill is beaten out with a stick, and the cumin with a rod. 28 Bread flour must be ground; so he will not always be threshing it. Although he drives the wheel of his threshing cart over it, his horses don’t grind it. 29 This also comes forth from Yahweh of Hosts, who is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in wisdom.
Isaiah 29
29:1 Woe to Ariel! Ariel, the city where David encamped! Add year to year; let the feasts come around; 2 then I will distress Ariel, and there will be mourning and lamentation. She shall be to me as an altar hearth. 3 I will encamp against you all around you, and will lay siege against you with posted troops. I will raise siege works against you. 4 You will be brought down, and will speak out of the ground. Your speech will mumble out of the dust. Your voice will be as of one who has a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and your speech will whisper out of the dust. 5 But the multitude of your foes will be like fine dust, and the multitude of the ruthless ones like chaff that blows away. Yes, it will be in an instant, suddenly. 6 She will be visited by Yahweh of Hosts with thunder, with earthquake, with great noise, with whirlwind and storm, and with the flame of a devouring fire. 7 The multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all who fight against her and her stronghold, and who distress her, will be like a dream, a vision of the night. 8 It will be like when a hungry man dreams, and behold, he eats; but he awakes, and his hunger isn’t satisfied; or like when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he drinks; but he awakes, and behold, he is faint, and he is still thirsty. The multitude of all the nations that fight against Mount Zion will be like that.
9 Pause and wonder! Blind yourselves and be blind! They are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. 10 For Yahweh has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes, the prophets; and he has covered your heads, the seers. 11 All vision has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is educated, saying, "Read this, please"; and he says, "I can’t, for it is sealed": 12 and the book is delivered to one who is not educated, saying, "Read this, please"; and he says, "I can’t read." 13 The Lord said, "Because this people draws near with their mouth and with their lips to honour me, but they have removed their heart far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men which has been taught; 14 therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the understanding of their prudent men will be hidden." 15 Woe to those who deeply hide their counsel from Yahweh, and whose works are in the dark, and who say, "Who sees us?" and "Who knows us?" 16 You turn things upside down! Should the potter be thought to be like clay; that the thing made should say about him who made it, "He didn’t make me"; or the thing formed say of him who formed it, "He has no understanding?"
17 Isn’t it yet a very little while, and Lebanon will be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field will be regarded as a forest? 18 In that day, the deaf will hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind will see out of obscurity and out of darkness. 19 The humble also will increase their joy in Yahweh, and the poor among men will rejoice in the Holy one of Israel. 20 For the ruthless is brought to nothing, and the scoffer ceases, and all those who are alert to do evil are cut off— 21 who cause a person to be indicted by a word, and lay a snare for the arbiter in the gate, and who deprive the innocent of justice with false testimony. 22 Therefore thus says Yahweh, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: "Jacob shall no longer be ashamed, neither shall his face grow pale. 23 But when he sees his children, the work of my hands, in the midst of him, they will sanctify my name. Yes, they will sanctify the Holy one of Jacob, and will stand in awe of the God of Israel. 24 They also who err in spirit will come to understanding, and those who grumble will receive instruction."
Isaiah 30
30:1 "Woe to the rebellious children," says Yahweh, "who take counsel, but not from me; and who make an alliance, but not with my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin, 2 who set out to go down into Egypt, and have not asked my advice; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to take refuge in the shadow of Egypt! 3 Therefore the strength of Pharaoh will be your shame, and the refuge in the shadow of Egypt your confusion. 4 For their princes are at Zoan, and their ambassadors have come to Hanes. 5 They shall all be ashamed because of a people that can’t profit them, that are not a help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach." 6 The burden of the animals of the South. Through the land of trouble and anguish, of the lioness and the lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they carry their riches on the shoulders of young donkeys, and their treasures on the humps of camels, to an unprofitable people. 7 For Egypt helps in vain, and to no purpose; therefore have I called her Rahab who sits still.
8 Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come forever and ever. 9 For it is a rebellious people, lying children, children who will not hear the law of Yahweh; 10 who tell the seers, "Don’t see!" and to the prophets, "Don’t prophesy to us right things. Tell us pleasant things. Prophesy deceits. 11 Get out of the way. Turn aside from the path. Cause the Holy one of Israel to cease from before us." 12 Therefore thus says the Holy one of Israel, "Because you despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and rely on it; 13 therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking comes suddenly in an instant. 14 He will break it as a potter’s vessel is broken, breaking it in pieces without sparing, so that there won’t be found among the broken piece a piece good enough to take fire from the hearth, or to dip up water out of the cistern." 15 For thus said the Lord Yahweh, the Holy one of Israel, "You will be saved in returning and rest. Your strength will be in quietness and in confidence." You refused, 16 but you said, "No, for we will flee on horses"; therefore you will flee; and, "We will ride on the swift"; therefore those who pursue you will be swift. 17 One thousand will flee at the threat of one. At the threat of five, you will flee until you are left like a beacon on the top of a mountain, and like a banner on a hill.
18 Therefore Yahweh will wait, that he may be gracious to you; and therefore he will be exalted, that he may have mercy on you, for Yahweh is a God of justice. Blessed are all those who wait for him. 19 For the people will dwell in Zion at Jerusalem. You will weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the voice of your cry. When he hears you, he will answer you. 20 Though the Lord may give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teachers won’t be hidden any more, but your eyes will see your teachers; 21 and when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way. Walk in it." 22 You shall defile the overlaying of your engraved images of silver, and the plating of your molten images of gold. You shall cast them away as an unclean thing. You shall tell it, "Go away!" 23 He will give the rain for your seed, with which you will sow the ground; and bread of the increase of the ground will be rich and plentiful. In that day, your livestock will feed in large pastures. 24 The oxen likewise and the young donkeys that till the ground will eat savory provender, which has been winnowed with the shovel and with the fork. 25 There shall be brooks and streams of water on every lofty mountain and on every high hill in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. 26 Moreover the light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, in the day that Yahweh binds up the fracture of his people, and heals the wound they were struck with.
27 Behold, the name of Yahweh comes from far away, burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke. His lips are full of indignation, and his tongue is as a devouring fire. 28 His breath is as an overflowing stream that reaches even to the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction; and a bridle that leads to ruin will be in the jaws of the peoples. 29 You will have a song, as in the night when a holy feast is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goes with a flute to come to Yahweh’s mountain, to Israel’s Rock. 30 Yahweh will cause his glorious voice to be heard, and will show the descent of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and the flame of a devouring fire, with a blast, storm, and hailstones. 31 For through the voice of Yahweh the Assyrian will be dismayed. He will strike him with his rod. 32 Every stroke of the rod of punishment, which Yahweh will lay on him, will be with the sound of tambourines and harps. He will fight with them in battles, brandishing weapons. 33 For his burning place has long been ready. Yes, for the king it is prepared. He has made its pyre deep and large with fire and much wood. Yahweh’s breath, like a stream of sulphur, kindles it.
Isaiah 31
31:1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, and rely on horses, and trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very strong, but they don’t look to the Holy one of Israel, and they don’t seek Yahweh! 2 Yet he also is wise, and will bring disaster, and will not call back his words, but will arise against the house of the evildoers, and against the help of those who work iniquity. 3 Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When Yahweh stretches out his hand, both he who helps shall stumble, and he who is helped shall fall, and they all shall be consumed together. 4 For thus says Yahweh to me, "As the lion and the young lion growling over his prey, if a multitude of shepherds is called together against him, will not be dismayed at their voice, nor abase himself for their noise, so Yahweh of Hosts will come down to fight on Mount Zion and on its heights. 5 As birds hovering, so Yahweh of Hosts will protect Jerusalem. He will protect and deliver it. He will pass over and preserve it."
6 Return to him from whom you have deeply revolted, children of Israel. 7 For in that day everyone shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold—sin which your own hands have made for you. 8 "The Assyrian will fall by the sword, not of man; and the sword, not of mankind, shall devour him. He will flee from the sword, and his young men will become subject to forced labour. 9 His rock will pass away by reason of terror, and his princes will be afraid of the banner," says Yahweh, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem.
Isaiah 32
32:1 Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in justice. 2 A man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the storm, as streams of water in a dry place, as the shade of a large rock in a weary land. 3 The eyes of those who see will not be dim, and the ears of those who hear will listen. 4 The heart of the rash will understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers will be ready to speak plainly. 5 The fool will no longer be called noble, nor the scoundrel be highly respected. 6 For the fool will speak folly, and his heart will work iniquity, to practice profanity, and to utter error against Yahweh, To make empty the soul of the hungry, and to cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. 7 The ways of the scoundrel are evil. He devises wicked devices to destroy the humble with lying words, even when the needy speaks right. 8 But the noble devises noble things; and he will continue in noble things.
9 Rise up, you women who are at ease! Hear my voice! You careless daughters, give ear to my speech! 10 For days beyond a year you will be troubled, you careless women; for the vintage shall fail. The harvest won’t come. 11 Tremble, you women who are at ease! Be troubled, you careless ones! Strip yourselves, make yourselves naked, and put sackcloth on your waist. 12 Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine. 13 Thorns and briars will come up on my people’s land; yes, on all the houses of joy in the joyous city. 14 For the palace will be forsaken. The populous city will be deserted. The hill and the watchtower will be for dens forever, a delight for wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks; 15 Until the Spirit is poured on us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is considered a forest. 16 Then justice will dwell in the wilderness; and righteousness will remain in the fruitful field. 17 The work of righteousness will be peace; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever. 18 My people will live in a peaceful habitation, in safe dwellings, and in quiet resting places. 19 Though hail flattens the forest, and the city is levelled completely. 20 Blessed are you who sow beside all waters, who send out the feet of the ox and the donkey.
Isaiah 33
33:1 Woe to you who destroy, but you weren’t destroyed; and who betray, but nobody betrayed you! When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed; and when you have made an end of betrayal, you will be betrayed. 2 Yahweh, be gracious to us. We have waited for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble. 3 At the noise of the thunder, the peoples have fled. When you lift yourself up, the nations are scattered. 4 Your spoil will be gathered as the caterpillar gathers. Men will leap on it as locusts leap. 5 Yahweh is exalted, for he dwells on high. He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness. 6 There will be stability in your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The fear of Yahweh is your treasure. 7 Behold, their valiant ones cry outside; the ambassadors of peace weep bitterly. 8 The highways are desolate. The travelling man ceases. The covenant is broken. He has despised the cities. He doesn’t respect man. 9 The land mourns and languishes. Lebanon is confounded and withers away. Sharon is like a desert, and Bashan and Carmel are stripped bare. 10 "Now I will arise," says Yahweh; "Now I will lift myself up. Now I will be exalted. 11 You will conceive chaff. You will bring forth stubble. Your breath is a fire that will devour you. 12 The peoples will be like the burning of lime, like thorns that are cut down and 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 ones. Who among us can live with the devouring fire? Who among us can live with everlasting burning? 15 He who walks righteously, and speaks blamelessly; he who despises the gain of oppressions, who gestures with his hands, refusing to take a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of blood, and shuts his eyes from looking at evil— 16 he will dwell on high. His place of defence will be the fortress of rocks. His bread will be supplied. His waters will be sure. 17 Your eyes will see the king in his beauty. They will see a distant land. 18 Your heart will meditate on the terror. Where is he who counted? Where is he who weighed? Where is he who counted the towers? 19 You will no longer see the fierce people, a people of a deep speech that you can’t comprehend, with a strange language that you can’t understand. 20 Look at Zion, the city of our appointed festivals. Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a quiet habitation, a tent that won’t be removed. Its stakes will never be plucked up, nor will any of its cords be broken. 21 But there Yahweh will be with us in majesty, a place of broad rivers and streams, in which no galley with oars will go, neither will any gallant ship pass by there. 22 For Yahweh is our judge. Yahweh is our lawgiver. Yahweh is our king. He will save us. 23 Your rigging is untied. They couldn’t strengthen the foot of their mast. They couldn’t spread the sail. Then the prey of a great spoil was divided. The lame took the prey. 24 The inhabitant won’t say, "I am sick." The people who dwell therein will be forgiven their iniquity.
