圣经-旧约（天主教思高圣经）

不认识圣经，就是不认识基督，不认识基督，就是不认识基督所建立的天主教会。

 

旧约·依撒意亚

共66章:

 

前编　预言集(1-35)

第一章(31)

小引
1:1 在乌齐雅、约堂、阿哈次和希则克雅为犹大王时，阿摩兹的儿子依撒意亚，关于犹大和耶路撒冷所见的异象如下：

先知的谴责
1:2 诸天，请谛听!大地，请侧耳!因为上主有话说：「我把孩子抚养长大，他们竟背叛了我!
1:3 牛认识自己的主人，驴也认识自己主人的槽，以色列却毫不知情，我的百姓却一点不懂。」
1:4 祸哉，犯罪的民族，恶贯满盈的百姓，作恶的后裔，败坏的子孙!他们离弃了上主，蔑视了以色列的圣者，转身背弃了他。
1:5 你们为什么还继续叛逆，再遭受打击呢﹖整个头已患了病，整个心已经焦悴；
1:6 从脚掌直到头顶已体无完肤，尽是创痍、伤痕和新的伤口；没有挤净，没有包扎，也没有软膏滋润。
1:7 你们的地区变成荒芜，你们的城市被火烧尽，你们面前的庄田被异民吞并，变成一片荒凉，宛如索多玛的废墟；
1:8 仅存的熙雍女儿，有如葡萄园里的茅舍，胡瓜园中的草庐，被围困着的城市。
1:9 若非万军的上主给我们留下些许残余，我们早已如同索多玛，相似哈摩辣了。

上主的警戒
1:10 索多玛的统治者，请听上主的话!哈摩辣的百姓，请听天主的训示：
1:11 「你们为什么向我奉献那么多的牺牲﹖──上主说：我已饱餍了公羊的燔祭和肥犊的脂膏；牛犊、羔羊和山羊的血我已不喜欢；
1:12 你们来见我的面时，谁向你们要求了这些东西﹖这简直是蹂躏我的殿院。
1:13 不要再奉献无谓的祭品!馨香已为我所憎恶，月朔、安息日、集会、斋戒和盛大的宴会，我已都不能容受。
1:14 我的心痛恨你们的月朔和你们的庆节，它们为我是种累赘，使我忍无可忍。
1:15 你们伸出手时，我必掩目不看；你们行大祈祷时，我决不俯听，因为你们的手染满了血!
1:16 你们应该洗涤，应该自洁，从我眼前革除你们的恶行，停止作孽，
1:17 学习行善，寻求正义，责斥压迫人的人，为孤儿伸冤，为寡妇辩护。
1:18 现在你们来，让我们互相辩论──上主说：你们的罪虽似朱红，将变成雪一样的洁白；虽红得发紫，仍能变成羊毛一样的皎洁。
1:19 假使你们乐意服从，你们将享用地上的美物；
1:20 假使你们拒绝反抗，你们将为刀剑所吞灭。」这是上主亲口说的。

圣城的罪孽
1:21 忠贞的城邑，怎么变成了荡妇!昔日充满着正义，寄居着公平的，现今却住满了谋杀的凶手!
1:22 你的银子变成了渣滓，你的美酒搀和了水份；
1:23 你的首领谋反作乱，成了盗贼的帮凶；他们都爱好贿赂，索取报酬，不为孤儿伸冤，不受理寡妇的诉讼。

天主的审判
1:24 因此吾主，万军的上主，以色列的大能者说：「哎!我必向我的敌人雪恨，我必向我的仇人复仇。
1:25 我必向你伸出我的手，用炉火炼尽你的渣滓，除去你所有的铅锡。
1:26 我要使你的民长复兴如初；使你的参谋恢复如初；以后你将被称为正义的城市，忠贞的城邑。」

定案
1:27 熙雍将因正直获得救赎，她的居民将因正义蒙受救恩；
1:28 然而恶人和罪人必将一同灭亡，背弃上主的人必要灭绝。
1:29 你们必因你们所喜爱的橡树而蒙羞，必因你们所选择的花园而惭愧；
1:30 你们将变成一棵落叶的橡树，一座无水的花园。
1:31 强者将似麻絮，他的工作犹如火花：二者必要同时焚烧，无人予以熄灭。

 

 

第二章(22)

熙雍将为万民的中心
2:1 阿摩兹的儿子依撒意亚关于犹大和耶路撒冷所见的事情：
2:2 到末日，上主的圣殿山必要矗立在群山之上，超乎一切山岳，万民都要向它涌来。
2:3 将有许多民族前去，说：「来!我们攀登上主的圣山，往雅各伯天主的殿里去!他必指示我们他的道路，教给我们循行他的途径。因为法律将出自熙雍，上主的话将出自耶路撒冷。」
2:4 他将统治万邦，治理众民；致使众人都把自己的刀剑铸成锄头，将自己的枪矛制成镰刀；民族与民族不再持刀相向，人也不再学习战斗。
2:5 雅各伯家!来让我们在上主的光明中行走罢!

上主的日子
2:6 是的!上主拋弃了自己的百姓──雅各伯家族──因为他们充满了术士和占卜者，有如培肋舍特人一样，且与异民握手言欢。
2:7 他们的地域充满了金银，财宝不可估计；他们的地域充满了马匹，战车不可胜数。
2:8 遍地都是偶像，人人崇拜自己手做的东西，崇拜自己手指的造像。
2:9 如此，人自甘卑下，自甘堕落，对他们决无救援。
2:10 当上主起来震撼大地时，你要潜入岩穴，躲在土中，为逃避上主的威吓和他显赫的光辉。
2:11 目空一切的人必被抑制，性情高傲的人必被屈服：那一日，唯有上主受尊崇。
2:12 因为万军的上主必有一日，要攻击所有骄矜自夸和自高自大的人，并加以抑制。
2:13 必要攻击黎巴嫩的一切高大香柏树和巴商的一切樟树；
2:14 必要攻击一切高山和耸峙的山岭，
2:15 一切高塔和一切坚固的城墙，
2:16 塔尔史士的一切船只和一切美观的画舫。
2:17 人的傲慢必被屈服，人的骄矜必被抑制：那一日唯有上主受尊崇。
2:18 上主必要完全毁灭偶像。
2:19 当上主起来震撼大地时，你们应潜入岩洞，躲在土穴中，为逃避上主的威吓和他显赫的光辉。
2:20 那一日，人必将为自己制造来崇拜的银像和金像，拋给鼹鼠和蝙蝠，
2:21 以便在上主起来震撼大地的时候，逃避上主的威吓和他显赫的光辉，而隐藏在盘石的孔洞里和岩石的隙缝中。
2:22 你们不要依恃人，因为他只有一口气在鼻孔里，他可算得什么﹖

 

 

第三章(26)

耶京陷于无政府状态
3:1 看啊!主，万军的上主，将夺去耶路撒冷和犹大的支柱和依靠，【各种食粮的供应和水的供应：】
3:2 勇将和战士，判官和先知，占卜者和长老，
3:3 五十夫长和显贵，谋士、机警的术士和巧言的咒师。
3:4 他将使青年人作他们的首领，使顽童管治他们；
3:5 百姓将互相压榨，彼此残害；幼童欺凌老翁，贱者虐待贵人。
3:6 那时，人要抓着自己家族里的一个弟兄说：「你还有一件外衣，你可作我们的领袖，这废墟即属于你手下。」
3:7 那一日，这人必要大声回答说：「我不是个医生，我家里没有粮食，也没有外衣，不要立我作百姓的首领!」
3:8 耶路撒冷倾覆了，犹大崩溃了，因为他们的口舌和行为都与上主作对，使他光辉的眼目冒火。
3:9 他们的厚颜已在指责他们，他们像索多玛人一样揭示了自己的邪恶，而毫不隐瞒；这些人是有祸的，因为他们为自己招致了灾祸。
3:10 你们要说：「义人是有福的，因为他们必享受自己行为的善果。
3:11 祸哉作恶的人!他必遭灾祸，因为他手中的作为必回报于他!」
3:12 至于我的百姓：孩童要压榨他们，妇女要管辖他们。我的百姓啊!领导你的，领你走错了路，混乱了你行径的路途。

天主施行审判
3:13 上主要站起来审判，立着审判他的百姓。
3:14 上主要开庭审讯他百姓的长老和领袖：「是你们侵吞了我的葡萄园，窝藏了由穷人那里勒索来的物件；
3:15 你们为什么压榨我的百姓，折磨穷人的脸面﹖」──吾主，万军上主的断语。

妇女的命运
3:16 上主说：因为熙雍的女子趾高气扬，走路挺直颈项，媚眼惑人，行路装腔作势，脚步铃铃作响，
3:17 吾主必使熙雍女子的头顶生长毒疮，上主必揭露她们的耻辱。
3:18 那一日，吾主必要剥夺她们的装饰：踝环、圆环、月牙环、
3:19 耳环、手镯和面纱，
3:20 帽巾、脚链、领带、香盒、符藤、
3:21 戒指、鼻环、
3:22 礼服、斗蓬、披肩、手袋、
3:23 面罩、衬衫、头巾和夏衣。
3:24 必有腥臭代替馨香，绳索代替腰带，秃头代替发髻，苦衣代替胸衣，烙印代替美丽。

耶京的荒凉
3:25 你的男丁要倒于刀下，你的勇士要死于战场!
3:26 熙雍的城门将恸哭哀悼，熙雍将凄凉地坐在地上。

 

 

第四章(6)
4:1 那一日，七个女人要抓住一个男人说：「我们吃自己的食粮，穿自己的衣服，只要你容许我们归你名下，除去我们的耻辱。」

新熙雍
4:2 那一日，由上主所发出的苗芽，必成为以色列遗民的光辉与荣耀；地上的果实必成为他们的夸耀与光彩。
4:3 凡留在熙雍的，遗在耶路撒冷的，即凡录在耶路撒冷的生命册上的，都必将称为圣者。
4:4 当吾主以惩治的神和毁灭的神，洗净熙雍女子的污秽，涤除耶路撒冷中间的血渍时，
4:5 上主将显现在熙雍山整个地盘与其集会之上：白日借着云烟，黑夜借光亮的火焰；因为在一切之上，有上主的荣耀，有如天盖和帐棚，
4:6 白日作荫影以免炎暑，又可作庇护，以避狂风暴雨。

 

 

第五章(30)

葡萄园寓言诗
5:1 我要为我的爱友讴唱一首论及他葡萄园的爱歌：我的爱友有一座葡萄园，位于肥沃的山冈上；
5:2 他翻掘了土地，除去了石块，栽上了精选的葡萄树，园中筑了一座守望台，又凿了一个榨酒池：原希望它结好葡萄，它反倒结了野葡萄。
5:3 耶路撒冷的居民和犹大人啊!现在请你们在我与我葡萄园之间，判别是非：
5:4 我为我的葡萄园所能做的，还有什么没有做到﹖我原希望它结好葡萄，为什么却结了野葡萄﹖
5:5 现在我要告诉你们，我将怎样对待我的葡萄园：我必撤去它的篱笆，让它被吞噬；拆毁它的围墙，让它受践踏；
5:6 我要使他变成荒地，不再修剪，不再耕锄，荆棘和蒺藜将丛丛而生；并且我要命令云彩不再在它上降下时雨。
5:7 万军上主的葡萄园就是以色列家，而犹大人即是他钟爱的幼苗。他原希望正义，看，竟是流血；他原希望公平，看，却是冤声!

指责以民中的罪行
5:8 祸哉，你们这些使房屋毗连房屋，田地接连田地，而只让你们自己单独住在那地域内的人!
5:9 万军的上主在我耳边宣誓说：那许多房屋必将成为废墟；巍峨华丽的，必无人居住；
5:10 十亩葡萄园将只出一「巴特」酒，一「曷默尔」种子，只出一「厄法」谷。
5:11 祸哉，那些早晨一起来即追求烈酒，留连至深夜，饮至酒酣耳热的人!
5:12 在他们的宴会上只有琴、瑟、手鼓、管笛和酒，却没有人注视上主的作为，没有人留意他手中的工作：
5:13 因此，我的百姓必因无知而被放逐，显贵必将饿得要死，民众必将渴得要命。
5:14 为此，阴府张大了咽喉，敞开了无限的大口，显贵、群众以及那些喧哗宴乐的人，都要落在里面。
5:15 人必将屈服，人必被抑制，目空一切的人必低首下心。
5:16 万军的上主必因正义而受尊崇，至圣的天主必因公平而显为圣。
5:17 羔羊要在那里吃草，有如在自己的草场上；肥羊要在荒田里吃草。
5:18 祸哉，那些用牛犊的缰绳引来邪恶，用牛车的绳索勾出罪孽的人，
5:19 和那些说：「愿他赶快，迅速完成他的工作，好使我们看看；愿以色列圣者的决策尽速执行，好使我们知道」的人!
5:20 祸哉，那些称恶为善，称善为恶；以暗为光，以光为暗；以苦为甘，以甘为苦的人!
5:21 祸哉，那些自视为聪明和自以为通达的人!
5:22 祸哉，那些饮酒的英雄，调酒的壮士!
5:23 那些受贿释放罪人，夺取义人权利的人!
5:24 因此，他们必如卷入火舌中的禾秸，焚于烈焰中的枯草；他们的根必要糜烂，他们的嫩芽必要如尘埃般的飞扬，因为他们拋弃了万军上主的教导，藐视了以色列圣者的训诲。
5:25 为此，上主向自己的百姓大发雷霆，伸出自己的手来打击他们；其时，山岳为之震撼，他们的尸体，有如街道上的粪土。然而他的震怒并未因此而息灭，他的手仍然伸着。

惩罚即将来临
5:26 上主要向远方的异民竖起一面旗帜，好由大地的四极号召他们，看，他们将疾趋前来。
5:27 他们中没有疲倦的，没有仆倒的；没有打盹的，没有睡觉的；他们的腰带没有松解，他们的鞋带也没有折断；
5:28 他们的箭矢锐利，他们的弓弩全已张开；他们的马蹄好似火石，他们的车轮有如旋风；
5:29 他们怒吼有如母狮，吼叫有如幼狮；他们咆哮攫食，携之而去，无人予以挽救。
5:30 那一日，他们必如海啸般向这民族怒号。人若注视大地，看，尽是黑暗痛苦；光明遮蔽在密云中，成了晦暗。

 

 

第六章(13)

先知受召神视
6:1 乌齐雅王逝世那年，我看见吾主坐在崇高的御座上，他的衣边拖曳满殿。
6:2 「色辣芬」侍立在他左右，各有六个翅膀：两个盖住脸，两个盖住脚，两个用来飞翔。
6:3 他们互相高呼说：「圣!圣!圣!万军的上主!他的光荣充满大地!」
6:4 由于呼喊的声音，门限的基石也震撼了；殿宇内充满了烟雾。
6:5 我遂说：「我有祸了!我完了!因为我是个唇舌不洁的人，住在唇舌不洁的人民中间，竟亲眼见了君王──万军的上主!」
6:6 当时有一个「色辣芬」飞到我面前，手中拿着钳子，从祭坛上取了一块火炭，
6:7 接触我的口说：「你看，这炭接触了你的口唇，你的邪恶已经消除，你的罪孽已获赦免!」
6:8 那时我听见吾主的声音说：「我将派遣谁呢﹖谁肯为我们去呢﹖」我回答说：「我在这里，请派遣我!」
6:9 他说：「你去对这民族说：你们听是听，但不明白；看是看，却不理解。
6:10 你要使这民族的心迟钝，使他们的耳朵沉重，使他们的眼睛迷蒙，免得他们的眼睛看见，耳朵听见，心里觉悟而悔改，获得痊愈。」
6:11 我追问说：「吾主!要到几时呢﹖」他回答说：「直到城邑变成废墟，没有居民，房屋无人居住，田地变为荒芜。」
6:12 上主必将人民迁到远方，本地区荒芜异常。
6:13 境内虽只留下十分之一，还要遭受摧残；就如松树和樟树在伐倒后，尚留有余干，圣善的苗裔将由这余干产生。

 

 

第七章(25)

先知劝王依恃上主
7:1 当乌齐雅的孙子，约堂的儿子阿哈次为犹大王时，阿兰王勒斤和以色列王勒玛里雅的儿子培卡黑，上来攻打耶路撒冷，但是不能攻陷。
7:2 有人报告达味家说：「阿兰已经驻扎在厄弗辣因!」君王与人民都胆战心惊，有如风中摇动的树木。
7:3 上主对依撒意亚说：「你和你的儿子舍阿尔雅叔布出去，到上池的水沟尽头，即漂工田间的大道上，去会见阿哈次；
7:4 对他说：你必须审慎，保持镇定，不必畏惧，不要因那两个冒烟的火把头──即勒斤、阿兰和勒玛里雅之子──的怒火而胆怯。
7:5 虽然阿兰、厄弗辣因和勒玛里雅的儿子同谋，迫害你说：
7:6 我们上犹大去，扰乱她，把她占领过来归于我们，并在那里立塔贝耳的儿子为王；
7:7 但是吾主上主却这样说：这事决不能成立，亦不能发生!
7:8 因为阿兰的首都是大马士革，大马士革的首领是勒斤；
7:9 厄弗辣因的首都是撒玛黎雅，撒玛黎雅的首领是勒玛里雅的儿子。
7:8 【六年或五年以后，阿兰将被消灭，厄弗辣因将要衰败。】
7:9 假使你们不肯相信，你们必然不能存立。」

厄玛奴耳
7:10 上主又对阿哈次说：
7:11 「你向上主你的天主要求一个征兆罢!或求诸阴府深处，或求诸上天高处。」
7:12 阿哈次回答说：「我不要求，我不愿试探上主。」
7:13 依撒意亚说：「达味的家族，你们听着罢!你们使人厌恶还不够，还要使我的天主厌恶吗﹖
7:14 因此，吾主要亲自给你们一个征兆：看，有位贞女要怀孕生子，给他起名叫厄玛奴耳。
7:15 到他知道弃恶择善的时候，要吃乳酪和蜂蜜；
7:16 因为在这孩子尚未知道弃恶择善以前，你在那两个君王面前所担心的国土，必将荒废。
7:17 上主必使患难的日子临于你、你的百姓和你的父家身上；这是从厄弗辣因叛离犹大那一天所未有过的，【即亚述王加祸的日子。】

预言犹大被侵
7:18 那一日，上主要唤来埃及大河尽头的蝇和亚述境内的蜂，
7:19 它们将要前来，一起落在荒谷、岩穴，以及一切荆棘丛中和一切水沟上。
7:20 那一日，吾主要用由大河那边借来的剃刀【即亚述王】剃去你的头发和耻毛，连胡须也要刮掉。
7:21 到那一日，人仅能喂养一只牛犊和两只母山羊，
7:22 因为出奶很多，人将以乳酪为食，因而境内所有的遗民，都将以乳酪和蜂蜜为食。
7:23 到那一日，先前所有种植一千棵葡萄，值一千块银子的地方，必将丛生荆棘和蒺藜。
7:24 人往那里去，必须携带弓箭，因为遍地都是荆棘和蒺藜。
7:25 先前用锄头开垦的山地，没有人敢到那里，因为害怕荆棘蒺藜。那里将成为放牛和羊群践踏的地区。

 

 

第八章(23)

联军必败
8:1 上主对我说：「你拿一块大板，用通用的字体在上面写：玛赫尔、沙拉耳、哈市、巴次」
8:2 我就叫了两个忠直的证人，即司祭乌黎雅和耶贝勒基雅的儿子则加黎雅，为我作证。
8:3 我接近了女先知，她便怀孕，生了一个儿子；上主对我说：「你给他起名叫玛赫尔沙拉耳哈市巴次，
8:4 因为在这孩子会喊「爸爸」「妈妈」以前，大马士革的财富和撒玛黎雅的赃物必要运到亚述王前。」

犹大受罚与得救
8:5 上主又晓谕我说：
8:6 因为这民族厌弃了缓缓徐流的史罗亚水，因而在勒斤和勒玛里雅之子面前惊慌；
8:7 为此，看，吾主必使汹涌澎湃的河水──即亚述王和他所有的军队──上来淹没他们；他必将泻出一切河道，溢出一切河岸，
8:8 直冲入犹大，涨溢汜滥，高达人的颈项。厄玛奴耳啊!他展开的两翼，将掩盖你广阔的疆土!
8:9 众民啊!觉悟罢!你们终必丧胆!远方的一切民族啊!聆听罢!任凭你们怎样束腰，终必丧胆!任凭你们怎样束腰，终必丧胆。
8:10 你们虽然策划，必然落空；你们虽然说定，决不能实现，因为天主与我们同在。

警告门徒
8:11 当上主以手握住我，警惕我不要走这民族的道路时，这样对我说：
8:12 这民族称为圣的，你们不得称之为圣!他们畏惧的，你们不必畏惧，也不必战兢!
8:13 万军的上主，你们惟应以他为圣；他是你们当敬畏的，是你们当恐惧的。
8:14 他将是以色列两家的绊脚石和失足的暗礁，是耶路撒冷居民的罗网和陷阱。
8:15 他们中间有许多人将失足跌倒而折伤，陷于圈套而被捕。

专心教诲门徒
8:16 证件已绑好，训诲在我门徒中已封缄，
8:17 我只仰望那位现在转面不顾雅各伯家的上主，我要等待他。
8:18 看哪!我和上主赏给我的孩子，在以色列中成了标识和预兆：这原是出于住在熙雍山上的万军的上主!
8:19 有人或对你们说：「你们询问那些喃喃细语的巫觋和术士罢!百姓岂不能询问自己的神，为活人而询问幽魂吗﹖」
8:20 「应到训诲和证件中去寻!」谁若不照这话答复，为他便没有曙光。

黑暗中的曙光
8:21 人将忍受着痛苦和饥饿，经过此地；当他由于饥饿而暴发忿怒时，必诅咒自己的君王和自己的神明；他无论仰望上天，
8:22 或注视大地，他只见苦恼和幽暗，昏黯和恐怖!但黑暗毕竟要被驱除，
8:23 因为遭受灾难的，必将免于黑暗。往昔上主曾使则步隆和纳斐塔里地域受了侮辱，但日后却使沿海之路，约但东岸，外方人的加里肋亚获得了光荣。

 

 

第九章(20)

光明与幸福
9:1 在黑暗中行走的百姓看见了一道皓光，光辉已射在那寄居在漆黑之地的人们身上。
9:2 你加强了他们的快乐，扩大了他们的欢喜；他们在你面前欢乐，有如人收割时的欢乐，又如分赃时的愉快；
9:3 因为你折断了他们所负的重轭、他们肩上的横木，以及压迫他们者的短棍，有如在米德杨那天一样；
9:4 因为战士所穿发响的军靴，和染满血迹的战袍，都要被焚毁，作为火焰的燃料。
9:5 因为有一个婴孩为我们诞生了，有一个儿子赐给了我们；他肩上担负着王权，他的名子要称为神奇的谋士、强有力的天主、永远之父、和平之王。
9:6 他的王权是伟大的，达味的御座和他王国的平安是无限的，他将以正义与公平对王国加以巩固与保持，从今时直到永远：万军上主的热诚必要完成这事。

天主的惩罚与警戒
9:7 吾主发出了一句相反雅各伯的话，这话临于以色列。
9:8 整个民众，即厄弗辣因和撒玛黎雅的居民，终必领悟，因为他们曾自负，且心高气傲说：
9:9 「假使砖瓦堕毁了，我们将以方石再建；假使桑树伐倒了，我们将代以香柏!」
9:10 所以上主必兴起他的对手，怂恿他的仇敌来攻击他：
9:11 东有阿兰，西有培肋舍特，他们必张口并吞以色列；然而他的震怒并未因此而熄灭，他的手仍然伸着。
9:12 但民众仍没有归依打击他们的天主，仍不寻求万军的上主。
9:13 因此，上主要在一天之内，砍断以色列的首尾、棕枝和芦苇。
9:14 【长者和尊者是首，传授谎言的先知是尾。】
9:15 因为领导这民族的人走入了歧途，受引导的人陷入了混乱。
9:16 因此，吾主将毫不怜悯他的少年，毫不抚恤他的孤儿和寡妇，因为他们都是乖戾邪恶的，并且都是口出恶言的，然而他的震怒并未因此而熄灭，他的手仍然伸着。
9:17 罪恶犹如燃烧的火焰，焚毁荆棘和蒺藜，使丛林燎起大火，烟柱因此旋转上腾。
9:18 由于万军上主的愤怒，地域将被烧毁，百姓成为火焰的柴薪，无人抚恤自己的弟兄，
9:19 各吃自己近人的肉：向右攫食的，仍旧遭受饥饿；向左吞噬的，依然不得果腹。
9:20 默纳协吞噬厄弗辣因，厄弗辣因吞灭默纳协，二者又合力并吞犹大；然而他的震怒并未因此而熄灭，他的手仍然伸着。

 

 

第十章(34)

警戒犹大
10:1 祸哉，那些制定不义的法例，记录不义的断案，
10:2 为屈枉小民的案件，剥削我穷民的权利，攘夺寡妇和劫掠孤儿的人!
10:3 当惩罚之日，风暴由远至近的时候，你们将怎样应付﹖你们将向谁求助﹖你们的财宝将弃于何地﹖
10:4 唯有屈伏在被俘者中，倒毙在被杀者下；然而他的震怒并未因此而熄灭，他的手仍然伸着。

亚述的高傲与受罚
10:5 祸哉，亚述!我义怒的木棒，我震怒的棍杖!
10:6 我派遣她是为攻击一个邪恶的百姓，我委任他是为攻击我所愤恨的民族，为掳掠劫夺，并为蹂躏他们，有如街上的粪土。
10:7 但她并没有这样想，心里也没有这样推测，只图肆意破坏，剿灭不少的民族。
10:8 因为她说：「我的首领不都是君王吗﹖
10:9 加耳诺不是与与加革米士一样吗﹖哈玛特不是与阿尔帕得一样吗﹖撒玛黎雅不是与大马士革一样吗﹖
10:10 我的手既然征服了这些偶像的王国──况且他们的偶像还多过耶路撒冷和撒玛黎雅──
10:11 难道我不能对待耶路撒冷和她的神像，有如对待了撒玛黎雅和她的偶像吗﹖」
10:12 当吾主对熙雍山和耶路撒冷完成了他的一切工作时，必要惩罚亚述王心高气傲的功绩，和他目空一切的骄傲。
10:13 因为他曾说过：「我完成了这一切，全凭我的手和我的智能，因为我是聪明的；我撤除了各民族的界限，掳掠了他们的财宝，有如强者打倒了居于高位的人。
10:14 我的手夺取了列国的财富，有如取诸窝巢；我兼并了大地，有如拾取遗卵，没有谁敢鼓翼和张口鼓噪。」
10:15 斧头岂能对用斧头砍伐的人自豪﹖锯岂能向拉锯的人自夸﹖难道棍杖能挥动那举它的人﹖木棒能举起那不是木头的人﹖
10:16 因此吾主，万军的天主，将瘦弱放在她的肥硕之中，在她的光辉之下燃起火焰，有如烈火焚烧。
10:17 以色列的光将变为火，他的圣者将变为烈焰，一日间即将她的荆棘蒺藜焚毁。
10:18 她的丛林和她田园的华丽，必将由内到外毁灭，有如为虫蚀尽一样。
10:19 她的丛林所剩余的树木不多，一个儿童就能计算。

遗民获利
10:20 到那一日，以色列的遗民和雅各伯家的逃亡者，不再依恃打击他们的人，却诚心依赖上主，以色列的圣者。
10:21 遗民必将归回，雅各伯的遗民必将归依强有力的天主!
10:22 以色列啊!你的百姓虽然多如海沙，其中唯有残存者得以归回：毁灭已经决定，但是充溢着公义，
10:23 因为吾主，万军的上主必在大地上执行所决定的毁灭。
10:24 因此吾主，万军的上主这样说：我的百姓，熙雍的居民!亚述虽然用木棒痛击你，像埃及一样，举起棍杖敲打你，但你不必害怕，
10:25 因为瞬息间我的怒气即将终止，我的愤怒将转为他们的毁灭。
10:26 万军的上主将挥动刑鞭鞭打他们，有如昔日在曷勒布盘石处打击米德杨一样；高举向海上伸出的棍杖，有如在埃及一样。
10:27 到那日，她的重负将由你肩上卸下，她的重轭将由你颈上解除。

亚述进军与被罚
10:28 破坏者由黎孟而来，来到阿雅特，经过米革龙，将辎重贮在米革玛斯；
10:29 又穿过要隘，夜宿革巴。辣玛惊慌了，撒乌耳的基贝亚逃走了。
10:30 巴特加林!你们应大声疾呼；拉依士!你们应该倾听；阿纳托特!你们应该回答。
10:31 玛德默纳走散了，革平的居民逃避了。
10:32 在诺布暂停一天，遂即挥手指向熙雍女儿山，耶路撒冷的山岗。
10:33 看啊!吾主，万军的上主将用斧钺砍伐枝干：高出的要削去，耸出的要砍低。
10:34 他将用铁斧砍伐丛林，黎巴嫩和她的壮丽必被伐倒。

 

 

第十一章(16)

默西亚与其王国
11:1 由叶瑟的树干将生出一个嫩枝，由它的根上将发出一个幼芽。
11:2 上主的神，智慧和聪敏的神，超见和刚毅的神，明达和敬畏上主的神将住在他内。
11:3 【他将以敬畏上主为快慰，】他必不照他眼见的施行审讯，也不按他耳闻的执行判断。
11:4 他将以正义审讯微贱者，以公理判断世上的谦卑者，以他口中的棍杖打击暴戾者，以他唇边的气息诛杀邪恶者。
11:5 正义将是他腰间的束带，忠诚将是他胁下的佩带。
11:6 豺狼将与羔羊共处，虎豹将与小山羊同宿；牛犊和幼狮一同饲养，一个幼童即可带领它们。
11:7 母牛和母熊将一起牧放，它们的幼雏将一同伏卧；狮子将与牛一样吃草。
11:8 吃奶的婴儿将游戏于蝮蛇的洞口，断奶的幼童将伸手探入毒蛇的窝穴。
11:9 在我的整个圣山上，再没有谁作恶，也没有谁害人，因为大地充满了对上主的认识，有如海洋满溢海水。

预言遗民回归
11:10 那一日，叶瑟的根子将成为万民的旗帜，列邦必将寻求他；他驻节之地，将是辉煌的。
11:11 那一日，吾主将再举起自己的手，赎回他百姓的残存者，即残留于亚述、埃及、帕特洛斯、雇士、厄蓝、史纳尔、哈玛特和海岛上的人。
11:12 他将向列邦高举旗帜，召集以色列的流徙者，由大地四极聚集犹大的离散者。
11:13 厄弗辣因的嫉妒必将止息，犹大的仇视势必消灭：厄弗辣因不再忌恨犹大，犹大亦不再敌视厄弗辣因。
11:14 他们将往西扑向培勒舍特的山麓，一起掳掠东方的子民；厄东和摩阿布将属于他们的权下，阿孟子民将顺服于他们。
11:15 上主将使埃及海湾涸竭，借烈风向大海挥手把它分成七个支流，使人穿着鞋即可渡过。
11:16 为他百姓的残存者，即存留在亚述中者，将有一条大道，有如为当日由埃及地上来的以色列一样。

 

 

第十二章(6)

感恩歌
12:1 当那日，你要说：「上主!我称颂你，因为你虽向我发了怒，但你的怒气已止息，并且还安慰了我。
12:2 看哪!天主是我的救援，我依靠他，决不畏惧，因为上主是我的力量，是我的歌颂，他确是我的救援。
12:3 你们要愉快地从救援的泉源里汲水。」
12:4 那一日，你要说：「你们应称颂上主，呼号他的名!将他的作为宣告于万民，称述他的名是崇高的。
12:5 请歌颂上主，因为他行了显赫的事，这事应该遍传天下。
12:6 熙雍的居民，你们应欢呼高唱，因为以色列的圣者在你们中间是伟大的。」

 

 

第十三章(22)

预言巴比伦毁灭
13:1 阿摩兹的儿子依撒意亚所见有关巴比伦的神谕：
13:2 你们在秃山上树起旗帜，向他们高呼挥手，叫他们走进王侯的御门!
13:3 我已向我圣洁的人下令，并为了我的愤怒，召集了我的战士，我那骄矜自喜的常胜军。
13:4 听!山上有喧嚣声，好象有无数的人群。听!列国的嘈杂声，万民正在聚集；万军的上主正在检阅赴敌的部队：
13:5 他们都来自远方，来自天边。上主和他盛怒的工具，要来毁灭整个大地。
13:6 号啕罢!因为上主的日子近了，它来有如全能者实行毁灭；
13:7 为此，人手将要松懈，人心将要消融，
13:8 人人都惊慌失措，剧疼和痛苦侵袭他们，痉挛得有如临产的妇女；他们彼此惊愕相视，面容有如火焰。
13:9 看哪!上主的日子来到，必有残忍、雷霆和烈怒，为使大地变为荒凉，为歼灭地上的罪人。
13:10 那时，天上的众星与群宿不再发光，太阳一升起即变为昏黑，月亮也不再放光明。
13:11 我要惩罚世界，是为了它的罪恶；惩罚恶人，是为了他们的恶行；要抑制自负者的骄横，要屈服暴虐者的傲慢；
13:12 我要使人比提炼的黄金更少见，使人比敖非尔纯金更希罕。
13:13 为此，由于万军上主的愤怒，在他暴发怒火之日，天要震撼，地要震动，离其本位。
13:14 那时，人们将如被追逐的羚羊，又如无人率领的羊群，各自转向自己的民族，各自逃回自己的故乡。
13:15 凡被捕获的，都要被刺杀；凡被擒住的，都要丧身刀下。
13:16 他们的婴儿将在他们眼前被人摔死，他们的房屋将被洗劫，他们的妇女要受奸污。
13:17 我要鼓励玛待人来攻击他们，这些人既不重视白银，也必贪爱黄金。
13:18 他们的弓箭要刺死青年，对腹中的胎儿毫不怜恤，对于婴儿，他们的眼睛也毫不怜视。
13:19 巴比伦──万国的光辉，加色丁的骄矜荣耀，必要被上主倾覆，如同索多玛和哈摩辣一样，
13:20 永远再没有居民，世世代代无人居住；阿剌伯人不在那里设帐，牧人也不在那里立栏；
13:21 卧在那里的只有野兽，他们的房屋满了鸱煌漳裨谀抢锲芟ⅲ枉嗽谀抢镂璧福?
13:22 豺狼在宫殿里嗥叫，野狗在御苑内呼应；她的时期已来近了，她的日子不会久延。

 

 

第十四章(32)

以色列回国
14:1 上主必要怜恤雅各伯，再拣选以色列，使他们安居在自己的国土；外方人要与他们联合，加入雅各伯的家族。
14:2 选民要接受他们，要带领他们回归故里；以色列家族，在上主的国土内，要占有他们为奴婢；于是以色列人要俘掳那俘掳过他们的人，要统治压迫他们的人。

咏唱讽刺诗
14:3 当上主赐你摆脱困苦、忧患和你受的苦役时，那天，
14:4 你要对巴比伦王高唱这首讽刺诗说：怎么，暴虐者住手了!强横止息了!
14:5 邪恶者的棍棒，统治者的权杖，已为上主折断，
14:6 就是那怀着怒气，三番五次痛击过万民，在忿恨中以无情的残虐，蹂躏过万邦的棍棒。
14:7 大地安谧宁静，人人兴高采烈；
14:8 连松树和黎巴嫩的香柏也都因你而喜庆：「自从你仆倒后，再没有谁上我们这里来砍伐!」
14:9 地下的阴府为了你而激动，为欢迎你的来临；并为了你，唤醒幽魂及地上所有的贵卿，使列国的君王由自己的宝座上起立；
14:10 众人都开口对你说：「连你也衰弱得和我们一样啊!你也与我们相同啊!」
14:11 你的豪华，你琴瑟的乐声，也堕入了阴府；你下面铺的是蛆，上面盖的是虫。
14:12 朝霞的儿子──晨星!你怎会从天坠下﹖倾覆万邦者!你怎么也被砍倒在地﹖
14:13 你心中曾说过：「我要直冲霄汉，高置我的御座在天主的星宿以上；我要坐在盛会的山上，极北之处；
14:14 我要升越云表，与至高者相平衡!」
14:15 然而你却下到了阴府，深渊的极处。
14:16 看见你的，必注视你，仔细端详你说：「这不是那使大地战栗，列国动荡，
14:17 化世界为荒野，摧毁城邑，不为俘囚开放监狱的人吗﹖」
14:18 万邦的君王都在荣耀中安葬，各在自己的阴宅里；
14:19 但是你却被拋于坟外，像一个叫人厌恶的流产胎儿，为刀箭杀戮的死者所掩盖，有如遭践踏的死尸。连那些被拋在石坑里的，
14:20 你也不得与他们一同埋葬，因为你破坏了你的国土，残杀了你的人民：恶人的后代永不为人所提念。
14:21 你们应为他们的儿子准备屠场，因为他们的父亲有了罪孽；他们决不能再兴起，占据大地，而使地面满是荒凉。

巴比伦全毁
14:22 我要起来攻击他们──万军上主的断语──我要抹去巴比伦的名号、遗民、后裔和子孙──上主的断语。
14:23 我要使她成为刺猬的领土和池沼，我以毁灭的扫帚将她扫净──万军上主的断语。

有关亚述的神谕
14:24 万军的上主起誓说：「实在，我怎样想，必怎样实现；我怎样计划，必怎样成功：
14:25 我要在我的国土内粉碎亚述，在我的山岭上将她践踏；她的重担必要由他们肩上卸下。」
14:26 这是对全地所决定的计划，这是向万邦所伸展的手臂，
14:27 因为万军的上主已决定，谁能阻止﹖他的手已伸出，谁能使它收回﹖

警告培肋舍特
14:28 在阿哈次驾崩那年有以下这个神谕：
14:29 「全体培肋舍特啊!你不要因为打击你的棍棒折断了就喜悦，因为由蛇的根子将生出毒蝮，而它的子息必是飞龙。
14:30 贫苦的人在我的牧场上必得饲养，穷困的人要泰然安息；但是我要以饥荒饿死你的余生，杀绝你的遗民。
14:31 门啊!哀号罢!城啊!悲鸣罢!全体培肋舍特啊!战栗罢!因为有烟从北而来，在她的队伍中没有落伍者。」
14:32 然而要怎样答复外邦的使者﹖「上主建立了熙雍，使他民族中的忧患者，在那里获得保护。」

 

 

第十五章(9)

吊摩阿布的挽歌
15:1 有关摩阿布的神谕：实在，摩阿布的阿尔经过一夜的蹂躏，就灭亡了!实在，摩阿布的克尔经过一夜的摧残，就灭亡了!
15:2 狄朋女儿走上高丘哭泣，摩阿布为乃波和默德巴悲号；众人的头都剃光了，众人的胡须都剪去了；
15:3 有的在街道上穿著苦衣，有的在屋顶上痛哭；在广场上的，人人哀号，流泪痛哭。
15:4 赫市朋和厄肋阿肋号啕，雅哈兹都可听到他们的哭声；因此摩阿布的两腰为之颤动，她的心灵为之恐怖。
15:5 我的心为摩阿布发出哀号，她的难民已逃至左哈尔。他们哭着攀上了路希特的山坡，在曷洛纳因的道上扬起了失望的哀声。
15:6 尼默陵的水地成了荒野，青草枯焦了，嫩芽萎缩了，再也见不到青绿。
15:7 为此，他们将所有的积蓄和财物，都带过了「柳树河。」
15:8 因为哀叫声传遍了摩阿布四境，她的哭声已传到厄革拉因，她的哭声已达到贝尔厄林。
15:9 狄孟的水已满了鲜血，我还要加祸于狄孟：为摩阿布的难民和当地的遗民将有一只狮子。

 

 

第十六章(14)

向熙雍求救
16:1 那地的主宰从旷野的盘石，应传达一言，至熙雍女儿的山岭!
16:2 当时摩阿布女儿，在阿尔农渡口，犹如逃遁的小鸟，倾巢的幼雏。
16:3 「请给我们出个主意，快下个决断!使你的荫影在日中有如黑夜，遮蔽被驱逐的人，不要暴露出逃的人!
16:4 让被驱逐的摩阿布人侨居在你处，做他们的藏身地，以逃避劫掠者的面。」当压迫终止，劫掠停止，蹂躏大地的人消灭时，
16:5 必有一个宝座建立在慈惠中，在达味的帐幕内，必有一位寻求公义，急行正义的判官，凭真实坐于宝座之上。

摩阿布因傲慢受罚
16:6 我们曾听到摩阿布的骄傲，极其傲慢；听到她的骄矜，她的傲慢，她的自负，她狂妄的矜夸。
16:7 为此，摩阿布必将哀哭，人人都要为摩阿布哀哭：为克尔哈勒色特的葡萄干饼，人人只有伤心叹息!
16:8 因为赫市朋的田园已零落，息贝玛的葡萄已凋谢!枝蔓为列国的君王所斩断；那些枝蔓曾蔓延到雅则尔，漫游至旷野；那些枝条曾向外伸展，越过了海洋!
16:9 为此我要参与雅则尔的痛哭，来痛哭息贝玛的葡萄；赫市朋啊!厄肋阿肋啊!我要用我的眼泪来灌溉你!因为在你夏收和秋收时，战争的呼声骤然降临!
16:10 田园中的喜乐与欢欣已敛迹，葡萄园中再也没有歌声与欢呼；榨酒的人不再在榨酒池上榨酒，欢呼的歌声已断绝!
16:11 为此，我的肝肠为摩阿布哀鸣，有如琴瑟；我的五内为克尔哈勒斯呜咽，有如箫笙。
16:12 摩阿布在高丘上纵然现得疲劳，纵然到庙宇里去祈祷，尽属枉然!

神谕
16:13 这是上主以前反对摩阿布所说的话。
16:14 但是现在，上主声明说：「照雇工的年限计，三年之内，摩阿布的光荣将变为羞辱；纵然她的人数众多，剩下来的甚是稀少，毫无势力。」

 

 

第十七章(14)

大马士革的命运
17:1 有关大马士革的神谕：看，大马士革不再成为城市，将变为一堆废墟。
17:2 她的城邑将永被遗弃，成为羊群的牧场；它们偃卧在那里，无人惊扰。
17:3 厄弗辣因的堡垒将被撤除，大马士革的主权将要消失，阿兰的遗民将如以色列子民的光荣──万军上主的断语。

北国的命运
17:4 到那天，雅各伯的光荣必要衰落，他肥满的身躯必要消瘦。
17:5 将如收割的人一手在抱麦秆，一手在割麦穗；又如人摘取葡萄，或在勒法因山谷采打橄榄树，
17:6 上面总有些残粒剩下，或两三粒留在树梢，或四五个留在果树的枝梢上──上主，以色列的天主的断语。

警戒敬拜邪神
17:7 到那天，人必仰望自己的造主，眼睛必要注视以色列的圣者。
17:8 再不愿观看他亲手所造的祭坛；也不再顾盼他手指所制的「阿舍辣」和太阳柱。
17:9 到那天，你的坚城，将如希威人和阿摩黎人在以色列子民前所放弃的地域，成为一片荒野，
17:10 因为你忘却了拯救你的天主，不怀念作你避难所的盘石。为此，你虽栽种阿多尼花木，种植异乡的枝条；
17:11 你纵然在一日之间使你所栽种的生长，清晨使你所种植的开花，但是收获却消失在患难和绝望痛苦的日子中。

亚述大军被罚
17:12 静听!许多民族在喧嚷，喧嚷得有如海啸；好多百姓在咆哮，咆哮得有如汪洋的怒号。
17:13 然而上主一叱责，他必飘逸远逃，有如为飓风卷去山上的禾秸，有如旋风前的蓟絮。
17:14 晚间尽是恐怖；天还未亮，已无踪影!这是掠夺我们者的份子，抢劫我们者的命运。

 

 

第十八章(7)

对雇士使者的劝告
18:1 那具有翼艇，位于雇士河对岸的地域，
18:2 即由海上遣发使者，在海面上乘芦舟的：「去罢!轻快的使者!到一个高瘦肤褐的民族那里去，到一个一向可畏的国家那里去，到一个强大而好胜，河流横贯其地的民族那里去!」
18:3 举世的居民和住在大地上的人哪!当山上的旗帜一举，你们要观望；号声一响，你们要静听!
18:4 因为上主曾对我这样说：「我要在我的住处宁静地观察，彷佛日光中温暖的热气，彷佛收割时炎热中的露云。」
18:5 因为在收割前，花苞已放；花蒂成熟结为葡萄时，他就要用镰刀砍去嫩枝，将参差的枝蔓斩除。
18:6 这些枝蔓都要一律被弃舍给山中的猛禽，和地上的野兽；猛禽要在其上过夏，野兽要在其上过冬。
18:7 到那时，那高瘦肤褐的民族，那一向可畏的国家，那强大而好胜，河流横贯其地的民族，要带礼品到熙雍山上，万军上主的名号的居所，献给万军的上主。

 

 

第十九章(25)

埃及受罚
19:1 有关埃及的神谕：看，上主乘着轻快的彩云，来到了埃及，埃及的偶像在他面前战栗，埃及人的心灵在己身内消溶。
19:2 我要激动埃及人相反埃及人，使人人与自己的兄弟相斗，人人与自己的近人作对，城与城争，国与国战。
19:3 埃及的精神要纷乱，我要混乱她的计谋；为此他们必要去卜问神明、巫觋、阴魂和术士。
19:4 我要把埃及交在暴君手中，暴虐的君王要统治他们──这是主，万军上主的断语。
19:5 海洋的水将干涸，江河将荒凉干旱；
19:6 水道都将发臭，埃及的河渠都要转弱干涸；芦荻和昌蒲必将萎谢；
19:7 河畔的芦苇必将枯萎，沿河的植物，尽将凋零，吹散，消灭。
19:8 渔夫必要呻吟叹息，河畔垂钓者必要悲伤，水面撒网者必要沮丧。
19:9 种植亚麻者必要羞惭，理麻妇与纺织工也都要面色苍白。
19:10 她的显贵将受轻视，受雇的工人莫不意志消沉。
19:11 左罕的首领极其愚蠢，法郎的谋士出的，尽是胡涂计谋；你们怎敢对法郎说：「我是贤者的子孙，古代帝王的后裔﹖」
19:12 你的贤士如今在那里﹖何不让他们告诉你知道，万军的上主对埃及打了什么主意!
19:13 左罕的首领都够胡涂，诺夫的首领被人愚弄，各州的诸侯使埃及陷入迷途。
19:14 上主在他们中间注入了昏神，叫他们使埃及在自己所作的事上无不错乱，有如醉汉在呕吐中打滚。
19:15 不论是为首的、为尾的、为棕枝的、或为芦苇的作什么，为埃及无所作为。

埃及皈依
19:16 到那天，埃及面对着正在她身上挥动着的万军上主的手臂，将如妇女般的战栗害怕。
19:17 犹大地将成为埃及的恐怖；凡提及她的，无不对万军的上主对埃及所打的主意而害怕。
19:18 到那天，在埃及境内将有五座城说客纳罕话，并指着万军的上主起誓，且有一座称作「太阳城。」
19:19 到那天，在埃及地域中，将有一座献与上主的祭坛，在她的边界上，将有一个为上主建立的石柱。
19:20 这在埃及境内，将成为万军上主的记号和证据：当他们面临迫害呼号上主时，他必给他们遣发一位救主，来奋斗拯救他们。
19:21 到那天，上主将为埃及所认识，埃及要认识上主，并奉献牺牲和祭品，向上主许愿还愿。
19:22 上主将打击埃及，打击只是为医治；他们要归依上主，上主要俯听他们，要医治他们。
19:23 到那天，将有一条大路，由埃及通至亚述：亚述人要到埃及去，埃及人要到亚述来；埃及和亚述将共同敬拜上主。
19:24 到那天，以色列将属第三，联同埃及和亚述成为大地上受祝福的，
19:25 因为万军的上主曾这样降福说：「我的百姓埃及，我双手的工程亚述，我的嗣业以色列，是应受降福的!」

 

 

第二十章(6)

先知裸体游行的象征
20:1 亚述王撒尔贡派遣总司令来到阿市多得，进攻克服阿市多得的那一年──
20:2 那时上主曾藉阿摩兹的儿子依撒意亚发言说：「去!脱下你腰间的苦衣，除去你脚上的鞋!」他就这样作了，裸体赤足而行──
20:3 上主说：「就如我的仆人依撒意亚，三年之久，裸体赤足而行，为埃及和雇士是一个预言和先兆；
20:4 同样亚述王要将埃及的俘虏和雇士的流徒带走，无论老幼，一律裸体赤足，露着下体，好羞辱埃及。」
20:5 人们将对他们的仰望雇士，对他们的光荣埃及，感到失望和羞惭。
20:6 这一带海滨的居民，在那天要说：「看!这原是我们所依赖，跑去求救，借以摆脱亚述王的人!我们又怎能逃避呢﹖」

 

 

第二十一章(17)

预言巴比伦陷落
21:1 有关瀚海的神谕：犹如风暴由南方扫来；同样，仇敌将由沙漠，由可怕之地而来。
21:2 一凄惨的神视显示给我：抢夺的尽量抢夺，破坏的尽量破坏。厄蓝，上前!玛待，围攻!我要结束所有的叹息!
21:3 为此我的两腰满是酸痛，侵袭我的剧痛无异产妇的痛苦；我惶乱得不能再听，我昏迷得不能再看。
21:4 我的心神错乱了，恐怖骤然袭击了我；我所渴望的黄昏，为我反成了恐怖。
21:5 盛宴已摆，华毯已铺，人们正在吃喝之际：「将帅们!起来!用油擦盾!」
21:6 因为吾主对我这样说：「去!派置一个警卫，叫他报告他所见的!
21:7 当他见到骑兵队、一对一对的马兵、驴队和骆驼队时，他要注意，要多多注意!」
21:8 守望者喊叫：「吾主!我整日站在瞭望台上，长夜鹄立在我的守望所。
21:9 看哪!来了一队人马，一对一对的骑兵!」有一个喊叫说：「陷落了!巴比伦陷落了!她所有的神像也都摔碎在地!」
21:10 我那被碾轧的百姓，我那禾场上的子民!凡是我由万军的上主，以色列的天主所听到的，我都告诉了你们。

厄东的灾难未完
21:11 有关厄东的神谕：从色依尔有人向我喊叫说：「警卫!夜已何时了﹖夜已何时了﹖」
21:12 警卫答说：「黎明已至，然而仍是黑夜；如果你们仍要询问，询问罢!再来一次!」

刻达尔逃难
21:13 有关荒野的神谕：你们在森林中，在荒野里过宿罢!德丹的商旅，
21:14 请携水出来迎接口渴的人!特玛地的居民，请备粮接待逃难的人!
21:15 因为他们出逃，是由于面临刀剑，面临出鞘的刀剑，面临已张的弓弩，面临激烈的战争。
21:16 上主曾这样对我说：「照雇工的年限计，还有三年，刻达尔所有的荣耀都要完结；
21:17 刻达尔子民的英勇弓手人数，剩下的很少。」因为上主以色列的天主，早就这样说了。

 

 

第二十二章(25)

反对耶京的神谕
22:1 有关「神视谷」的神谕：你究竟为了什么上了屋顶﹖
22:2 你这座充满喧哗嘈杂的城市，享乐的都会!你的被杀者并不是被杀于刀剑，也不是死于战场。
22:3 你所有的官长都结伴逃遁，窜逃远方；你所有的将士也都集体被俘，弃弓就缚。
22:4 为此我说：「你们不要管我，让我痛哭一场罢!也不要为了我民族的女儿的零落，有劳你们来安慰我!」
22:5 因为这是一个混乱、蹂躏、惶惑的日子，是属于吾主万军的上主的日子；在「神视谷」内，城墙倒塌，喊声震撼山岳。
22:6 厄蓝取了箭囊，阿兰骑上了战马，克尔亮出了盾牌。
22:7 你最富丽的山谷充满了战车，骑兵已在门前布好阵势。
22:8 犹大的屏障已被揭开。那天你们只仰望林宫内的武器，
22:9 只看见了达味城上的许多裂缝，聚集了下池塘的蓄水，
22:10 计算了耶路撒冷的房屋，拆毁了民房来巩固城墙，
22:11 在两城墙之间，又凿了个蓄水池，来贮藏池塘的水；却没有仰望这事的主事者，也没有回顾那老早计划了这事的。
22:12 那天，吾主万军的上主本来叫人哭泣、哀号、削发、腰束苦衣；
22:13 但是，看，仍是欢跃喜乐，宰牛杀羊，饮酒食肉：「吃喝罢!明天我们就要死啦!」
22:14 万军的上主亲自附耳传示给我说：「决不赦免你们这罪恶，除非你们死去。」吾主万军的上主这样说。

反对舍布纳的神谕
22:15 有关宫殿总管舍布纳的神谕：吾主万军的上主这样说：去!到那个在高处给自己凿坟墓，
22:16 在岩石间给自己辟寝室的家宰那里去，对他说：「你在这里有什么东西﹖你在这里有什么人，竟在这里为你凿坟墓﹖
22:17 看哪!上主要大力一掷，把你掷得远远的；他要抓紧你，
22:18 将你卷了又卷，卷成一团，如一圆球，拋掷到广阔之地。你要死在那里，连你的彩车也要毁灭，你这个王宫的耻辱!
22:19 我要革你的职，撤你的位。
22:20 到那天，我要召希耳克雅的儿子厄里雅金作我的仆人。
22:21 我要把你的朝衣给他穿上，把你的玉带给他束上，将你的治权交在他手中；他将作耶路撒冷居民和犹大家室的慈父。
22:22 我要将达味家室的钥匙放在他肩上；他开了，没有人能关；他关了，没有人能开。
22:23 我要坚定他，有如钉在稳固地方的木橛；他将成为他父家荣誉的宝座。
22:24 他父家全部的荣耀、细枝、嫩芽、各种细小的物品，自碗具以至各种壶瓶都悬挂在它上面。
22:25 到那一天──万军上主的断语──钉在稳固地方的木橛必将脱落，破裂，掉下来，上面所挂的重载也要摔得粉碎。因为上主说了。

 

 

第二十三章(18)

提洛受罚
23:1 有关提洛的神谕：你们哀号罢!塔尔史士的船只!因为你们的堡垒已遭破坏。由基廷地归来的，他们得到了这消息。
23:2 海滨的居民，静默罢!漆冬的商贾曾充实了你。
23:3 在大水之上运来的，是史曷尔的谷物；尼罗河的收获，是她的财富；她成了万民的商场。
23:4 漆冬!羞惭罢!因为海说过：【即海中的堡垒说过：】「我没有分娩过，也没有生产过；没有抚养过青年，也没有养育过处女。」
23:5 这风声一传到了埃及，大家都为了提洛的消息而战栗。
23:6 你们过海到塔尔史士去罢!海滨的居民你们哀号罢!
23:7 这就是你们所夸耀的城吗﹖她本起源于上古，她的双脚曾将她带至远方寄居。
23:8 是谁策划了这事，来反对加过冕的提洛﹖她得商贾本来都是王侯，商贩本来都是地上的显要。
23:9 是万军的上主策划了这事，为打击她一切自矜的狂傲，侮辱地上所有的显要。
23:10 塔尔史士女儿!耕种你的地罢!海港也不在了!
23:11 上主的手已伸在海上，使万国战栗震惊；上主对客纳罕已决定，要摧毁她的要塞。
23:12 他说过：「漆冬女儿!遭虐待的处女，你不要再欢乐!起来，往基廷去!在那里你也得不到安宁!」
23:13 看基廷的地域!【她已不成为民族，亚述已将她委弃予野兽；】人设立了高塔，毁坏了她的宫殿，使她成了一片废墟。
23:14 塔尔史士的船只!你们哀号罢!因为你们的堡垒已遭破坏!

提洛复兴
23:15 到那天，提洛将被遗忘七十年之久，有如一位君王的岁月。过了七十年，提洛要像妓女歌曲中所唱的：
23:16 「被遗忘的妓女!拿琴游城罢﹖巧弹多唱罢!好使人再记起你来!」
23:17 过了七十年，上主要眷顾提洛，她要再接受缠头，与地面世上各国交易。
23:18 她的赢利和她的进项将祝圣与上主，必不再贮藏积蓄起来，因为她的赢利将归于那些在上主面前度日的人，使他们吃得饱，穿得体面。

 

 

第二十四章(23)

全世受罚
24:1 看!上主使大地空虚，使它变为荒凉，翻转它的面目，使它的居民四散：
24:2 那时怎样对百姓，也怎样对司祭；怎样对仆人，也怎样对主人；怎样对婢女，也怎样对主母；怎样对主顾，也怎样对商贾；怎样对债户，也怎样对债主；怎样对贷方，也怎样对借方。
24:3 大地必要完全荒废，惨遭浩劫，因为上主这样定了。
24:4 大地痛哭哀伤，世界衰颓零落，上天与下地一同衰颓。
24:5 大地在居民脚下已被玷污，因为他们越规犯法，破坏了永久的盟约。
24:6 为此诅咒吞噬了大地，其中的居民受了罪罚；为此地上的居民受了折损，剩下来的人数极少。
24:7 新酒哀伤，葡萄凋残；心情愉快的，都长声叹息!
24:8 小鼓的喜乐已停止，欢笑的喧嚷已终结，琴瑟的喜乐已止息。
24:9 人不再饮酒作乐，喝了浓酒的反觉酸苦!
24:10 空虚的城市已破残，家家户户都已关门闭户!
24:11 广场上有人为酒而嗟叹，万般娱乐已阑尽，大地的喜乐遭放逐!
24:12 城中所留的只是凄凉，门户被打得粉碎!

雨后残蕾
24:13 诚然，大地间万民中，必像打过的橄榄树，或如收割葡萄后所余的残粒。
24:14 他们要提高声音歌颂上主的尊严：「万民啊!你们欢呼罢!
24:15 你们在东方的，应颂扬上主!住在海岛上的，应颂扬上主，以色列的天主的名!
24:16 我们从地极听到了歌声：光荣属于正义者。」然而我说：「我有祸了!我有祸了!我好可怜!反叛的仍在反叛，反叛的仍在极力的反叛!」
24:17 地上的居民啊!恐怖、陷阱、罗网，都聚集在你身上。
24:18 那逃得了恐怖声音的，必要落在陷阱里；那由陷阱中跳出来的，必要落在罗网中!

天地剧变

的确，天上闸门已开放，大地基础已动荡。
24:19 大地必将粉碎又粉碎，大地必将崩裂又崩裂，大地必将动摇又动摇!
24:20 大地必东摇西晃，有如一个醉汉，摇荡得好比一座帐幕；自己的罪恶又重压在上面，倒塌了不能再起!
24:21 到那一天，上主要在高天审视天上所有的军旅，要在下地察考地上所有的君主。
24:22 他们将被聚集起来，关在深坑内，监禁在监牢里；待过了许多时日，将受惩罚。
24:23 那时，月亮要脸红，太阳要羞惭，因为万军的上主要在熙雍山上，要在耶路撒冷为王，在他的长老面前要备受颂扬。

 

 

第二十五章(12)

感恩歌
25:1 上主!你是我的天主，我要称扬你，我要赞颂你的名，因为你忠实真诚地成就了你旧日的奇妙计划。
25:2 因为你使那城成了一堆瓦砾，使设防的城市化为一片荒凉，使傲慢人的城堡不像城市，永远不得重建。
25:3 为此，强大的民族要颂扬你，威武邦国的城市要敬畏你。
25:4 因为你是穷苦人的屏障，是患难中贫乏人的屏障，避风暴的藏身处，避炎热的荫凉所；因为残暴人的狂怒有如冬日的暴风，
25:5 有如旱地上的炎热。傲慢人的狂暴你已抑止，有如浓荫减轻了热气；连残暴人的歌声也从此低降。

设宴圣山
25:6 万军的上主在这座山上，要为万民摆设肥甘的盛宴，美酒的盛宴；肥甘是精选的，美酒是醇清的。
25:7 在这座山上，你要撤除那封在万民上的封面，那盖在各国上的帷幔。
25:8 他要永远取消死亡，吾主上主要从人人的脸上拭去泪痕，要由整个地面除去自己民族的耻辱：因为上主说了。

选民欢乐
25:9 到那一天，人要说：「看!这是我们所依赖拯救我们的天主；这是我们所依赖的上主，我们要因他的救援鼓舞喜乐，
25:10 因为上主的手停留在这山上。」敌人要在自己的地方受践踏，有如禾秸被践踏在粪坑之中。
25:11 他要在其中伸开双手，如同游泳的伸手游泳；但他的傲慢和他的手段已受了挫折。
25:12 他城墙上高耸的堡垒必被打倒、推翻，倒在地上化为尘埃。

 

 

第二十六章(21)

凯旋歌
26:1 那一天，犹大地要咏唱这首歌曲：「我们有座坚城，以救援作城墙与外郭。
26:2 你们打开城门，好让遵守信实的正义民族进去。
26:3 你的意志坚定，因而你保全了永久的和平，故此人对你有信赖。
26:4 你们应永远信赖上主，因为上主是永固的盘石。
26:5 他曾屈服了居高位的人，推翻了高耸的城市，将她推翻在地，使她粉碎，化为尘埃。
26:6 践踏她的，却是困苦人的脚，是贫穷人的脚。」

虔诚的祷词
26:7 义人的道路是正直的，你上主啊，削平了正直人的途径。
26:8 的确，上主!我们在你正义的路上期待你!你的名号，你的记念，是我们心灵的欲望。
26:9 我们的心灵在夜间渴望你，我们的心神在清晨寻觅你，因为当你的决断显于大地时，世上的居民都要学习正义。
26:10 恶人虽然蒙受了怜悯，仍然不学习正义，在世上依然颠倒是非，毫不顾及上主的威严。
26:11 上主!你的手虽已高举，但他们仍看不见；愿他们见到你对百姓的热忱而感到惭愧；并愿你为你仇敌所保留的烈火吞灭他们!
26:12 上主!是你赐与了我们和平，因为凡我们所做的，都是你为我们成就的!
26:13 上主，我们的天主!除你以外，还有别的主宰治理过我们；然而我们所称扬的，只有你，你的名号。
26:14 死去的人不会再活，幽魂也不会复生，因为你如此惩罚了，并消灭了他们，使他们所有的记念尽被遗忘。
26:15 你增加了本国的人民，上主，你增加了本国的人民，你得了光荣，你拓展了国家所有的边界。
26:16 上主!我们在困难之中寻求了你，我们在压迫之中呼求了你，因为那是你对我们的惩罚。
26:17 有如怀妊临产的妇女，在苦痛中痉挛呻吟；同样，上主!我们在你面前也是如此：
26:18 我们也像怀妊痉挛；然而所产的竟是风，没有给大地带来救恩，世界的居民也未因此而得生。
26:19 你的亡者将再生，他们的尸体将要起立；睡在尘埃中的人们都要苏醒歌咏，因为你的朝露是晶莹的朝露，大地将拋出幽灵。

静待救恩
26:20 我的百姓!去，进入你的内室，关上门，隐藏片刻，等待盛怒过去。
26:21 因为，看哪!上主已由自己的地方出来惩罚大地居民的罪恶，大地要暴露自己吞下的鲜血，不再遮掩被杀的人。

 

 

第二十七章(13)

上主的最后胜利
27:1 到那一天，上主要用他那厉害、巨大、猛烈的剑，来惩罚「里外雅堂」飞龙，和「里外雅堂」蜿蛇；并要击杀海中的蛟龙。

葡萄园歌
27:2 到那一天，你们要唱「那可爱的葡萄园」歌：
27:3 「我，上主，亲自作它的护守者，时加灌溉；我要日夜护守，免得受人侵害。
27:4 我再没有怒气；万一有了荆棘和蒺藜，我必前去攻击，将它完全焚毁；
27:5 除非不求我保护，不与我讲和，不与我和好．．．」
27:6 来日雅各伯将生根，以色列要发芽开花，她的果实要布满地面。

以民受罚后回国
27:7 上主打击以色列，那里像他打击那些打击以色列的人呢﹖上主击杀以色列，那里像他击杀那些击杀以色列的人呢﹖
27:8 上主以离弃，以驱逐，惩罚了她；在吹东风的日子，藉巨风将她卷去。
27:9 惟其如此，雅各伯的罪过方得消除；她的罪孽得以赦免的代价，即在于她将祭坛所有的石块，打得粉碎有如石灰，不在树立「阿舍辣」和太阳柱。
27:10 的确，设防的城市已荒凉，成了被撇下和放弃的住宅，有如荒野。牛犊在那里牧放，在那里偃卧，吃尽了那里的枝叶。
27:11 几时树枝枯萎，就自会断落，妇女便来拿去烧火；她既不是个聪敏的民族，因此那创造她的，对她没有怜悯；那形成她的，对她也不表恩情。
27:12 到那一天，上主要从大河流域到埃及河畔收割果实，以色列子民啊!你们都要一个一个地被聚集起来。
27:13 到那一天，要吹起大号筒，凡是在亚述失迷的，在埃及地分散的，都要前来，在耶路撒冷圣山，朝拜上主。

 

 

第二十八章(29)

撒玛黎雅的末日
28:1 祸哉，那为酒灌倒的厄弗辣因醉汉所骄矜的冠冕!祸哉，那生于肥谷之巅作她美饰的残花!
28:2 看哪!吾主兴起一位强有力者，有如带冰雹的暴雨，又如摧毁性的狂风，和涨溢泛滥的大水，猛力将一切拋落地上。
28:3 厄弗辣因醉汉所骄矜的冠冕，必被人踏在脚下；
28:4 生于肥谷之巅作她美饰的残花，将如夏季前早熟的无花果，人一见到便伸手摘取吞下。
28:5 到那一天，万军的上主将亲作他残余的百姓的荣冠和华冕；
28:6 他将是坐堂判案者的公义之神，将是城门前御敌者的力量。

斥责耶京政要
28:7 连这些人也因清酒而摇晃，因浓酒而蹒跚；他们在异象中摇晃，在审断时晕眩。
28:8 一切筵席上都满了呕吐，没有一处不是垢物。
28:9 他要将智识授给谁呢﹖向谁解释启示呢﹖是向方才断乳和刚离母怀的婴儿吗﹖
28:10 这只是些「命上加命，命上加命，令上加令，令上加令，这里一点，那里一点!」
28:11 是的，上主要用口吃的唇，异人的舌，向这民族说话!
28:12 虽然他曾对他们说过：「这就是安息的地方，让困倦的人安息罢!这就是休养的处所。」可惜他们总不肯听从。
28:13 因此上主的话对他们真成了「命上加命，命上加命，令上加令，令上加令，这里一点，那里一点!」致使他们虽然前行，却向后仰倒而跌伤，陷于圈套而被掳获。

嘲笑者的末日
28:14 为此，你们这些在耶路撒冷统治这民族的好嘲弄的人，听上主的话罢!
28:15 你们曾说过：「我们与死亡订了盟，与阴府结了约，当狂怒的刑鞭经过时，不会落在我们身上，因为我们有欺诈作我们的遮掩，有虚伪作我们的庇护。」
28:16 因此吾主上主这样说：「看，我要在熙雍安放一块石头，一块精选的石头，一块宝贵的角石作基础，信赖的人必不动摇。
28:17 我要以公平为准绳，以正义为权衡；冰雹将荡尽欺诈的遮掩地，洪流将冲散虚伪的庇护所。
28:18 你们与死亡所订的盟约必要废除，与阴府所结的约必不持久；当狂怒的刑鞭经过时，你们必被蹂躏；
28:19 每次经过，每次必要打击你们；他每朝经过，白日黑夜也经过；惟有恐怖方能使你们明白这启示。」
28:20 真是伸直身子床太短，缩作一团被又窄。
28:21 因为上主要兴起，如在培辣亲山上一样；要发怒，如在基贝红山谷一样，为履行他的工作──他神妙的工作，为完成他的事业──他奇异的事业。
28:22 所以现在不要再嘲笑了，免得你们的绳索系得更紧，因为我听到的有关毁灭大地的决议，是来自吾主万军的上主。

农事的比喻
28:23 请你们侧耳静听我的声音，请留意倾听我的言语：
28:24 耕田的人那有整日耕田，掘土耙地的呢﹖
28:25 当他把地弄平了以后，不是要撒上小茴香，播种大茴香，种植大麦和小麦，地边种玉蜀黍吗﹖
28:26 这是上主教给他的方式，他的天主指示他的。
28:27 打小茴香不须用钉耙，打大茴香不须用碾机，而是用木棒打小茴香，用棍子打大茴香。
28:28 五谷岂是要辗碎的吗﹖不是!人并不将它无限期地压了又压，而是叫碾机滚过，碾出谷粒来，并不是为碾碎它。
28:29 这也是出自万军的上主：他的计划真是神奇，他的智慧真是超绝。

 

 

第二十九章(24)

耶京受罚与获救
29:1 祸哉，阿黎耳，阿黎耳，达味驻扎过的城!任凭一年复一年，任凭节期的循环，
29:2 我必围困阿黎耳，那里将发生呻吟和悲叹。你于我必像一个「阿黎耳。」
29:3 我要如达味一样扎营围攻你，以堡垒包围你，筑起高台攻击你。
29:4 你将降低，要由地下说话，你微弱的言语出自尘土。你的声音有如幽魂的声音出于地下，你的言语低声地出自尘土。
29:5 那残害你的人，将多得有如微细的尘沙；那对你施虐的，将多得有如飞扬的糠屑。但是，忽然，转瞬之间，
29:6 万军的上主将带着雷霆、地震、巨响、飓风、暴风如吞噬的火焰来眷顾你。
29:7 那许多攻击阿黎耳的民族，所有攻击她并竖起堡垒包围她的人们，都要成为一场梦境，有如夜间的异象。
29:8 如同饥者梦中得食，及至醒来，仍然枵腹；又如渴者梦中饮水，及至醒来，依旧疲惫，心里仍有所欲：那攻击熙雍山的各种民族，也将如此。

目盲心盲
29:9 你们都在自我愚弄而愚蠢，你们都在自我蒙蔽而迷蒙；你们沉醉，不是出于清酒；你们蹒跚，不是出于烈酒；
29:10 而是由于上主将沉睡的神注在你们身上，封闭了你们的眼睛【即先知们，】蒙上了你们的头颅【即先见们。】
29:11 所有的异像为你们都像是封住的书中的话；若交给识字的人说：「请读这书!」他将答说：「我不能，因为这书是封着的；」
29:12 若将这书交给一个文盲说：「请读这书!」他将答说：「我不识字!」
29:13 吾主说：「因为这民族祇在口头上亲近我，嘴唇上尊崇我，他们的心却远离我，他们对我的敬畏仅是人们所传习的训诫。
29:14 所以，看哪!我要向这民族再行奇事，最奇妙的事，致使他们智者的智慧必要消失，他们贤者的聪明必要隐遁。人算不如天算。
29:15 祸哉，逃避上主而力图掩蔽自己计划的人!祸哉，那些在暗中行事并说：「有谁看见我们，有谁知道我们的人」的人！
29:16 你们多么颠倒事理!岂能看陶工如泥工﹖制造品岂能论制造者说：「他没有制造我﹖」陶器岂能论陶工说：「他不精明﹖」
29:17 诚然，再稍过片刻，黎巴嫩即将变成果园，果园将被视为果林。
29:18 到那日，聋者将听到书上的话，盲人的眼将由幽暗晦暝中得以看见；
29:19 弱小的人将在上主内再得欢乐，贫困的人将因以色列的圣者而喜悦，
29:20 因为暴虐者已经绝迹，轻蔑者已经灭亡，一切思念邪恶的人已经铲除：
29:21 就是那些使人在诉讼上失败，在城门口布置罗网陷害判官，用假理由屈枉义人的人。
29:22 因此拯救亚巴郎的天主论雅各伯的家这样说：「雅各伯今后不再惭愧，他的面貌不再失色，
29:23 因为人们看见了我手在他们中所有的工作，必称颂我名为圣，必称颂雅各伯的圣者为圣，必敬畏以色列的天主。
29:24 心内迷乱的人将要获得知识，怨尤的人必学得教诲。」

 

 

第三十章(33)

指责与埃及缔盟
30:1 祸哉，悖逆的子民──上主的断语!他们自作主张，不请示于我；自订盟约，不依照我的精神，致使罪上加罪。
30:2 他们没有请求我的许可，便起程南下埃及，想托庇于法郎的保障之下，想隐匿于埃及的荫庇之下。
30:3 但是法郎的保障将是你们的羞耻，隐匿于埃及的荫庇之下，将是一种污辱。
30:4 虽然他的首领已在左罕，他的使者已到达哈乃斯；
30:5 但是他们都要因这于他们毫无裨益的民族而受到羞惭，因为这民族为他们不但毫无帮助，毫无益处，反而是一种羞耻和污辱。
30:6 他们以牲畜带着贵物经过南方──残酷苦痛的地域，即壮狮和牝狮咆哮，蝮蛇和火蛇飞行的地域──驴背上驼着他们的财富，骆驼背上驼着他们的宝物，到一个于他们毫无裨益的民族那里去。
30:7 埃及人的援助是无用的，是空虚的，因此我称呼她是「静坐的辣哈布。」

预言求救无益
30:8 你现在去，当他们面前，写在版上，记在书中，为后世作证据：
30:9 「这是一个反叛的民族，不忠实的子女，拒绝听从上主法律的子民。」
30:10 他们曾对先见者说：「你们不要再看异象。」对先知说：「你们不要给我们说什么预言，给我们说些好听的话，预示些幻想故事罢!
30:11 离开你们的正道罢!转移你们的路线罢!在我们面前不要再提以色列的圣者!」
30:12 因此，以色列的圣者这样说：「因为你们藐视了这话，而依赖邪说谬论，且倾心信赖；
30:13 所以这罪恶，为你们将如一堵高墙上突起而将倒下的缺口，顷刻之间就会突然坍塌，
30:14 坍塌得有如毫不痛惜地被摔碎的陶器，碎得找不到一块碎片，能用以从炉中取火，从井里取水。」
30:15 因为吾主上主，以色列的圣者这样说过：「你们的得救是在于归依和安静，你们的力量是在于宁静和信赖。」然而你们不愿意；
30:16 你们反说：「不!我们要骑马逃去!」的确，你们必要逃去。「我们要乘骏马疾驰。」的确，追击你们的必然疾驰。
30:17 千人要逃避一人的叱咤，万人要逃避五人的叱咤，直到你们所剩余的，有如山顶上的木杆，或山岭上的旗帜。

对信者的恩许
30:18 然而上主仍旧等着向你们施惠，仍高兴向你们表示怜爱，因为上主是正义的天主，凡仰赖他的人是有福的。
30:19 熙雍的百姓，耶路撒冷的居民啊!你不会再恸哭，他必垂怜你呼求的声音，他一听见必要应允你。
30:20 吾主纵然给你们困苦的食物和酸辛的水，但你的教师再不躲藏，你的眼睛必能常见到你的教师。
30:21 当你偏左或偏右时，你必会亲耳听到你后面有声音说：「这是正路，你们要在这上面行!」
30:22 你必以那包银的木偶和包金的神像为不洁之物，将它们拋弃，有如拋弃月经布一样，并对它说：「去罢!」
30:23 你把种子种在地里，上主必使雨降在其上，并使你地里出产的食粮丰盛富饶；那一日你的群畜必将在广阔的草场上牧放。
30:24 耕田的牛和驴驹必吃用木杴或簸箕扬净而拌上盐的刍料。
30:25 大行惨杀之日，当堡楼倒塌之时，所有的高山峻岭必有溪水涓涓细流。
30:26 当上主包扎他百姓的创口，治疗他们伤痕的那日，月亮的光华将似太阳的光华，而太阳的光华必增加七倍，有如积累了七天的光华。

上主出征亚述
30:27 看哪!上主的名由远方而来，他怒火如焚，浓烟冲天；他的口唇满了敌忾，他的舌头有如吞噬的火焰；
30:28 他的气息如泛滥的河川，涨到人的颈项；他要用荡灭的筛子筛净列国，用引入歧途的马勒拑住万民的下颚。
30:29 你们必要讴歌，有如欢祝庆节之夜；内心愉快，有如在笛声之下登上主的山，到以色列的盘石那里去一样。
30:30 上主必使人听见他尊严的声音，见到他降临的手臂，在狂怒之中，在吞噬的火焰中，在狂风、暴雨、冰雹之中。
30:31 亚述必因上主的声音而战栗，上主必用刑杖击打亚述。
30:32 当上主惩戒的刑杖加于他们身上时，每次击挞都是在敲鼓和弹琴的声中执行的。他将以激烈的战争击败他们。
30:33 因为托斐特已准备好多时，还是为君王而设的，又深又广，堆满了许多柴火；上主的气息有如一条硫磺河流，把它点燃起来。

 

 

第三十一章(9)

惟上主能施救
31:1 祸哉，那些南下埃及求救，依靠战马，信赖他们战车众多，依恃他们铁骑骁勇，而不仰望以色列的圣者，也不求问上主的人!
31:2 但是上主仍然能降下灾祸，他决不收回自己的言语；他必要起来攻击恶人的家，攻击助人作恶的人。
31:3 埃及人是人，并不是神；他们的战马是血肉，并不是灵；只要上主一伸手，施助的人必将仆倒，受助的人必要颠覆：二者同归于尽。
31:4 因为上主曾这样对我说：「犹如壮狮或幼狮为了猎物而怒吼，即使召集许多牧人攻击它，它并不因他们的叫嚣而畏惧，也不因他们的喧嚷而惊慌；同样，万军的上主必要降下，为熙雍和她的丘岭作战。
31:5 有如飞鸟展翼护雏，万军的上主也要这样防卫耶路撒冷，加以保护、拯救、怜恤、保存。」
31:6 以色列子民啊!再归到你们所远离的上主那里罢!
31:7 因为到那一天，人人必要拋弃自己的银偶像和金偶像，即你们以污秽的手所制造的。
31:8 亚述必将倾覆于超人的刀下，超人的刀必将吞噬她；她将由刀剑面前逃走，她的壮丁必要充作苦役。
31:9 她的盘石由于震惊必要逃避，她的王侯，由于恐慌必将放弃军旗：这是在熙雍有火，在耶路撒冷有炉的上主的断语。

 

 

第三十二章(20)

正义的王国
32:1 看哪!有个君王将秉义为王，王侯也将秉公执政。
32:2 个个将如避风的处所，避雨的遮盖，如荒漠中的水流，如旱干地上巨石的荫影。
32:3 看得见的眼睛不再蒙眬，听得见的耳朵必将倾听。
32:4 急躁人的心将会体味智识，口吃者的舌将会畅于言谈。
32:5 愚昧的人不再叫作贵人，奸险的人不再称为绅士，
32:6 因为愚昧的人出言愚昧，心怀邪僻，肆意作恶，发表亵渎上主的谬论，使饥者枵腹，使渴者绝饮。
32:7 奸险者的手段毒辣，只筹划恶计，用诳言毁灭卑微的人，在穷人的案件上颠倒曲直；
32:8 但是贵人策划高贵的事，他常以高贵行事。

警告安逸的妇女
32:9 图安逸的妇女们，起来，请听我的声音!无忧的女子们，请倾听我的言语!
32:10 稍过年余，你们无忧的女子必受惊扰，因为葡萄没有收获，谷粒一无收成。
32:11 安逸的妇女们!你们必将颤抖；无忧的女子们!你们必受惊扰；你们脱光衣服，腰间缠上麻布罢!
32:12 你们必要为了肥沃的田地，为了结实的葡萄园而捶胸，
32:13 为了我百姓生满荆棘和蒺藜的土地，为了所有的娱乐家园，为了欢欣的城市而悲伤，
32:14 因为宫阙已荒废，喧扰的城市已荒凉，敖斐耳和巴罕永远成了废墟，成了野驴喜乐的地带，成了羊群的牧场。

复兴的展望
32:15 及至神自上倾注在我们身上，荒野将变为田园，田园将变为丛林；
32:16 公平将居于荒野，正义将住在田园。
32:17 正义的功效是和平，公平的硕果是永恒的宁静和安全。
32:18 我的百姓将住安谧的寓所，安全的宅第，清静憩息之所，
32:19 纵然丛林全被摧毁，京城全被荡平。
32:20 你们播种于多水之滨；使牛驴任意走动的人，是有福的。

 

 

第三十三章(25)

求天主施救
33:1 祸哉，你这不受侵害而侵害人，不受劫掠而劫掠人的人!当你侵害完了，你将遭受别人的侵害；当你劫掠完了，你将遭受别人的劫掠。
33:2 上主啊!怜恤我们罢!我们仰望你，每日清晨，请作我们的臂膊!在窘迫时，请作我们的救援!
33:3 叫嚣的声音一响，民众遂即逃遁；你一奋起，万民便都溃散。
33:4 人们收集掠物，有如拾取蚱蜢；急于劫掠，有如蝗虫疾跳。
33:5 上主是崇高的，因为他居于高处；他以正义和公平充盈了熙雍。
33:6 他是你命运的保障，得救的府库、智慧和明智；敬畏上主，将是你的宝藏。

上主前来干与
33:7 看哪!传信的的人在外号叫，和平使者悲痛啼哭。
33:8 大路已经荒废，行旅已经绝迹。他撕毁了盟约，藐视了证人，不顾及任何人。
33:9 地域凄惨颓废，黎巴嫩惭赧憔悴，沙龙变成荒野，巴商和加尔默耳摇曳凋零。
33:10 上主说：「现在我要起来，现在我要奋发，现在我要受尊崇!
33:11 你们所怀的是枯草，所生的是碎秸；我的气息有如火焰，必将你们焚尽!
33:12 万民将被焚烧，有如石灰，又如斩断的荆棘毁于火中。
33:13 远方的人要听到我的作为，近处的人要尝试我的能力!」
33:14 熙雍的罪人战兢害怕?不法之徒为恐惧所攫：「我们中谁能与吞噬的烈火同居﹖我们中谁能与不灭的烈焰共处﹖」
33:15 那行走正道，出言真诚的，鄙弃欺诈入息的，摇手不受贿赂的，充耳不闻流血阴谋的，闭眼不看邪恶的：
33:16 这样的人要居高处，岩石上的堡垒将作他的保障，他的食物有人供应，他的水可得保全。

幸福的远景
33:17 你必要举目瞻仰具有华美的君王，要遥望幅员广阔的地带。
33:18 你的心追忆起已往的恐怖时，要说：「登记的人员在那里呢﹖量银的人员在那里呢﹖数点城堡的人又在那里呢﹖」
33:19 你再见不到那野蛮的民族，即言语深邃而难以领悟，说话口吃而不易理喻的民族。
33:20 你将观看熙雍，我们集会的城邑；你的眼将见到耶路撒冷，安全的寓所，不动摇的帐幕；她的木桩永不能拔出，她所有的绳索也不能拉断。
33:21 荣耀的上主在那里将作我们的巨川大河，没有舟楫往来其间，也没有游艇划过。
33:22 它的绳索松弛了，没有稳固桅杆的力量，也没有扯起船帆的力量。
33:23 因为上主是我们的判官，上主是我们的立法者，上主是我们的君王，他必拯救我们。
33:24 那时，瞎子要分得许多战利品，瘸子要取得掳获物。
33:25 没有一个居民再会说：「我病了。」住在那里的人必将获得罪赦。

 

 

第三十四章(17)

天主审判万国
34:1 万民，你们前来聆听!列邦，你们侧耳静听!大地与充塞其中的一切，世界与其所有的产物，都要谛听!
34:2 因为上主向万民生了气，对他们的一切军队发了怒，他注定了他们的劫数，命定了他们遭受屠杀。
34:3 他们的被杀者被弃于外，他们尸体的腥臭浮浮上腾，他们的血溶化了诸山。
34:4 天上的万象必将解体，诸天要如卷轴般卷起；天上的星辰必将陨坠，有如葡萄叶的凋零，有如无花果叶的萎谢。
34:5 当上主的刀在天上痛饮之后，看哪!它将若在厄东，落在他所毁灭的百姓身上，实行惩罚。
34:6 上主的刀剑染满了血，渍满了脂油，就是羔羊和羚羊的血，以及公羊肾脏的脂油：因为上主在波责辣举行了一番祭祀，在厄东地方施行了一场屠杀。
34:7 野牛与肥畜必同堕死，牛犊与公牛必同跌毙。他们的地区浸满了血，他们的地面渍染了脂油。
34:8 因为这是上主复仇的日子，是为报复熙雍敌人的一年。
34:9 她的河水将变为沥青，她的土壤将变为硫磺：大地成了燃灼的沥青，
34:10 昼夜燃烧不息，浓烟永远上升；世世代代成为荒野，永久无人经过此地。
34:11 鹈鹕和刺猬据守其地，泛臀谘黄苡谄浼洌簧现鹘云苹敌缘纳突倜鹦缘南叽覆饬磕堑亍?
34:12 显贵中没有一个在那里能够建国，她所有的王侯都归于乌有。
34:13 她的宫阙将生满荆棘，她的堡垒将繁生蒺藜和蓟草；她将成为豺狼的洞穴，鸵鸟的苑囿。
34:14 野猫在那里将与野狗相会，野羊将呼叫它的同类；夜间的魑魅将在那里休憩，寻得一个安息的处所。
34:15 箭头蛇将在那里筑穴、下蛋、伏卵，并加以孵化；鸷鸟群集其间，雌雄相配。
34:16 你们可查看上主的书，且阅读一下，它们中一种也不会缺少，没有一个没有配偶的，因为上主的口已这样命定，他的神集合了它们。
34:17 上主亲自要为它们抽签，他亲手用绳索将为它们分开这地；它们将永久占有这地，世世代代住在那里。

 

 

第三十五章(10)

获救者的幸福
35:1 荒野和不毛之地必要欢乐，沙漠必要欣喜，如花盛开，
35:2 盛开得有如百合，高兴得欢乐歌唱，因为它们将获得黎巴嫩的光华，加尔默耳和沙龙的美丽；它们将见到上主的荣耀，我们天主的光辉。
35:3 你们应加强痿弱的手，坚固颤动的膝，
35:4 告诉心怯的人说：「鼓起勇气来，不要畏惧!看，你们的天主，报复已到，天主的报酬已到，他要亲自来拯救你们!」
35:5 那时瞎子的眼睛要明朗，聋子的耳朵要开启；
35:6 那时瘸子必要跳跃如鹿，哑吧的舌头必要欢呼，因为旷野里将流出大水，沙漠中将涌出江河，
35:7 白热的沙地将变为池沼，炕旱的地带将变为水源，豺狼栖息的洞穴将生出芦苇和菖蒲。
35:8 那里将有一条大路，称为「圣路，」不洁的人不得通行：这原是他百姓所走的路，愚蠢的人也不会迷路。
35:9 那里没有狮子，猛兽也不上来，路上遇不到一只野兽，独有被赎出的人们行走。
35:10 上主所解救的人必要归来，快乐地来到熙雍，永久的欢乐临于他们头上，他们将享尽快乐和欢喜，忧愁和悲哀必将远遁。

历史附录(36-39)

 

第三十六章(22)

亚述进攻犹大
36:1 在希则克雅为王第十四年，亚述王散乃黑黎布上来攻打犹大的一切坚城，而且都占领了。
36:2 亚述王从拉基市打发一位大将军，带着大军到耶路撒冷去见希则克雅王。当大将军站在上池沟旁，漂布田间的大路上时，
36:3 出来迎接他的，有希耳克雅的儿子厄里雅金家宰、舍布纳书记和阿撒夫的儿子约阿黑史官。

大将军的恐吓
36:4 大将军对他们说：「你们去告诉希则克雅说：大王，亚述王这样说：你所依靠的算得什么依靠，
36:5 你想空口说话就是战略和战斗的力量吗﹖如今你靠谁来背叛我﹖
36:6 看哪!你依靠的埃及是一根破裂的芦杖，谁依靠这杖，它就刺伤谁的手，且把手刺透；埃及王法郎对所有依靠他的人就是这样。
36:7 假使你们对我说：我们依靠雅威，我们的天主；希则克雅岂不是曾推翻他的高丘和祭坛，且对犹大和耶路撒冷说：你们只应在这祭坛前朝拜﹖
36:8 如今你可与我的主上亚述王打赌：我给你两千匹马，你是否能给这些马配上骑兵﹖
36:9 若不能，你怎敢拒绝我主上最小仆人中的一个军长，而去依靠埃及的战车和骑兵﹖
36:10 现在，我上来攻打毁灭这地，难道不是雅威的意思吗﹖雅威对我说了：上去，攻打那地，加以毁灭!」
36:11 厄里雅金、舍布纳和约阿黑对大将军说：「请你对你的仆人说阿剌美话，因为我们都懂；你不要对我们讲犹太话，因为城墙上的百姓能听到。」
36:12 大将军回答说：「难道我的主上打发我来只对你的主上和你讲这些话，而不是对那些坐在城墙上，和你们一样吃自己的粪，喝自己的尿的人，讲这些话吗﹖」
36:13 大将军于是站起来仍用犹太话大声喊说：「你们听大王，亚述王的话罢!
36:14 大王这样说：你们别上希则克雅的当，他决不能拯救你们!
36:15 也不要让希则克雅使你们信赖雅威说：雅威必会拯救我们，这城决不会落在亚述王手中!
36:16 不要听从希则克雅，因为亚述王曾这样说了：你们要与我和好，出来归顺我，各人就可以吃自己的葡萄和无花果，各人也可以喝自己井里的水；
36:17 直到我来领你们到一个与你们本国一样的地方去，一个有五谷和新酒的地方，一个有食粮和葡萄园的地方。
36:18 切不要上希则克雅的当，听信他说：雅威必拯救我们!万国的神中有那一个由亚述王手中拯救了自己的国家﹖
36:19 哈玛特和阿帕得的神在那里﹖色法瓦因的神在那里﹖撒玛黎雅的神在那里﹖难道他们由我手中拯救了撒玛黎雅﹖
36:20 这些地域中的神，有那一个由我手中拯救了自己的国土﹖难道雅威就能由我手中拯救耶路撒冷吗﹖」
36:21 他们都不作声，一句话也没有回答，因为君王有命：「不要回答他。」
36:22 希耳克雅的儿子厄里雅金家宰、舍布纳书记和阿撒夫的儿子约阿黑史官撕裂了衣服，来见希则克雅，将大将军的话告诉了他。

 

 

第三十七章(38)

希则克雅同依撒意亚会商
37:1 希则克雅王一听这话，就撕破了自己的衣服，穿上苦衣，走进了上主的殿；
37:2 然后打发厄里雅金家宰、舍布纳书记和几位老司祭，穿著苦衣，去见阿摩兹的儿子依撒意亚先知，
37:3 对他说：「希则克雅这样说：今天是受困难、受责罚，受凌辱的日子!因为婴儿到了要出生的时候，却没有产生的力量。
37:4 但愿上主你的天主听见了那大将军的话──即他的主子亚述王派他来辱骂永生的天主所说的话──愿上主你的天主听了那些话而加以惩罚。请你为剩下的人民祈祷罢!」
37:5 希则克雅王的臣仆来到了依撒意亚前，
37:6 依撒意亚对他们说：「你们要这样对你们的主上说：上主这样说：你听到亚述王的仆人辱骂我的话，不要害怕!
37:7 看，我必叫他感到一种怕情，使他一听到某种消息，就返回本国；我要使他在本国内丧身刀下。」

亚述王再次恐吓
37:8 大将军回去时，正遇见亚述王去攻打里贝纳，原来他已听说君王离开了拉基士。
37:9 那时散乃黑黎布听人说：雇士王提尔哈卡出来攻打他，就再派使者去见希则克雅，并吩咐说：「
37:10 你们要这样对犹大王希则克雅说：不要让你所依赖的天主哄骗你说：耶路撒冷决不会落在亚述王手中!
37:11 看，你听说过亚述的列王对各国所行的，将各国完全消灭了，你还能有救吗﹖
37:12 我祖先消灭的所有民族如：哥仓、哈郎、勒责夫，以及在特拉撒尔的厄登子民，他们的神何尝救了他们﹖
37:13 哈玛特王、阿帕得王、色法瓦因城的王、赫纳王和依瓦王，他们现今都在那里﹖」

希则克雅的祈祷
37:14 希则克雅从使者手中接过信来，读了以后，就走进上主的殿；将那信在上主面前展开，
37:15 然后希则克雅恳求上主说：
37:16 「万军的上主，坐在革鲁宾上面的以色列的天主，唯独你是地上万国的天主，你创造了天地。
37:17 上主，请你侧耳倾听!上主，求你睁眼垂视!细听那打发使者辱骂永生天主的散乃黑黎布的一切话!
37:18 上主，的确，亚述的列王曾毁灭了所有的民族和他们的土地，
37:19 将他们的神像投入火中，因为它们不是神，只是人手造成的木石的作品，所以能被消灭。
37:20 但是现今，上主，我们的天主，求你拯救我们脱离他的手，好使世上万国都知道：惟独你是上主天主。」

依撒意亚的预言
37:21 那时，阿摩兹的儿子依撒意亚打发人去见希则克雅说：「上主以色列的天主这样说：你既然为了亚述王散乃黑黎布而向我恳求，我已经俯听了你。
37:22 这就是上主论他所说的话：熙雍贞女轻视你，嘲笑你；耶路撒冷少女在你背后摇头!
37:23 你辱骂诅咒的是谁﹖你提高声音，仰起眼睛攻击的是谁﹖是攻击以色列的圣者。
37:24 你借你的仆人辱骂了吾主，你说：我用我的大批车辆，登上了丛山的极峰，到黎巴嫩的山顶，砍伐了其中　最高的香柏，最好的青松；我冲入了人迹罕到之处，走进了果木的林园。
37:25 我掘了井，喝了外邦的水，用我的脚掌踏干了埃及所有的河川。
37:26 难道你没有听见：很久以前我所计划的，昔日我所决定的，现在我就实现，叫你毁坏坚城，化为废墟，
37:27 使城中的居民软弱无力，惊惶失措，有如田野的青草，有如青绿的嫩苗，有如屋顶上被东风吹焦的小草。
37:28 你或起或坐，或出或入，以及对我的癫狂，我都知道。
37:29 因为你对我的暴怒，和你的狂嚣，已达到我的耳鼓，所以我要把环子穿在你的鼻子上，把辔头套在你的嘴上，由你来的路上将你牵回去。
37:30 这是给你的记号：今年你要吃自然所生的，明年你仍要吃自然所生的，第三年你们要播种收获，栽种葡萄园，吃园中的果实。
37:31 犹大家所剩余的人，仍要向下生根，往上结实。
37:32 因为剩余的人将由耶路撒冷而出，逃脱的人将从熙雍山而来：万军上主的热诚必要成就这事。
37:33 为此，上主论亚述王这样说：他决不会进入这城，决不会向这城放射一箭，决不会持着盾牌，走近城下，造起土堆攻城。
37:34 他必要由来路回去，决不能进入这城：上主的断语。
37:35 为了我自己，为了我的仆人达味，我必要保护拯救这城。」

亚述王受惩罚
37:36 于是上主的使者出来，在亚述的营里杀了十八万五千人。清晨人们起来，见遍地是死尸。
37:37 亚述王散乃黑黎布于是拔营，班师回国，住在尼尼微。
37:38 当他在自己的神尼色洛客庙里叩拜的时候，他的儿子阿德辣默肋客和沙勒责尔用剑刺杀了他，然后逃到阿辣辣特地方去了。他的儿子厄撒哈冬继他为王。

 

 

第三十八章(22)

国王患病复愈
38:1 在那些日期内，希则克雅害病要死，阿摩兹的儿子依撒意亚先知前来看他，并对他说：「上主这样说：快料理你的家务，因为你快死，不能久活了!」
38:2 希则克雅就转面朝墙恳求上主说：
38:3 「上主!求你记忆我如何怀着忠诚齐全的心，在你面前行走；如何作了你视为正义的事。」然后希则克雅放声大哭。
38:4 上主的话传给依撒意亚说：
38:5 「你去对希则克雅说：上主，你祖先达味的天主这样说：我听见了你的祈祷，看见了你的眼泪；看，我要在你的寿数上多加十五年，
38:6 且由亚述王手中拯救你和这座城，我必要保护这座城。
38:7 上主必实践他所说的话，这将是给你的记号：
38:8 看，我要使那射在阿哈次的日晷上的日影倒退十度。」果然，射在日晷上的日影倒退了十度。

希则克雅的谢恩歌
38:9 犹大王希则克雅在病中与病愈后所咏的「金诗：」
38:10 我曾想过：「正当我的中年，我就要离去；我的余年将被交于阴府之门。」
38:11 我曾想过：「我再不能在活人的地上看见上主，我再不能在世上的居民中看见世人。
38:12 我的居所被拆除，由我身上撤去，彷佛牧童的帐幕；你好象织工，卷起了我的生命，由织机上将我割断。白日黑夜你总想将我结束!」
38:13 我哀号直到清晨，上主却如狮子咬碎了我所有的骨骸。
38:14 我呢喃好似燕子，我哀鸣有如斑鸠；我痛哭的眼睛向上仰视：「上主!我实在痛苦，求你扶持我!」
38:15 我还有什么话可说﹖因为是上主给我说的，因为是他行的；带着我内心的痛苦，我要善度我的余年。
38:16 吾主!我的心唯有仰望你!求你使我的精神苏醒，使我复原，使我生存。
38:17 看，我的苦楚已变为安宁，是你保存了我的生命脱免灭亡的深渊，因为你将我所有的罪恶尽拋于你背后。
38:18 诚然，阴府不会赞颂你，死亡也不会称扬你；下到深渊的，也不会再仰望你的忠诚。
38:19 生者，唯有生者能赞颂你，如我今日一样；为父的当使自己的儿女认识你的忠信。
38:20 上主救了我，为此我们愿以终生的岁月，在上主的殿内弹奏弦琴!

附录
38:21 依撒意亚曾吩咐说：「拿一块无花果饼来，贴在他的疮口上，他就会好了。」
38:22 希则克雅曾问说：「有什么凭据，我将登上上主的殿﹖」

 

 

第三十九章(8)

巴比伦的使者来访
39:1 那时，巴比伦王巴拉丹的儿子默洛达客巴拉丹给希则克雅呈上书信和礼物，因为他听说希则克雅患病好了。
39:2 希则克雅对他们非常高兴，就叫使者参观自己的宝库、金银、香料、珍膏和武器，以及他府库内所有的财宝：凡他宫中和全国内所有的，希则克雅没有不叫他们参观的。

先知预言充军
39:3 依撒意亚先知来到希则克雅王前对他说：「这些人说了什么﹖他们是从什么地方到你这里来的﹖」希则克雅回答说：「他们是从远方，从巴比伦到我这里来的。」
39:4 先知又问说：「他们在你宫里看见了什么﹖」希则克雅回答说：「凡我宫里所有的，他们都看了；凡我府库内所有的，没有一样我不叫他们不看的。」
39:5 依撒意亚遂对希则克雅说：「你听万军上主的话罢!
39:6 看，日子要到，凡你宫中所有的，及你祖先直到今日所积蓄的，都要被带到巴比伦去，什么都不会留下：上主说。
39:7 此外，由你所出，即你所生的子孙中，也有一些要被掳去，在巴比伦王的宫殿里充当太监。」
39:8 希则克雅便对依撒意亚说：「你所说的上主的话很好。」他想：「只愿在我有生之日有平安，有安全!」

后编安慰书(40-66)

 

第四十章(31)

传报喜讯
40:1 「你们安慰，安慰我的百姓罢!」你们的天主说。
40:2 你们应向耶路撒冷说宽心的话，并向她宣告：她的苦役已满期，她的罪债已清偿，因为她为了自己的一切罪过，已由上主手中承受了双倍的惩罚。
40:3 有一个呼声喊说：「你们要在旷野中预备上主的道路，在荒原中为我们的天主修平一条大路!
40:4 一切深谷要填满，一切山陵要产平，隆起的要削为平地，崎岖的要辟成坦途!
40:5 上主的光荣要显示出来，凡有血肉的都会看见：这是上主亲口说的。」
40:6 有个声音说：「呼喊罢!」我答说：「我呼喊什么﹖」「凡有血肉的都似草，他的美丽似田野的花；
40:7 上主的风吹来，草必枯萎，花必凋谢。【的确，人民好象草。】
40:8 草能枯萎，花能凋谢，但我们天主的话永远常存。」
40:9 给熙雍传喜讯的啊!请登上高山!给耶路撒冷报喜讯的啊!请大声疾呼!高呼罢!不要畏惧!向犹大各城报告说：你们的天主来了!
40:10 吾主上主带着威能来到，他的手臂获得了胜利；他的胜利品与他同在，他获得的酬劳在他面前。
40:11 他必如牧人，牧放自己的羊群，以自己的手臂集合小羊，把它们抱在自己的怀中，温良地领导哺乳的母羊。

唯天主至高无上
40:12 谁曾用手心量过海水，用手掌测量过天，用升斗量过地上的尘土，用天秤称过高山，用戥子撑过丘陵呢﹖
40:13 谁曾指挥过上主的心灵；或做过他的参谋，教导过他呢﹖
40:14 他曾向谁请教过，请他教导自己，指导自己正路，教授自己智识，指示明智的行径呢﹖
40:15 看哪!万民像桶中的一滴水，如天秤上的一粒沙；看，岛屿重如一粒灰尘。
40:16 黎巴嫩不够当柴烧，其中的野兽不足作燔祭。
40:17 万民在他面前好象乌有，在他看来只是空虚净无。
40:18 你们要把天主同谁相比拟呢﹖你们把他与什么相对照呢﹖
40:19 与偶像吗﹖偶像是工匠铸造，金匠再包上金子，然后再铸银链围起来。
40:20 精于选料的人，在选择一块不朽的木头，再寻找一位精明的工匠，将铸像立定，不致倒下。
40:21 难道你们不知道﹖难道你们没有听说﹖难道从起初没有人告诉过你们﹖难道由大地肇基以来你们没有细察过吗﹖
40:22 他坐在大地的穹窿之上，地上的居民有如蝗虫一般。他展开天幕有如帷幔，伸开天空有如居住的蓬帐。
40:23 他使王侯化为乌有，叫地上的士绅成为虚无。
40:24 他们刚被栽上，刚被种植，刚在土中扎根，他向他们一嘘气，他们一嘘气，他们便立即枯萎，暴风卷枯秸似的将他们卷走。
40:25 「你们把我同谁比拟呢﹖要我与谁相似呢﹖」圣者如此说。
40:26 你们举目向上，看看是谁造了这些呢﹖是他按照数目展开了他的万军，按照次序一一点名，在这强而有力和威能者前，没有一个敢缺席的。

唯有天主可靠
40:27 雅各伯!你为什么说﹖以色列!你为什么讲：「上主看不见我的命运!我的天主忽略了我的案件!」
40:28 难道你不知道，或者没有听说：上主是永生的天主，是创造地极之主吗﹖他总不疲倦，决不困乏，他的智慧高深莫测。
40:29 他赐给疲倦者力量，赐给无力者勇气。
40:30 少年人能疲倦困乏，青年人能失足跌倒；
40:31 然而仰望上主的，必获得新力量，必能振翼高飞有如兀鹰，疾驰而不困乏，奔走而不疲倦。

 

 

第四十一章(29)

万民畏惧居鲁士
41:1 群岛啊!请肃静听我!让万民前来!让他们前来开口说话；让我们一起互相辩论!
41:2 是谁由东方唤醒了那人，使他步步遇到胜利﹖是谁将众民交付给他，又使列王臣服于他呢﹖他的刀剑使他们化为灰尘，他的弓箭分散他们有如草芥。
41:3 他追击他们时，平安地经过；他的脚好象没有踏着道路一样。
41:4 是谁从原始安排了历代的事而予以实行成就呢﹖我，上主，是元始，与最末者同在的也是我。
41:5 群岛一见即害怕起来，地极为之震动，遂都聚集前来；
41:6 彼此相助，并对自己的同伴说：「勇敢些!」
41:7 工匠鼓励金匠，抡大锤的鼓励使小锤的，夸赞焊工说：「焊的好!」遂用钉子钉住，使偶像不致动摇。

以民无需畏惧
41:8 但是你，我的仆人以色列，我所拣选的雅各伯，我的好友亚巴郎的苗裔，
41:9 你是我由地极领来的，是我从远方召来的，我曾向你说过：「你是我的仆人，我拣选了你，我决不放弃你。」
41:10 你不要害怕，因为我与你在一起；你不要惊惶，因为我是你的天主；我必坚固你，协助你，用我胜利的右手扶持你。
41:11 凡向你泄怒的，必蒙羞受辱；凡同你争辩的，必要灭亡，化为乌有。
41:12 凡与你争吵的人，你找他们，也找不到。凡与你交战的人，必化为乌有，归于虚无，
41:13 因为是我，上主，你的天主，提携着你的右手，向你说过：「不要害怕，有我协助你。」
41:14 雅各伯虫豸啊!以色列蛆虫啊!不要害怕，我必协助你──上主的断语──你的救主是以色列的圣者。
41:15 看啊，我使你成为一架锋利多齿的新打禾机，叫你压榨高山，压得粉碎，使丘陵变为碎末。
41:16 你要簸扬它们，风必将它们卷去，暴风必吹散它们；然而你要因上主而喜乐，因以色列的圣者而夸耀。
41:17 贫困和穷苦的人，若找水而无所获，他们的舌头渴得焦燥，我上主必俯允他们，我，以色列的天主必不弃舍他们。
41:18 我要在秃山上开辟河流，在空谷中喷出泉源；我要使沙漠变为池沼，使干地化为喷泉。
41:19 我要在沙漠中种植香柏木、皂荚、桃金娘和橄榄树；在荒野中要把柏树、榆树和云杉树一起栽植起来；
41:20 为使人们看见，知道，同时因深思而了解：这是上主的手所做的，是以色列的圣者所创造的。

唯上主是真神
41:21 拿出你的理由来，上主说：呈上你的证据来，雅各伯的君王说。
41:22 让他们前来，告诉我们将要发生什么事；让他们告诉我们，那以往的事有什么意义，好叫我们记在心中；或者让我们听听那要来的事罢，好叫我们知道那事的结果。
41:23 请你们说说那以后要来的事，好叫我们知道你们是神；无论好坏请你们做一下，好叫我们都惊奇害怕。
41:24 看哪!你们竟是乌有，你们的工作也是虚无；那选择你们的实在可憎。
41:25 我由北方唤起了一个人，他就来了；我由日出之地呼唤了他的名字，他将蹂躏王侯有如泥泞，又如陶工践踏黏土。
41:26 谁首先说过这事，好叫我们知道，在事前说过，而叫我们说「对啦﹖」实在没有一个预言过，没有一个讲过，也没有一个听见过你们说话。
41:27 只有我是第一位给熙雍报告过这事，给耶路撒冷遣发了一位报告喜讯的。
41:28 我环视四周，了无一人；他们中没有一个可做谋士，向他询问，可回答一句的。
41:29 看哪，他们都是乌有，他们的工作是虚无，他们的铸像是空气，是空虚。

 

 

第四十二章(25)

咏「上主仆人」的诗歌
42:1 请看我扶持的仆人，我心灵喜爱的所选者!我在他身上倾注了我的神，叫他给万民传布真道。
42:2 他不呼喊，不喧嚷，在街市上也听不到他的声音。
42:3 破伤的芦苇，他不折断；将熄的灯心，他不吹灭；他将忠实地传布真道。
42:4 他不沮丧，也不失望，直到他在世上奠定了真道，因为海岛都期待着他的教诲。
42:5 那创造且展布天空，铺张大地和布置大地的产物，给世人赐予气息，并给在地上行动的，赐与呼吸的天主上主这样说：
42:6 「我，上主，因仁义召叫了你，我必提携你，保护你，立你作人民的盟约，万民的光明，
42:7 为开启盲人的眼目，从狱中领出被囚的人，从牢里领出住在黑暗的人。
42:8 我是上主，这是我的名字；我决不将我的光荣让与另一位，决不将我应受的赞美归于偶像。
42:9 先前的事，看，已经成就；我再宣告新近的事，在事未发生之前，我先告诉你们。」

咏赞天主的伟大
42:10 你们应向上主高唱新歌，称述他的荣耀直到地极!愿海洋和其中一切，愿岛屿和其上的居民赞美他!
42:11 愿旷野和那里的城邑，刻达尔人所居住的村落欢呼!愿色拉的居民高声歌唱，从山顶上吶喊!
42:12 愿众人都归光荣于上主，在岛屿上称述他的荣耀!
42:13 上主出征有如勇士，激起怒火有如战士；他要高喊呼叫，对自己的敌人显出他的英勇。
42:14 「我已缄默好久，安静自抑；然而现今我要像待产的妇女，呼喊、呻吟和哀叹。
42:15 我要使大山丘陵干透，使上边的草木枯槁；我要使河流化为旱地，使池沼涸竭。
42:16 我要领瞎子走他们不知道的路，带他们行不认识的道；使黑暗在他们前化为光明，使崎岖之途变为平坦；这些事我都要作，我决不放弃。
42:17 凡依赖偶像且向神像说：「你们是我们的神」的人，必要败退，蒙受奇辱。」

民众聋盲如初
42:18 聋子，你们听!瞎子，你们睁眼看!
42:19 除了我的仆人外，谁还那么瞎呢﹖谁如同我派遣的人那么聋呢﹖谁像与我立和约的人那样瞎呢﹖谁似上主的仆人那样聋呢﹖
42:20 他虽然看见了许多事，却一无所觉；耳朵开着，却没有听见。
42:21 上主为了自己的仁义，本来愿意把法律发扬广大，
42:22 但这民族遭受了洗劫和抢掠，被束缚于桎梏之中，隐伏于监狱之内；他们成了抢掠之物，而无人搭救；受人劫夺，而无人敢说：「交出来!」
42:23 你们中有谁静听这事，今后倾耳静听呢﹖
42:24 是谁把雅各伯交付给抢掠者﹖是谁将以色列交给了劫夺者﹖不是他们所得罪的，不肯行他的道路，不肯听从他的法律的那位上主吗﹖
42:25 因此他在这民族身上发泄了自己的烈怒和战火；火已在她四周烧起，她仍不理会，已燃烧着她，她仍未放在心上。

 

 

第四十三章(28)

以民将返故乡
43:1 但是现今，雅各伯啊!那创造你的，以色列啊!那形成你的上主这样说：「你不要害怕!因为我救赎了你，我以你的名子召叫了你，你是我的。
43:2 当你由水中经过时，我必与你在一起；当你渡河时，河水不得淹没你；当你在火中走过时，你不致烙伤，火焰也烧不着你。
43:3 因为我是上主，你的天主；以色列的圣者，你的救主；我使埃及作你的赎价，以雇士和色巴来代替你。
43:4 因为你在我眼中是宝贵的，是贵重的，我爱慕你；所以我拿别人交换了你，拿别的民族交换了你的性命。
43:5 不要害怕!因为我同你在一起，我要从东方领回你的子女，从西方将你召集在一起；
43:6 我要向北方说：「交出来!」向南方说：「不要拦阻他们，要将我的儿子们从远方带来，要将我的女儿们由地极领回，
43:7 就是凡归于我名下，并为了我的光荣而创造、形成和造化的人。」

唯上主能施救
43:8 领那有眼而瞎，有耳而聋的民族出来罢!
43:9 让列国聚在一起，万民集合起来!他们中谁能预言这事呢﹖谁能预先报告给我们过去的事呢﹖让他们找出证人来，为证实自己有理，好让听众能说：「对啊!」
43:10 你们就是我的证人──上主的断语──你们是我拣选的仆人，为叫你们认识和信仰我，并明白我就是「那位；」在我以前，没有受造的神，在我以后，也决不会有。
43:11 我，只有我是上主，我以外没有救主；
43:12 是我预言了，是我施行了拯救，是我宣布过的；你们中没有别的神。你们是我的证人──上主的断语──我是天主，
43:13 且由永远就是；没有人能从我手中救出谁来；我要做的，谁能扭转﹖

巴比伦将要毁灭
43:14 上主，你们的救主，以色列的圣者这样说：「为了你们，我派了人到巴比伦去，我要打断一切门闩，将加色丁人的狂欢变为悲哀。
43:15 我是上主，你们的圣者，以色列的造主，你们的君王。」

重演出谷奇迹
43:16 上主这样说：──他曾在海中开了一条路，在怒潮中辟了一条道；
43:17 曾使车、马、军队和将领一同前来，使他们沉没，再未浮起，他们遂被消灭，像灯心一样被熄灭──
43:18 「你们不必追念古代的事，也不必回忆过去的事!
43:19 看哪!我要行一件新事，如今即要发生，你们不知道吗﹖看哪!我要在荒野中开辟道路，在沙漠里开掘河流。
43:20 田野间的走兽、豺狼和鸵鸟都要赞美我，因为我在旷野中使水涌出，在沙漠里使河流成渠，为赐给我拣选的百姓喝：
43:21 就是我为自己所造化的人民，好叫他们讲述我的荣耀。」

上主的怨诉
43:22 「但是，雅各伯啊!你并没有呼号我；以色列啊!你竟厌烦了我。
43:23 你没有献给我全燔祭羔羊，也没有用你的牺牲光荣我；我从来没有因了素祭而劳累你，也没有因了馨香祭而烦扰你。
43:24 你不但没有花钱给我买香菖蒲，也没有以你牺牲的肥脂供养我，反而用你的罪恶劳累了我，以你的愆尤烦扰了我。
43:25 是我，是我自己，为了我自己的缘故，免除了你的过犯，不再怀念你的罪恶。
43:26 请你提醒我，让我们一起来辩论：你先说罢!好表示你无罪。
43:27 你的祖先犯了罪，你的中保背叛了我!
43:28 为此，我使你的圣君受了亵渎，使雅各伯遭受了毁灭，使以色列遭到了耻辱。」

 

 

第四十四章(28)

以民将蒙祝福
44:1 但是现在，我的仆人雅各伯!我所拣选的以色列!你听罢!
44:2 那造成你，从母胎形成你，且协助你的上主这样说：「我的仆人雅各伯!我所拣选的耶叔戎，你不要害怕!
44:3 因为我要把水倒在干地上，使豪雨落在旱陆上；我要把我的神倾住在你的苗裔身上，把我的祝福降在你的子孙身上。
44:4 他们要生长，有如水边的青草，又如溪畔的杨柳。
44:5 这个说：「我是上主的，」那个要起雅各伯的名字，另一个要在手上写：「属于上主，」并要起以色列的名号。

惟上主是真神
44:6 上主，以色列的君王，救主，万军的上主这样说：「我是元始，我是终末，在我以外没有别的神。
44:7 谁相似我﹖让他前来伸述，让他说明，给我拿出证据来!谁能从永远预言未来的事，请他告诉我们快要发生的事罢!
44:8 你们不必惊慌，不用害怕!我不是早已告诉过你，早已宣布了吗﹖你们是我的证人，在我以外还有别的神吗﹖决没有别的盘石!我一个也不认识!」

崇拜偶像的昏愚
44:9 制造偶像的人都是虚无，他们所喜爱的，也毫无用处；他们的见证人一无所见，毫无所知，必将蒙受耻辱。
44:10 有谁制造神像或铸偶像，不想得利呢﹖
44:11 看哪!凡作他伙伴的，都要蒙受耻辱，因为制造偶像的，也只是人而已!让他们集合起来一同前来罢!他们必要惊慌羞愧!
44:12 铁匠先在炭火上工作，再用锤子打成偶像，他用大力的手臂工作，当饥饿时，也就没有力量；没有水喝，他就疲劳不堪。
44:13 木匠伸展绳墨，用笔划线，后拿刨子刨平，再用圆规测量，做成一个人形，具有人的美丽，好供在庙里。
44:14 人先去砍伐一块香柏，或取一块榆木，或橡木；或在树林中选一块坚固的木料，或自己种植一棵月桂树，让雨水使之长大。
44:15 这些木料原是为人作燃料，原可用来取暖，也可燃烧烘烤面包；人却用它来作神像去恭敬，或做偶像去叩拜：
44:16 人把一半木头投入火中燃烧，在火炭上烤肉吃；待吃饱了烤肉，又取了暖，遂说：「哈哈!我暖和了，也觉得有了火!」
44:17 遂用剩下的一半作了一个神像，一个偶像，向它叩拜，俯伏恳求说：「求你救我，因为你是我的神!」
44:18 他们不了解，也不觉悟，因为他们的眼糊住了，什么也看不见；他们的心也不知觉悟，
44:19 也不回心想一下，也不会明智通达地说：「一半木头我已投入火中烧了，并在火炭上烤了面包，烤了肉吃；我竟将剩下的一半作了一个怪物，向这块木头敬拜。」
44:20 他所追求的仅是一把灰；他迷惑的心领他走入歧途，而不能自拔，也不会问说：「我右手所拿的不是虚无吗﹖」

唯上主能救以民
44:21 雅各伯啊!你要记住这些事!以色列啊!你也应记住，因为你是我的仆人，我造了你，是叫你作我的仆人。以色列啊!我决不会忘了你!
44:22 我消除了你的罪过，有如烟消；我消除了你的愆尤，有如云散；归依我罢!因为我救赎了你。
44:23 诸天，欢腾罢!因为上主作了这一切；地下的深渊，欢呼罢!山岭、森林和其中的树木，高声歌唱罢!因为上主拯救了雅各伯，在以色列显扬了自己。

上主重建耶京
44:24 你的救主，由母胎形成你的上主这样说：「我是创造万有的上主，只有我展开了诸天，布置了大地，谁与我同在﹖
44:25 是我破坏了占卜者的预兆，使巫士成为愚妄，使智者退后，使他们的知识变为愚蠢，
44:26 是我叫我仆人们的话实现，叫我使者们的计谋成功；是我论及耶路撒冷说：「你必要有人居住。」论及犹大各城说：「你们要被重建，我必要重建你们的废址。」
44:27 是我对深渊说：「你必涸竭，我要使你的河流干涸。」
44:28 是我论及居鲁士说：「他是我的牧人，他要履行我的一切计划，要吩咐重建耶路撒冷，奠基重修圣殿。」

 

 

第四十五章(25)

居鲁士的使命
45:1 上主这样对他的受傅者居鲁士说：──我牵着他的右手，使他蹂躏他面前的列国，解除列王的腰带；我在他前开启城门，使门户不再关闭──
45:2 「我要走在你前面，把崎岖的路修平；我要把铜门打破，将铁闩击碎，
45:3 把隐藏的钱财和秘密的宝物赐给你，为叫你知道：是我上主，以色列的天主，提着你的名召叫了你。
45:4 为了我的仆人雅各伯和我拣选的以色列的缘故，我提着你的名召叫了你，给你起了这个称号，纵然你还不认识我。
45:5 我是上主，再没有另一位；除我以外，没有别的神；虽然你还不认识我，我却武装了你，
45:6 为叫从日出到日落之地的人都知道：除我之外，再没有另一位。我是上主，再没有另一位；
45:7 是我造了光明，造了黑暗；造了幸福，降了灾祸：是我上主造成了这一切。」
45:8 诸天，请由上滴下甘露，望云彩降下正义，愿大地裂开生出救恩，愿正义一同出生!我上主创造了这事。

上主是主宰
45:9 祸哉，那与自己的制造者争辩的!瓦器岂能与搏泥者争辩﹖陶器岂能对陶工说：「你做的是什么啊!」或说：「你手制的不精美!」
45:10 祸哉!那向父亲说：「你为什么生子﹖」或向母亲说：「你为什么生育」的人!
45:11 以色列的圣者、安排将来的上主这样说：「关于我子女的事，你们要质问我吗﹖或者对我手中的工作，你们有所吩咐吗!
45:12 是我造了大地，又造了地上的人；是我亲手展开了诸天，布置了天上的星辰；
45:13 是我由于仁义唤起了他；我要修平他的道路，他要修建我的城池，遣回我的俘虏，而不索取赎金，也不要求报酬。」这是万军上主说的。

普世归主
45:14 上主这样说：「埃及的工人，雇士的商人，以及色巴的巨人，都要过来，归属于你；他们都要带着锁链追随你后；并俯伏在你面前，恳求你说：惟独你这里有天主，以外没有别的神明。」
45:15 以色列的天主，救主!你真是隐密的天主。
45:16 制造偶像的人必蒙羞受辱，一同归于羞惭。
45:17 但以色列必因上主而得救，获享永远的救恩：你们不会蒙羞受辱，直到永远。
45:18 因为那创造诸天的上主──只有他是天主，是他创造、形成和奠定了大地：他并非创造了一团混沌，而是为使人居住才造了它──他这样说：「我是上主，没有另一位。
45:19 我没有在隐秘处或黑暗之地说过话，我没有给雅各伯的子孙说过：你们徒然寻求了我!我上主，只说真实，惟讲公理。
45:20 列国的余民!你们一起集合起来，一同前来罢!凡抬过偶像，敬拜过不能施救的神祇的，真是无知!
45:21 请你们陈述，请你们证明，也让你们一同商量商量：是谁从古时就叫人听到这事呢﹖是谁早已宣布了呢﹖不是我，上主吗!的确，除我以外，没有别的神!除我以外，再没有一个仁义的神和救主。
45:22 大地四极的人!你们归依我，必能得救，因为只有我是天主，再没有另一个。
45:23 我指着我自己起誓：真理一出我口，那话决不返回；人人都将向我屈膝，众舌都要指着我起誓。
45:24 人都要说：唯有在上主前有仁义和力量。凡向他发怒的，必要含羞地归依他。
45:25 以色列所有的后裔，必要因上主获胜夸耀。」

 

 

第四十六章(13)

邪神与真神之分
46:1 贝耳塌下了，乃波倾倒了，他们的神像，负在走兽和牲口身上；他们的重载，重压着筋疲的畜类。
46:2 他们都一齐倾倒了，塌下了，神像不但不能救助驮运他们的畜类，甚至连自己也该流徙远配。
46:3 雅各伯家啊!以色列家所有的遗民啊!请你们听我：自出母胎我就抱着你，自离母腹我就怀着你；
46:4 直到你年老，我仍是一样；直到你白头，我依然扶持你。我既然如此做了，我必要提携你，扶持你，拯救你。
46:5 你们拿我同谁比拟，与谁相等，跟谁比较，以求我们相同呢﹖
46:6 有些人从钱囊中把金子倒出，放银子在天平上衡量；以后雇了一个金匠，制造了一个神像，遂向它屈膝朝拜；
46:7 又将神像抬起，放在肩上扛着，以后安置在一个地方，它就立在那里，再不能离开那地方；人呼求它，它也不答应，也不能救人脱离灾殃。

上主既许必践
46:8 你们应记住这事，应站稳!叛逆的人啊!你们应记在心头!
46:9 你们应追忆以前古时所发生的事，因为我是天主，没有另一个；我是天主，没有与我相似的，
46:10 我从起初就预言了末后的事，早就宣布了未来的事；我如今说：「我的计划必要成功，我的旨意都要实现；」
46:11 我要把老鹰从东方召来，把履行我计划的人由远方叫来；我说了，必要去行；我决定了，必要去做，
46:12 心硬的人！远离正义的人！听我说罢！
46:13 我的正义来近了，已不远了，我的救恩不在延迟；我必在熙用雍与救恩，把我的光荣赐给以色列。

 

 

第四十七章(15)

巴比伦灭亡
47:1 巴比伦处女!下去，坐在尘土中罢!加色丁贞女!让位，坐在地上罢!因为你已不再称为「娇媚」「柔嫩」了。
47:2 揭去面纱，拿磨去磨面罢!卷起长裙，露出大腿去涉河罢!
47:3 你的裸体要暴露，你的羞耻要现出!我要复仇，决不怜惜任何人。
47:4 我们的救主──他的名字是万军的上主──说。
47:5 加色丁处女!静静地坐下：进入黑暗中罢!因为你不再称为「万国之后!」
47:6 我曾向我的人民发怒，污辱了我的产业；我将他们交在你手中，可是你对他们没有表示仁慈，将你的轭重重地压在老者身上。
47:7 你说过：「我永久要作王后!」但你心中从没有考虑过这事，也没有想过这事的结局。
47:8 你这淫逸安居的人，你心里想：「只有我而没有别人!我决不会寡居，也决不会丧子!」如今你听这话：
47:9 这两样在一天内会突然一起降在你身上；虽然你能行许多巫术，能念极威力的符咒，丧子与守寡仍要完全降到你身上。
47:10 你自恃于恶说：「没有人看见我!」那是你的聪明和知识迷惑了你，叫你心中妄想：「只有我而没有别人。」
47:11 灾祸必要临到你身上，你却不能禳灾；患难要降在你身上，但你不能阻止；你从未料到的灭亡，要突然来到你身上。
47:12 请你继续行你自幼即劳碌习行的咒术和那无数的巫术罢!这或许能于你有利，或者能叫人害怕。
47:13 你也许听倦了那许多计谋，现在让那些测天体，观星辰和每月预告你未来之事的人们前来拯救你罢!
47:14 看哪!他们都像枯草，必为火所焚烧；他们连自己也不能由火的威力中救出，因为这不是为取暖的炭火，也不是座前的炉火。
47:15 你那些自幼与之共同劳碌的巫士，为你都是如此；他们各散东西，没有谁来救你。

 

 

第四十八章(22)

唯上主是历史的主宰
48:1 雅各伯家请听这话：──你们以以色列的名字自称，出自犹大之后，奉上主的名字起誓，又称扬「以色列的天主，」但都不是出自诚心诚意；
48:2 虽然你们自称是出自圣城，依赖名为「万军上主」的以色列的天主──
48:3 「那过去的事，我早就预言过了，由我口中所发出的，也叫人听见了；转瞬间我行了那事，那事也就成就了。
48:4 因为我知道你是顽固的，你的颈项似铁杠，你的额是铜制的，
48:5 为此我早就告诉了你，在事未发生之前我就向你说明了，免得你说：「是我的神像行了这事，是我雕刻铸成的神像命定了这事。」
48:6 你既听见了，也看见了这一切，难道你们不该作证吗﹖如今我要宣布新事，即你不知的隐密事。
48:7 这些事是现今而不是从前造成的，是今日之前你从没有听说过的，免得你说：「看，我早就知道了!」
48:8 你从来没有听过，也不知道，也是你的耳朵闻所未闻的。因为我知道你好背信叛逆，你实在可称为「胎生的叛徒。」
48:9 但是为了我名的缘故，我暂缓发怒；为了我荣誉的缘故，我抑制了我自己，而没有消灭你。
48:10 看啊!我只是锻炼了你，有如银子，在患难的炉中磨炼了你。
48:11 为了我自己，为了我自己的缘故，我必要去行。我岂能让我的名字受亵渎﹖我决不将我的光荣让与别人。」

居鲁士的使命
48:12 雅各伯啊!我所召叫的以色列啊!你听我说：我就是那位，我是元始，我也是终末。
48:13 我的手奠定了大地，我的右手展开了诸天；我一叫它们，它们就一同出现。
48:14 你们都集合起来听罢!邪神中有谁预言了这事呢﹖「我所爱的，必实行我的旨意：攻击巴比伦和加色丁的苗裔。」
48:15 只有我，只有我预言了这事，召叫了他，引导了他，使他所行的道路顺利。
48:16 你们走近我前，听这话罢!我从起初就没有在暗处说过话，从实现之时起，我就在那里。我上主现在即要施行救援。
48:17 你的救主上主，以色列的圣者这样说：「我是上主你的天主，教训你为你有益的事，引你走当走的道路。
48:18 恨不得你一向听从我的命令!那么你的安乐将似江河，你的幸福将似海涛；
48:19 你的子孙多如海沙，出于你身的苗裔多似沙粒；你的名字在我前决不会抹去，也决不会被删除。」

出离巴比伦
48:20 你们出离巴比伦，逃出加色丁罢!你们要以欢乐的呼声宣告此事，叫人听见，传布到地极说：「上主救赎了他的仆人雅各伯。」
48:21 当上主率领他们过旷野时，他们并不觉渴，因为他使水由岩石中流出给他们喝；他分开了岩石，水就涌流出来。
48:22 上主说：恶人决无平安!

 

 

第四十九章(26)

咏「上主仆人」的诗歌
49:1 诸岛屿，请听我!远方的人民，请静听!上主由母腹中就召叫了我，自母胎中就给我起了名字。
49:2 他使我的口好似利剑，将我掩护在他的手荫下，使我像一支磨光的箭，将我隐藏在他的箭囊中。
49:3 他对我说：你是我的仆人，是我骄矜的「以色列。」
49:4 但是我说：「我白白勤劳了，我枉费了气力而毫无益处；但是我的权利是在上主那里，我的报酬在我的天主面前。」
49:5 我在上主眼中是光荣的，天主是我的力量。那由母胎形成我作他的仆人，将雅各伯领回到他前，并把以色列聚在他前的上主，如今说：
49:6 「你作我的仆人，复兴雅各伯支派，领回以色列遗留下的人，还是小事，我更要使你作万民的光明，使我的救恩达于地极。」
49:7 上主，以色列的救主和圣者，向那极受轻慢，为列国所憎恶，且作统治者奴役的人这样说：「列王必要见而起立，诸侯必要见而下拜：这是因为上主忠实可靠，以色列的圣者拣选了你的缘故。」
49:8 上主这样说：在悦纳的时候，我俯允了你；在救恩的日期，我帮助了你；我必保护你，使你作为人民的盟约，复兴国家，分得荒芜的产业，
49:9 好向俘虏说：「你们出来罢!」向在黑暗中的人说：「你们出现罢!」

俘虏归国

他们将在各路上被牧放，他们的牧场是在一切荒岭上。
49:10 他们不饿也不渴，热风和列日也不损伤他们，因为那怜悯他们的率领着他们，引领他们到水泉傍。
49:11 我要使我的一切山岭变为大路，并把我的街道修高。
49:12 看啊!有的由远方而来，有的由北方和西方而来，还有些由息宁而来。
49:13 诸天要欢乐，大地要踊跃，山岭要欢呼高唱，因为上主安慰了他的百姓，怜恤了他受苦的人们。

熙雍必将重建
49:14 熙雍曾说过：「上主离弃了我，吾主忘掉了我。」
49:15 妇女岂能忘掉自己的乳婴﹖初为人母的，岂能忘掉亲生的儿子﹖纵然她们能忘掉，我也不能忘掉你啊﹖
49:16 看哪!我已把你刻在我的手掌上，你的城墙时常在我的眼前。
49:17 建筑你的工人急速动工，那毁灭你和破坏你的，要离你远去。
49:18 你举目四望罢!他们都已集合到你这里来；我永远生活──上主的断语──他们必如装饰品穿戴在你身上，把你装扮得有如新娘。
49:19 至于你的废址，你那荒芜和遭蹂躏之地，如今为你的居民都太狭小了，因为吞噬你的人已远离他去。
49:20 连你在不孕期中所生的子女也要说给你听：「这地方为我太狭小了，请给我一个住处罢!」
49:21 那时你心里会问：「谁给我生育了这些人呢﹖我原是不妊不孕的，【且是流放被逐的，】这些人是谁给我养大的﹖看!我本是孤苦零丁的，他们却是从那里来的﹖」

形势全变
49:22 吾主上主这样说：「看!我要向列邦高举我的手，向万民树起我的旗帜；他们必要把你的儿子抱在怀中带来，把你的女儿放在肩上背来。
49:23 列王要作你的养父，皇后要当你的保姆。他们要在你面前俯伏在地，并要舔去你脚上的尘土；那时你将知道：我是上主；凡仰赖我的，决不会蒙羞。」
49:24 猎物岂能由勇士手中夺回﹖俘虏岂能由强者手中救出﹖
49:25 但是，上主这样说：「俘虏必要由勇士手中夺回，猎物必要由强者手中救出。我必与同你争夺的人争夺，我必拯救你的子孙。
49:26 我要使压迫你的人吃自己的肉，喝自己的血如喝新酒。如此，凡有血肉的人都知道我是上主，是你的拯救者，是你的救主，是雅各伯的大能者。」

 

 

第五十章(11)

以色列并非被休
50:1 上主这样说：「我离弃你们母亲的离婚书在那里呢﹖或者我把你们卖给了我的那一位债主呢﹖看!因了你们的恶行，你们才被出卖，因了你们的过犯，你们的母亲才被离弃。
50:2 为什么我来到的时候，没有人在呢﹖为什么我召呼的时候，无人答应﹖难道我的手短小而不能施救﹖或者我再无救助之力﹖看!我一怒喝，海便涸竭，江河便成为旷野，其中的鱼类因无水而萎缩渴死。
50:3 我可使黑暗笼罩诸天，使麻衣掩蔽天际。」

咏「上主仆人」的诗歌
50:4 吾主上主赐给了我一个受教的口舌，叫我会用言语援助疲倦的人。他每天清晨唤醒我，唤醒我的耳朵，叫我如同学子一样静听。
50:5 吾主上主开启了我的耳朵，我并没有违抗，也没有退避。
50:6 我将我的背转给打击我的人，把我的腮转给扯我胡须的人；对于侮辱和唾污，我没有遮掩我的面。
50:7 因为吾主上主协助我，因此我不以为羞耻；所以我板着脸，像一块燧石，因我知道我不会受耻辱。
50:8 那给我伸冤者已来近了。谁要和我争辩，让我们一齐站起来罢!谁是我的对头，叫他到我这里来罢!
50:9 请看!有吾主上主扶助我，谁还能定我的罪呢﹖看!他们都像衣服一样要破旧，为蠹虫所侵蚀。
50:10 你们中凡敬畏上主的，应听他仆人的声音!凡于黑暗中行走而不见光明的，该依靠上主的名字，并仰仗自己的天主。
50:11 看哪!凡你们点了火，燃了火把的，必要在你们所点的火焰里，在你们所燃的火把中行走!这是我的手所加于你们的，你们必倒卧在痛苦之中。

 

 

第五十一章(23)

熙雍必获拯救
51:1 你们追求正义，寻觅上主的人，请听我说：你们要细察那岩石，你们是从那上边凿下来的；要细察那石穴，你们是从那里挖出来的
51:2 你们要细察你们的父亲亚巴郎和产生你们的撒辣，因为当我召叫他时，只有他一人，但我降福了他，使他繁盛。
51:3 的确，上主必要怜悯熙雍，怜悯她所有的废墟，使她的荒野成为伊甸，使她的沙漠变为上主的乐园，其中必有欢乐和愉快，歌颂和弦乐之声。
51:4 万民啊!请倾听我；万邦啊!请侧耳听我：法律将由我而出，我的正义要作为万民的光明。
51:5 我的正义要迅速降临，我的救恩业已出现，我的手臂要掌管万民；诸岛屿都仰望我，依赖我的手臂。
51:6 你们仰观诸天，俯察大地：纵然诸天将如烟云消散，大地要像衣服破旧，地上的居民要如蚊子死去，然而我的救恩永远常存，我的正义决不废除。
51:7 你们认识正义，心怀法律的人民，请听我说：不要怕人家的侮辱，对他们的嘲笑也不必惊恐；
51:8 因为他们必如衣服一样，为蛀虫所吃掉；如羊毛一样，为衣鱼所吃掉；然而我的正义永远常存，我的救恩直到万世。

上主的手臂将施救
51:9 上主的手臂!醒来，醒来!施展威能罢!醒来有如在古时古代一样。不是你斩了辣哈布，刺杀了巨龙吗﹖
51:10 不是你令海令大洋的水涸竭了吗﹖不是你使海底变为大路，叫蒙救的人走过吗﹖
51:11 上主所解救的人必要归来，快乐地来到熙雍，永久的欢乐将临于他们头上；他们将享尽欢欣与快乐，忧愁与悲哀必将远遁。
51:12 是我，是我亲自安慰了你，你怎么还怕那有死的人，怕那命如草芥的人子呢﹖
51:13 你怎么竟忘记了那创造你，展开诸天，奠定大地的上主，而终日不断对那压迫你，决意要消灭你的人的狂怒恐怖呢﹖如今压迫你者的狂怒在那里呢﹖
51:14 囚禁的人即将释放，不致死于深坑，他的口粮也不会缺乏。
51:15 我是上主你的天主，即那搅动海洋使浪涛澎湃的，他的名字是「万军的上主。」
51:16 是我把我的话放在你的口中，将你掩护在我的手荫之下；是我展开了诸天，奠定了大地，并给熙雍说：「你是我的百姓。」

熙雍的命运已转
51:17 起来，起来!耶路撒冷!立起来!你这由上主手中饮了他震怒之杯，啜尽了那麻醉爵中渣滓的!
51:18 她所生的儿子中没有一个来引领她的，她养大的儿子中没有一个来扶持她手的。
51:19 这两件事临到了你身上，有谁哀怜你呢﹖就是荒凉与灭亡，饥馑与兵燹，有谁安慰你呢﹖
51:20 你的儿子昏迷不醒，躺在街头，像陷入罗网的羚羊；他们还饱尝了上主的愤怒，受尽了你的天主的恐吓。
51:21 为此，你这受苦难的，非因酒而醉倒的，请听这事!
51:22 你的主宰上主，为自己的人民辩护的天主，这样说：「看!我已从你手中取回了那麻醉的杯，我愤怒的爵，你必不再喝，
51:23 我将此杯放在压迫你者的手中，就是曾对你说：「躺下来!让我们走过去!」你便使你的脊背作为平地，作为街道，任他们走过去的那些人。

 

 

第五十二章(15)

熙雍获救受荣
52:1 熙雍起来，起来，披上你的威能!耶路撒冷圣城!穿上你华丽的衣服，因为未受割损和不洁的人，再不得进入你内。
52:2 被掳的耶路撒冷!抖下灰尘，起来罢!被俘的熙雍女子!解下你颈项上的锁链罢!
52:3 因为上主这样说：「你们是无代价被出卖的，也无需用金钱赎回。」
52:4 吾主上主这样说：「我的百姓昔日曾下到埃及，侨居在那里，而后亚述又无故地虐待了她；
52:5 如今我还在这里作什么﹖上主的断语。我的百姓已无故地被掳去，治理他的人又自夸自大──上主的断语──我的名又天天不断地受亵渎；
52:6 为此我的百姓必要认得我的名，到那一天他们必明白：那说「看!我在这里!」的那一位就是我。」
52:7 那传布喜讯，宣布和平，传报佳音，宣布救恩，给熙雍说「你的天主为王了!」的脚步，在山上是多么美丽啊!
52:8 请听，你的守望者都提高了喉咙一起欢呼，因为他们亲眼看见上主返回了熙雍。
52:9 耶路撒冷的废墟啊!你们要兴高采烈，一起欢呼，因为上主安慰了自己的百姓，救赎了耶路撒冷。
52:10 上主在万民眼前显露了自己的圣臂，大地四极看见了我们天主的救恩。

出离巴比伦令
52:11 离开!离开!从那里出来罢!不要触摸不洁之物!你们携带上主器皿的人，从巴比伦中间出来，圣洁自己罢!
52:12 你们出走，不必慌张，更不必奔逃而去，因为上主要走在你们前面，以色列的天主将作你们的后盾。

咏「上主仆人」的诗歌
52:13 请看，我的仆人必要成功，必要受尊荣，必要被举扬，且极受崇奉。
52:14 就如许多人对他不胜惊愕，因为他的容貌损伤得已不像人，他的形状已不像人子，
52:15 同样，众民族也都要对他不胜惊异，众君王在他面前都要闭口，因为他们看见了从未向他们讲述过的事，听见了从未听说过的事。

 

 

第五十三章(12)
53:1 有谁会相信我们的报道呢﹖上主的手臂又向谁显示了呢﹖
53:2 他在上主前生长如嫩芽，又像出自干地中的根苗；他没有俊美，也没有华丽，可使我们瞻仰；他没有仪容，可使我们恋慕。
53:3 他受尽了侮辱，被人遗弃；他真是个苦人，熟悉病苦；他好象一个人们掩面不顾的人；他受尽了侮辱，因而我们都以他不算什么。
53:4 然而他所背负的，是我们的疾苦；担负的，是我们的疼痛；我们还以为他受了惩罚，为天主所击伤，和受贬抑的人。
53:5 可是他被刺透，是因了我们的悖逆；他被打伤，是因了我们的罪恶；因他受了惩罚，我们便得了安全；因他受了创伤，我们便得了痊愈。
53:6 我们都像羊一样迷了路，各走各自的路；但上主却把我们众人的罪过归到他身上。
53:7 他受虐待，仍然谦逊忍受，总不开口，如同被牵去待宰的羔羊；又像母羊在剪毛的人前不出声，他也同样不开口。
53:8 他受了不义的审判而被除掉，有谁怀念他的命运﹖其实他从活人的地上被剪除，受难至死，是为了我人民的罪过。
53:9 虽然他从未行过强暴，他口中也从未出过谎言，人们仍把他与歹徒同埋，使他同作恶的人同葬。
53:10 上主的旨意是要用苦难折磨他；当他牺牲了自己的性命，作了赎过祭时，他要看见他的后辈延年益寿，上主的旨意也藉他的手得以实现。
53:11 在他受尽了痛苦之后，他要看见光明，并因自己的经历而满足；我正义的仆人要使多人成义，因为他承担了他们的罪过。
53:12 为此，我把大众赐与他作报酬，他获得了无数的人作为猎物；因为他为了承担大众的罪过，作罪犯的中保，牺牲了自己的性命，至于死亡，被列于罪犯之中。

 

 

第五十四章(17)

新耶路撒冷
54:1 不生育的石女，欢乐罢!未经产痛的女子!欢呼高唱罢!因为被弃者的子女比有夫者的子女还多：这是上主说的。
54:2 拓展你帐幕的空位，伸展你住所的帷幔，不必顾忌!拉长你的绳索，坚固你的木橛!
54:3 因为你要向左右拓展，你的后裔将以外邦之地为业，住满废弃了的城邑!
54:4 不要害怕!因为你再不会蒙羞；不要羞惭!因为你再不会受辱；其实，你要忘记你幼年时所受的耻辱，再不怀念居寡时所受的侮慢，
54:5 因为你的夫君是你的造主，他的名字是「万军的上主；」你的救主是以色列的圣者，他将称为「全世界的天主。」
54:6 是的，上主召见你时，你是一个被弃而心灵忧伤的妇女；人岂能遗弃他青年时的妻子﹖你的天主说。
54:7 其实，我离弃了你，只是一会儿，但是我要用绝大的仁慈召你回来。
54:8 在我的盛怒中，我曾一会儿掩面不看你，可是我要以永远的慈悲怜悯你，你的救主上主说。
54:9 这事对我有如诺厄的时日一般：就如那时我曾发誓说：诺厄的大水不再淹没世界；同样，我如今起誓：再不向你发怒，再不责斥你。
54:10 高山可移动，丘陵能挪去，但我对你的仁慈决不移去，我的和平盟约总不动摇：怜悯你的上主说。
54:11 你这遭磨难，受颠沛，无安慰的城啊!看，我要用孔雀石安置你的基石，以碧玉奠定你的根基；
54:12 我要以红玛瑙修你的城垛，以水晶石筑你的门户，以各种宝石建你的围墙。
54:13 你所有的儿子，都是上主所训诲的；你的儿子们，要享受绝大的幸福。
54:14 你将建筑在正义的根基上；欺压已远去，你无需再有所恐惧；惊吓也远去了，它再不会临近你。
54:15 请看!如果有人攻击你，那不是出于我；凡攻打你的，必在你前跌倒。
54:16 请看!是我造了吹煤火的铁匠，由他工作中造出了各种武器，可是也是我造了毁灭者来加以破坏。
54:17 所制造的各种武器，为攻打你，一概无用；在诉讼中，凡起来与你争辩的舌头，都要被你驳倒。这是上主的仆人应得之分，是他们由我所得的报酬──上主的断语。

 

 

第五十五章(13)

邀请众人回国
55:1 啊!凡口渴的，请到水泉来!那没有钱的，也请来罢!请来买不花钱，不索值的酒和奶吃!
55:2 你们为什么为那些不能充食的东西花钱，为那些不足果腹的东西浪费薪金呢﹖你们若细心听我，你们就能吃丰美的食物，你们的心灵必因脂膏而喜悦。
55:3 你们如侧耳，走近我前来听，你们必将获得生命；我要与你们订立一项永久的盟约，即誓许于达味的慈惠。
55:4 看，我立了你为万民的证人，为列国的领袖与主宰。
55:5 看哪!你要召见你不认识的民族，不曾认识你的民族也要奔向你；这都是为了上主你的天主，为了那光荣了你的以色列的圣者的缘故。

上主言出必行
55:6 趁上主可找到的时候，你们应寻找他；趁他在近处的时候，你们应呼求他。
55:7 罪人应离开自己的行径，恶人该拋弃自己的思念，来归附上主，好让上主怜悯他；来归附我们的天主，因为他是富于仁慈的。
55:8 因为我的思念不是你们的思念，你们的行径也不是我的行径：上主的断语。
55:9 就如天离地有多高，我的行径离你们的行径，我的思念离你们的思念也有多高。
55:10 譬如雨和雪从天降下，不再返回原处，只有灌溉田地，使之生长萌芽，偿还播种者种子，供给吃饭者食粮；
55:11 同样，从我口中发出的言语，不能空空地回到我这里来；反之，它必实行我的旨意，完成我派遣它的使命。
55:12 的确，你们必要喜欢地出来，平安地为上主所引导，高山丘陵必在你们面前高呼欢腾，田间所有的树木必要鼓掌。
55:13 松柏要长起来代替荆棘，桃金娘要生出来代替苎麻：这将为上主留名，作为一座不能磨灭的永久纪念碑。

 

 

第五十六章(12)

天国一视同仁
56:1 上主这样说：「你们应当持守公道，履行正义，因为我的救恩就要来到，我的正义就要出现。」
56:2 遵行安息日而不予以亵渎，防范自己的手而不做恶事，行这事的人，与固守此道的人子，是有福的。
56:3 归依上主的异邦人不应说：「上主必将我由他的民族中分别出来!」阉人也不应说：「看!我是一棵枯树!」
56:4 因为上主这样说：「对那些遵守我的安息日，拣选我所悦意的和固守我盟约的阉人，
56:5 我要在我的屋内，在我的墙垣内，赐给他们比子女还好的记念碑和美名，我要赐给他们一个永久不能泯灭的名字。
56:6 至于那些归依上主，事奉他，爱慕上主的名，作他的仆人，又都遵守安息日而不予以亵渎，并固守我盟约的异邦人，
56:7 我要领他们上我的圣山，使他们在我祈祷的殿里欢乐，他们的全燔祭和牺牲在我的祭坛上要蒙受悦纳，因为我的殿宇将称为万民的祈祷所。」
56:8 这是聚集四散的以色列民的吾主上主的断语：「我还要召集其它民族归于已聚集的人。」

斥责自私的官吏
56:9 田间的一切走兽，林中的一切野兽，你们都来吞噬罢!
56:10 我民族的守望者都是瞎子，什么也看不清；都是哑巴狗，不能叫唤，只会作梦，偃卧，贪睡。
56:11 他们又是贪食的狗，总不知足；都是什么也不明了的牧人，只顾自己的道路，各求各自的利益。
56:12 「来罢!我去拿酒，让我们痛饮美酒；明天如今天一样，并且更要丰盛。」

 

 

第五十七章(21)
57:1 义人死去，没有人放在心上；虔诚的人被收去，没有人予以注意：义人被接去，是为了脱离灾难，
57:2 而进入安息；躬行正直的人，将安眠于自己的处所。

斥责以民拜偶像
57:3 巫女的儿子，奸妇淫女的后裔，你们近前来!
57:4 你们戏谑谁呢﹖你们向谁张口吐舌呢﹖不是你们这些反叛的儿子，不忠的后裔，
57:5 在橡树林中，在一切绿树下欲火中烧；在山谷中，在盘石的夹缝里祭杀婴儿吗﹖
57:6 山谷中的光石竟是你的家产，它们竟成了你的产业；并且你还给它们奠了酒，献了供物，对这些事我岂能容忍﹖
57:7 在巍峨高耸的山上，你安置了你的床榻，并且上那里去奉献牺牲。
57:8 你在门和门框后安置了你的记号，瞒着我裸体上了床，铺开了你的床榻，你喜欢与谁同寝，便与他茍合，且看了他的手。
57:9 你擦满了香膏，加多了香料，往摩肋客那里去，又遣发使者到远方去，你甚至深入了阴间。
57:10 你因路途遥远，已感疲倦，但总不说：「绝望了!」因为你找着了你新生的力量，所以你不觉困乏。
57:11 你害怕谁，畏惧谁，竟使你失去忠信，而不怀念我，不关心我﹖难道因为我久不作声，你就不怕我了吗﹖
57:12 我要披露你的义举，以及与你毫无裨益的行为。
57:13 当你呼求时，让你那一伙救你罢!但是一阵风要把它们全部卷走，一口气要把他们吹去。唯有那依赖我的，将承受地业，继承我的圣山。

忏悔者将获幸福
57:14 有个声音说：「修路，修路!把路修平，把我民族道路上的障碍除去!」
57:15 因为至高者，卓越者，居于永远者，名为圣者的这样说：「我虽居于高处及圣所，但我也与忏悔和心灵谦卑的人在一起，为振奋谦卑者的心情，苏醒忏悔者的心灵。
57:16 我不愿永远争辩，也不愿永久发怒，因为生气是由我而出，灵魂是由我而造。
57:17 因了她的罪恶我一时发怒，打击了她，在怒气中掩住我的面；可是她仍背叛，走她随心所欲的道路。
57:18 我看见了她的行为，我要医治她，我要引她回来，将安慰赐给她和她的忧伤者。
57:19 在他们的口唇上安放赞颂之辞：「平安，平安归于远近的人!」上主说。【我要医好她。】
57:20 但恶人将如翻腾的大海，不能平息，它的浪潮卷起黄土与淤泥。
57:21 我的天主说：恶人决无平安!

 

 

第五十八章(14)

真热诚的表现
58:1 你大声呼喊，不要停止，提高你的喉咙，有如号筒，向我的百姓宣布他们的过犯，向雅各伯家指明他们的罪孽。
58:2 他们固然天天寻找我，喜欢认识我的道路，好似一个行义而没有背弃天主法令的民族，向我要求正义的措施，祈望天主与之接近：
58:3 「为什么我们守斋而你看不见，我们克苦而你不理会呢﹖」看哪!你们在守斋日仍然苦心经营，勒索你们所有的工人。
58:4 看哪!你们一面守斋，一面争吵，打架，以恶拳打人；你们不必再如今天一样守斋了，免得你们的嘈杂在高处可以听到。
58:5 难道这就是我所中意的斋戒吗﹖难道这就是人们克己的日子吗﹖难道低头如同芦苇，以苦衣和灰尘铺床，你就称为斋戒，称为上主悦纳的日子吗﹖
58:6 我所中意的斋戒，岂不是要人解除不义的锁链，废除轭上的绳索，使受压迫者获得自由，折断所有的轭吗﹖
58:7 岂不是要人将食粮分给饥饿的人，将无地容身的贫穷人领到自己的屋里，见到赤身露体的人给他衣穿，不要避开你的骨肉吗﹖
58:8 若这样，你的光明将要射出，有如黎明，你的伤口将会迅速地复原；你的救援要走在你前面，上主的光荣要作你的后盾。
58:9 那时，你如呼喊，上主必要俯允；你若哀求，他必答说：「我在这里!」你若由你中间消除欺压、指手画脚的行为和虚伪的言谈，
58:10 你若把你的食粮施舍给饥饿的人，满足贫穷者的心灵；那么，你的光明要在黑暗中升起，你的幽暗将如中午。
58:11 上主必要时常引领你，在干枯之地，使你心满意足，并使你的骨头坚强有力；你将成为一座灌溉的乐园，一个总不涸竭的水泉。
58:12 你的后裔将重建往日的废址，你要竖起那久远的基础，人要称你为：「缺口的修补者，」「废墟的兴建者，」为叫人居住。

遵守安息日
58:13 假使你在安息日限止你的脚步，在我的圣日停止你的营业，称安息日为喜乐，为上主可敬的圣日；假使你尊崇圣日，而不去旅行，不苦心经营或谈论生意，
58:14 那时你将喜乐于上主。我要使你驾临地之高处，使你享受你祖先雅各伯的产业：这是上主亲口说的。

 

 

第五十九章(21)

拯救迟缓的原因
59:1 看哪!并非上主的手短小而不能施救，并非他的耳朵沉重而不能听见；
59:2 而是你们的罪孽，使你们与你们的天主隔绝；是你们的罪恶，使他掩面不肯俯听你们，
59:3 因为你们的手沾满了血，你们的手指沾满了罪恶；你们的口唇说了谎言，你们的舌头吐出了恶语。
59:4 没有人按正义起诉，没有人照公正行审；都依赖虚无讲说空话，孕育着诡诈，产生邪恶。
59:5 他们所孵化的是毒蛇的蛋，他们所纺织的是蜘蛛的网；谁吃了这些蛋，必定要死；蛋若破了，出来的是条毒蛇。
59:6 他们结的蛛网不能制作衣服，他们的手工不能遮盖自己；他们的作为都是罪恶的作为，他们手中只有欺压的行为。
59:7 他们的脚趋向邪恶，急于倾流无辜者的血；他们的思念都是邪恶的思念，在他们的行径上只有蹂躏与毁灭。
59:8 和平的道路他们不认识，他们的行径中决无公正；他们弯曲了自己的途径，凡在上面行走的，必不认识和平。

民众自讼自承
59:9 因此公平远离了我们，正义不与我们接近；我们寻求光明，看!仍是黑暗；希望光亮，仍在幽暗中徘徊。
59:10 我们摸索着墙壁，好象瞎子；我们摸索，有如无眼的人；我们在正午颠仆，有如处于黄昏；我们在健壮人中，却如死人。
59:11 我们一起号叫，有如狗熊；呻吟哀鸣，宛如鸽子；我们寻求公平，却没有公平；寻找救恩，救恩却远离了我们，
59:12 因为我们的悖逆在你面前太多了，我们的罪过作证反对我们，因为我们的悖逆都摆在我们面前，我们认清了我们的罪过：
59:13 背叛和否认上主，转背离开我们的天主，说欺骗与反叛的话，从心中说出虚妄的言语；
59:14 因此公平被制止，正义立在远处，真诚在街市上仆倒于地，正义不得进入。
59:15 真诚消逝了，避恶的人已荡然无存。

上主亲自施救

上主见了，实在不悦，因为一点正直也没有了；
59:16 他看不见一个人，他诧异连一个调停者也没有了，遂以自己的手臂来施救，以自己的正义来扶持。
59:17 他身穿正义作铠甲，头戴救恩作钢盔，身佩复仇作衣服，外披妒恨作外氅。
59:18 他要按照各人的行为施行报复，向他的敌人发怒，向他的仇人复仇。【也向群岛施行报应。】
59:19 西方的人要看见上主的名号，东方的人要看见他的荣耀，因为他要来临，好似被强烈的风催促的急流。
59:20 拯救者必要临于熙雍，临于雅各伯家中的弃邪归依者：上主的断语。
59:21 至于我──上主说──这是我与他们所立的盟约：我在你身上所赋的神，我在你口中所放的话，总不离开你的口和你子孙的口，以及你子子孙孙的口，上主说，从现今直到永远。

 

 

第六十章(22)

新耶京的光荣
60:1 耶路撒冷啊!起来炫耀罢!因为你的光明已经来到，上主的荣耀已经照耀在你身上。
60:2 看啊!黑暗笼罩着大地，阴云遮蔽着万民；但上主却照耀着你，他的荣耀要彰显在你的身上。
60:3 万民要奔赴你的光明，众王要投奔你升起的光辉。
60:4 举起你的眼向四方观望罢!他们都聚集来到你这里：你的众子要从远方而来，你的女儿要被抱回来。
60:5 那时，你见到这情形，必要喜形于色，你的心灵必要激动而舒畅，因为海洋的珍宝都要归于你，万民的财富都要归你所有。
60:6 成群结队的骆驼，以及米德杨和厄法的独峰驼要遮蔽你，它们都是由舍巴满载黄金和乳香而来，宣扬上主的荣耀。
60:7 刻达尔的一切羊群都要聚在你前，乃巴约特的公羊都要供你使用；它们要登上我的祭坛作为我欢悦的祭品，以光荣我荣耀的处所。
60:8 那些象云彩飞来，象鸽子回笼的是谁﹖
60:9 那是为我集合起来的船只，塔尔史士的船只为首，从远处带来了你的子女，以及他们的金银；这都是为了上主你的天主的名，为了那光荣你的以色列的圣者的缘故。

万民奔赴新京
60:10 外邦的子民要修建你的城垣，他们的君王要来事奉你，因为我在怒气中打击了你，但我在慈悲中又怜悯了你。
60:11 你的门要时常敞开，白天黑夜都不要关闭，好让万民的财富，在他们的君王领导下，运到你这里来。
60:12 因为凡不肯事奉你的民族和国家，必要灭亡，这样的民族必要完全灭绝。
60:13 黎巴嫩的光荣要归于你；柏树、榆树和松树都要聚在一起，装饰我的圣所，因为我要光荣我立足之地。
60:14 曾经欺压过你者的子孙，要来向你屈服；凡轻视过你的人，都要在你脚前下拜；他们要称呼你为「上主的城，」「以色列圣者的熙雍。」
60:15 我要使你成为万世的尊荣，万代的喜悦，以代你从前所受的遗弃、恼恨，与无人经过的痛苦。
60:16 你要吸万国的奶，吮众王的乳房，这样你将知道我，上主，是你的拯救者，你的救主，雅各伯的强有力者。

超化的耶京
60:17 我要以金子来代替黄铜，以银子代替铁，以黄铜代替木头，以铁代替石头；我要立「和平」为你的官长，立「正义」为你的政要。
60:18 在你的地域里再听不到强暴的事情；你要称你的城垣为「救恩，」你的城门为「赞扬。」
60:19 太阳不再是你白天的光明，月亮也不再照耀你，上主要作你永久的光明，你的天主要作你的光辉。
60:20 你的太阳再不降落，你的月亮再不亏缺，因为上主要作你永久的光明，你悲哀的日子已经终结。
60:21 你的人民都要成为义人，要永远继承地业，因为他们是我所栽植的嫩芽，是我手中的工程，使我得到荣耀。
60:22 渺小的要成为千人村，微弱的要成为强大的民族：我是上主，我要在定期中迅速完成此事。

 

 

第六十一章(11)

传报喜讯
61:1 吾主上主的神临到我身上，因为上主给我傅了油，派遣我向贫苦的人传报喜信，治疗破碎了的心灵，向俘虏宣告自由，释放狱中的囚徒，
61:2 宣布上主恩慈的喜年，揭示我们天主报仇的日期，安慰一切忧苦的人，
61:3 给熙雍悲哀的人一项冠冕来代替灰尘，喜乐的油以代替丧服，颂赞以代替沮丧的心神。他们将被称为正义的橡树，上主为光荣自己所种植的园地。
61:4 他们要重建古时的废址，兴建往日的荒域，建造倾圮的城邑，数代荒凉的地方。
61:5 外邦人要来为你们牧放羊群，外方人的儿子要作你们的农夫和葡萄园丁。
61:6 你们要被称为「上主的司祭」人要称你们为「我们天主的侍役；」你们要享用万民的财物，以他们的财宝而夸耀。
61:7 因为他们受了双重的耻辱，侮辱与唾骂是他们的家业，因此他们要承受双倍的土地；永远的喜乐将归属于他们。
61:8 因为我是爱慕公义的上主，我恼恨不义的抢劫；我要凭忠实赐给他们报酬，与他们订立一项永久的盟约。
61:9 他们的后裔在列国中，他们的苗裔在万民中，要受人赏识；凡看见他们的，必要承认他们是上主所祝福的后裔。

赞主辞
61:10 我要万分喜乐于上主，我的心灵要欢跃于我的天主，因为他给我穿上救恩的衣服，给我披上义德的外衣，使我有如头戴花冠的新郎，有如佩带珍珠的新娘。
61:11 正如大地怎样产生苗芽，田园怎样使种子发芽，吾主上主也要怎样在万民前产生正义和赞扬。

 

 

第六十二章(12)

求主从速施救
62:1 为了熙雍我决不缄默，为了耶路撒冷我决不休息，直到她的正义显现有如光明，她的救恩燃灼有如火炬。
62:2 万民都要见到你的正义，众王都要看见你的荣耀；人要给你起一个新的名号，是上主亲口所指定的。
62:3 你将是上主手中的荣冠，是你天主掌中的王冕。
62:4 你不再称为「被遗弃的，」你的地域也不再称为「荒凉的；」因为你要称为「我可爱的，」你的地域要称为「已婚的，」因为上主喜爱你，你的地域将要婚嫁。
62:5 就如青年怎样娶处女，你的建造者也要怎样娶你；新郎怎样喜爱新娘，你的天主也要怎样喜爱你。
62:6 耶路撒冷啊!我在你的城墙上派了守望者，他们日夜总不缄默；提醒上主的人哪!你们总不要休息!
62:7 你们也不要让他休息，直到他建立了熙雍，直到他使耶路撒冷在大地成为可赞美的。
62:8 上主凭他的右手和他强有力的手臂发誓说：「我决不再将你的五谷交给你的仇人吃，也决不再让外邦人喝你所劳作的美酒。
62:9 惟有那收割的能吃，并颂扬上主；那收集的，将在我圣殿的庭院里喝。」

拯救来临
62:10 过去!经过大门罢!修平人民的路!修路!把路修好，除去上面的石头；你们要为万民竖起一面旗帜。
62:11 看哪!上主向大地四极宣布说：你们应向熙雍女子说：看!你的救主来了!看!他的胜利品与他同在，他获得的酬劳在他面前。
62:12 人要称他们为「圣洁的民族，」「上主赎回的。」你要被称为「蒙爱的，」「不被弃的城。」

 

 

第六十三章(19)

凯旋歌
63:1 「那由厄东而来，身穿染红了的衣服，那由波责辣而来，衣着华丽，力量强大，阔步前进的是谁啊﹖」「是宣布正义，具有拯救大能的我。」
63:2 「你的服装怎么成了红色，你的衣服好似一个踏酒醡的呢﹖」
63:3 「因为唯独我一人践踏了酒醡，我的人民中没有一个与我在一起。我在怒气中践踏了他们，我在怒火中蹂躏了他们，因此他们的血液溅到我的衣服上，我的服装就完全染污了。
63:4 因为复仇的日子已在我心中，我施救的岁月已经来到。
63:5 我四下观看，但没有人辅助；我惊愕四顾，但没有人支持；因此惟有用我的手臂自行拯救，以我的怒气来支持自己。
63:6 我在怒气中践踏了民众，我在怒火中粉碎了他们，使他们的鲜血流倒地下。」

民众的祷词
63:7 我要依照上主以他的大慈大悲赐与我们的一切，和对以色列家所赐的宏福，称颂上主的慈惠和上主可赞颂的作为。
63:8 他曾说过：「他们的确是我的百姓，不行虚伪的子民；」因此他成了他们一切困难中的拯救者。
63:9 并不是使者，也不是天使拯救他们，而是他自己。他以自己的爱情和怜悯赎回了他们；在往日，他时常扶持他们，怀抱他们。
63:10 但是他们成了叛徒，刺伤了他的圣神；因此他变成了他们的敌人，亲自攻击他们。
63:11 那时，他们想起古来的日子，想起他的仆人梅瑟。那引领羊群的牧者出离海洋的在那里呢﹖那曾在他心中赋与自己圣神的在那里呢﹖
63:12 那在梅瑟右边以其荣耀的手臂，在百姓前分开海水，使自己获得永远声誉的在那里呢﹖
63:13 那领导他们走过深渊，有如马行于旷野而不颠踬的在那里呢﹖
63:14 上主的神怎样领导走兽下到山谷，你也怎样领导了你的百姓，好使你获得一个光荣的名号。
63:15 如今求你从天垂顾，从你光荣的圣所俯视!你的热爱，你的大能和你的同情心在那里呢﹖求你不要停止你的慈悲，
63:16 因为你是我们的父亲；亚巴郎虽不认识我们，以色列虽不记得我们，你上主却是我们的父亲，「我们自古以来的救主」就是你的名。
63:17 上主!你为什么让我们离开你的道路﹖使我们的心变硬而不敬畏你﹖求你为了你的仆人，为了你产业的各支派，回心转意罢!
63:18 你为什么让恶人践踏你的圣殿﹖为什么让我们的敌人蹂躏你的圣所﹖
63:19 我们俨然成了一个从未受你治理，从未属你名下的民族。啊!望你冲破诸天降下，诸山在你面前震荡。

 

 

第六十四章(11)
64:1 有如火怎样烧干了水，火也怎样烧毁你的敌人，好使你的敌人认识你的名，使万民在你面前战栗，
64:2 因为你行了谁也想不到的惊人事迹；【你下降，使山岭在你面前震荡。】
64:3 是人从未听过的，耳朵从未听过，眼睛从未见过你以外，有一个神对依靠自己的人如此行事的。
64:4 你是欢迎那些履行正义和纪念你道路的人；但是，看，你发了怒，我们仍犯罪如初，仍照旧违叛你。
64:5 我们都好象成了不洁的人，所行的正义好似染了经血的内衣，又似干枯的叶子；我们的罪恶好似狂风一般将我们卷去，
64:6 没有一个呼求你名的，或奋起契合于你的，因为你掩面不顾我们，将我们委弃于我们罪恶的权下。
64:7 如今，上主啊!你是我们的父亲；我们只是泥土，你是的我们的陶工，我们都是你手中的作品。
64:8 上主啊!不要严加忿怒，不要时常记念我们的罪恶；求你垂顾!我们都是你的子民。
64:9 你的圣城都已成了荒地，熙雍已变为旷野，耶路撒冷成了废墟。
64:10 我们那华美的圣殿，即我们祖先赞颂你的所在，已被火焚烧，我们所喜爱的器皿都成了垃圾。
64:11 上主，对这些事你还忍得住吗﹖你还缄默，重重难为我们吗﹖

 

 

第六十五章(25)

惩罚由于罪过
65:1 从未求问我的，我要让他寻求我；从未寻找我的，我要让他找到我；我对那从未称呼我名的民族说：「看，我在这里!我在这里!」
65:2 我整天向悖逆的民族，即随自己的思念走邪辟路的人，伸出我的手。
65:3 这民族时常在我面前惹我发怒，在园中献祭，在砖台上焚香；
65:4 他们住在坟墓内，宿在隐密处，吃猪肉，在他们的器皿中都是些不洁之物，
65:5 他们还对人说：「站远点，别靠近我，怕我圣洁了你。」这些事真叫我鼻子冒烟，整日冒火。
65:6 看哪!这一切已在我面前写定；我决不缄默，我非报复不可。
65:7 我要一起报复他们的罪恶和他们祖先的罪恶：上主说。因为他们在山上烧过香，在丘陵上亵谩过我，所以我要量好他们应得的报应，报应到他们的怀中。

善良遗民得福
65:8 上主这样说：「就如当人发现葡萄内尚有酒汁时，就说：不要破坏它，因为里面还有祝福；我为了我的仆人也要这样作，不将他们完全消灭。
65:9 我要使雅各伯生出苗裔，使犹大生出继承我山的人；我的选民要以她为业，我的仆人要住在那里。
65:10 为那寻求我的百姓，沙龙将成为羊群的牧场，阿苛尔山谷为那寻求我的百姓，要成为牛群的栖所。」

善恶命运决不同
65:11 「至于你们这些离弃上主，忘记我的圣山，为加得神设宴，给默尼神注满调和的酒的人，
65:12 我注定了你们归于刀下，你们要屈身受戮；因为我喊叫你们，你们没有回答；我说话，你们不肯听，反而去行我视为恶的事，拣选我所不喜欢的事。」
65:13 因此吾主上主这样说：「你们要看见我的仆人有得吃，你们却要饥饿；你们看见我的仆人有得喝，你们却要口渴；你们看见我的仆人喜乐，你们却要哭泣；
65:14 你们看见我的仆人因心中快乐而欢庆，你们却要因心中忧苦而悲号，因丧气而哀伤。
65:15 你们将留下你们的名给我的选民作咒词：『吾主上主将如此叫你死!』但是我的仆人要有另一个名字作称呼。」
65:16 所以那在地上为自己求福的，要向真实的天主求福；那在地上起誓的，要指着真实的天主起誓，因为先前的苦难都已忘记，都从我的眼前隐匿了。

新天新地
65:17 因为，看，我要创造新天新地，先前的不再被记忆，不再被关心。
65:18 人们都要因我所造的而永远喜悦快乐；因为，看，我要造一座令人喜悦的耶路撒冷，一个令人欢乐的百姓。
65:19 我要因耶路撒冷而喜悦，因我的百姓而欢欣，其中再听不到哭泣和哀号的声音。
65:20 那里再没有夭折的婴儿和不满寿数的老人；百岁死去的人算是青年，凡活不到百岁的人算是被诅咒的。
65:21 他们要建筑房舍，自居其中；种植葡萄，自食其果；
65:22 并不是他们建筑而别人来住，他们种植而别人来吃，因为我百姓的寿数有如树木的年数，我的选民要享用她自己的劳作。
65:23 他们不再徒然勤劳，生子不再受惊，因为他们是上主祝福的苗裔，他们的子孙亦将如此。
65:24 那时，他们还未呼求，我已答应了；他们还在祈祷，我已俯允了。
65:25 豺狼和羔羊将要一齐牧放，狮子要如牛犊一般吃草，尘土将是大蛇的食物；在我的整个圣山上，再没有谁作恶，也没有谁害人：上主说。

 

 

第六十六章(24)

真敬礼之所在
66:1 上主这样说：「上天是我的宝座，下地是我的脚凳，你们还能在那里给我造殿宇，建我休息的地方呢﹖
66:2 这一切都是我手造的，这一切都是我的，上主的断语。我要垂顾的是谁呢﹖是贫苦者、忏悔者和敬畏我言语的人。
66:3 宰杀牛犊的，又击死了人；祭杀羔羊的，又绞死了狗；奉献礼品的，又献了猪血；焚香顶礼的，又祝福了偶像：这些人既都拣选了自己的路，他们的心灵都喜悦他们可憎的事；
66:4 那么，我也要拣选磨难他们的事，使他们所恐惧的，临到他们身上；因为我呼唤，没有人回答；我说话，他们都不肯听，反而去行我视为恶的事，拣选我所不喜乐的事。」
66:5 敬畏上主言语的人哪!你们听上主的话：「那恼恨你们的，因我的名而摈弃你们的弟兄，曾说：『愿上主显示他的光荣!让我们看看你们的喜乐罢!』他们必要蒙受羞辱!」
66:6 有吵闹的声音来自城中，有声音发自殿宇：这是上主报复他敌人的声音。

新民诞生
66:7 还未受痛便已分娩，阵痛尚未来到她身上，就生了一个男孩。
66:8 谁曾听过这样的事﹖谁曾见过这样的事﹖一个国家岂能在一天之内产生吗﹖一个民族岂能在一时之间诞生吗﹖但熙雍刚一觉痛就产生了她的儿子!
66:9 「我既开了母怀，难道不使她生产吗﹖」上主说：「我既使人生产，难道封闭母胎吗﹖」你的天主这样说。
66:10 凡爱慕耶路撒冷的，你们都应同她一起快乐，因她而欢喜!凡为她而忧伤的，你们都要同她尽情欢乐!
66:11 如此你们能从她那安慰的怀里吃奶而得饱饫，你们能从她那丰满的乳房吸乳而得快乐。
66:12 因为上主这样说：看!我要在她身上广赐和平，有如河流一般；我要赐给她万国的财宝，好似泛滥的江河；她的乳儿将被抱在怀中，放在膝上摇摆。
66:13 就如人怎样受母亲的抚，我也要怎样抚慰你们，你们必要在耶路撒冷享受安慰。
66:14 你们见到这种情形，你们的心必要欢乐，你们的骨骸必要如青草一般的茂盛；那时，上主的手将显示于他的仆人，他的愤恨必加于他的敌人。
66:15 因为!看哪!上主乘火降来，他的车好似暴风；他要在狂风中发泄他的怒气，在火焰中施展他的威吓，
66:16 因为上主要用火审判大地，用刀审判所有有血肉的，许多人将被上主消灭。
66:17 凡圣化又洁净了自己的，一个跟着一个到园子里去，吃猪肉、爬虫和鼠肉的人，他们的行为和他们的思念都要被消灭：这是上主的话。

万民归化
66:18 我要来聚集万民及各种语言的民族，他们都要来观看我的荣耀。
66:19 我要在他们中施行奇事，并派遣免难的人到外邦人那里去，即往塔尔史士、普特、路得、默舍客、洛士、突巴耳、雅汪，辽远的海岛上，即没有听过我的声誉，没有见过我的光荣的地方。
66:20 他们要从各民族中用马、车、轿子、骡子、独峰驼，把你们的弟兄送到我的圣山耶路撒冷来，当作献于天主的献仪，好象以色列子民用洁净的器皿将供物献于上主的殿中一样：这是上主说的。
66:21 我要从他们中间选拔司祭和肋未人：这是上主说的。
66:22 实在，我行将创造的新天新地怎样在我面前存在，你们的后裔与你们的名字也要怎样存在：上主的断语。
66:23 将来每逢月朔，每逢安息日，凡属血肉的，都要来我面前跪拜：上主说。
66:24 他们要出去看那背叛我的人的尸体；他们的虫决不会死，他们的火总不会灭；他们为一切有血肉的人将是可憎之物。

 

BOOK ENDS. Seraphim, April 2009.

JB ISAIAH Chapter 1

 

1. THE FIRST PART OF ISAIAH

 

1. ORACLES BEFORE THE SYRO-EPHRAIMITE WAR

 

Title

1:1 The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz concerning Judah and Jerusalem, which he saw in the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

 

Against a thoughtless people

1:2 Listen, you heavens; earth, attend for Yahweh is speaking, ‘I reared sons, I brought them up, but they have rebelled against me.

1:3 The ox knows its owner and the ass its master’s crib, Israel knows nothing, my people understands nothing.’

 

The punishment of Judah

1:4 A sinful nation, a people weighed down with guilt, a breed of wrong-doers, perverted sons. They have abandoned Yahweh, despised the Holy One of Israel, they have turned away from him.

1:5 Where shall I strike you next, since you heap one betrayal on another? The whole head is sick, the whole heart grown faint;

1:6 from the sole of the foot to the head there is not a sound spot: wounds, bruises, open sores not dressed, not bandaged, not soothed with oil.

1:7 Your land is desolate, your towns burnt down, your fields – strangers lay them waste before your eyes; all is desolation, as after the fall of Sodom.[*a]

1:8 The daughter of Zion is left like a shanty in a vineyard, like a shed in a melon patch, like a besieged city.

1:9 Had Yahweh not left us a few survivors, we should be like Sodom, we should now be like Gomorrah.

 

Against religious hypocrisy

1:10 Hear the word of Yahweh, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the command of our God, you people of Gomorrah.

1:11 ‘What are your endless sacrifices to me? says Yahweh. I am sick of holocausts of rams and the fat of calves. The blood of bulls and of goats revolts me.

1:12 When you come to present yourselves before me, who asked you to trample over my courts?

1:13 Bring me your worthless offerings no more, the smoke of them fills me with disgust. New Moons, sabbaths, assemblies – I cannot endure festival and solemnity.

1:14 Your New Moons and your pilgrimages I hate with all my soul. They lie heavy on me, I am tired of bearing them.

1:15 When you stretch out your hands I turn my eyes away. You may multiply your prayers, I shall not listen.

1:16 Your hands are covered with blood, wash, make yourselves clean. Take your wrong-doing out of my sight. Cease to do evil.

1:17 Learn to do good, search for justice, help the oppressed, be just to the orphan, plead for the widow.

1:18 ‘Come now, let us talk this over, says Yahweh. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

1:19 ‘If you are willing to obey, you shall eat the good things of the earth.

1:20 But if you persist in rebellion, the sword shall eat you instead.’ The mouth of Yahweh has spoken.

 

Lament for Jerusalem

1:21 What a harlot she has become, the faithful city, Zion, that was all justice! Once integrity lived there, but now assassins.

1:22 Your silver has turned into dross, your wine is watered.

1:23 Your princes are rebels, accomplices of thieves. All are greedy for profit and chase after bribes. They show no justice to the orphan, the cause of the widow is never heard.

1:24 Therefore – it is the Lord Yahweh Sabaoth who speaks, the Mighty One of Israel, ‘Ah, I will outdo my enemies, avenge myself on my foes.

1:25 ‘I will turn my hand against you, I will smelt away your dross in the furnace, I will remove all your base metal from you.

1:26 ‘I will restore your judges as of old, your counsellors as in bygone days. Then you will be called City of Integrity, Faithful City.’

1:27 Zion will be redeemed by justice, and her penitents by integrity. Rebels and sinners together will be shattered, and those who abandon Yahweh will perish.

 

Against tree worship [*b]

1:29 Yes, you will be ashamed of the terebinths which give you such pleasure; you will blush for the gardens that charm you.

1:30 Since you will be like a terebinth with faded leaves, like a garden without water.

1:31 The man of high estate will be tinder, his handiwork a spark. Both will burn together and no one put them out.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 2

 

Everlasting peace

2:1 The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

2:2 In the days to come the mountain of the Temple of Yahweh shall tower above the mountains and be lifted higher than the hills. All the nations will stream to it,

2:3 peoples without number will come to it; and they will say: ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh, to the Temple of the God of Jacob that he may teach us his ways so that we may walk in his paths; since the Law will go out from Zion, and the oracle of Yahweh from Jerusalem’.

2:4 He will wield authority over the nations and adjudicate between many peoples; these will hammer their swords into ploughshares, their spears into sickles. Nation will not lift sword against nation, there will be no more training for war.

2:5 House of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of Yahweh.

 

The coming of Yahweh

2:6 Yes, you have cast off your people, the House of Jacob; the land is full of soothsayers, full of sorcerers like the Philistines; they clap foreigners by the hand.

2:7 His land is full of silver and gold and treasures beyond counting; his land is full of horses and chariots without number;

2:8 his land is full of idols… They bow down before the work of their hands, before the thing their fingers have made.

2:9 The mortal will be humbled, man brought low; do not forgive them.

2:10 Get among the rocks, hide in the dust, at the sight of the terror of Yahweh, at the brilliance of his majesty, when he arises to make the earth quake.

2:11 Human pride will lower its eyes, the arrogance of men will be humbled. Yahweh alone shall be exalted, on that day.

2:12 Yes, that will be the day of Yahweh Sabaoth against all pride and arrogance, against all that is great, to bring it down,

2:13 against all the cedars of Lebanon and all the oaks of Bashan,

2:14 against all the high mountains and all the soaring hills,

2:15 against all the lofty towers and all the sheer walls,

2:16 against all the ships of Tarshish[*a] and all things of price…

2:17 Human pride will be humbled, the arrogance of men will be brought low. Yahweh alone will be exalted, on that day,

2:18 and all idols thrown down.

2:19 Go into the hollows of the rocks, into the caverns of the earth, at the sight of the terror of Yahweh, at the brilliance of his majesty, when he arises to make the earth quake.

2:20 That day man will fling to moles and bats the idols of silver and the idols of gold that he made for worship,

2:21 and go into the crevices of the rocks and the rifts of the crag, at the sight of the terror of Yahweh, at the brilliance of his majesty, when he arises to make the earth quake.

2:22 Trust no more in man, he has but a breath in his nostrils. How much is he worth?

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 3

 

Anarchy in Jerusalem

3:1 Yes, see how the Lord Yahweh Sabaoth is taking from Jerusalem and Judah support of every kind (support of bread and support of water):

3:2 hero, man-at-arms, judge, prophet, diviner, elder,

3:3 captain, noble, counsellor, sorcerer, soothsayer.

3:4 ‘I give them boys for princes, raw lads to rule over them.’

3:5 The people bully each other, neighbour and neighbour; a youth can insult his elder, a lout abuse a noble,

3:6 so that everyone tries to catch his brother in their father’s house, to say, ‘You have a cloak, so you be leader, and rule this heap of ruins’.

3:7 When that day comes the other will protest, ‘I am no doctor, in my house is neither bread nor cloak; do not make me leader of the people’.

3:8 Yes, Jerusalem is falling into ruins and Judah is in collapse, since their words and their deeds affront the Lord, insulting his glory.

3:9 Their insolent airs bear witness against them, they parade their sin like Sodom. To their own undoing, they do not hide it, they are preparing their own downfall.

3:10 Tell them, ‘Happy is the virtuous man, for he will feed on the fruit of his deeds;

3:11 woe to the wicked, evil is on him, he will be treated as his actions deserve’.

3:12 O my people, oppressed by a lad, ruled by women.[*a] O my people, your rulers mislead you and destroy the road you walk on.

3:13 Yahweh rises from his judgement seat, he stands up to arraign his people.

3:14 Yahweh calls to judgement the elders and the princes of his people: ‘You are the ones who destroy the vineyard and conceal what you have stolen from the poor.

3:15 By what right do you crush my people and grind the faces of the poor?’ It is the Lord Yahweh Sabaoth who speaks.

 

A warning to the women of Jerusalem

3:16 Yahweh said: Because of the haughtiness of the daughters of Zion, the way they walk with their heads held high and enticing eyes, the way they mince along, tinkling the bangles on their feet,

3:17 the Lord will give the daughters of Zion itching heads and uncover their nakedness.

3:18 That day the Lord will take away the ankle ornaments, tiaras, pendants

3:19 and bracelets, the veils,

3:20 headbands, foot chains and belts, the scent bottles and amulets,

3:21 signet rings and nose rings,

3:22 the expensive dresses, mantles, cloaks and purses,

3:23 the mirrors, linen garments; turbans and mantillas.

3:24 Instead of scent, a stink; instead of belt, a rope; instead of hair elaborately done, a shaven scalp, and instead of gorgeous dress, a sack; and brand marks instead of beauty.

 

The widows of Jerusalem

3:25 Your men will fall by the sword, your heroes in the fight.

3:26 The gates will moan and mourn; you will sit on the ground desolate.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 4

 

4:1 And seven women will fight over a single man that day:[*a] ‘We will eat our own food, and wear our own clothing,’ they will say ‘let us just bear your name; take our disgrace away’.

 

The remnant of Jerusalem

4:2 That day, the branch of Yahweh shall be beauty and glory, and the fruit of the earth shall be the pride and adornment of Israel’s survivors.

4:3 Those who are left of Zion and remain of Jerusalem shall be called holy and those left in Jerusalem, noted down for survival.

 

The future restoration

4:4 When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughter of Zion and cleansed Jerusalem of the blood shed in her with the blast of judgement and the blast of destruction,

4:5 Yahweh will come and rest on the whole stretch of Mount Zion and on those who are gathered there, a cloud by day, and smoke, and by night the brightness of a flaring fire. For, over all, the glory of Yahweh will be a canopy

4:6 and a tent to give shade by day from the heat, refuge and shelter from the storm and the rain.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 5

 

The song of the vineyard

5:1 Let me sing to my friend the song of his love for his vineyard. My friend had a vineyard on a fertile hillside.

5:2 He dug the Soil, cleared it of stones, and planted choice vines in it. In the middle he built a tower, he dug a press there too. He expected it to yield grapes, but sour grapes were all that it gave.

5:3 And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, I ask you to judge between my vineyard and me.

5:4 What could I have done for my vineyard that I have not done? I expected it to yield grapes. Why did it yield sour grapes instead?

5:5 Very well, I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge for it to be grazed on, and knock down its wall for it to be trampled on.

5:6 I will lay it waste, unpruned, undug; overgrown by the briar and the thorn. I will command the clouds to rain no rain on it.

5:7 Yes, the vineyard of Yahweh Sabaoth is the House of Israel, and the men of Judah that chosen plant. He expected justice, but found bloodshed, integrity, but only a cry of distress.

 

Curses

5:8 Woe to those who add house to house and join field to field until everywhere belongs to them and they are the sole inhabitants of the land.

5:9 Yahweh Sabaoth has sworn this in my hearing, ‘Many houses shall be brought to ruin, great and fine, but left untenanted;

5:10 ten acres of vineyard will yield only one barrel, ten bushel of seed will yield only one bushel’.

5:11 Woe to those who from early morning chase after strong drink, and stay up late at night inflamed with wine.

5:12 Nothing but harp and lyre, tambourine and flute, and wine for their drinking bouts. Never a thought for the works of Yahweh, never a glance for what his hands have done.

5:13 My people will go into exile, for want of perception; her dignitaries dying of hunger, her populace parched with thirst.

5:14 [*a] …Yes, Sheol opens wide his throat and gapes with measureless jaw to swallow up her thronging nobility as they are shouting for joy.

5:15 The mortal humbled, man brought low, proud eyes will be cast down.

5:16 Yahweh Sabaoth will increase his glory by his sentence, the holy God will display his holiness by his integrity.

5:17 Lambs will graze as at pasture, fatlings and kids browse in the ruins.

5:18 Woe to those who draw down punishment on themselves with an ox’s halter, and sin

as with a chariot’s traces:

5:19 and to those who say, ‘Quick! Let him hurry his work so that we can see it; these plans of the Holy One of Israel, let them happen and come true so that we can know what they are.’

5:20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil, who substitute darkness for light

and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.

5:21 Woe to those who think themselves wise and believe themselves cunning.

5:22 Woe to the heroes of drinking bouts, to the champions at preparing strong drinks.

5:23 Woe to those who for a bribe acquit the guilty and cheat the good man of his due.

5:24 For this, as stubble is prey for the flames and as straw vanishes in the fire, so their root will rot, their blossom be carried off like dust for rejecting the Law of Yahweh Sabaoth, and despising the word of the Holy One of Israel.

 

The anger of Yahweh

5:25 So, Yahweh aflame with anger against his people has raised his hand to strike them; he has killed the princes, their corpses lie like dung in the streets. Yet his anger is not spent, still his hand is raised to strike.

 

The Assyrian invasion

5:26 He hoists a signal for a distant nation, he whistles it up from the ends of the earth; and look, it comes, swiftly, promptly.

5:27 None of them faint or weary, none sleeping or drowsy, none of them with belt loose, none with sandal-straps broken.

5:28 Its arrows are sharpened, its bows all bent, the hoofs of its horses are like flint, its chariot-wheels like tornadoes.

5:29 Its roar is the roar of a lioness, like a lion cub it roars, it growls and seizes its prey, it bears it off, and no one can snatch it back.

5:30 Growling against it, that day, like the growling of the sea. Only look at the country: darkness and distress, and the light flickers out in shadows.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 6

 

1. THE BOOK OF IMMANUEL

 

The call of Isaiah

6:1 In the year of King Uzziah’s death[*a] I saw the Lord Yahweh seated on a high throne; his train filled the sanctuary;

6:2 above him stood seraphs, each one with six wings: two to cover its face, two to cover its feet and two for flying.

6:3 And they cried out one to another in this way, ‘Holy, holy, holy is Yahweh Sabaoth. His glory fills the whole earth.’

6:4 The foundations of the threshold shook with the voice of the one who cried out and the Temple was filled with smoke.

6:5 I said: ‘What a wretched state I am in! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have looked at the King, Yahweh Sabaoth.’

6:6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding in his hand a live coal which he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs.

6:7 With this he touched my mouth and said: ‘See now, this has touched your lips, your sin is taken away, your iniquity is purged’.

6:8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying: ‘Whom shall I send? Who will be our messenger?’ I answered, ‘Here I am, send me’.

6:9 He said: ‘Go, and say to this people, “Hear and hear again, but do not understand; see and see again, but do not perceive”

6:10 Make the heart of this people gross, its ears dull; shut its eyes, so that it will not see with its eyes, hear with its ears, understand with its heart, and be converted and healed.’

6:11 Then I said, ‘Until when, Lord?’ He answered: ‘Until towns have been laid waste and deserted, houses left untenanted, countryside made desolate, and Yahweh drives the people out. There will be a great emptiness in the country and, though a tenth of the people remain, it will be stripped like a terebinth of which, once felled, only the stock remains. The stock is a holy seed.’

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 7

 

The first warning to Ahaz

7:1 In the reign of Ahaz son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Razon the king of Aram went up against Jerusalem with Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, to lay siege to it; but he was unable to capture it.

7:2 The news was brought to the House of David. ‘Aram’ they said ‘has reached Ephraim.’ Then the heart of the king and the hearts of the people shuddered as the trees of the forest shudder in front of the wind.

7:3 Yahweh said to Isaiah, ‘Go with your son Shear-jashub,[*a] and meet Ahaz at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the Fuller’s Field road,

7:4 and say to him: “Pay attention, keep calm, have no fear, do not let your heart sink because of these two smouldering stumps of firebrands,[*b]

7:5 or because Aram, Ephraim and the son of Remaliah have plotted to ruin you, and have said:

7:6 Let us invade Judah and terrorise it and seize it for ourselves, and set up a king there, the son of Tabeel.

7:7 The Lord Yahweh says this: It shall not come true; it shall not be.

7:8a The capital of Aram is Damascus, the head of Damascus, Razon;

7:9a the capital of Ephraim, Samaria, the head of Samaria, the son of Remaliah.

7:8b Six or five years more and a shattered Ephraim shall no longer be a people.

7:9b But if you do not stand by me, you will not stand at all.”‘

 

The second warning to Ahaz. The sign of Immanuel

7:10 Once again Yahweh spoke to Ahaz and said,

7:11 ‘Ask Yahweh your God for a sign for yourself coming either from the depths of Sheol or from the heights above’.

7:12 ‘No,’ Ahaz answered ‘I will not put Yahweh to the test.’

7:13 Then he said: Listen now, House of David: are you not satisfied with trying the patience of men without trying the patience of my God, too?

7:14 The Lord himself, therefore, will give you a sign. It is this: the maiden is with child and will soon give birth to a son whom she will call Immanuel.

7:15 On curds and honey will he feed until he knows how to refuse evil and choose good.

7:16 For before this child knows how to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings terrify you will be deserted.

7:17 Yahweh will bring times for you and your people and your father’s House, such as have not come since Ephraim broke away from Judah (the king of Assyria).

7:18 That day Yahweh will whistle up mosquitoes from the Delta of the Egyptian Niles, and bees from the land of Assyria,

7:19 to come and settle on the steep ravine, on the rocky cleft, on the thorn bush and on every pasture.

7:20 On that day the Lord will shave with a blade hired from beyond the River[*c] (the king of Assyria), the head and hairs of the body, and take off the beard, too.

7:21 That day each man will raise one heifer and two sheep,

7:22 and because of the abundance of milk they give, all who are left in the country will feed on curds and honey.

7:23 That day, where a thousand vines used to be, worth one thousand pieces of silver, all will be briar and thorn.

7:24 Men will enter it with arrows and bow, since the whole country will revert to briar and thorn.

7:25 On any hillside hoed with the hoe no one will come for fear of briars and thorns; it will be pasture for cattle and grazing for sheep.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 8

 

The birth of a son to Isaiah

8:1 Yahweh said to me, ‘Take a large seal and scratch on it in ordinary writing MAHER-SHALAL-HASH-BAZ.[*a]

8:2 Then find me reliable witnesses, Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah.’

8:3 I went to the prophetess, she conceived and gave birth to a son. Yahweh said to me, ‘Call him Maher-shalal-hash-baz,

8:4 for before the child knows how to say father or mother, the wealth of Damascus and the booty of Samaria will be carried off before the king of Assyria’.

 

Shiloah and the Euphrates

8:5 Yahweh spoke to me again and said:

8:6 Because this people has refused the waters of Shiloah[*b] which flow in tranquillity, and trembles before Razon and the son of Remaliah,

8:7 the Lord will bring up against you the mighty and deep waters of the River (the king of Assyria and all his glory), and it will overflow out of its bed bursting all its banks;

8:8 it will inundate Judah, flow over, pour out, flooding it up to the neck, and its wings will be spread over the whole breadth of your country, O Immanuel.

 

Terror for the invaders

8:9 Know this, peoples, you will be crushed; listen, far-off nations, arm yourselves, yet you will be crushed.

8:10 Devise a plan, it is thwarted; put forward an argument, there is no substance in it, for God is with us.[*c]

 

Yahweh a stone in the way

8:11 Yes, Yahweh spoke to me like this when his hand seized hold of me to turn me from walking in the path that this people follows.

8:12 Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, do not be afraid of them.

8:13 It is Yahweh Sabaoth, whom you must hold in veneration, him you must fear, him you must dread.

8:14 He is the sanctuary and the stumbling-stone and the rock that brings down the two Houses of Israel; a trap and a snare for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

8:15 By it many will be brought down, many fail and be broken, be trapped and made captive.

 

Isaiah addresses his disciples

8:16 I bind up this testimony, I seal this revelation, in the heart of my disciples.

8:17 I wait for Yahweh who hides his face from the House of Jacob; in him I hope.

8:18 I and the children whom Yahweh has given me are signs and portents in Israel from Yahweh Sabaoth who dwells on Mount Zion.

8:19 And should men say to you, ‘Consult ghosts and wizards that whisper and mutter’ – by all means a people must consult its gods and, on behalf of the living, consult the dead.

8:20 To obtain a revelation and a testimony, without doubt this is how they will talk, since there is no dawn for them.

 

Wandering in the night

8:21 Distressed and starving he will wander through the country and, starving, he will become frenzied, blaspheming his king and his God; turning his gaze upward,

8:22 then down to the earth, he will find only distress and darkness, the blackness of anguish, and will see nothing but night.

8:23 Is not all blackness where anguish is?

 

Epiphany

In days past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in days to come he will confer glory on the Way of the Sea on the far side of Jordan, province of the nations.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 9

 

9:1 The people that walked in darkness has seen a great light; on those who live in a land of deep shadow a light has shone.

9:2 You have made their gladness greater, you have made their joy increase; they rejoice in your presence as men rejoice at harvest time, as men are happy when they are dividing the spoils.

9:3 For the yoke that was weighing on him, the bar across his shoulders, the rod of his oppressor, these you break as on the day of Midian.

9:4 For all the footgear of battle, every cloak rolled in blood, is burnt, and consumed by fire.

9:5 For there is a child born for us, a son given to us and dominion is laid on his shoulders; and this is the name they give him: Wonder-Counsellor, Mighty-God, Eternal-Father, Prince-of-Peace.

9:6 Wide is his dominion in a peace that has no end, for the throne of David and for his royal power, which he establishes and makes secure in justice and integrity. From this time onwards and for ever, the jealous love of Yahweh Sabaoth will do this.

 

The vengeance of Yahweh

9:7 The Lord hurls a word against Jacob, it falls on Israel.

9:8 All the people of Ephraim and all the inhabitants of Samaria know it. In their pride they have said, speaking in the arrogance of their heart,

9:9 ‘The bricks have fallen down, then we will build with dressed stone; the sycamores have been cut down, we will put cedars in their place’.

9:10 But Yahweh is marshalling his people’s enemies against them, he is stirring up their foes:

9:11 to the east, Aram, to the west, the Philistines devour Israel with gaping jaw. Yet his anger is not spent, still his hand is raised to strike.

9:12 But the people have not come back to him who struck them, they have not come looking for Yahweh Sabaoth;

9:13 hence Yahweh has cut head and tail from Israel, palm branch and reed in a single day.

9:14 (The ‘head’ is the elder and the man of rank; the ‘tail’, the prophet with lying vision.)

9:15 This people’s leaders have taken the wrong turning, and those who are led are lost.

9:16 And so the Lord will not spare their young men, will have no pity for their orphans and widows. Since the whole people is godless and evil, its speech is madness. Yet his anger is not spent, still his hand is raised to strike.

9:17 Yes, wickedness burns like a fire: it consumes briar and thorn, it sets the forest thickets alight and columns of smoke go rolling upwards.

9:18 The land is set aflame by the wrath of Yahweh Sabaoth and the people are food for the fire. Not one spares his brother,

9:19b each devours the flesh of his neighbour. On the right side they carve and still are hungry, on the left they devour and are not satisfied.

9:19a Manasseh devours Ephraim, Ephraim Manasseh, and both hurl themselves on Judah. Yet his anger is not spent, still his hand is raised to strike.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 10

 

10:1 Woe to the legislators of infamous laws, to those who issue tyrannical decrees,

10:2 who refuse justice to the unfortunate and cheat the poor among my people of their rights, who make widows their prey and rob the orphan.

10:3 What will you do on the day of punishment, when, from far off, destruction comes? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your riches?

10:4 Nothing for it but to crouch with the captives and to fall with the slain. Yet his anger is not spent, still his hand is raised to strike.

 

Against a king of Assyria[*a]

10:5 Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger, the club brandished by me in my fury!

10:6 I sent him against a godless nation; I gave him commission against a people that provokes me, to pillage and to plunder freely and to stamp down like the mud in the streets.

10:7 But he did not intend this, his heart did not plan it so. No, in his heart was to destroy, to go on cutting nations to pieces without limit.

10:8 He said, ‘Are not my officers all kings?

10:9 Is not Calno like Carchemish, Hamath like Arpad,[*b] Samaria like Damascus?

10:10 As my hand has reached out to the kingdoms of the idols, richer in sculptured images than Jerusalem and Samaria,

10:11 as I have dealt with Samaria and her idols, shall I not treat Jerusalem and her images the same?’

10:12 When the Lord has completed all his work on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, he will punish what comes from the king of Assyria’s boastful heart, and his arrogant insolence.

10:13 For he has said: ‘By the strength of my own arm I have done this and by my own intelligence, for understanding is mine; I have pushed back the frontiers of peoples and plundered their treasures. I have brought their inhabitants down to the dust.

10:14 As if they were a bird’s nest, my hand has seized the riches of the peoples. As people pick up deserted eggs I have picked up the whole earth, with not a wing fluttering, not a beak opening, not a chirp.’

10:15 Does the axe claim more credit than the man who wields it, or the saw more strength than the man who handles it? It would be like the cudgel controlling the man who raises it, or the club moving what is not made of wood!

10:16 And so Yahweh Sabaoth is going to send a wasting sickness on his stout warriors; beneath his plenty, a burning will burn like a consuming fire.

10:17 The light of Israel will become a fire and its Holy One a flame burning and devouring thorns and briars in a single day.

10:18 He will destroy the luxuriance of his forest and his orchard, soul and body too; that will be like a sick man passing away;

10:19 the remnant of his forest trees will be so easy to count that a child could make the list.

 

The name Shear-jashub[*c]

10:20 That day, the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the House of Jacob will stop relying on the man who strikes them and will truly rely on Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel.

10:21 A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.

 

A prophecy of destruction

10:22 Israel, your people may be like the sand on the seashore, but only a remnant will return. A destruction has been decreed that will bring inexhaustible integrity.

10:23 Yes, throughout the country the Lord Yahweh Sabaoth will carry out the destruction he has decreed.

 

Oracle

10:24 And so Yahweh Sabaoth says this: My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of Assyria who strikes you with the club and lifts up the rod against you.

10:25 A little longer, a very little, and fury will come to an end, my anger will destroy them.

10:26 Yahweh Sabaoth will whirl the whip against him, like the time he struck Midian at the Rock of Oreb, like the time he stretched out his rod against the sea and raised it over the road from Egypt.

10:27 That day, his burden will fall from your shoulder, his yoke will cease to weigh on your neck.

 

The invader[*d]

He advances from the district of Rimmon,

10:28 he reaches Aiath, he passes through Migron, he leaves his baggage train at Michmash.

10:29 They file through the defile, they bivouac at Geba. Ramah quakes, Gibeah of Saul takes flight.

10:30 Bath-gallim, cry aloud! Laishah, hear her! Anathoth, answer her!

10:31 Madmenah is running away, the inhabitants of Gebim are fleeing.

10:32 This very day he will halt at Nob. He will shake his fist against the mount of the daughter of Zion, against the hill of Jerusalem.

10:33 See, the Lord Yahweh Sabaoth hews down the boughs with a crash. The topmost heights are cut off, the proudest are brought down.

10:34 The forest thickets fall beneath the axe. Lebanon and its splendours collapse.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 11

 

The coming of the virtuous king

11:1 A shoot springs from the stock of Jesse, a scion thrusts from his roots:

11:2 on him the spirit of Yahweh rests, a spirit of wisdom and insight, a spirit of counsel and power, a spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Yahweh. (The fear of Yahweh is his breath.)

11:3 He does not judge by appearances, he gives no verdict on hearsay,

11:4 but judges the wretched with integrity, and with equity gives a verdict for the poor of the land. His word is a rod that strikes the ruthless, his sentences bring death to the wicked.

11:5 Integrity is the loincloth round his waist, faithfulness the belt about his hips.

11:6 The wolf lives with the lamb, the panther lies down with the kid, calf and lion cub feed together with a little boy to lead them.

11:7 The cow and the bear make friends, their young lie down together. The lion eats straw like the ox.

11:8 The infant plays over the cobra’s hole; into the viper’s lair the young child puts his hand.

11:9 They do no hurt, no harm, on all my holy mountain, for the country is filled with the knowledge of Yahweh as the waters swell the sea.

 

The return of the exiles

11:10 That day, the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples. It will be sought out by the nations and its home will be glorious.

11:11 That day, the Lord will raise his hand once more to ransom the remnant of his people, left over from the exile of Assyria, of Egypt, of Pathros, of Cush, of Elam, of Shinar, of Hamath, of the islands of the sea.[*a]

11:12 He will hoist a signal for the nations and assemble the outcasts of Israel; he will bring back the scattered people of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

11:13 Then Ephraim’s jealousy will come to an end and Judah’s enemies be put down; Ephraim will no longer be jealous of Judah nor Judah any longer the enemy of Ephraim.

11:14 They will sweep down westwards on the Philistine slopes, together they will pillage the sons of the East, extend their sway over Edom and Moab, and make the Ammonites their subjects.

11:15 And Yahweh will dry up the gulf of the Sea of Egypt with the heat of his breath, and stretch out his hand over the River, and divide it into seven streams, for men to cross dry-shod,

11:16 to make a pathway for the remnant of his people left over from the exile of Assyria, as there was for Israel when it came up out of Egypt.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 12

 

Two hymns of thanksgiving

12:1 That day, you will say: I give thanks to you, Yahweh, you were angry with me but your anger is appeased and you have given me consolation.

12:2 See now, he is the God of my salvation I have trust now and no fear, for Yahweh is my strength, my song, he is my salvation.

12:3 And you will draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation.

12:4 That day, you will say: Give thanks to Yahweh, call his name aloud. Proclaim his deeds to the people, declare his name sublime.

12:5 Sing of Yahweh, for he has done marvellous things, let them be made known to the whole world.

12:6 Cry out for joy and gladness, you dwellers in Zion, for great in the midst of you is the Holy One of Israel.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 13

 

1. ORACLES ON FOREIGN NATIONS

 

Against Babylon

13:1 Oracle on Babylon, seen by Isaiah son of Amoz.

13:2 On a bare hill hoist a signal, sound the war cry. Beckon them to come to the Nobles’ Gate.

13:3 I, for my part, issue orders to my sacred warriors, I summon my knights to serve my anger, my proud champions.

13:4 Listen! A rumbling in the mountains like a great crowd. Listen! The din of kingdoms of nations mustering. It is Yahweh Sabaoth marshalling the troops for battle.

13:5 They come from a distant country, from the far horizons, Yahweh and the instruments of his fury to lay the whole earth waste.

13:6 Howl! For the day of Yahweh is near, bringing devastation from Shaddai.

13:7 At this, every arm falls limp…The heart of each man fails him,

13:8 they are terrified, pangs and pains seize them, they writhe like a woman in labour. They look at one another with feverish faces.

13:9 The day of Yahweh is coming, merciless, with wrath and fierce anger, to reduce the earth to desert and root out the sinners from it.

13:10 For the stars of the sky and Orion shall not let their light shine; the sun shall be dark when it rises, and the moon not shed her light.

13:11 I will punish the world for its evil-doing, and the wicked for their crimes, to put an end to the pride of arrogant men and humble the pride of despots.

13:12 I will make men scarcer than pure gold, human life scarcer than the gold of Ophir.

13:13 This is why I am going to shake the heavens – and make the earth reel from its place, before the wrath of Yahweh Sabaoth, the day when his anger flares.

13:14 Then like a startled gazelle, like sheep that no one shepherds, each man will return to his people, each take flight to his native land.

13:15 All those caught are slaughtered, all those captured fall by the sword,

13:16 their babies are dashed to pieces before their eyes, their houses plundered, their wives raped.

13:17 See now, I stir up against them the Medes, who think nothing of silver, who take no pleasure in gold.

13:18 The baby boys all cut to pieces, the baby girls all crushed. They have no mercy on the fruit of the womb, no pity in their eyes for children.

13:19 Babylon, that pearl of kingdoms, the jewel and boast of Chaldaeans, like Sodom and Gomorrah shall be overthrown by God.

13:20 Never more will anyone live there or be born there from generation to generation. No Arab will pitch his tent there, nor shepherds feed their flocks.

13:21 But beasts of the desert will lie there, and owls fill its houses. Ostriches will make their home there and satyrs have their dances there.

13:22 Hyenas will call to each other in its keeps, jackals in the luxury of its palaces…Its time is almost up, its days will not last long.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 14

 

The return from the Exile

14:1 Yes, Yahweh will have pity on Jacob, he will choose Israel once more and settle them in their own country. The foreigner will join them and attach himself to the House of Jacob.

14:2 Nations will take them and lead them to the place they came from, and the House of Israel will adopt them in the land of Yahweh as slaves and slave-girls. They will capture those who captured them and master their oppressors.

 

A satire on the death of a tyrant

14:3 The day Yahweh gives you rest after your suffering and torment and the grim servitude to which you were forcibly enslaved,

14:4 you are to recite this satire on the king of Babylon: What was the end of the tyrant? What was the end of his arrogance?

14:5 Yahweh has broken the staff of the wicked and the sceptre of tyrant –

14:6 which angrily thrashed the peoples with blow after blow, which furiously tyrannised over the nations, persecuting without respite.

14:7 The whole earth is at rest, it is calm, shouting for joy.

14:8 The cypresses, the cedars of Lebanon rejoice at your fate, ‘Now that you have been laid low, no one comes up to fell us.’

14:9 On your account Sheol beneath us is astir to greet your arrival. To honour you he rouses the ghosts of all the rulers of the world. He makes all the kings of the nations get up from their thrones.

14:10 Each has something to say and what they will say to you is this, ‘So you too have been brought to nothing, like ourselves. You, too, have become like us.

14:11 Your magnificence has been flung down to Sheol with the music of your harps; underneath you a bed of maggots, and over you a blanket of worms.

14:12 How did you come to fall from the heavens, Daystar, son of Dawn? How did you come to be thrown to the ground, you who enslaved the nations?

14:13 You who used to think to yourself, “I will climb up to the heavens; and higher than the stars of God I will set my throne. I will sit on the Mount of Assembly in the recesses of the north.

14:14 I will climb to the top of thunderclouds, I will rival the Most High.”

14:15 What! Now you have fallen to Sheol to the very bottom of the abyss!’

14:16 All who see you will gaze at you, will stare at you, ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, and overthrew kingdoms,

14:17 who made the world a desert and levelled cities, who never to his captives opened the prison gates?’

14:18 All the kings of the nations lie honourably, each in his tomb.

14:19 But you, you have been expelled from your grave like loathsome dung, buried under the slaughtered, under those cut down by the sword, and thrown on the stones of the ditch like a mangled carcase.

14:20 You are never going to rejoin them in the grave, for you have brought your country to ruin and destroyed your people. The offspring of the wicked will leave no name behind them.

14:21 Start slaughtering the sons for the guilt of their fathers! Never again must they rise to conquer the earth and spread across the face of the world.

 

Oracle against Babylon

14:22 I will rise against them – it is Yahweh Sabaoth who speaks – and wipe out name and remnant from Babylon. No offspring, no posterity – it is Yahweh who speaks.

14:23 I will turn it into marshland, into a place for hedgehogs. I will sweep it with the broom of destruction – it is Yahweh Sabaoth who speaks.

 

Assyria will be destroyed

14:24 Yahweh Sabaoth has sworn it, saying: Yes, what I have planned shall happen, what I have decided shall be fulfilled-

14:25 to break Assyria in my country, to crush him on my mountains. His yoke will slip from them, his burden from their shoulder.

14:26 This is the decision taken against the whole world; this, the hand stretched out against all the nations.

14:27 When Yahweh Sabaoth has made a decision, who would dare cancel it? When he stretches out his hand, who can make him withdraw it?

 

A warning to the Philistines

14:28 In the year Ahaz died[*a] this oracle was pronounced:

14:29 Do not rejoice, whole country of Philistia, because the rod that beat you has broken, since the serpent’s stock can still produce a basilisk and the offspring of that will be a flying dragon.

14:30 But the poor are going to feed in my pastures and beggars rest in safety, while I let your posterity die out through hunger, killing off any that survive.

14:31 Howl, Gate; cry, City; shudder, whole country of Philistia! For a smoke is coming from the north, and there are no deserters in those battalions.

14:32 What reply will he given then to the messengers of that nation? ‘Yahweh has laid the foundations of Zion, and there the poor of his people shall find refuge.’

 

 

 

The return from the Exile

14:1 Yes, Yahweh will have pity on Jacob, he will choose Israel once more and settle them in their own country. The foreigner will join them and attach himself to the House of Jacob.

14:2 Nations will take them and lead them to the place they came from, and the House of Israel will adopt them in the land of Yahweh as slaves and slave-girls. They will capture those who captured them and master their oppressors.

 

A satire on the death of a tyrant

14:3 The day Yahweh gives you rest after your suffering and torment and the grim servitude to which you were forcibly enslaved,

14:4 you are to recite this satire on the king of Babylon: What was the end of the tyrant? What was the end of his arrogance?

14:5 Yahweh has broken the staff of the wicked and the sceptre of tyrant –

14:6 which angrily thrashed the peoples with blow after blow, which furiously tyrannised over the nations, persecuting without respite.

14:7 The whole earth is at rest, it is calm, shouting for joy.

14:8 The cypresses, the cedars of Lebanon rejoice at your fate, ‘Now that you have been laid low, no one comes up to fell us.’

14:9 On your account Sheol beneath us is astir to greet your arrival. To honour you he rouses the ghosts of all the rulers of the world. He makes all the kings of the nations get up from their thrones.

14:10 Each has something to say and what they will say to you is this, ‘So you too have been brought to nothing, like ourselves. You, too, have become like us.

14:11 Your magnificence has been flung down to Sheol with the music of your harps; underneath you a bed of maggots, and over you a blanket of worms.

14:12 How did you come to fall from the heavens, Daystar, son of Dawn? How did you come to be thrown to the ground, you who enslaved the nations?

14:13 You who used to think to yourself, “I will climb up to the heavens; and higher than the stars of God I will set my throne. I will sit on the Mount of Assembly in the recesses of the north.

14:14 I will climb to the top of thunderclouds, I will rival the Most High.”

14:15 What! Now you have fallen to Sheol to the very bottom of the abyss!’

14:16 All who see you will gaze at you, will stare at you, ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, and overthrew kingdoms,

14:17 who made the world a desert and levelled cities, who never to his captives opened the prison gates?’

14:18 All the kings of the nations lie honourably, each in his tomb.

14:19 But you, you have been expelled from your grave like loathsome dung, buried under the slaughtered, under those cut down by the sword, and thrown on the stones of the ditch like a mangled carcase.

14:20 You are never going to rejoin them in the grave, for you have brought your country to ruin and destroyed your people. The offspring of the wicked will leave no name behind them.

14:21 Start slaughtering the sons for the guilt of their fathers! Never again must they rise to conquer the earth and spread across the face of the world.

 

Oracle against Babylon

14:22 I will rise against them – it is Yahweh Sabaoth who speaks – and wipe out name and remnant from Babylon. No offspring, no posterity – it is Yahweh who speaks.

14:23 I will turn it into marshland, into a place for hedgehogs. I will sweep it with the broom of destruction – it is Yahweh Sabaoth who speaks.

 

Assyria will be destroyed

14:24 Yahweh Sabaoth has sworn it, saying: Yes, what I have planned shall happen, what I have decided shall be fulfilled-

14:25 to break Assyria in my country, to crush him on my mountains. His yoke will slip from them, his burden from their shoulder.

14:26 This is the decision taken against the whole world; this, the hand stretched out against all the nations.

14:27 When Yahweh Sabaoth has made a decision, who would dare cancel it? When he stretches out his hand, who can make him withdraw it?

 

A warning to the Philistines

14:28 In the year Ahaz died[*a] this oracle was pronounced:

14:29 Do not rejoice, whole country of Philistia, because the rod that beat you has broken, since the serpent’s stock can still produce a basilisk and the offspring of that will be a flying dragon.

14:30 But the poor are going to feed in my pastures and beggars rest in safety, while I let your posterity die out through hunger, killing off any that survive.

14:31 Howl, Gate; cry, City; shudder, whole country of Philistia! For a smoke is coming from the north, and there are no deserters in those battalions.

14:32 What reply will he given then to the messengers of that nation? ‘Yahweh has laid the foundations of Zion, and there the poor of his people shall find refuge.’

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 15

 

Lament for Moab

15:1 Oracle on Moab: The night when Ar was ravaged Moab collapsed. The night when Kir was ravaged Moab collapsed.

15:2 People climb to the temple of Dibon, climb high places to weep; on Nebo and in Medeba Moab laments. Every head shaven, every beard clipped;

15:3 they wear sackcloth in the streets, and wail on the housetops. All in the squares are lamenting and bursting into tears.

15:4 Heshbon and Elealeh are howling, their noise can be heard as far as Jahaz. That is why the loins of Moab are shivering, why its soul is shuddering;

15:5 why the heart of Moab is groaning, why its fugitives are as far afield as Zoar (Eglath Shelishiyah). Ah, slopes of Luhith, they climb them weeping. On the road to Horonaim they utter heartrending cries.

15:6 Ah, the waters of Nimrim are a waste land, the grass dried up, the turf all withered, nothing green any more.

15:7 That is why they are busily preparing… And they transport their possessions across the wadi of the Willows.

15:8 Ah, the shrieking rings round the whole territory of Moab; its wailing resounds right to Eglaim, echoes as far as Beer-elim.

15:9 Ah, the waters of Dibon are swollen with blood, and worse disasters are still in store for Dibon, a lion to pounce on anyone who escapes from Moab, and on the few survivors of that country.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 16

 

The Moabites take refuge in Judah

16:1 Send lambs to the king of the country from Sela, by way of the desert, to the mountain of the daughter of Zion.

16:2 Flying backwards and forwards like bewildered nestlings, such are the daughters of Moab at the ford of the Arnon.

16:3 ‘Advise us what to do, decide for us. Spread your shadow as if it were night at the height of noon. Hide those who have been driven out, do not let the refugee be seen.

16:4 ‘Let those who have been driven out of Moab stay with you; be their refuge against the destroyer.’ Once the oppression is over, and the destroyer is no more, and those now trampling the country underfoot have gone away,

16:5 the throne will be made secure in gentleness, and on it there will sit in all fidelity, within the tent of David, a judge careful for justice and eager for integrity.

 

Lament for Moab

16:6 We have heard of the pride of Moab, an excessive pride – of his conceit, his pride, his arrogance; his pretensions are empty.

16:7 And so the Moabites must mourn for Moab, all of them lamenting together. For the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth they mourn, in their utter bewilderment.

16:8 For blighted are the fields of Heshbon, and the vine of Sibmah whose clusters proved too strong for the overlords of the nations; it once reached all the way to Jazer, had even wound its way into the desert, and its shoots had spread even beyond the sea.

16:9 And so I weep, as Jazer weeps, for the vine of Sibmah. I water you with my tears, Heshbon and Elealeh. For over your fruit and your vintage a cheer has been heard;

16:10 joy and gladness have vanished from the orchards. No more revelry in the vineyards, no more happy shouting; no more wine trodden out in the presses, the shouting all silenced.

16:11 And so for Moab my whole being quivers like lyre strings, my inmost self, for Kir-hareseth.

16:12 In vain may Moab go to wear himself out at high places, to come and pray in his temple; he can do nothing.

 

Oracle on Moab

16:13 Such was the sentence once pronounced against Moab by Yahweh.

16:14 Now Yahweh proclaims, ‘Within three years, as a wage-earner reckons them, the glorious power of Moab, despite his teeming population, will cease to command respect, and what remains of him will be slight, feeble, impotent’.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 17

 

Oracle on Damascus

17:1 Oracle against Damascus: Damascus is going to cease to be a city, she will become a heap of ruins.

17:2 Her towns, abandoned for ever, will be pastures for flocks. There they will rest with no one to frighten them away.

17:3 Ephraim[*a] will lose his defences and Damascus her sovereignty; the remnant of Aram will be treated in the same way as the glory of the Israelites. It is Yahweh Sabaoth who speaks.

17:4 That day, the glory of Jacob will be diminished, from being fat he will grow lean;

17:5 as when a reaper hugs an armful of standing corn and slices off the ears, or when they glean the ears in the Valley of Rephaim:

17:6 nothing remains but gleanings; or when an olive tree is beaten: two or three berries left on the topmost bough, four or five on the branches of the tree. It is Yahweh, the God of Israel, who speaks.

 

An end to idolatry

17:7 That day, man will look to his creator and his eyes will turn to the Holy One of Israel.

17:8 He will no longer look after the altars, his own handiwork, nor gaze at what his hands have made: the sacred poles and the solar pillars.

 

Against the gardens of Adonis

17:9 That day, your cities will be abandoned as were those of the Amorites and the Hivites in the path of the children of Israel. They will be a desert

17:10 because you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and failed to keep in remembrance the Rock of your strength. For you are planting plants for Adonis, you put in sprigs of foreign gods,

17:11 you make them flower the same day as you plant them, as soon as it is light your seedlings blossom, but all that you pick will vanish on the day of trouble, and the evil will be incurable.

 

The upsurge of the nations

17:12 Vast hordes thundering, with thunder like thundering seas, the roaring of nations roaring like the roar of mighty waters.

17:13 (Nations roaring like the roar of many waters.) He rebukes them and far away they flee, driven off like chaff on the mountains before the wind, like an eddy of dust before the storm.

17:14 At evening all was terror; before morning comes they are no more. Such was the lot of our plunderers, such, the fate of our despoilers.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 18

 

Oracle against Cush[*a]

18:1 Country of whirring wings beyond the rivers of Cush,

18:2 who send ambassadors by sea, in papyrus skiffs over the waters. Go, swift messengers to a people tall and bronzed, to a nation always feared, a people mighty and masterful, in the country criss-crossed with rivers.

18:3 All you who inhabit the world, you who people the earth, the signal is being hoisted on the mountains, look! The horn is being sounded, listen!

18:4 For thus Yahweh speaks to me: From where I am I gaze, untroubled, like the clear heat produced by light, like a dewy mist in the heat of harvest.

18:5 For, before the vintage, once the flowering is over and blossom turns into ripening grape, the tendrils are cut back with a pruning knife, the shoots taken off, cut away.

18:6 They will all be abandoned together to the birds of prey in the mountains and to the beasts of the earth. The birds of prey will summer on them, and all the beasts of the earth winter on them.

18:7 At that time, offerings will be brought to Yahweh Sabaoth on behalf of the tall and bronzed nation, on behalf of the nation always feared, on behalf of the mighty and masterful people in the country criss-crossed with rivers, to the place where the name of Yahweh Sabaoth dwells, on Mount Zion.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 19

 

Against Egypt[*a]

19:1 Oracle against Egypt: See! Yahweh riding a swift cloud comes to Egypt. The idols of Egypt tremble before him, and the hearts of the Egyptians sink within them.

19:2 I will stir up the Egyptians against each other and they shall fight every man against his brother, friend against friend, city against city, kingdom against kingdom.

19:3 Egypt is going to be demoralised, for I shall confound all their wits. They will consult idols and wizards, necromancers and sorcerers.

19:4 I mean to hand the Egyptians over to a hard master; a cruel king will rule them. It is Yahweh Sabaoth who speaks.

19:5 The waters will ebb from the Nile, the river bed be parched and dry,

19:6 the canals grow foul, the Niles of Egypt sink and dry up.

19:7 Rush and reed will droop, the plants on the banks of the Nile; all the Nile vegetation will dry up, blow away, and be seen no more.

19:8 The fishermen will groan, all who cast hook in the Nile will mourn; those who throw nets on the waters will lament.

19:9 The flax workers will be baffled, the carders too, and weavers of white cloth.

19:10 The weavers will be dismayed and all the workmen dejected.

19:11 The princes of Zoan are utter fools, and Pharaoh’s wisest counsellors are stupid; how can you say to Pharaoh, ‘I am a disciple of the sages. a disciple of bygone kings’?

19:12 Where are these sages of yours? Let them come forward now, let them explain to you what Yahweh Sabaoth has decided to do with Egypt.

19:13 The princes of Zoan are fools, the princes of Noph,[*b] self-deceivers; Egypt is led astray by the governors of her provinces.

19:14 On them Yahweh has poured out a spirit of giddiness. They have Egypt slithering in all she undertakes as a drunkard slithers in his vomit.

19:15 And Egypt will never succeed in anything undertaken by head or by tail, by palm or reed.

 

The conversion of Egypt and Assyria

19:16 That day, the Egyptians will become like women, fearful, terrified, when they see the uplifted hand that Yahweh Sabaoth will raise against them.

19:17 The land of Judah will become the terror of Egypt. Whenever Egypt is reminded of this, she will be terrified, because of the fate Yahweh Sabaoth has prepared for her.

19:18 That day, in the land of Egypt there will be five towns speaking the language of Canaan and swearing oaths in the name of Yahweh Sabaoth; Ir Haheres will be one of them.

19:19 That day, there will be an altar to Yahweh in the centre of the land of Egypt and, close to the frontier, a pillar to Yahweh,

19:20 which will be both sign and witness of Yahweh Sabaoth in the land of Egypt. When in oppression the Egyptians cry to Yahweh he will send them a saviour to protect and deliver them.

19:21 Yahweh will reveal himself to them, and that day the Egyptians will acknowledge Yahweh and worship him with sacrifices and offerings. They will make vows to Yahweh and perform them.

19:22 Then, though Yahweh has struck the Egyptians harshly, he will heal them. They will turn to Yahweh who will listen to them and heal them.

19:23 That day, there will be a road from Egypt to Assyria. Assyria will have access to Egypt and Egypt have access to Assyria. Egypt will serve Assyria.

19:24 That day, Israel, making the third with Egypt and Assyria, will be blessed in the centre of the world.

19:25 Yahweh Sabaoth will give his blessing in the words, ‘Blessed be my people Egypt, Assyria my creation, and Israel my heritage’.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 20

 

Prophecy of the capture of Ashdod[*a]

20:1 The year the cupbearer-in-chief, sent by Sargon king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and stormed and captured it:

20:2 at that time Yahweh had spoken through Isaiah son of Amoz. He had said to him, ‘Go and undo the sackcloth round your waist and take the sandals off your feet’. The latter had done so, and walked about, naked and barefoot.

20:3 Yahweh then said, ‘As my servant Isaiah has been walking about naked and barefoot for the last three years – a sign and portent for Egypt and Cush –

20:4 so will the king of Assyria lead away captives from Egypt and exiles from Cush, young and old, naked and barefoot, their buttocks bared, to the shame of Egypt.

20:5 You will be frightened and ashamed about Cush in which you trusted, and about Egypt of which you boasted.

20:6 And the inhabitants of this coast will say, “Look what has happened to those in whom we trusted and to whom we fled for help and safety from the king of Assyria! And now, how are we going to escape?”‘

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 21

 

The fall of Babylon

21:1 Oracle on the maritime plain: As whirlwinds sweeping over the Negeb come from the desert, from a land of horror

21:2 – a harsh vision has been shown me – the plunderer plunders, the destroyer destroys. ‘Go up, Elam, lay siege, Media. I am putting an end to groaning.’

21:3 This is why my loins are wracked with shuddering; I am seized with pains like the pains of a woman in labour; I am too distressed to hear, too afraid to see.

21:4 My heart flutters, dread makes me tremble, the twilight I longed for has become my horror.

21:5 They spread the table, cover it with a cloth; they eat, they drink… Up, captains, grease the shield!

21:6 For this is what the Lord has said to me, ‘Go and post the watchman, and let him report what he sees.

21:7 ‘If he sees cavalry, horsemen two by two, men mounted on donkeys, men mounted on camels, let him observe, closely observe.’

21:8 The look-out shouts, ‘On a watchtower, Lord, I stand all day; and at my post I keep guard all night’.

21:9 Look, here come the cavalry, horsemen two by two. They spoke to me; they said, ‘Fallen, fallen is Babylon, and all the images of her gods are shattered on the ground’.

21:10 You who are threshed, you who are winnowed, what I have learnt from Yahweh Sabaoth, from the God of Israel, I am telling you now.

 

Answer to the Edomites

21:11 Oracle on Edom: Someone shouts to me from Seir, ‘Watchman, what time of night? Watchman, what time of night?’

21:12 The watchman answers, ‘Morning is coming, then night again. If you want to, why not ask, turn round, come back?’

 

Oracle on the Arabs

21:13 Oracle in the wastelands. You who pass the night in the scrublands, in the wastelands, you caravans of Dedanites,[*a] bring water

21:14 for the thirsty. You inhabitants of Tema go and meet the fugitive and give him bread;

21:15 since these are fleeing from the swords, from biting swords, from bent bows, from the stress of battle.

 

Against Kedar

21:16 Yes, the Lord said this to me, ‘In one year’s time as a wage-earner reckons it, all the glorious power of Kedar will be finished.

21:17 Of the bowmen, of the hardiest sons of Kedar, hardly any will be left, for Yahweh God of Israel has decreed this.’

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 22

 

Against untimely rejoicing in Jerusalem

22:1 Oracle against the Valley of Hinnom: What is the matter now that you are all climbing with one accord to the housetops,

22:2 you the uproarious, the boisterous town, the joyful city? Your slain were not slain by the sword, your dead have not fallen in battle;

22:3 your rulers have all fled away and been captured before bending their bows; and the bravest among you have been taken prisoner, they have fled far away.

22:4 That is why I say, ‘Turn your eyes away from me, let me weep bitterly; do not try to comfort me over the destruction of the daughter of my people’.

22:5 For this, a day of panic and rout, is from the Lord Yahweh Sabaoth. In the Valley of Hinnom a wall is thrown down, they are shouting for help on the mountains.

22:6 Elam takes up his quiver, Aram mounts his horse and Kir[*a] fetches out his shield.

22:7 Your fairest valleys are filled with chariots and the horsemen take up positions at the gates;

22:8 thus falls the defence of Judah.

 

Against military preparations

You turned your gaze that day to the armoury of the House of the Forest.

22:9 You saw how many breaches there were in the Citadel of David. You collected the waters of the lower pool.

22:10 You counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you pulled down houses to strengthen the wall.

22:11 In the middle you made a reservoir between the two walls for the waters of the old pool. But you had no thought for the Maker, no eyes for him who shaped everything long ago.

22:12 The Lord Yahweh Sabaoth called you that day to weep and mourn, to shave your heads, to put on sackcloth;

22:13 instead, there is joy and amusement, killing of oxen, slaughtering of sheep, eating of meat, drinking of wine, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may be dead’.

22:14 My ears have had this revelation from Yahweh Sabaoth: ‘Most certainly this sin will not be atoned for, until you die’ says the Lord Yahweh Sabaoth.

 

Against Shebna

22:15 Thus says the Lord Yahweh Sabaoth: Now go to this steward, to Shebna, the master of the palace,

22:16 who is hewing a tomb for himself high up, carving out a room for himself in the rock, ‘What right have you here, and what relatives have you here for you to hew yourself a tomb in this place?

22:17 See, Yahweh hurls you down, down with a single throw; then with a strong grip he grips you,

22:18 and he winds you up into a ball and hurls you into an immense country. There you will die, and there will be sent the chariots you were so proud of, you, the disgrace of your master’s palace.’

 

Another oracle against Shebna

22:19 I dismiss you from your office, I remove you from your post,

22:20 and the same day I call on my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah.

22:21 I invest him with your robe, gird him with your sash, entrust him with your authority; and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the House of Judah.

22:22 I place the key of the House of David on his shoulder; should he open, no one shall close, should he close, no one shall open.

22:23 I drive him like a peg into a firm place; he will become a throne of glory for his father’s house.

 

The calamity of the family of Eliakim

22:24 On it they will hang all the glory of his father’s house, offspring and issue, all the least of vessels from cups to pitchers.

22:25 That day – it is Yahweh Sabaoth who speaks – the peg driven into a firm place will give way. It will be torn out and will fall. And the whole load hanging on it will be shattered, for Yahweh has spoken.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 23

 

On Tyre and Sidon

23:1 Oracle on Tyre: Howl, ships of Tarshish,[*a] for your fortress has been destroyed. They learn the news on their way from the land of Kittim.[*b]

23:2 Be struck dumb, you inhabitants of the coast, you merchants of Sidon, whose goods travelled over the sea,

23:3 over wide oceans. The grain of Nile, the harvest of the river, formed her revenues, as she marketed it throughout the world.

23:4 Blush, Sidon, for thus speaks the sea, ‘I have not laboured nor given birth, not reared young men nor brought up young girls’.

23:5 When the Egyptians learn the fate of Tyre, they will be appalled.

23:6 Take ship for Tarshish, howl, you inhabitants of the coast.

23:7 Is this your joyful city founded far back in the past? Whose footsteps led her abroad to found her own colonies?

23:8 Who took this decision against imperial Tyre, whose traders were princes, whose merchants, the great ones of the world?

23:9 Yahweh Sabaoth took this decision to humble the pride of all her beauty and humiliate the great ones of the world.

23:10 Till the soil, daughter of Tarshish, the harbour is no more,

23:11 He has stretched his hand over the sea to overthrow its kingdoms; Yahweh has ordained the destruction of the fortresses of Canaan.

23:12 He has said: Rejoice no more, ravished one, virgin daughter of Sidon. Get up and take ship for Kittim; no respite for you there, either.

23:13 Look at the land of Kittim…They have set up towers. They have demolished its bastions and reduced it to ruins.

23:14 Howl, ships of Tarshish, for your fortress has been destroyed.

 

The subjection of Tyre

23:15 That day, Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years. But in the reign of another king, at the end of the seventy years, Tyre will become like the whore in the song:

23:16 Take your lyre, walk the town, forgotten whore. Play your sweetest, sing your songs again, to make them remember you.

23:17 At the end of the seventy years Yahweh will visit Tyre. Once again she will begin to receive the pay for her whoring. She will play the whore with all the kingdoms on the surface of the earth.

23:18 But her profits and wages will be dedicated to Yahweh and not stored or hoarded. Her profits will go to buy abundant food and splendid clothes for those who live in the presence of Yahweh.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 24

 

1. APOCALYPSE

 

The sentence

24:1 See how Yahweh lays the earth waste, makes it a desert, buckles its surface, scatters its inhabitants,

24:2 priest and people alike, master and slave, mistress and maid, seller and buyer, lender and borrower, creditor and debtor.

24:3 Ravaged, ravaged the earth, despoiled, despoiled, as Yahweh has said.

24:4 The earth is mourning, withering, the world is pining, withering, the heavens are pining away with the earth.

24:5 The earth is defiled under its inhabitants’ feet, for they have transgressed the law, violated the precept, broken the everlasting covenant.

24:6 So a curse consumes the earth and its inhabitants suffer the penalty, that is why the inhabitants of the earth are burnt up and few men are left.

 

The city in ruins

24:7 The wine is mourning, the vine is pining away, all glad hearts are sighing.

24:8 The merry tambourines are silent, the sound of revelling is over, the merry lyre is silent.

24:9 They no longer sing over their wine, the drunkard finds strong drink revolting.

24:10 The city of emptiness is in ruins, the entrance to every house is shut.

24:11 There is lamentation in the streets: no wine, joy quite gone, gladness banished from the country.

24:12 Nothing but rubble in the city, the gate smashed to pieces;

24:13 and so it will be on earth, among the peoples, as at the beating of the olive trees, as at the gleaning of the grapes when the grape harvest is over.

24:14 They lift up their voices, singing for joy; they acclaim the majesty of Yahweh from the sea.

24:15 Therefore in the islands they give glory to Yahweh, in the islands of the sea, to the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel.

24:16 From remotest earth we hear songs, ‘Honour to the upright one’. But ‘Enough, enough!’ I say. ‘Woe to the traitors who betray, to the traitors who treacherously betray!’

24:17 Terror, the pit, the snare for you, inhabitants of the earth:

24:18 the man who runs away at the cry of terror shall fall into the pit, and the man who climbs out of the pit shall be caught in the snare.

 

Continuation of the poem on the sentence

Yes, the sluicegates above will open,

24:19 and the foundations of the earth will rock. The earth will split into fragments, the earth will be riven and rent.

24:20 The earth will shiver and shake, the earth will stagger like a drunkard, sway like a shanty; so heavy will be its sin on it, it will fall

24:21 never to rise again. That day, Yahweh will punish above, the armies of the sky, below, the kings of the earth;

24:22 they will be herded together, shut up in a dungeon, confined in a prison and, after long years, punished.

24:23 The moon will hide her face, the sun be ashamed, for Yahweh Sabaoth will be king on Mount Zion, in Jerusalem, and his glory will shine in the presence of his elders.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 25

 

A prayer of thanksgiving

25:1 Yahweh, you are my God, I extol you, I praise your name; for you have carried out your excellent design, long planned, trustworthy, true.

25:2 For you have made the town a heap of stones, the fortified city a ruin. The citadel of the proud is a city no longer, it will never be rebuilt.

25:3 Hence a mighty people gives you glory, the city of pitiless nations holds you in awe;

25:4 for you are a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in distress, a shelter from the storm, a shade from the heat; while the breath of pitiless men is like the winter storm.

25:5 Like drought in a dry land you will repress the clamour of the proud; like heat by the shadow of a cloud the singing of the despots will be subdued.

 

The messianic banquet

25:6 On this mountain, Yahweh Sabaoth will prepare for all peoples a banquet of rich food, a banquet of fine wines, of food rich and juicy, of fine strained wines.

25:7 On this mountain he will remove the mourning veil covering all peoples, and the shroud enwrapping all nations,

25:8 he will destroy Death for ever. The Lord Yahweh will wipe away the tears from every cheek; he will take away his people’s shame everywhere on earth, for Yahweh has said so.

25:9 That day, it will be said: See, this is our God in whom we hoped for salvation; Yahweh is the one in whom we hoped. We exult and we rejoice that he has saved us;

25:10 for the hand of Yahweh rests on this mountain. Moab is trodden down where he stands as straw is trodden in the dung pit;

25:11 and there he stretches out his hands like a swimmer stretching out his hands to swim. But Yahweh curbs his pride and whatever his hands attempt.

25:12 Your arrogant, lofty walls he destroys, he overthrows, he flings them in the dust.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 26

 

Song of victory

26:1 That day, this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; to guard us he has set wall and rampart about us.

26:2 Open the gates! Let the upright nation come in, she, the faithful one

26:3 whose mind is steadfast, who keeps the peace, because she trusts in you.

26:4 Trust in Yahweh for ever, for Yahweh is the everlasting Rock;

26:5 he has brought low those who lived high up in the steep citadel; he brings it down, brings it down to the ground, flings it down in the dust:

26:6 the feet of the lowly, the footsteps of the poor trample on it.

 

A psalm

26:7 The path of the upright man is straight, you smooth the way of the upright.

26:8 Following the path of your judgements, we hoped in you, Yahweh, your name, your memory are all my soul desires.

26:9 At night my soul longs for you and my spirit in me seeks for you; when your judgements appear on earth the inhabitants of the world learn the meaning of integrity.

26:10 If favour is shown to the wicked, he does not learn the meaning of integrity. He does evil in the land of uprightness, he fails to see the majesty of Yahweh.

26:11 Yahweh, your hand is raised, but they do not see it. Let them see your jealous love for this people and be ashamed, let the fire prepared for your enemies consume them.

26:12 Yahweh, you are giving us peace, since you treat us as our deeds deserve.

26:13 Yahweh our God, other lords than you have ruled us, but we acknowledge no one other than you, no other name than yours.

26:14 The dead will not come to life, their ghosts will not rise, for you have punished them, annihilated them, and wiped out their memory.

26:15 Enlarge the nation, Yahweh, enlarge it, to the nation grant glory, extend all the frontiers of the country.

26:16 Distressed, we search for you, Yahweh; the misery of oppression was your punishment for us.

26:17 As a woman with child near her time writhes and cries out in her pangs, so are we, Yahweh, in your presence:

26:18 we have conceived, we writhe as if we were giving birth; we have not given the spirit of salvation to the earth, no more inhabitants of the world are born.

26:19 Your dead will come to life, their corpses will rise; awake, exult, all you who lie in the dust, for your dew is a radiant dew and the land of ghosts will give birth.

 

Oracle

26:20 Go into your rooms, my people, shut your doors behind you. Hide yourselves a little while until the wrath has passed.

26:21 For, see, Yahweh will soon come out of his dwelling, to punish all the inhabitants of earth for their crimes. The earth will reveal its blood and no longer hide its slain.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 27

 

27:1 That day, Yahweh will punish, with his hard sword, massive and strong, Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent: he will kill the sea-dragon.

 

The vineyard of Yahweh

27:2 That day, sing of the delightful vineyard!

27:3 I, Yahweh, am its keeper; every moment I water it for fear its leaves should fall; night and day I watch over it.

27:4 I am angry no longer. If thorns and briars come I will declare war on them, I will burn them every one.

27:5 Or if they would shelter under my protection, let them make their peace with me, let them make their peace with me.

 

Pardon for Jacob; punishment for the oppressor

27:6 In the days to come, Jacob will put out shoots, Israel will bud and blossom and fill the whole world with fruit.

27:7 Has he beaten her as he beat those who beat her? Has he murdered her as he murdered those who murdered her?

27:8 You have punished it with expulsion and exile; he pursued it with a blast as fierce as the wind from the east.

27:9 Now here is how Jacob’s guilt will be atoned for, here is the ransom for its sin: he treats all the altar stones like lumps of chalk that are ground to powder. Sacred poles and solar pillars stand no longer,

27:10 for the fortified city is abandoned now, it lies deserted, forsaken as a wilderness. There the herd grazes, there it rests and browses on the branches.

27:11 The boughs are dry and broken, women come and use them for firewood; for this is a nation without understanding and so its Maker will have no pity for it, he that shaped it will show it no favour.

 

Oracle

27:12 That day, Yahweh will start his threshing from the course of the River to the wadi of Egypt, and you will be gathered one by one, sons of Israel.

27:13 That day, the great trumpet will be sounded, and those lost in the land of Assyria will come, and those exiled to the land of Egypt, and they will worship Yahweh on the holy mountain, in Jerusalem.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 28

 

1. POEMS ON ISRAEL AND JUDAH

 

A warning to Samaria

28:1 Woe to the haughty crown of Ephraim’s drunkards, to the fading flower of its proud splendour overlooking the lush valley, to those prostrated by wine!

28:2 See, a strong and mighty one, sent by the Lord, like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest, like a storm of torrential, overflowing waters; with his hand he throws them to the ground.

28:3 There will be trampled underfoot the haughty crown of Ephraim’s drunkards,

28:4 and the faded flower of its proud splendour overlooking the lush valley. Just like a fig before summer comes: whoever notices it, picks it, no sooner in the hand than swallowed.

28:5 That day, Yahweh Sabaoth will be a crown of glory and a diadem of splendour for the remnant of his people,

28:6 a spirit of justice for him who sits in judgement, and a spirit of courage for him who thrusts back the attacker to the gate.

 

Against the priests and the false prophets

28:7 These, too, are reeling with wine, staggering from strong drink. Priest and prophet are reeling from strong drink, they are muddled with wine; strong drink makes them stagger, they totter when they are having visions, they stumble when they are giving judgement.

28:8 Yes, all the tables are covered with vomit, not a place left clean.

28:9 ‘Who does he think he is lecturing? Who does he think his message is for? Babies just weaned? Babies just taken from the breast?

28:10 With his sav lasav, sav lasav, kav lakav, kav lakav, zeer sham, zeer sham!'[*a]

28:11 Yes, certainly with stammering lips and in a foreign language, he will talk to this nation,

28:12 he who once told them: Here is rest; let the weary rest. Here is repose. – But they would not listen.

28:13 That is why Yahweh now says: kav lakav, kav lakav, sav lasav, sav lasav, zeer sham, zeer sham. So that when they walk they may fall over backwards and be broken, snared and made captive.

 

Against evil counsellors

28:14 Listen to the word of Yahweh, you scoffers, rulers of this people in Jerusalem.

28:15 You say, ‘We have made a covenant with Mot,[*b] and with Sheol we have made a pact. The destructive whip, as it goes by, will not catch us, for we have made lies our refuge, and falsehood our shelter.’

 

Oracle

28:16 That is why the Lord Yahweh says this: See how I lay in Zion a stone of witness, a precious cornerstone, a foundation stone: The believer shall not stumble.

28:17 And I will make justice the measure, integrity the plumb-line.

 

Continuation of the poem against evil counsellors

But hail will sweep away the refuge of lies and floods overwhelm the shelter;

28:18 your covenant with Mot will be broken and your pact with Sheol annulled. When the destructive whip goes by it will crush you;

28:19 each time it goes by, it will seize you. It will go by, morning after morning, both day and night; what panic there would be if you were to understand what it meant!

28:20 The bed is too short to stretch in, the blanket too narrow for covering.

28:21 Yes, as Yahweh did on Mount Perazim, he is going to rise, as he did in the Valley of Gibeon he is going to stir himself to do the deed, his extraordinary deed, to work the work, his mysterious work.

28:22 Stop scoffing, then, or your bonds will be tightened further; for I have listened to the warrant of destruction issued against the whole country by the Lord Yahweh Sabaoth.

 

The parable of the farmer

28:23 Listen closely to my words, be attentive and understand what I am saying.

28:24 Does the ploughman do nothing but plough and turn the soil and harrow it?

28:25 Will he not, after he has levelled it, scatter fennel, sow cummin, put in wheat and barley and, on the edges, spelt?

28:26 He has been taught this discipline by his God who instructs him.

28:27 For fennel must not be crushed, nor a drag be rolled over cummin; fennel must be beaten with a stick, and cummin with a flail.

28:28 Does a man crush wheat? No; he does not thresh it endlessly. When he has rolled the drag over it he winnows it without crushing it.

28:29 This too comes from Yahweh Sabaoth, whose advice is always admirable, whose deeds are very great.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 29

 

Oracle on Ariel[*a]

29:1 Woe, Ariel, Ariel, city where David encamped. Let a year or two pass, let the feasts make their full round

29:2 then I will lay siege to Ariel, and there will be moaning and bemoaning. You will be an Ariel for me, like David I will encamp against you, I will blockade you with palisades, and mount siege-works against you.

29:4 Thrown down – you will speak from the ground, your words will come muffled by dust. Your voice will rise from the earth like a ghost’s, you will speak from the dust in a whisper.

29:5c Suddenly, unexpectedly,

29:6 you shall be visited by Yahweh Sabaoth with thunder, earthquake, mighty din, hurricane, tempest, flame of devouring fire.

29:5ab The horde of your enemies shall be scattered like fine dust, the tyrant horde like flying chaff; the horde of all the nations at war with Ariel

29:7 shall vanish like a dream, like a vision at night. And all those fighting against her, the entrenchments besieging her,

29:8 shall be like the hungry man who dreams he eats, and wakes with an empty belly, like the thirsty man who dreams he drinks and wakes exhausted, his throat parched; so shall it be with the horde of all the nations making war on Mount Zion.

29:9 Be stupefied and stunned, go blind, unseeing, drunk but not on wine, staggering but not through liquor.

29:10 For on you has Yahweh poured a spirit of lethargy, he has closed your eyes (the prophets), he has veiled your heads (the seers).

 

Secrecy of the revelation

29:11 For you every vision has become like the words of a sealed book. You give it to someone able to read and say, ‘Read that’. He replies, ‘I cannot, because the book is sealed’.

29:12 Or else you give the book to someone who cannot read, and say, ‘Read that’. He replies, ‘I cannot read’.

 

Oracle

29:13 Yahweh has said: Because this people approaches me only in words, honours me only with lip-service while its heart is far from me, and my religion, as far as it is concerned, is nothing but human commandment, a lesson memorised,

29:14 very well, I shall have to go on being prodigal of prodigious prodigies with this people. The wisdom of its sages shall decay, the intelligence of its intelligent men shall be shrouded.

 

Against evil counsellors

29:15 Woe to those who hide from Yahweh to conceal their plans, who scheme in the dark and say, ‘Who can see us? Who can recognise us?’

29:16 What perversity this is! Is the potter no better than the clay? Can something that was made say of its maker, ‘He did not make me’? Or a pot say of the potter, ‘He is a fool’?

29:17 In a short time, a very short time, shall not Lebanon become fertile land and fertile land turn into forest?

29:18 The deaf, that day, will hear the words of a book and, after shadow and darkness, the eyes of the blind will see.

29:19 But the lowly will rejoice in Yahweh even more and the poorest exult in the Holy One of Israel;

29:20 for tyrants shall be no more, and scoffers vanish, and all be destroyed who are disposed to do evil:

29:21 those who gossip to incriminate others, those who try at the gate to trip the arbitrator and get the upright man’s case dismissed for groundless reasons.

29:22 Therefore Yahweh speaks, the God of the House of Jacob, Abraham’s redeemer: No longer shall Jacob be ashamed, no more shall his face grow pale,

29:23 for he shall see what my hands have done in his midst, he shall hold my name holy. They will hallow the Holy One of Jacob, stand in awe of the God of Israel.

29:24 Erring spirits will learn wisdom and murmurers accept instruction.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 30

 

Against the embassy to Egypt

30:1 Woe to those rebellious sons! – it is Yahweh who speaks. They carry out plans that are not mine and make alliances not inspired by me, and so add sin to sin.

30:2 They have left for Egypt, without consulting me, to take refuge in Pharaoh’s protection, to shelter in Egypt’s shadow.

30:3 Pharaoh’s protection will be your shame, the shelter of Egypt’s shadow your confounding.

30:4 For his ministers have gone to Zoan, his ambassadors have already reached Hanes.[*a]

30:5 All are carrying gifts to a nation that will be of no use to them, that will bring them neither aid, nor help, nothing but shame and disgrace.

 

A second oracle against the embassy

30:6 Oracle on the beasts of the Negeb. Through the land of distress and of anguish, of lioness and roaring lion, of viper and flying serpent, they bear their riches on donkeys’ backs, their treasures on camels’ humps, to a nation that is of no use to them,

30:7 to Egypt who will prove futile and empty to them; and so I call her Rahab-do-nothing.

 

The testament of Isaiah

30:8 Now go and inscribe this on a tablet, write it in a book, that it may serve in the time to come as a witness for ever:

30:9 This is a rebellious people, they are lying sons, sons who will not listen to Yahweh’s orders.

30:10 To the seers they say, ‘See no visions’; to the prophets, ‘Do not prophesy the truth to us, ‘tell us flattering things; have illusory visions;

30:11 turn aside from the way, leave the path, take the Holy One out of our sight’.

30:12 So the Holy One of Israel says: Since you reject this warning and prefer to trust in wile and guile and to rely on these,

30:13 then your guilt will prove to be for you a breach on the point of collapse, the bulge at the top of the city wall which suddenly and all at once comes crashing down,

30:14 irretrievably shattered, smashed like an earthenware pot – so that of the fragments not one shard remains big enough to carry a cinder from the hearth or scoop water from the cistern.

30:15 For thus says the Lord Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel: Your salvation lay in conversion and tranquillity, your strength, in complete trust; and you would have none of it.

30:16 ‘No,’ you said ‘we will flee on horses.’ So be it, flee then! And you add, ‘In swift chariots’. So be it, your pursuers will be swift too.

30:17 A thousand will flee at the threat of one and when five threaten you will flee, until what is left of you will be like a flagstaff on a mountain top, like a signal on a hill.

30:18 But Yahweh is waiting to be gracious to you, to rise and take pity on you, for Yahweh is a just God; happy are all who hope in him.

 

The coming prosperity

30:19 Yes, people of Zion, you will live in Jerusalem and weep no more. He will be gracious to you when he hears your cry; when he hears he will answer.

30:20 When the Lord has given you the bread of suffering and the water of distress, he who is your teacher will hide no longer, and you will see your teacher with your own eyes.

30:21 Whether you turn to right or left, your ears will hear these words behind you, ‘This is the way, follow it’.

30:22 You will regard your silvered idols and gilded images as unclean. You will throw them away like the polluted things they are, shouting after them, ‘Good riddance!’

30:23 He will send rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the bread that the ground provides will be rich and nourishing. Your cattle will graze, that day, in wide pastures.

30:24 Oxen and donkeys that till the ground will eat a salted fodder, winnowed with shovel and fork.

30:25 On every lofty mountain, on every high hill there will be streams and watercourses, on the day of the great slaughter when the strongholds fall.

30:26 Then moonlight will be bright as sunlight and sunlight itself be seven times brighter – like the light of seven days in one – on the day Yahweh dresses the wound of his people and heals the bruises his blows have left.

 

Assyria will he sacrificed

30:27 See, the name of Yahweh comes from afar, blazing is his anger, heavy his exaction. His lips brim with fury, his tongue is like a devouring fire.

30:28 His breath is like a river in spate coming up to the neck. He comes to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction, to put the bit of his bridle between the jaws of the nations.

30:30 Yahweh will make his majestic voice be heard and display his arm falling to strike, in the ferocity of his anger, in the glare of a devouring fire, in cloudburst, downpour, hailstones.

30:31 For at the voice of Yahweh Assyria will be battered and beaten with the rod.

30:32a Each time he will feel the punishing rod that Yahweh will lay on him.

30:29 The song you sing will be like that on a festal night when hearts are gay, or when to the sound of flute men make a pilgrimage to the mountain of Yahweh, to the rock of Israel,

30:32b with music of tambourine and harp and with dancing…

30:33 For in Topheth there has been prepared beforehand,[*b] yes, made ready for Molech, a pit deep and wide with straw and wood in plenty. The breath of Yahweh, like a stream of brimstone, will set fire to it.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 31

 

Against Egypt

31:1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt to seek help there, who build their hopes on cavalry, who rely on the number of chariots and on the strength of mounted men, but never look to the Holy One of Israel nor consult Yahweh.

31:2 Yet he too is skilled in working disaster, and he has not gone back on his word; he will rise against the house of the wicked, and against the protectors of evil men.

31:3 The Egyptian is a man, not a god, his horses are flesh, not spirit; Yahweh will stretch out his hand to make the protector stumble; the protected will fall and all will perish together.

 

Yahweh wages war against Assyria

31:4 Yes, this is what Yahweh has said to me: As a lion or lion cub growls over its prey, and even when a whole band of shepherds gathers against him, he is not frightened by their shouting or alarmed by the noise they make, just so will Yahweh Sabaoth descend to fight on Mount Zion and on its hill.

31:5 Like hovering birds so will Yahweh Sabaoth protect Jerusalem, he will protect it, rescue it, spare it and save it.

31:6 Come back to the one you have so wickedly betrayed, sons of Israel.

31:7 Yes, that day, every one of you will throw away the silver idols and gold idols which you have made with your guilty hands.

31:8 Assyria will fall by a sword that is not man’s, will be devoured by a sword that is more than human, he will flee before the sword and his young warriors will be enslaved.

31:9 In his terror he will abandon his rock, and his panic-stricken leaders desert their standard. It is Yahweh who speaks, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 32

 

The integrity of the king

32:1 A king reigns by integrity and princes rule by law;

32:2 each is like a shelter from the wind, a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in dry places, like the shade of a great rock in a thirsty land.

32:3 The eyes of those who see will no longer be closed, the ears of those who hear will be alert,

32:4 the heart of the hasty will learn to judge, the tongue of stammerers will speak clearly,

32:5 the fool will no more be called noble, nor the villain be styled honourable.

 

Contrasts between fool and noble

32:6 For the fool speaks folly, and his heart meditates wickedness, that he may practise godlessness and speak wild words about Yahweh, and leave the hungry man’s craving unsatisfied, and refuse drink to the thirsty.

32:7 And the villain – his villainies are evil; he devises wicked plots to ruin the poor with lies even when the cause of these lowly ones is just;

32:8 but the noble man plans only noble things and bears himself nobly.

 

A warning to idle women

32:9 Stand up, you idle women, listen to my words; you over-confident daughters, pay attention to what I say.

32:10 Within one year and a few days you will tremble, you over-confident women; the grape harvest will be over, gathering will not come again.

32:11 Shudder, you idle women, tremble, you over-confident women; strip, undress, put sackcloth round your waists.

32:12 Beat your breasts, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine,

32:13 for the soil of my people where thorns and briars grow, for all the happy houses, for the gay city.

32:14 Since the palace has been abandoned and the noisy city deserted, Ophel and Keep become caverns for ever, the playground of wild asses and the pasture of flocks.

 

Salvation from Yahweh

32:15 Once more there will be poured on us the spirit from above; then shall the wilderness be fertile land and fertile land become forest.

32:16 In the wilderness justice will come to live and integrity in the fertile land;

32:17 integrity will bring peace, justice give lasting security.

32:18 My people will live in a peaceful home, in safe houses, in quiet dwellings

32:19 – the forest shall be beaten down and the city laid low.

32:20 Happy will you be, sowing by every stream, letting ox and donkey roam free.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 33

 

Psalm of hope in Yahweh

33:1 Woe to you, ravager never ravaged, plunderer never plundered! When your ravaging is over, you shall be ravaged; when your plundering is done, you shall be plundered.

33:2 Yahweh, have pity on us, we hope in you. Be our strong arm each morning, our salvation in time of distress.

33:3 At the sound of your threat peoples flee, when you rise nations scatter,

33:4 they gather loot as the grasshopper gathers, they leap on it as locusts leap.

33:5 Yahweh is exalted, for he is enthroned above, and fills Zion with justice and integrity.

33:6 Your continuance is assured; wisdom and knowledge are riches that save, the fear of Yahweh is his treasure.

 

The intervention of Yahweh

33:7 Look, Ariel is lamenting in the streets, the ambassadors of peace weep bitterly.

33:8 The highways are deserted, no travellers use the roads. Treaties are broken, witnesses despised, there is respect for no one.

33:9 The land mourns, it pines away, Lebanon is withered with shame, Sharon is a desert, Bashan and Carmel are stripped bare.

33:10 ‘Now I stand up,’ says Yahweh ‘now I rise to my full height.

33:11 You have conceived chaff, you will give birth to straw, my breath shall devour you like fire.

33:12 ‘The peoples will be reduced to lime, like cut thorns they will be burnt in the fire.

33:13 You who are far away, listen to what I have done, and you who are near, realise my strength.’

33:14 Sinners in Zion are struck with horror and fear seizes on the godless. Which of us can live with this devouring fire, which of us exist in everlasting flames?

33:15 – He who acts with integrity, who speaks sincerely and rejects extortionate profit, who waves away bribes from his hands, shuts suggestions of murder out of his ears and closes his eyes against crime;

33:16 this man will dwell in the heights, he will find refuge in a citadel built on rock, bread will be given him, he shall not want for water.

 

The glorious future

33:17 Your eyes are going to look on a king in his beauty, they will see an immense country;

33:18 your heart will look back on its fears: where is he who counted, where is he who weighed out, where is he who counted the precious stones?

33:19 You will no longer see the overweening people, the people of obscure, unintelligible speech, of barbarous, senseless tongue.

33:20 Look on Zion, city of our feasts, your eyes will see Jerusalem as a home that is secure, a tent not to be moved: its pegs not pulled out, not one of its ropes broken.

33:21 There Yahweh is princely to us, on the banks of broad-spreading rivers, where there rows no galley, there passes no majestic ship:

33:23a its tackle hangs loose, it supports the mast no longer, it does not hoist the pennon.

33:22 For Yahweh is our judge, Yahweh our lawgiver, Yahweh our King and our saviour.

33:23b Then immense booty shall be shared out, even the lame fall to plundering,

33:24 no one living there shall say, ‘I am sickly’; the people who live there will be forgiven all their faults.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 34

 

The end of Edom

34:1 Come near and listen, all you races, pay attention all you nations, listen, earth and all that you hold, world and all that comes from you.

34:2 Yahweh is angry with all the nations, enraged with all their hordes. He has vowed them into destruction, and marked them down for slaughter.

34:3 Their dead are thrown into the streets, a stench comes up from their corpses, the mountains run with their blood, the armies of heaven rot.

34:4 The heavens are rolled up like a scroll and their armies all drop like leaves, like vine leaves falling, like falling fig leaves.

34:5 For my sword has drunk deep in the heavens… See now how it slashes through Edom, through the people I have condemned to be punished.

34:6 The sword of Yahweh is gorged with blood, it is glutted with fat, the blood of lambs and goats, the fat of the saddle of rams. For Yahweh has a sacrifice in Bozrah, a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

34:7 But instead of wild oxen, nations fall, in place of bulls, a race of mighty men. Their land is drenched with blood, its dust is sodden with fat,

34:8 for this is the day of Yahweh’s vengeance, the year of revenge for the defender of Zion.

34:9 Its streams turn into pitch, its dust into brimstone, its land becomes blazing pitch…

34:10 Never quenched night or day, its smoke goes up for ever, it shall lie waste age after age, no one will pass through it.

34:11 It will be the haunt of pelican and hedgehog, the owl and the raven will live there; over it Yahweh will stretch the measuring line of chaos and the plumbline of emptiness.

34:12 The satyrs will make their home there, its nobles will be no more, kings will not be proclaimed there, all its princes will be brought to nothing.

34:13 Thorns will grow in the palaces there, thistles and nettles in its fortresses, it will be a lair for jackals, a lodging for ostriches.

34:14 Wild cats will meet hyenas there, the satyrs will call to each other, there too will Lilith take cover seeking rest.

34:15 The viper will nest and lay eggs there, will brood and hatch its eggs; kites will gather there

34:16c and make it their meeting place.

34:16ab Search in the book of Yahweh, and read, not one of these is missing; for his mouth has ordained it, and his spirit has brought them together.

34:17 He has drawn lots for the share of each, his hand has divided the land with the line. They shall possess it for ever, and live there age after age.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 35

 

The judgement of God

35:1 Let the wilderness and the dry-lands exult, let the wasteland rejoice and bloom,

35:2 let it bring forth flowers like the jonquil, let it rejoice and sing for joy. The glory of Lebanon is bestowed on it, the splendour of Carmel and Sharon; they shall see the glory of Yahweh, the splendour of our God.

35:3 Strengthen all weary hands, steady all trembling knees

35:4 and say to all faint hearts, ‘Courage! Do not be afraid. ‘Look, your God is coming, vengeance is coming, the retribution of God; he is coming to save you.’

35:5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf unsealed,

35:6 then the lame shall leap like a deer and the tongues of the dumb sing for joy; for water gushes in the desert, streams in the wasteland,

35:7 the scorched earth becomes a lake, the parched land springs of water. The lairs where the jackals used to live become thickets of reed and papyrus…

35:8 And through it will run a highway undefiled which shall be called the Sacred Way; the unclean may not travel by it, nor fools stray along it.

35:9 No lion will be there nor any fierce beast roam about it, but the redeemed will walk there,

35:10 for those Yahweh has ransomed shall return. They will come to Zion shouting for joy, everlasting joy on their faces; joy and gladness will go with them and sorrow and lament be ended.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 36

 

APPENDIX

 

Sennacherib’s Invasion

36:1 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified towns of Judah and captured them.

36:2 From Lachish the king of Assyria sent the cupbearer-in-chief with a large force to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. The cupbearer-in-chief took up a position near the conduit of the upper pool on the road to the Fuller’s Field.

36:3 The master of the palace, Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Shebna the secretary and the herald Joah son of Asaph went out to him.

36:4 The cupbearer-in-chief said to them, ‘Say to Hezekiah, “The great king, the king of Assyria, says to you: What makes you so confident?

36:5 Do you think empty words are as good as strategy and military strength? Who are you relying on, to dare to rebel against me?

36:6 We know you are relying on that broken reed – Egypt – which pricks and pierces the hand of the man who leans on it. – That is what Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is like to all who rely on him. –

36:7 You may say to me: We rely on Yahweh our God, but are they not his high places and altars that Hezekiah has suppressed, saying to the people of Judah and Jerusalem: Here is the altar before which you must worship?

36:8 Come, make a wager with my lord the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses if you can find horsemen to ride them.

36:9 How could you repulse a single one of the least of my master’s servants? And yet you have relied on Egypt for chariots and horsemen.

36:10 And lastly, have I come up against this country to lay it waste without warrant from Yahweh? Yahweh himself said to me: March against this country and lay it waste.”‘

36:11 Eliakim, Shebna and Joah said to the cupbearer-in-chief, ‘Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it; do not speak to us in the Judaean language within earshot of the people on the ramparts’.

36:12 But the cupbearer-in-chief said, ‘Do you think my lord sent me here to say these things to your master or to you? On the contrary, it was to the people sitting on the ramparts who, like you, are doomed to eat their own dung and drink their own urine.’

36:13 Then the cupbearer-in-chief stood erect and, shouting loudly in the Judaean language, called out, ‘Listen to the words of the great king, the king of Assyria.

36:14 The king says to you: “Do not let Hezekiah delude you! He will be powerless to save you.

36:15 Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to rely on Yahweh by saying: Yahweh is sure to save us; this city will not fall into the power of the king of Assyria.”

36:16 Do not listen to Hezekiah, for the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me,

36:17 surrender to me, and every one of you will eat the fruit of his own vine and of his own fig tree and drink the water of his own cistern until I come and depart you to a country like your own, a land of corn and good wine, a land of bread and of vineyards.

36:18 Do not let Hezekiah delude you by saying: Yahweh will save you. Has any god of any nation saved his country from the power of the king of Assyria?

36:19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Where are the gods of the land of Samaria? Did they save Samaria from me?

36:20 Tell me which of all the gods of these countries have saved their countries from my hands, for Yahweh to be able to save Jerusalem?”

36:21 They kept silence and said nothing in reply, since this was the king’s order: ‘Do not answer him’ he had said.

36:22 The master of the palace, Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Shebna the secretary and the herald Joah son of Asaph, with their garments torn, went to Hezekiah and reported what the cupbearer-in-chief had said.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 37

 

The prophet Isaiah is consulted

37:1 On hearing this, King Hezekiah tore his garments, covered himself with sackcloth and went to the Temple of Yahweh.

37:2 He sent the master of the palace, Eliakim, Shebna the secretary and the elders of the priests, covered in sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.

37:3 They said to him, ‘This is what Hezekiah says, “Today is a day of suffering, of punishment, of disgrace. Children come to birth and there is no strength to bring them forth.

37:4 May Yahweh your God hear the words of the cupbearer-in-chief whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to insult the living God, and may Yahweh your God punish the words he has heard! Offer your prayer for the remnant that is left.”‘

37:5 When the ministers of King Hezekiah had come to Isaiah,

37:6 he replied, ‘Say this to your master, “Yahweh says this: Do not be afraid of the words you have heard or the blasphemies the minions of the king of Assyria have uttered against me.

37:7 I am going to put a spirit in him, and when he hears a rumour he will return to his own country and in that country I will bring him down with the sword.”‘

 

The cupbearer returns to his master

37:8 The cupbearer went back and rejoined the king of Assyria at Libnah, which he was attacking. The cupbearer had already learnt that the king of Assyria had left Lachish,

37:9 since he had received this news about Tirhakah king of Cush: ‘He has set out to fight you’.

 

Second account of Sennacherib’s activities

Sennacherib sent messengers to Hezekiah again, saying,

37:10 ‘Tell this to Hezekiah king of Judah, “Do not let your God on whom you are relying deceive you when he says: Jerusalem shall not fall into the power of the king of Assyria.

37:11 You have learnt by now what the kings of Assyria have done to every country, putting them all under the ban. Are you likely to be spared?

37:12 What power to help did the gods have of those nations my fathers destroyed, Gozen, Haran Rezeph and the Edenites who were in Tel Basar?

37:13 Where are the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the kings of Sepharvaim, of Hena, of Ivvah?”‘

37:14 Hezekiah took the letter from the hands of the messengers and read it; he then went up to the Temple of Yahweh and spread it out before Yahweh.

37:15 Hezekiah said this prayer in the presence of Yahweh,

37:16 ‘Yahweh Sabaoth, God of Israel, enthroned on the cherubs, you alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth, you have made heaven and earth.

37:17 ‘Give ear, Yahweh, and listen. Open your eyes, Yahweh, and see. Hear the words of Sennacherib who has sent to insult the living God.

37:18 It is true, Yahweh, that the kings of Assyria have exterminated all the nations and their countries,

37:19 they have thrown their gods on the fire, for these were not gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, and hence they have destroyed them.

37:20 But now, Yahweh our God, save us from his hand, and let all the kingdoms of the earth know that you alone are God, Yahweh.

 

Isaiah intervenes

37:21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah. ‘This’ he said ‘is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says in answer to the prayer you have addressed to me about Sennacherib king of Assyria.

37:22 Here is the oracle that Yahweh has pronounced against him:

37:23 “She despises you, she scorns you, the virgin, daughter of Zion; she tosses her head behind you, the daughter of Jerusalem. Whom have you insulted, whom did you blaspheme? Against whom raised your voice and lifted your insolent eyes? Against the Holy One of Israel.

37:24 Through your minions you have insulted the Lord you have said: With my many chariots

I have climbed the tops of mountains, the utmost peaks of Lebanon. I have felled its tall forest of cedars, its finest cypresses. I have reached its furthest recesses, its forest garden.

37:25 Yes I have dug wells and drunk of alien waters; I have put down my feet, and have dried up all the rivers of Egypt.

37:26 “Do you hear? Long ago I planned for it, from days of old I designed it, now I carry it out. Your part was to bring down in heaps of ruins fortified cities.

37:27 Their inhabitants, hands feeble, dismayed, discomfited, were like plants of the field, like tender grass, like grass of housetop and meadow, under the east wind. I know whenever you rise

37:28 and whenever you sit, your going out, your coming in.

37:29 Because you have raved against me and your insolence has come to my ears, I will put my ring through your nostrils, my bit between your lips, to make you return by the road on which you came.

 

A sign for Hezekiah

37:30 “This shall be the sign for you: This year will be eaten the self-sown grain, next year what sprouts in the fallow, but in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

37:31 The surviving remnant of the House of Judah shall bring forth new roots below and fruits above.

37:32 For a remnant shall go out from Jerusalem, and survivors from Mount Zion. The jealous love of Yahweh Sabaoth will accomplish this.

 

An oracle on Assyria

37:33 ‘This, then, is what Yahweh says about the king of Assyria: “He will not enter this city, he will let fly no arrow against it, confront it with no shield, throw up no earthwork against it.

37:34 By the road that he came on he will return; he shall not enter this city. It is Yahweh who speaks.

37:35 I will protect this city and save it for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”‘

 

Sennacherib is punished

37:36 That same night the angel of Yahweh went out and struck down a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. In the early morning, when it was time to get up, there they lay; so many corpses.

37:37 Sennacherib struck camp and left; he returned home and stayed in Nineveh.

37:38 One day when he was worshipping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. His son Esarhaddon succeeded him.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 38

 

The illness and cure of Hezekiah

38:1 In those days Hezekiah fell ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came and said to him, ‘Yahweh says this, “Put your affairs in order, for you are going to die, you will not live”‘.

38:2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and addressed this prayer to Yahweh,

38:3 ‘Ah, Yahweh, remember, I beg you, how I have behaved faithfully and with sincerity of heart in your presence and done what is right in your eyes’. And Hezekiah shed many tears.

38:4 Then the word of Yahweh came to Isaiah,

38:5 ‘Go and say to Hezekiah, “Yahweh, the God of David your ancestor, says this: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will cure you: in three days’ time you shall go up to the Temple of Yahweh. I will add fifteen years to your life.

38:6 I will save you from the hands of the king of Assyria, I will protect this city.”‘

38:21 ‘Bring a fig poultice,’ Isaiah said ‘apply it to the ulcer and he will recover.’

38:22 Hezekiah said, ‘What is the sign to tell me that I shall be going up to the Temple of Yahweh?’

38:7 ‘Here’ Isaiah replied ‘is the sign from Yahweh that he will do what he has said.

38:8 Look, I shall make the shadow cast by the declining sun go back ten steps on the steps of Ahaz.’ And the sun went back the ten steps by which it had declined.

 

The canticle of Hezekiah

38:9 Canticle of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery.

38:10 I said: In the noon of my life I have to depart for the gates of Sheol, I am deprived of the rest of my years.

38:11 I said: I shall never see Yahweh again in the land of the living, never again look on any man of those who inhabit the earth.

38:12 My tent is pulled up, and thrown away like the tent of a shepherd; like a weaver you roll up my life to cut it from the loom. From dawn to night you are compassing my end,

38:13 I cry aloud until the morning; like a lion he crushes all my bones, from dawn to night you are compassing my end.

38:14 I am twittering like a swallow, I am moaning like a dove, my eyes turn to the heights, take care of me, be my safeguard.

38:15 What can I say? Of what can I speak to him? It is he who is at work; I will give glory to you all the years of my life for my sufferings.

38:16 Lord, my heart will live for you, my spirit will live for you alone. You will cure me and give me life,

38:17 my suffering will turn to health. It is you who have kept my soul from the pit of nothingness, you have thrust all my sins behind your back.

38:18 For Sheol does not praise you, Death does not extol you; those who go down to the pit do not go on trusting in your faithfulness.

38:19 The living, the living are the ones who praise you, as I do today. Fathers tell their sons about your faithfulness.

38:20 Yahweh, come to my help and we will make our harps resound all the days of our life in front of the Temple of Yahweh.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 39

 

The Babylonian embassy

39:1 At that time, the king of Babylon, Merodach-baladan son of Baladan, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard of his illness and recovery.

39:2 Hezekiah was delighted at this and showed the messengers his treasure-house, the silver, gold, spices, precious oil, his armoury too, and everything there was in his storehouses. There was nothing Hezekiah did not show them in his palace or in his whole domain.

39:3 Then the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and asked him, ‘What have these men said, and where have they come from?’ Hezekiah answered, ‘They have come from a faraway country, from Babylon’.

39:4 Isaiah said, ‘What have they seen in your palace?’ ‘They have seen everything in my palace’ Hezekiah answered. ‘There is nothing in my storehouses that I have not shown them.’

39:5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, ‘Listen to the word of Yahweh Sabaoth,

39:6 “The days are coming when everything in your palace, everything that your ancestors have amassed until now, will be carried off to Babylon. Not a thing will be left” says Yahweh.

39:7 “Sons sprung from you, sons begotten by you, will be chosen to be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”‘

39:8 Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ‘This word of Yahweh that you announce is reassuring’, for he was thinking, ‘There is going to be peace and security during my own lifetime.’

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 40

 

1. THE BOOK OF THE CONSOLATION OF ISRAEL

 

The calling of the prophet

40:1 ‘Console my people, console them’ says your God.

40:2 ‘Speak to the heart of Jerusalem and call to her that her time of service is ended, that her sin is atoned for, that she has received from the hand of Yahweh double punishment for all her crimes.’

40:3 A voice cries, ‘Prepare in the wilderness a way for Yahweh. Make a straight highway for our God across the desert.

40:4 Let every valley be filled in, every mountain and hill be laid low, let every cliff become a plain, and the ridges a valley;

40:5 then the glory of Yahweh shall be revealed and all mankind shall see it; for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken.’

40:6 A voice commands: ‘Cry!’ and I answered, ‘What shall I cry?’ – ‘All flesh is grass and its beauty like the wild flower’s.

40:7 The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of Yahweh blows on them. (The grass is without doubt the people.)

40:8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God remains for ever.’

 

Prophecy of the theophany

40:9 Go up on a high mountain, joyful messenger to Zion. Shout with a loud voice, joyful messenger to Jerusalem. Shout without fear, say to the towns of Judah, ‘Here is your God’.

40:10 Here is the Lord Yahweh coming with power, his arm subduing all things to him. The prize of his victory is with him, his trophies all go before him.

40:11 He is like a shepherd feeding his flock, gathering lambs in his arms, holding them against his breast and leading to their rest the mother ewe.

 

The majesty of God

40:12 Who was it measured the water of the sea in the hollow of his hand and calculated the dimensions of the heavens, gauged the whole earth to the bushel, weighed the mountains in scales, the hills in a balance?

40:13 Who could have advised the spirit of Yahweh, what counsellor could have instructed him?

40:14 Whom has he consulted to enlighten him, and to learn the path of justice and discover the most skilful ways?

40:15 See, the nations are like a drop on the pail’s rim, they count as a grain of dust on the scales. See, the islands weigh no more than fine powder.

40:16 Lebanon is not enough for the fires nor its beasts for the holocaust.

40:17 All the nations are as nothing in his presence, for him they count as nothingness and emptiness.

40:18 To whom could you liken God? What image could you contrive of him?

40:19 A craftsman casts the figure, a goldsmith plates it with gold and casts silver chains for it.

40:20c For it a clever sculptor seeks

40:20a precious palm wood,

40:20b selects wood that will not decay

40:20d to set up a sturdy image.

40:21 Did you not know, had you not heard? Was it not told you from the beginning? Have you not understood how the earth was founded?

40:22 He lives above the circle of the earth, its inhabitants look like grasshoppers. He has stretched out the heavens like a cloth, spread them like a tent for men to live in.

40:23 He reduces princes to nothing, he annihilates the rulers of the world.

40:24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, than he blows on them. Then they wither and the storm carries them off like straw.

40:25 ‘To whom could you liken me and who could be my equal?’ says the Holy One.

40:26 Lift your eyes and look. Who made these stars if not he who drills them like an army, calling each one by name? So mighty is his power, so great his strength, that not one fails to answer.

 

The might of Providence

40:27 How can you say, Jacob, how can you insist, Israel, ‘My destiny is hidden from Yahweh, my rights are ignored by my God’?

40:28 Did you not know? Had you not heard? Yahweh is an everlasting God, he created the boundaries of the earth. He does not grow tired or weary, his understanding is beyond fathoming.

40:29 He gives strength to the wearied, he strengthens the powerless.

40:30 Young men may grow tired and weary, youths may stumble,

40:31 but those who hope in Yahweh renew their strength, they put out wings like eagles. They run and do not grow weary, walk and never tire.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 41

 

The calling of Cyrus[*a]

41:1 Islands, keep silence before me, let the people renew their strength. Let them come forward and speak, let us appear together for judgement.

41:2 ‘Who roused from the east him that victory hails at every step? Who presents him with nations, subdues kings to him? His sword makes dust of them and his bow scatters them like straw.

41:3 ‘He pursues them and advances unhindered, his feet scarcely touching the road.

41:4 ‘Who is the author of this deed if not he who calls the generations from the beginning? I, Yahweh, who am the first and shall be with the last.’

41:5 The islands see him and take fright, the limits of the earth tremble: they approach, they are here.

41:6 Men help one another, they say to each other, ‘Take heart!’

41:7 The craftsman encourages the goldsmith, the man who beats out with the hammer encourages the man who strikes the anvil. Of the soldering he says, ‘It is sound’, and fastens the idol with nails to keep it steady.[*b]

 

God is with Israel

41:8 You, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, descendant of Abraham my friend.

41:9 You whom I brought from the confines of the earth and called from the ends of the world; you to whom I said, ‘You are my servant, I have chosen you, not rejected you’,

41:10 do not be afraid, for I am with you; stop being anxious and watchful, for I am your God. I give you strength, I bring you help, I uphold you with my victorious right hand.

41:11 Yes, all those who raged against you, shall be put to shame and confusion; they who fought against you shall be destroyed, and perish.

41:12 You will seek but never find them, those enemies of yours. They shall be destroyed and brought to nothing, those who made war on you.

41:13 For I, Yahweh, your God, I am holding you by the right hand; I tell you, ‘Do not be afraid, I will help you’.

41:14 Do not be afraid, Jacob, poor worm, Israel, puny mite. I will help you – it is Yahweh who speaks – the Holy One of Israel is your redeemer.

41:15 See, I turn you into a threshing-sled, new, with doubled teeth; you shall thresh and crush the mountains, and turn the hills to chaff.

41:16 You shall winnow them and the wind will blow them away, the gale will scatter them.

But you yourself will rejoice in Yahweh, and glory in the Holy One of Israel.

 

Miracles of the new Exodus

41:17 The poor and needy ask for water, and there is none, their tongue is parched with thirst. I, Yahweh, will answer them, I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them.

41:18 I will make rivers well up on barren heights, and fountains in the midst of valleys; turn the wilderness into a lake, and dry ground into waterspring.

41:19 In the wilderness I will put cedar trees, acacias, myrtles, olives. In the desert I will plant juniper, plane tree and cypress side by side;

41:20 so that men may see and know, may all observe and understand that the hand of Yahweh has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it.

 

Yahweh is the only God

41:21 ‘Produce your defence’, says Yahweh ‘present your case’ says Jacob’s king.

41:22 ‘Let them come forward and tell us what is going to happen next. What could they tell us of the past to make it worth our notice? Or will you discourse to us of future things and let us know their outcome?

41:23 Tell us what is to happen in the future, and so convince us you are gods. Do something at least so that we can note it and all see it.

41:24 No, you are nothing and your works are nothingness; to choose you would be an outrage.’

 

Yahweh foretells victory for Cyrus

41:25 I roused him from the north to come, from the rising sun I summoned him by name. He has trampled the satraps like mortar, like a potter treading clay.

41:26 Who predicted this from the beginning so we might know it, who foretold it long ago so we might say, ‘It is right’? No one predicted it, no, no one proclaimed it, no, no one heard you speak.

41:27 I had said in Zion beforehand, ‘Here they come!’ I had sent a bearer of good news to Jerusalem.

41:28 I looked, but there was no one, there was not a single counsellor among them who, if I asked, could give an answer.

41:29 Taken altogether they are nothing; their works are nothingness, their images wind and emptiness.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 42

 

First song of the servant of Yahweh: part one

42:1 Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom my soul delights. I have endowed him with my spirit that he may bring true justice to the nations.

42:2 He does not cry out or shout aloud, or make his voice heard in the streets.

42:3 He does not break the crushed reed, nor quench the wavering flame. Faithfully he brings true justice;

42:4 he will neither waver, nor be crushed until true justice is established on earth, for the islands are awaiting his law.

 

Part two

42:5 Thus says God, Yahweh, he who created the heavens and spread them out, who gave shape to the earth and what comes from it, who gave breath to its people and life to the creatures that move in it:

42:6 I, Yahweh, have called you to serve the cause of right; I have taken you by the hand and formed you; I have appointed you as covenant of the people and light of the nations,

42:7 to open the eyes of the blind, to free captives from prison, and those who live in darkness from the dungeon.

42:8 My name is Yahweh, I will not yield my glory to another, nor my honour to idols.

42:9 See how former predictions have come true. Fresh things I now foretell; before they appear I tell you of them.

 

Hymn of triumph

42:10 Sing a new hymn to Yahweh! Let his praise resound from the ends of the earth, let the sea and all that it holds sing his praises, the islands and those who inhabit them.

42:11 Let the desert and its cities raise their voice, the camp where Kedar lives. Let the inhabitants of Sela cry aloud and shout from the mountain tops.

42:12 Let them give glory to Yahweh and let the people of the islands voice his praise.

42:13 Yahweh advances like a hero, his fury is stirred like a warrior’s. He gives the war shout, raises the hue and cry, marches valiantly against his foes.

42:14 ‘From the beginning I have been silent, I have kept quiet, held myself in check. I groan like a woman in labour, I suffocate, I stifle.

42:15 ‘I will turn mountain and hill to desert, wither all their greenery, turn rivers to pools and dry up lakes.

42:16 ‘But I will make the blind walk along the road and lead them along paths. I will turn darkness into light before them and rocky places into level tracks. These things I will do, and not leave them undone.’

42:17 All who trust in idols shall withdraw in shame, all those who say to images of cast metal, ‘You are our gods’.

 

The blinding of the people

42:18 Listen, you deaf! Look and see, you blind!

42:19 Who so blind as my servant, so deaf as the messenger I send? (Who so blind as my envoy, so deaf as the servant of Yahweh?)

42:20 You have seen many things but not observed them; your ears are open but you do not hear.

42:21 It is Yahweh’s will, for the sake of his integrity, to make his Law great and glorious.

42:22 But this is a people all pillaged and plundered, trapped in caves, hidden in dungeons. They are looted, with no one to rescue them, robbed, with no one to say, ‘Give it back!’

42:23 Which of you listening to this, will pay attention and mark it, against the time to come?

42:24 Who handed Jacob over to the robber, Israel to the pillagers? Was it not Yahweh? We had sinned against him, we had refused to follow his ways or obey his Law.

42:25 On him he poured out the blaze of his anger and the furies of war. It enveloped him in flames and he did not notice, it burned him up, and he gave it no thought.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 43

 

The liberation of Israel

43:1 But now, thus says Yahweh, who created you, Jacob, who formed you, Israel: Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name, you are mine.

43:2 Should you pass through the sea, I will be with you; or through rivers, they will not swallow you up. Should you walk through fire, you will not be scorched and the flames will not burn you.

43:3 For I am Yahweh, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your saviour. I give Egypt for your ransom, and exchange Cush and Seba for you.

43:4 Because you are precious in my eyes, because you are honoured and I love you, I give men in exchange for you, peoples in return for your life.

43:5 Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bring your offspring from the east, and gather you from the west.

43:6 To the north I will say, ‘Give them up’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them’. Bring back my sons from far away, my daughters from the end of the earth,

43:7 all those who bear my name, whom I have created for my glory, whom I have formed, whom I have made.

43:8 Bring forward the people that is blind, yet has eyes, that is deaf and yet has ears.

43:9 Let all the nations muster and assemble with every race. Which of them ever declared this or foretold this in the past? Let them bring their witnesses to prove them right, let men hear them so that they may say, ‘It is true’.

43:10 You yourselves are my witnesses – it is Yahweh who speaks – my servants whom I have chosen, that men may know and believe me and understand that it is I. No god was formed before me, nor will be after me.

43:11 I, I am Yahweh, there is no other saviour but me.

43:12 It is I who have spoken, have saved, have made the proclamation, not any strangers among you. You are my witnesses – it is Yahweh who speaks – and I, I am your God,

43:13 I am he from eternity. No one can deliver from my hand, I act and no one can reverse it.

 

Babylon will be destroyed

43:14 Thus says Yahweh, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: For your sake I send an army against Babylon; I will knock down the prison bars and the Chaldaeans will break into laments.

43:15 I am Yahweh, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your king.

 

 Miracles of the new Exodus

43:16 Thus says Yahweh, who made a way through the sea, – a path in the great waters;

43:17 who put chariots and horse in the field and a powerful army, which lay there never to rise again, snuffed out, put out like a wick:

43:18 No need to recall the past, no need to think about what was done before.

43:19 See, I am doing a new deed, even now it comes to light; can you not see it? Yes, I am making a road in the wilderness, paths in the wilds.

43:20 The wild beasts will honour me, jackals and ostriches, because I am putting water in the wilderness (rivers in the wild) to give my chosen people drink.

43:21 The people I have formed for myself will sing my praises.

 

 The Ingratitude of Israel

43:22 Jacob, you have not invoked me, you have not troubled yourself, Israel, on my behalf.

43:23 You have not brought me your sheep for holocausts, nor honoured me with sacrifices. I have never burdened you with oblations, nor troubled you for incense.

43:24 You have spent no money on fragrant cane for me, you have not filled me with the fat of your sacrifices. Instead you have burdened me with your sins, troubled me with your iniquities.

43:25 I it is, I it is, who must blot out everything and not remember your sins.

43:26 Cast your mind back, let us judge this together; state your own case and prove your innocence.

43:27 Your first father[*a] sinned, your mediators have rebelled against me.

43:28 Your princes have profaned my sanctuary. So I have handed Jacob over to the ban, and Israel to insults.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 44

 

The blessing for Israel

44:1 But now listen, Jacob my servant,

44:2 Israel whom I have chosen. Thus says Yahweh who made you, who formed you from the womb, who is your help: Do not be afraid, Jacob my servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen.

44:3 For I will pour out water on the thirsty soil, streams on the dry ground. I will pour my spirit on your descendants, my blessing on your children.

44:4 They shall grow like grass where there is plenty of water, like poplars by running streams.

44:5 One man will say, ‘I belong to Yahweh’, another will call himself by Jacob’s name. On his hand another will write ‘Yahweh’ and be surnamed ‘Israel’.

 

Monotheism without compromise

44:6 Thus says Israel’s king and his redeemer, Yahweh Sabaoth: I am the first and the last; there is no other God besides me.

44:7 Who is like me? Let him stand up and speak, let him show himself and argue it out before me. Who from the very beginning foretold the future? Let them tell us what is yet to come.

44:8 Have no fear, do not be afraid: have I not told you and revealed it long ago? You are my witnesses, is there any other God besides me? There is no Rock; I know of none.

 

A satire on idolatry

44:9 They are all makers of idols; they are nothing and the works they prize are useless. Their servants see nothing, they understand nothing, and so they will be put to shame.

44:10 Who ever fashioned a god or cast an image without hope of gain?

44:11 Watch how its devotees will be put to shame, how its sculptors will blush. Let them all come together, let them appear in court. They will be both terrified and ashamed.

44:12 The blacksmith works on it over the fire and beats it into shape with a hammer. He works on it with his strong arm till he is hungry and tired; drinking no water, he is exhausted.

44:13 The wood carver takes his measurements, outlines the image with chalk, carves it with chisels, following the outline with dividers. He shapes it to human proportions, and gives it a human face, for it to live in a temple.

44:14 He cut down a cedar, or else took a cypress or an oak which he selected from the trees in the forest, or maybe he planted a cedar and the rain made it grow.

44:15 For the common man it is so much fuel; he uses it to warm himself, he also burns it to bake his bread. But this fellow makes a god of it and worships it; he makes an idol of it and bows down before it.

44:16 Half of it he burns in the fire, on the live embers he roasts meat, eats it and is replete. He warms himself too. ‘Ah!’ says he ‘I am warm; I have a fire here!’

44:17 With the rest he makes his god, his idol; he bows down before it and worships it and prays to it. ‘Save me,’ he says ‘because you are my god.’

44:18 They know nothing, understand nothing. Their eyes are shut to all seeing, their heart to all reason.

44:19 They never think, they lack the knowledge and wit to say, ‘I burned half of it on the fire, I baked bread on the live embers, I roasted meat and ate it, and am I to make some abomination of what remains? Am I to bow down before a block of wood?’

44:20 A man who hankers after ashes has a deluded heart and is led astray. He will never free his soul, or say, ‘What I have in my hand is nothing but a lie!’

 

Oracle

44:21 Remember these things, Jacob, and that you are my servant, Israel. I have formed you, you are my servant; Israel, I will not forget you.

44:22 I have dispelled your faults like a cloud, your sins like a mist. Come back to me, for I have redeemed you.

 

Song of joy

44:23 Shout for joy, you heavens, for Yahweh has been at work! Shout aloud, you earth below! Shout for joy, you mountains, and you, forest and all your trees! For Yahweh has redeemed Jacob and displayed his glory in Israel.

 

The might of Yahweh

44:24 Thus says Yahweh, your redeemer, he who formed you in the womb: I, myself, Yahweh, made all things, I alone spread out the heavens. When I gave the earth shape, did anyone help me?

44:25 I am he who foils the omens of wizards and makes fools of diviners, who makes sages recant and shows the nonsense of their knowledge,

44:26 who confirms the word of my servant and makes the plans of my envoys succeed. I am he who says of Jerusalem, ‘Let her be inhabited’, of the towns of Judah, ‘Let them be rebuilt’, and I will raise their ruins once more.

44:27 I am he who says to the ocean, ‘Be dry. I will dry up your rivers.’

44:28 I am he who says of Cyrus, ‘My shepherd – he will fulfil my whole purpose, saying of Jerusalem, “Let her be rebuilt”, and of the Temple, “Let your foundation be laid”‘.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 45

 

Oracle in favour of Cyrus

45:1 Thus says Yahweh to his anointed, to Cyrus, whom he has taken by his right hand to subdue nations before him and strip the loins of kings,[*a] to force gateways before him that their gates be closed no more:

45:2 I will go before you levelling the heights. I will shatter the bronze gateways, smash the iron bars.

45:3 I will give you the hidden treasures, the secret hoards, that you may know that I am Yahweh, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.

45:4 It is for the sake of my servant Jacob, of Israel my chosen one, that I have called you by your name, conferring a title though you do not know me.

45:5 I am Yahweh, unrivalled; there is no other God besides me. Though you do not know me, I arm you

45:6 that men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun that, apart from me, all is nothing.

 

Oracle of salvation

I am Yahweh, unrivalled,

45:7 I form the light and create the dark. I make good fortune and create calamity, it is I, Yahweh, who do all this.

45:8 Send victory like a dew, you heavens, and let the clouds rain it down. Let the earth open for salvation to spring up. Let deliverance, too, bud forth which I, Yahweh, shall create.

 

The supreme power of Yahweh

45:9 Can it argue with the man who fashioned it, one vessel among earthen vessels? Does the clay say to its fashioner, ‘What are you making?’, does the thing he shaped say, ‘You have no skill’?

45:10 Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What have you begotten?’ or to a woman, ‘To what have you given birth?’

45:11 Thus says Yahweh, the Holy One, he who fashions Israel: Is it for you to question me about my children and to dictate to me what my hands should do?

45:12 I it was who made the earth, and created man who is on it. I it was who spread out the heavens with my hands and now give orders to their whole array.

45:13 I it was who roused him to victory, I levelled the way for him. He will rebuild my city, will bring my exiles back without ransom or indemnity, so says Yahweh Sabaoth.

 

The heathen will rally to Yahweh

45:14 Thus says Yahweh: The peasants of Egypt and the traders of Cush, and the tall men of Seba, will submit to you and be yours; they will follow you in chains. They will bow down before you, they will pray to you: ‘With you alone is God, and he has no rival; there is no other god’.

45:15 Truly, God is hidden with you, the God of Israel, the saviour.

45:16 Those who opposed you will be disgraced and humiliated; the makers of idols will go away confounded.

45:17 Israel will be saved by Yahweh, saved everlastingly. You will never be disgraced or humiliated for ever and ever.

 

Evidence of the work of Yahweh

45:18 Yes, thus says Yahweh, creator of the heavens, who is God, who formed the earth and made it, who set it firm, created it no chaos, but a place to be lived in:

45:19 ‘I am Yahweh, unrivalled, I have not spoken in secret in some corner of a darkened land. I have not said to Jacob’s descendants, “Seek me in chaos”. I, Yahweh, speak with directness I express myself with clarity.’

 

Yahweh is the God of all

45:20 Assemble, come, gather together, survivors of the nations. They are ignorant, those who carry about their idol of wood, those who pray to a god that cannot save.

45:21 Speak up, present your case, consult with each other. ‘Who foretold this and revealed it in the past? Am I not Yahweh? There is no other god besides me, a God of integrity and a saviour; there is none apart from me.

45:22 Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God unrivalled.

45:23 ‘By my own self I swear it; what comes from my mouth is truth, a word irrevocable: before me every knee shall bend, by me every tongue shall swear,

45:24 saying, “From Yahweh alone come victory and strength”. To him shall come, ashamed, all who raged against him.

45:25 Victorious and glorious through Yahweh shall be all the descendants of Israel.’

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 46

 

The fall of Bel

46:1 Bel is crouching. Nebo cringing.[*a] Their idols are being loaded on animals, on beasts of burden, carried off like bundles on weary beasts.

46:2 They are cringing and crouching together, powerless to save the ones who carry them, as they themselves go off into captivity.

46:3 ‘Listen to me, House of Jacob, all you who remain of the House of Israel, you who have been carried since birth, whom I have carried since the time you were born.

46:4 ‘In your old age I shall be still the same, when your hair is grey I shall still support you. I have already done so, I have carried you, I shall still support and deliver you.’

 

Yahweh is without equal

46:5 To whom can you compare me, equate me, to whom claim I am similar, or comparable?

46:6 These prodigals weigh out gold from their purses and silver on the scales. They engage a goldsmith to make a god then worship and prostrate themselves before it.

46:7 They lift it on their shoulders and carry it, and put it where it is meant to stand. It never moves from the spot. You may invoke it, it never replies, It never saves anyone in trouble.

 

Yahweh is lord of the future

46:8 Remember this and be dismayed, stir your memories again, you sinners,

46:9 remember things long past. I am God unrivalled God who has no like.

46:10 From the beginning I foretold the future, and predicted beforehand what is to be. I say: My purpose shall last; I will do whatever I choose.

46:11 I call a bird of prey from the east, my man of destiny from a far country. No sooner is it said than done, no sooner planned than performed.

46:12 Listen to me, faint hearts, who feel far from victory.

46:13 I bring my victory near, already it is close, my salvation will not be late. I will give salvation to Zion, my glory shall be for Israel.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 47

 

Lament for Babylon

47:1 Down with you! Sit in the dust, virgin, daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground, dethroned, daughter of the Chaldaeans. Never again will you be called tender and delicate.

47:2 Take the millstones, grind the meal. Remove your veil, tie up your skirt, uncover your legs. Wade through rivers.

47:3 Let your nakedness be seen, and your shame exposed. I am going to take vengeance and no one can stop me.

47:4 Our redeemer, Yahweh Sabaoth his name, the Holy One of Israel, says:

47:5 Sit in silence and creep into shadows, daughter of the Chaldaeans, for you will no longer be called sovereign lady of the kingdoms.

47:6 I was angry with my people, I had profaned my heritage. I had surrendered it into your hands, but you showed them no mercy. On the aged you laid your crushing yoke.

47:7 You said, ‘For ever I shall be sovereign lady’. You never took these things to heart or pondered on their outcome.

47:8 So listen now, voluptuous woman, lolling at ease and saying to yourself, ‘I, and none besides me. I shall never be widowed, never know loss of children.’

47:9 Yet both these things shall happen to you both suddenly and on the same day. Loss of children, widowhood, at once will come to you; in spite of all your witchcraft and the power of all your spells.

47:10 You were bold in your wickedness and said, ‘There is no one to see me’. That wisdom and knowledge of yours led you astray. You said to yourself, ‘I, and none besides me’.

47:11 A calamity shall fall on you which you will not be able to charm away, a disaster shall overtake you which you will not be able to avert, unforeseen ruin will suddenly descend on you.

47:12 Keep to your spells then, and all your sorceries, for which you have worn yourself out since your youth. Do you think they will help you? Do you think they will make anyone nervous?

47:13 You have spent weary hours with your many advisers. Let them come forward now and save you, these who analyse the heavens, who study the stars and announce month by month what will happen to you next.

47:14 Oh, they will be like wisps of straw and the fire will burn them. They will not save their lives from the power of the flame. No embers these, for baking, no fireside to sit by.

47:15 This is what your wizards will be for you, those men for whom you have worn yourself out since your youth. They will all go off, each his own way, powerless to save you.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 48

 

Yahweh acts alone and is sole master of the future

48:1 Listen to this, House of Jacob, you who bear the name of Israel, and have sprung from the seed of Judah; you who swear by the name of Yahweh and invoke the God of Israel though not in good faith or uprightness –

48:2 calling yourselves after the holy city and bolstering yourselves on the God of Israel, whose name is Yahweh Sabaoth.

48:3 Things now past I once revealed long ago, they went out from my mouth and I proclaimed them; then suddenly I acted and they happened.

48:4 For I knew you to be obstinate, your neck an iron bar, your forehead bronze.

48:5 And so I revealed things beforehand, before they happened I announced them to you, so that you could not say, ‘My idol was the one that performed them, it was my carved image, my image of cast metal, that decreed them’.

48:6 You have heard and seen all this, will you not admit it? Now I am revealing new things to you, things hidden and unknown to you,

48:7 created just now, this very moment, of these things you have heard nothing until now, so that you cannot say, ‘Oh yes, I knew all this’.

48:8 You had never heard, you did not know, I had not opened your ear beforehand; for I knew how treacherous you were, and that you have deserved the name of rebel from your birth.

48:9 For the sake of my name I deferred my anger, for the sake of my honour I curbed it; I did not destroy you.

48:10 And now I have put you in the fire like silver, I have tested you in the furnace of distress.

48:11 For my sake and my sake only have I acted – is my name to be profaned? Never will I yield my glory to another.

 

Cyrus is the beloved of Yahweh

48:12 Listen to me, Jacob, Israel whom I have called: I am the first, I am also the last.

48:13 My hand laid the foundations of earth and my right hand spread out the heavens. I summon them and they all come forward together.

48:14 Assemble, all of you, and listen; which of them has foretold this? ‘My beloved will perform my pleasure with Babylon and the offspring of the Chaldaeans.’

48:15 I, yes I myself, have spoken and summoned him, brought him and prospered his plans.

48:16 Come near and listen to this: from the beginning I have never spoken to you obscurely, and all the time these things have been happening, I have been present. – And now the Lord Yahweh, with his spirit, sends me.

 

What Yahweh had intended for Israel

48:17 Thus says Yahweh, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I, Yahweh, your God, teach you what is good for you, I lead you in the way that you must go.

48:18 If only you had been alert to my commandments, your happiness would have been like a river, your integrity like the waves of the sea.

48:19 Your children would have been numbered like the sand, your descendants as many as its grains. Never would your name have been cut off or blotted out before me.

 

A song of departure from Babylon

48:20 Go away from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldaeans! Declare this with cries of joy and proclaim it, send it out to the ends of the earth. Say, ‘Yahweh has redeemed his servant Jacob’.

48:21 Those he led through the deserts never went thirsty; he made water spring for them from the rock, he split the rock and water flowed.

48:22 There is no happiness, says Yahweh, for the wicked.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 49

 

Second song of the servant of Yahweh

49:1 Islands, listen to me, pay attention, remotest peoples. Yahweh called me before I was born, from my mother’s womb he pronounced my name.

49:2 He made my mouth a sharp sword, and hid me in the shadow of his hand. He made me into a sharpened arrow, and concealed me in his quiver.

49:3 He said to me, ‘You are my servant (Israel) in whom I shall be glorified’;

49:4 while I was thinking, ‘I have toiled in vain, I have exhausted myself for nothing’; and all the while my cause was with Yahweh, my reward with my God.

49:5b I was honoured in the eyes of Yahweh, my God was my strength.

49:5a And now Yahweh has spoken, he who formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, to gather Israel to him:

49:6 ‘It is not enough for you to be my servant, to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back the survivors of Israel; I will make you the light of the nations so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth’.

 

The marvellous epic of the return

49:7 Thus says Yahweh, the redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to him whose life is despised, whom the nations loathe, to the slave of despots: Kings will stand up when they see you, and princes will bow, for the sake of Yahweh who has been faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.

49:8 Thus says Yahweh: At the favourable time I will answer you, on the day of salvation I will help you. (I have formed you and have appointed you as covenant of the people.) I will restore the land and assign you the estates that lie waste.

49:9 I will say to the prisoners, ‘Come out’, to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves’. On every roadway they will graze, and each bare height shall be their pasture.

49:10 They will never hunger or thirst, scorching wind and sun shall never plague them; for he who pities them will lead them and guide them to springs of water.

49:11 I will make a highway of all the mountains, and the high roads shall be banked up.

49:12 Some are on their way from afar, others from the north and the west, others from the land of Sinim.[*a]

49:13 Shout for joy, you heavens; exult, you earth! You mountains, break into happy cries! For Yahweh consoles his people and takes pity on those who are afflicted.

49:14 For Zion was saying, ‘Yahweh has abandoned me, the Lord has forgotten me’.

49:15 Does a woman forget her baby at the breast, or fail to cherish the son of her womb? Yet even if these forget, I will never forget you.

49:16 See, I have branded you on the palms of my hands, Your ramparts are always under my eye.

49:17 Your rebuilders make haste, and your destroyers and despoilers depart.

49:18 Look round about you, look, all are assembling, coming to you. By my life – it is Yahweh who speaks – you will wear these as your jewels, they will adorn you as brides are adorned;

49:19 for your desolate places and your ruins and your devastated country will now be too small for all your inhabitants, now that your devourers are far away.

49:20 Once more they will speak in your hearing, those sons you thought were lost, ‘This place is too small for me, give me more space to live in.

49:21 You will then say in your heart, ‘Who has borne me these? I was childless and barren, who has brought these up? I was left all alone, and now, where do these come from?’

49:22 Thus speaks the Lord Yahweh: I beckon to the nations and hoist my signal for the peoples. They will bring back your sons in the cloak, they will take your daughters on their shoulders.

49:23 Kings will be your fosterfathers, their queens your nursing mothers. They will fall prostrate before you, faces to the ground, and lick the dust at your feet. You shall then know that I am Yahweh; and that those who hope in me will not be put to shame.

49:24 Can spoil be snatched from heroes, or captives escape from a soldier?

49:25 Yes, thus says Yahweh: The hero’s captive will be snatched away, the soldier’s spoil escape. I myself will fight with those who fight you, and I myself will save your children.

49:26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh, they shall get as drunk on their own blood as on new wine. Then all mankind shall know that I, Yahweh, am your saviour and that your redeemer is the Mighty One of Jacob.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 50

 

The offer of salvation remains open

50:1 Thus says Yahweh: Where is your mother’s writ of divorce by which I dismissed her? Or to which of my creditors have I sold you? You were sold for your own crimes, for your own faults your mother was dismissed.

50:2 Why did I find no one when I came? Why did no one answer when I called? Is my hand too short to redeem? Have I not strength to save? With one threat I can dry the sea, and turn rivers to desert; so that their fish shrivel up for want of water and die of thirst.

50:3 I dress the heavens in black, make sackcloth their covering.

 

Third song of the servant of Yahweh

 

1. The servant speaks

50:4 The Lord Yahweh has given me a disciple’s tongue. So that I may know how to reply to the wearied he provides me with speech. Each morning he wakes me to hear, to listen like a disciple.

50:5 The Lord Yahweh has opened my ear. For my part, I made no resistance, neither did I turn away.

50:6 I offered my back to those who struck me, my cheeks to those who tore at my beard; I did not cover my face against insult and spittle.

50:7 The Lord Yahweh comes to my help, so that I am untouched by the insults. So, too, I set my face like flint; I know I shall not be shamed.

50:8 My vindicator is here at hand. Does anyone start proceedings against me? Then let us go to court together. Who thinks he has a case against me? Let him approach me.

50:9 The Lord Yahweh is coming to my help, who dare condemn me? They shall all go to pieces like a garment devoured by moths.

 

1. Exhortation to follow the servant

50:10 Let anyone who fears Yahweh among you listen to the voice of his servant! Whoever walks in darkness, and has no light shining for him, let him trust in the name of Yahweh, let him lean on his God.

50:11 But you, you are all setting light to a fire, and fanning embers. Then in with you to the flames of your fire, to the embers that you are lighting. So will my hand deal with you and you shall lie down in torments.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 51

 

 The salvation of the sons of Abraham

51:1 Listen to me, you who pursue integrity, who seek Yahweh. Consider the rock you were hewn from, the quarry from which you were cut.

51:2 Consider Abraham your father and Sarah who gave you birth. For he was all alone when I called him, but I blessed and increased him.

51:3 Yes, Yahweh has pity on Zion, has pity on all her ruins; turns her desolation into an Eden her wasteland into the garden of Yahweh. Joy and gladness shall be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of music.

 

Yahweh will soon judge the world

51:4 Pay attention to me, you peoples, listen to me, you nations. For from me comes the Law and my justice shall be the light of the peoples, I will establish

51:5 my integrity speedily, my salvation shall come like the light, my arm shall judge the peoples. The islands put their hope in me, put their trust in my strength.

51:6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look down at the earth. The heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth wear out like a garment, and its inhabitants die like vermin, but my salvation shall last for ever and my justice have no end.

51:7 Listen to me, you who know what integrity means, people who take my laws to heart: do not fear the taunts of men, nor be dismayed by their insults,

51:8 for the moth shall eat them like garments, the grub devour them like wool, but my integrity will remain for ever, and my salvation for all generations.

 

The awakening of Yahweh

51:9 Awake, awake! Clothe yourself in strength, arm of Yahweh. Awake, as in the past, in times of generations long ago. Did you not split Rahab in two, and pierce the Dragon through?

51:10 Did you not dry up the sea, the waters of the great Abyss, to make the seabed a road for the redeemed to cross?

51:11 Those whom Yahweh has ransomed return, they come to Zion shouting for joy, everlasting joy in their faces; joy and gladness go with them, sorrow and lament are ended.

 

Yahweh is the all-powerful consoler

51:12 I, I am your consoler. How then can you be afraid of mortal man, of son of man, whose fate is the fate of grass?

51:13 You have forgotten Yahweh who made you, who spread out the heavens and laid the earth’s foundations, why still go in daily dread of the oppressor’s fury, when he sets out to destroy you? What has happened to the fury of oppressors?

 

Salvation

51:14 The captive is soon to be set free; he will not die in a deep dungeon nor will his bread run out.

51:15 I am Yahweh your God who stirs the sea, making its waves roar, my name is Yahweh Sabaoth.

51:16 I put my words into your mouth, I hid you in the shadow of my hand, when I spread out the heavens and laid the earth’s foundations and said to Zion, ‘You are my people’.

 

The awakening of Jerusalem

51:17 Awake, awake! To your feet, Jerusalem! You who from Yahweh’s hand have drunk the cup of his wrath. The chalice of stupor you have drained to the dregs.

51:18 She has not one to guide her of all the sons she has borne, not one to take her by the hand of all the sons she has reared.

51:19 These two calamities have befallen you – who is there to mourn for you? Devastation and ruin, famine and sword – who is there to console you?

51:20 Your sons lie helpless (at every street corner) like an antelope trapped in a net, sodden with the wrath of Yahweh, with the threats of your God.

51:21 Listen then to this, prostrated one, drunk, though not with wine.

51:22 Thus says your Lord Yahweh, your God, defender of your people. See, I take out of your hand the cup of stupor, the chalice of my wrath; you shall drink it no longer.

51:23 I will put it into the hand of your tormentors, of those who said to you, ‘Bow down that we may walk over you’; while of your back you made a pavement, a street for them to walk on.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 52

 

52:1 Awake, awake! Clothe yourself in strength, Zion. Put on your richest clothes, Jerusalem, holy city; since no longer shall there enter you either the uncircumcised or the unclean.

52:2 Shake off your dust; to your feet, captive Jerusalem! Free your neck from its fetters, captive daughter of Zion.

 

The nation in captivity

52:3 Yes, Yahweh says this: You were sold for nothing and you will be redeemed without money.

52:4 Yes, Yahweh says this: Once my people went to Egypt to settle there, then Assyria bitterly oppressed them.

52:5 But now what is there for me here? – it is Yahweh who speaks – now that my people have been carried off for nothing, and their masters shout their triumph – it is Yahweh who speaks – all day long my name is constantly blasphemed.

52:6 My people will therefore know my name; that day they will understand that it is I who say, ‘I am here’.

 

The awakening of Yahweh and of Jerusalem

52:7 How beautiful on the mountains, are the feet of one who brings good news, who heralds peace, brings happiness, proclaims salvation, and tells Zion, ‘Your God is king!’

52:8 Listen! Your watchmen raise their voices, they shout for joy together, for they see Yahweh face to face, as he returns to Zion.

52:9 Break into shouts of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem; for Yahweh is consoling his people, redeeming Jerusalem.

52:10 Yahweh bares his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.

52:11 ‘Go away, go away, leave that place, touch nothing unclean. Get out of her,[*a] purify yourselves, you who carry the vessels of Yahweh.

52:12 ‘But you are not to hurry away, you are not to leave like fugitives. No, Yahweh will go in front of you, and the God of Israel will be your rearguard.’

 

Fourth song of the servant of Yahweh

52:13 See, my servant will prosper, he shall be lifted up, exalted, rise to great heights.

52:14 As the crowds were appalled on seeing him – so disfigured did he look that he seemed no longer human –

52:15 so will the crowds be astonished at him, and kings stand speechless before him; for they shall see something never told and witness something never heard before:

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 53

 

53:1 ‘Who could believe what we have heard, and to whom has the power of Yahweh been revealed?’

53:2 Like a sapling he grew up in front of us, like a root in arid ground. Without beauty, without majesty (we saw him), no looks to attract our eyes;

53:3 a thing despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering, a man to make people screen their faces; he was despised and we took no account of him.

53:4 And yet ours were the sufferings he bore, ours the sorrows he carried. But we, we thought of him as someone punished, struck by God, and brought low.

53:5 Yet he was pierced through for our faults, crushed for our sins. On him lies a punishment that brings us peace, and through his wounds we are healed.

53:6 We had all gone astray like sheep, each taking his own way, and Yahweh burdened him with the sins of all of us.

53:7 Harshly dealt with, he bore it humbly, he never opened his mouth, like a lamb that is led to the slaughter-house, like a sheep that is dumb before its shearers never opening its mouth.

53:8 By force and by law he was taken; would anyone plead his cause? Yes, he was torn away from the land of the living; for our faults struck down in death.

53:9 They gave him a grave with the wicked, a tomb with the rich, though he had done no wrong and there had been no perjury in his mouth.

53:10 Yahweh has been pleased to crush him with suffering. If he offers his life in atonement, he shall see his heirs, he shall have a long life and through him what Yahweh wishes will be done.

53:11 His soul’s anguish over he shall see the light and be content. By his sufferings shall my servant justify many, taking their faults on himself.

53:12 Hence I will grant whole hordes for his tribute, he shall divide the spoil with the mighty, for surrendering himself to death and letting himself be taken for a sinner, while he was bearing the faults of many and praying all the time for sinners.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 54

 

The fertility of Jerusalem

54:1 Shout for joy, you barren women who bore no children! Break into cries of joy and gladness, you who were never in labour! For the sons of the forsaken one are more in number than the sons of the wedded wife, says Yahweh.

54:2 Widen the space of your tent, stretch out your hangings freely, lengthen your ropes, make your pegs firm;

54:3 for you will burst out to right and to left. Your race will take possession of the nations, and people the abandoned cities.

 

The love of Yahweh

54:4 Do not be afraid, you will not be put to shame, do not be dismayed, you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your youth and no longer remember the curse of your widowhood.

54:5 For now your creator will be your husband, his name, Yahweh Sabaoth; your redeemer will be ‘the Holy One of Israel, he is called the God of the whole earth.

54:6 Yes, like a forsaken wife, distressed in spirit, Yahweh calls you back. Does a man cast off the wife of his youth? says your God.

54:7 I did forsake you for a brief moment, but with great love will I take you back.

54:8 In excess of anger, for a moment I hid my face from you. But with everlasting love I have taken pity on you, says Yahweh, your redeemer.

54:9 I am now as I was in the days of Noah when I swore that Noah’s waters should never flood the world again. So now I swear concerning my anger with you and the threats I made against you;

54:10 for the mountains may depart, the hills be shaken, but my love for you will never leave you and my covenant of peace with you will never be shaken, says Yahweh who takes pity on you.

 

The new Jerusalem

54:11 Unhappy creature, storm-tossed, disconsolate, see, I will set your stones on carbuncles and your foundations on sapphires.

54:12 I will make rubies your battlements, your gates crystal, and your entire wall precious stones.

54:13 Your sons will all be taught by Yahweh. The prosperity of your sons will be great.

54:14 You will be founded on integrity; remote from oppression, you will have nothing to fear; remote from terror, it will not approach you.

54:15 Should anyone attack you, that will not be my doing, and whoever attacks you, for your sake will fall.

54:16 I it was created the smith who blows on the coal fire and from it takes the weapons to work on. But I also created the destroyer who renders them useless.

54:17 Not a weapon forged against you will succeed. Every tongue that accuses you in judgement will be refuted. Such will be the lot of the servants of Yahweh, the triumphs I award them – it is Yahweh who speaks.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 55

 

The food of the poor

55:1 Oh, come to the water all you who are thirsty; though you have no money, come! Buy corn without money, and eat, and, at no cost, wine and milk.

55:2 Why spend money on what is not bread, your wages on what fails to satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and you will have good things to eat and rich food to enjoy.

55:3 Pay attention, come to me; listen, and your soul will live.

With you I will make an everlasting covenant out of the favours promised to David.

 

The covenant

55:4 See, I have made of you a witness to the peoples, a leader and a master of the nations.

55:5 See, you will summon a nation you never knew, those unknown will come hurrying to you, for the sake of Yahweh your God, of the Holy One of Israel who will glorify you.

 

The nearness and remoteness of Yahweh

55:6 Seek Yahweh while he is still to be found, call to him while he is still near.

55:7 Let the wicked man abandon his way, the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn back to Yahweh who will take pity on him, to our God who is rich in forgiving;

55:8 for my thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways not your ways – it is Yahweh who speaks.

55:9 Yes, the heavens are as high above earth as my ways are above your ways, my thoughts above your thoughts.

 

The word of Yahweh cannot fail

55:10 Yes, as the rain and the snow come down from the heavens and do not return without watering the earth, making it yield and giving growth to provide seed for the sower and bread for the eating,

55:11 so the word that goes from my mouth does not return to me empty, without carrying out my will and succeeding in what it was sent to do.

 

Conclusion of the Book of Consolation

55:12 Yes, you will leave with joy and be led away in safety. Mountains and hills will break into joyful cries before you and all the trees of the countryside clap their hands.

55:13 Cypress will grow instead of thorns, myrtle instead of briars. And this will make Yahweh famous, a sign for ever, ineffaceable.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 56

 

III. THIRD PART OF THE BOOK OF ISAIAH

 

Yahweh welcomes converts from paganism

56:1 Thus says Yahweh: Have a care for justice, act with integrity, for soon my salvation will come and my integrity be manifest.

56:2 Blessed is the man who does this and the son of man who clings to it: observing the sabbath, not profaning it, and keeping his hand from every evil deed.

56:3 Let no foreigner who has attached himself to Yahweh say, ‘Yahweh will surely exclude me from his people’. Let no eunuch say, ‘And I, I am a dried-up tree’.

56:4 For Yahweh says this: To the eunuchs who observe my sabbaths, and resolve to do what pleases me and cling to my covenant,

56:5 I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall never be effaced.

56:6 Foreigners who have attached themselves to Yahweh to serve him and to love his name and be his servants – all who observe the sabbath, not profaning it, and cling to my covenant –

56:7 these I will bring to my holy mountain. I will make them joyful in my house of prayer. Their holocausts and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar, for my house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.

56:8 It is the Lord Yahweh who speaks, who gathers the outcasts of Israel: there are others I will gather besides those already gathered.

 

The unworthiness of the leaders of Judah

56:9 Come and gorge, all you wild beasts, all you beasts of the forest.

56:10 Our watchmen are all blind, they notice nothing. Dumb watchdogs all, unable to bark, they dream, lie down, and love to sleep.

56:11 Greedy dogs that are never satisfied. Shepherds who know nothing. They all go their own way, each after his own interest.

56:12 ‘Come, let me fetch wine; we will get drunk on strong drink, tomorrow will be just as wonderful as today and even more so!’

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 57

 

57:1 The upright perish and no one cares. Devout men are taken off and no one gives it a thought. Yes, on account of evil the upright man is taken off

57:2 to enter peace. They lie on their beds those who followed the right way.

57:3 But you, you sons of a witch, come here, offspring of the adulterer and the whore.

57:4 At whom are you jeering, and making faces, and sticking out your tongue? Are you not the spawn of sin, children of lies?

57:5 Lusting among the terebinths, and under every spreading tree, sacrificing children in the wadis and in rocky clefts.

 

Prophetic elegy against idolatry

57:6 The smooth stones of the wadis, these are your share, these, these your portion. To these you pour libations, bring oblations. Can all this appease me?

57:7 On a mountain high and lofty you have put your bed. Thither, too, you have climbed to offer sacrifice.

57:8 Behind door and doorpost you have set up your sign.[*a] Yes, far removed from me, you unroll your bedding, climb into it and spread it wide. You have struck a pact with those whose bed you love, whoring with them often with your eyes on the sacred symbol.

57:9 With oil you made yourself look your best for Molech, lavishing your scents; you sent your envoys far afield, down to Sheol itself.[*b]

57:10 Tired with so much journeying, you never said, ‘I give up’. Finding your strength revived, you never weakened.

57:11 Who was it you dreaded, and feared, that you should disown me and not remember me, and refuse me a place in your heart? Meanwhile I kept silent and shut my eyes, did I not? So you cannot have been afraid of me.

57:12 But now I will expose this integrity of yours and your futile actions.

57:13 When you cry, let your hateful idols save you! The wind will carry them all away, a breath will take them off. But whoever trusts in me shall inherit the land and own my holy mountain.

 

A poem of consolation

57:14 It shall be said: Open up, open up, clear the way, remove all obstacles from the way of my people.

57:15 For thus speaks the Most High, whose home is in eternity, whose name is holy: ‘I live in a high and holy place, but I am also with the contrite and humbled spirit, to give the humbled spirit new life, to revive contrite hearts.

57:16 ‘For I will not quarrel for ever nor be always angry, for then the spirit would give way before me, the very souls I have made.

57:17 ‘Angered by his wicked brutality, I hid my face and struck him in anger. Like a rebel he went the way of his choice;

57:18 but I have seen the way he went. But I will heal him, and console him, I will comfort him to the full, both him and his afflicted fellows,

57:19 bringing praise to their lips. Peace, peace to far and near, I will indeed heal him’ says Yahweh.

57:20 The wicked however are like the restless sea that cannot be still, and washes up mud and slime.

57:21 ‘No peace’ says my God ‘for the wicked.’

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 58

 

Fasting

58:1 Shout for all you are worth, raise your voice like a trumpet. Proclaim their faults to my people, their sins to the House of Jacob.

58:2 They seek me day after day, they long to know my ways, like a nation that wants to act with integrity and not ignore the law of its God. They ask me for laws that are just, they long for God to draw near:

58:3 ‘Why should we fast if you never see it, why do penance if you never notice?’ Look, you do business on your fastdays, you oppress all your workmen;

58:4 look, you quarrel and squabble when you fast and strike the poor man with your fist. Fasting like yours today will never make your voice heard on high.

58:5 Is that the sort of fast that pleases me, a truly penitential day for men? Hanging your head like a reed, lying down on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call fasting, a day acceptable to Yahweh?

58:6 Is not this the sort of fast that pleases me – it is the Lord Yahweh who speaks – to break unjust fetters and undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and break every yoke,

58:7 to share your bread with the hungry, and shelter the homeless poor, to clothe the man you see to be naked and not turn from your own kin?

58:8 Then will your light shine like the dawn and your wound be quickly healed over. Your integrity will go before you and the glory of Yahweh behind you.

58:9 Cry, and Yahweh will answer; call, and he will say, ‘I am here’. If you do away with the yoke, the clenched fist, the wicked word,

58:10 if you give your bread to the hungry, and relief to the oppressed, your light will rise in the darkness, and your shadows become like noon.

58:11 Yahweh will always guide you, giving you relief in desert places. He will give strength to your bones and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters never run dry.

58:12 You will rebuild the ancient ruins, build up on the old foundations. You will be called ‘Breach-mender’, ‘Restorer of ruined houses’.

 

The sabbath

58:13 If you refrain from trampling the sabbath, and doing business on the holy day, if you call the sabbath ‘Delightful’, and the day sacred to Yahweh ‘Honourable’, if you honour it by abstaining from travel, from doing business and from gossip,

58:14 then shall you find your happiness in Yahweh and I will lead you triumphant over the heights of the land. I will feed you on the heritage of Jacob your father. For the mouth of Yahweh has spoken.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 59

 

A psalm

59:1 No, the hand of Yahweh is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.

59:2 But your iniquities have made a gulf between you and your God. Your sins have made him veil his face so as not to hear you,

59:3 since your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with crime, your lips utter lies your tongues murmur treachery.

59:4 No one makes just accusations or pleads sincerely. All rely on nothingness, utter falsehood, conceive harm and give birth to misery.

59:5 They are hatching adders’ eggs and weaving a spider’s web; eat one of their eggs and you die, crush one and a viper emerges.

59:6 Their webs are no good for clothing, their plots no use for covering. Their plans are sinful plots, violence is their only method.

59:7 Their feet run to do evil, are quick to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are sinful thoughts, wherever they go there is havoc and ruin.

59:8 They know nothing of the way of peace, there is no equity in their paths. Twisty trails they clear for themselves and no one who follows them knows any peace.

59:9 So justice is removed far away from us, and integrity keeps its distance. We looked for light and all its darkness, for brightness and we walk in the dark.

59:10 Like the blind we feel our way along walls and hesitate like men without eyes. We stumble as though noon were twilight and dwell in the dark like the dead.

59:11 We growl, all of us, like bears, and moan like doves, waiting for the justice that never comes, for salvation that is removed far away from us.

59:12 For our faults in your sight have been many and our sins are a witness against us. And indeed our faults are present to our minds, and we know our iniquities:

59:13 rebellion and denial of Yahweh, turning our back on our God, talking treachery and revolt, murmuring lies in our heart.

59:14 Justice is withheld and integrity stands aloof; in the public square sincerity is brought to its knees and uprightness forbidden to enter.

 

Fragments of an apocalypse

59:15 Sincerity is missing and he who avoids evil is robbed. Yahweh has seen this, and is indignant that there is no justice to be seen.

59:16 He saw there was no one and wondered there was no one to intervene. So he made his own arm his mainstay, his own integrity his support.

59:17 He put integrity on like a breastplate, and on his head the helmet of salvation. He put vengeance on like a tunic and wrapped himself in ardour like a cloak.

59:18 To each he will pay his due, wrath to his enemies, reprisals on his foes.

59:19 In the west men will see the name of Yahweh and in the east his glory; for he shall come like a pent-up stream impelled by the breath of Yahweh.

59:20 But for Zion he will come as Redeemer, for those of Jacob who turn from their faults. It is Yahweh who speaks.

 

Oracle

59:21 For my part, this is my covenant with them, says Yahweh. My spirit with which I endowed you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, will not disappear from your mouth, nor from the mouths of your children, nor from the mouths of your children’s children for ever and ever, says Yahweh.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 60

 

The glorious resurrection of Jerusalem

60:1 Arise, shine out, for your light has come, the glory of Yahweh is rising on you,

60:2 though night still covers the earth and darkness the peoples.

60:3 Above you Yahweh now rises and above you his glory appears. The nations come to your light and kings to your dawning brightness.

60:4 Lift up your eyes and look round: all are assembling and coming towards you, your sons from far away and your daughters being tenderly carried.

60:5 At this sight you will grow radiant, your heart throbbing and full; since the riches of the sea will flow to you, the wealth of the nations come to you;

60:6 camels in throngs will cover you, and dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; everyone in Sheba will come, bringing gold and incense and singing the praise of Yahweh.

60:7 All the flocks of Kedar will gather inside you, the rams of Nebaioth[*a] will be at your service. They will come up, for acceptance, to my altar, to adorn the Temple of my glory.

60:8 Who are these flying like a cloud, like doves to their cote?

60:9 Yes, for me the ships are assembling, vessels of Tarshish in the front, to bring your sons from far away, and their silver and gold with them, for the sake of the name of Yahweh your God, for the sake of the Holy One of Israel who has made you glorious.

60:10 Foreigners will rebuild your walls and their kings will be your servants. For though I struck you in anger, in mercy I have pitied you.

60:11 And your gates will lie open continually, shut neither by day nor by night, for men to bring you the wealth of the nations with their kings leading them;

60:12 for the nation and kingdom that refuses to serve you shall perish, such nations shall be utterly ruined.

60:13 The glory of Lebanon[*b] will come to you, with cypress and plane and box, to adorn the site of my sanctuary, to glorify the resting place of my feet.

60:14 The sons of your oppressors will come to you bowing, at your feet shall fall all who despised you. They will call you ‘City of Yahweh’, ‘Zion of the Holy One of Israel’.

60:15 Though you have been abandoned, and hated and shunned, I will make you an eternal pride, a joy for ever and ever.

60:16 You will be suckled on the milk of nations, suckled on the riches of kings, and you shall know that I, Yahweh, am your saviour, that your redeemer is the Mighty One of Jacob.

60:17 For bronze I will bring gold; for iron, silver; and bronze for wood; and iron for stone; I will put Peace in as magistrate, and Integrity as the government.

60:18 Violence will no longer be heard of in your country, nor devastation and ruin within your frontiers. You will call your walls ‘Salvation’ and your gates ‘Praise’.

60:19 No more will the sun give you daylight, nor moonlight shine on you, but Yahweh will be your everlasting light, your God will be your splendour.

60:20 Your sun will set no more nor your moon wane, but Yahweh will be your everlasting light and your days of mourning will be ended.

60:21 Your people will all be upright, possessing the land for ever; a shoot that Yahweh has planted, my handiwork, designed for beauty.

60:22 The least among you will become a clan and the smallest a mighty nation. I, Yahweh, have spoken; in due time I shall act with speed.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 61

 

The mission of the prophet

61:1 The spirit of the Lord Yahweh has been given to me, for Yahweh has anointed me. He has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to bind up hearts that are broken; to proclaim liberty to captives, freedom to those in prison;

61:2 to proclaim a year of favour from Yahweh, a day of vengeance for our God, to comfort all those who mourn

61:3 and to give them for ashes a garland; for mourning robe the oil of gladness, for despondency, praise. They are to be called ‘terebinths of integrity’, planted by Yahweh to glorify him.

61:4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins, they will raise what has long lain waste, they will restore the ruined cities, all that has lain waste for ages past.

61:5 Strangers will be there to feed your flocks, foreigners as your ploughmen and vinedressers;

61:6 but you, you will be named ‘priests of Yahweh’, they will call you ‘ministers of our God’. You will feed on the wealth of nations and array yourselves in their magnificence.

61:7 For their shame was twofold, disgrace and spitting their lot. Twofold therefore shall they possess in their land, everlasting joy is theirs.

61:8 For I, Yahweh, love justice, I hate robbery and all that is wrong. I reward them faithfully and make an everlasting covenant with them.

61:9 Their race will be famous throughout the nations, their descendants throughout the peoples. All who see them will admit that they are a race whom Yahweh has blessed.

61:10 ‘I exult for joy in Yahweh, my soul rejoices in my God, for he has clothed me in the garments of salvation, he has wrapped me in the cloak of integrity, like a bridegroom wearing his wreath, like a bride adorned in her jewels.

61:11 ‘For as the earth makes fresh things grow, as a garden makes seeds spring up, so will the Lord Yahweh make both integrity and praise spring up in the sight of the nations.’

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 62

 

Second poem on the glorious resurrection of Jerusalem

62:1 About Zion I will not be silent, about Jerusalem I will not grow weary, until her integrity shines out like the dawn and her salvation flames like a torch.

62:2 The nations then will see your integrity, all the kings your glory, and you will be called by a new name, one which the mouth of Yahweh will confer.

62:3 You are to be a crown of splendour in the hand of Yahweh, a princely diadem in the hand of your God;

62:4 no longer are you to be named ‘Forsaken’, nor your land ‘Abandoned’, but you shall be called ‘My Delight’ and your land ‘The Wedded’; for Yahweh takes delight in you and your land will have its wedding.

62:5 Like a young man marrying a virgin, so will the one who built you wed you, and as the bridegroom rejoices in his bride, so will your God rejoice in you.

62:6 On your walls, Jerusalem, I set watchmen. Day or night they must never be silent. You who keep Yahweh mindful must take no rest.

62:7 Nor let him take rest till he has restored Jerusalem, and made her the boast of the earth.

62:8 Yahweh has sworn it by his right hand and by his mighty arm. Never again shall I give your corn to feed your enemies. Never again will foreigners drink your wine that you laboured for.

62:9 But those who gather the harvest will eat it and praise Yahweh. Those who gathered the grapes will drink in the courts of my sanctuary.

 

Conclusion

62:10 Pass through, pass through the gates. Make a way for the people. Bank up, bank up the highway, clear it of stones. Hoist the signal for the peoples.

62:11 This Yahweh proclaims to the ends of the earth: Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Look, your saviour comes, the prize of his victory with him, his trophies before him’.

62:12 They shall be called ‘The Holy People’, ‘Yahweh’s Redeemed’. And you shall be called ‘The-sought-after’, ‘City-not-forsaken’.

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 63

 

An apocalyptic poem on the vengeance of Yahweh

63:1 Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah in garments stained with crimson, so richly clothed, marching so full of strength? – It is I, who speak of integrity and am powerful to save.

63:2 – Why are your garments red, your clothes as if you had trodden the winepress?

63:3 – I have trodden the winepress alone. Of the men of my people not one was with me. In my anger I trod them down, trampled them in my wrath. Their juice spattered my garments, and all my clothes are stained.

63:4 For in my heart was a day of vengeance, my year of redemption had come.

63:5 I looked: there was no one to help; aghast: not one could I find to support me. My own arm then was my mainstay, my wrath my support.

63:6 I crushed the people in my fury, trampled them in my anger, and made the juice of them run all over the ground.

 

A psalm

63:7 Let me sing the praises of Yahweh’s goodness, and of his marvellous deeds, in return for all that he has done for us and for the great kindness he has shown us in his mercy and in his boundless goodness.

63:8 He said, ‘Truly they are my people, sons and no rogues’ He proved himself their saviour in all their troubles.

63:9 It was neither messenger nor angel but his Presence that saved them. In his love and pity he redeemed them himself, he lifted them up, carried them, throughout the days of old.

63:10 But they rebelled, they grieved his holy spirit. Then he turned enemy, and himself waged war on them.

63:11 They remembered the days of old, of Moses his servant. Where is he who brought out of the sea the shepherd of his flock? Where is he who endowed him with his holy spirit,

63:12 who at the right hand of Moses set to work with his glorious arm, who divided the waters before them to win himself everlasting renown,

63:13 who made them walk through the ocean as easily as a horse through the desert? They stumbled as little

63:14 as an ox going down to the plain. The spirit of Yahweh led them to rest. This is how you guided your people to win yourself glorious renown.

63:15 Look down from heaven, look down from your holy and glorious dwelling. Where is your ardour, your might, the yearning of your inmost heart?

63:16 Do not let your compassion go unmoved, for you are our Father. For Abraham does not own us and Israel[*a] does not acknowledge us; you, Yahweh, yourself are our Father, Our Redeemer is your ancient name.

63:17 Why, Yahweh, leave us to stray from your ways and harden our hearts against fearing you? Return, for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your inheritance.

63:18 Why have the wicked set foot in your sanctuary, why are our enemies trampling your sanctuary?

63:19 We have long been like people you do not rule, people who do not bear your name. Oh, that you would tear the heavens open and come down – at your Presence the mountains would melt,

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 64

 

64:1 as fire sets brushwood alight, as fire causes water to boil – to make known your name to your enemies, and make the nations tremble at your Presence,

64:2 working unexpected miracles

64:3 such as no one has ever heard of before. No ear has heard, no eye has seen any god but you act like this for those who trust him.

64:4 You guide those who act with integrity and keep your ways in mind. You were angry when we were sinners; we had long been rebels against you.

64:5 We were all like men unclean, all that integrity of ours like filthy clothing. We have all withered like leaves and our sins blew us away like the wind.

64:6 No one invoked your name or roused himself to catch hold of you. For you hid your face from us and gave us up to the power of our sins.

64:7 And yet, Yahweh, you are our Father; we the clay, you the potter, we are all the work of your hand.

64:8 Do not let your anger go too far, Yahweh, or go on thinking of our sins for ever. See, see, we are all your people;

64:9 your holy cities are a wilderness, Zion a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation,

64:10 our holy and glorious Temple, in which our fathers prayed to you, is burnt to the ground; all that gave us pleasure lies in ruins.

64:11 Yahweh, can you go unmoved by all of this, oppressing us beyond measure by your silence?

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 65

 

A diatribe against idolatry; eschatological discourse

65:1 I was ready to be approached by those who did not consult me, ready to found by those who did not seek me. I said, ‘I am here, I am here’, to a nation that did not invoke my name.

65:2 Each day I stretched out my hand to a rebellious people who went by evil ways, following their own whims,

65:3 a people who provoked me to my face incessantly, sacrificing in gardens, burning incense on bricks,

65:4 living in tombs, spending nights in dark corners, eating the meat of pigs, using unclean foods in their kitchens.

65:5 ‘Keep off,’ they say ‘do not come near me, or I might sanctify you.’ Such men are smoke in my nostrils, an ever burning fire.

65:6 See, it is inscribed in front of me; I will not be silent until I have settled my account with them

65:7 for their sins and their fathers’ sins, says Yahweh, those men who burned incense on the mountains and insulted me on the hills. I will pay them back in full all they deserve.

65:8 Yahweh says this: When new wine is found in a bunch of grapes people say, ‘Do not destroy it, it contains a blessing’. I shall do the same for the sake of those who serve me. I refuse to destroy the whole.

65:9 I will create a race from Jacob, and heirs to my mountains from Judah. My chosen shall inherit them, my servants live in them.

65:10 Sharon will be a pasture for flocks, the Valley of Achor a feeding ground for oxen, for those of my people who have sought me.

65:11 But you who have abandoned and forgotten my holy mountain, who lay the table for Gad, who fill a cup for Meni,[*a]

65:12 I commit you to the sword, all of you to fall in the slaughter. For I called and you would not answer, I spoke and you would not listen. You did what I consider evil, you chose to do what displeases me.

65:13 Therefore, thus speaks the Lord Yahweh: You shall see my servants eat while you go hungry. You shall see my servants drink while you go thirsty. You shall see my servants rejoice while you are put to shame.

65:14 You shall hear my servants sing for joy of heart, while you will moan for sadness of heart; you will wail for distress of spirit.

65:15 My chosen ones will use as a curse the name you leave behind: May the Lord Yahweh strike you dead. But my servants are to be given a new name.

65:16 Whoever asks to be blessed on earth will ask to be blessed by the God of truth, and whoever takes oath on earth will take oath by the God of truth, for past troubles will be forgotten and hidden from my eyes.

65:17 For now I create new heavens and a new earth, and the past will not be remembered, and will come no more to men’s minds.

65:18 Be glad and rejoice for ever and ever for what I am creating, because I now create Jerusalem ‘Joy’ and her people ‘Gladness’.

65:19 I shall rejoice over Jerusalem and exult in my people. No more will the sound of weeping or the sound of cries be heard in her;

65:20 in her, no more will be found the infant living a few days only, or the old man not living to the end of his days. To die at the age of a hundred will be dying young; not to live to be a hundred will be the sign of a curse.

65:21 They will build houses and inhabit them, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

65:22 They will not build for others to live in, or plant so that others can eat. For my people shall live as long as trees, and my chosen ones wear out what their hands have made.

65:23 They will not toil in vain or beget children to their own ruin, for they will be a race blessed by Yahweh, and their children with them.

65:24 Long before they call I shall answer; before they stop speaking I shall have heard.

65:25 The wolf and the young lamb will feed together, the lion eat straw like the ox, and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will do no hurt, no harm on all my holy mountain, says Yahweh.[*b]

 

JB ISAIAH Chapter 66

 

Oracle

66:1 Thus says Yahweh :With heaven my throne and earth my footstool, what house could you build me, what place could you make for my rest?

66:2 All of this was made by my hand and all of this is mine – it is Yahweh who speaks. But my eyes are drawn to the man of humbled and contrite spirit, who trembles at my word.

 

 Against the intrusion of idolatrous practice

66:3 Some immolate an ox, some slaughter a man, some sacrifice a lamb, some strangle a dog. Some offer oblations of pig’s blood, some burn memorial incense, some consecrate idols Since they elect to follow their own ways and their souls delight in their abominations,

66:4 I in my turn will select hardships for them and bring them what they dread; for I called and no one would answer, I spoke and they would not listen. They did what I consider evil, they chose to do what displeases me.

 

An apocalyptic poem

66:5 Listen to the word of Yahweh, you who tremble at his word. Your brothers say, who hate you, who reject you because of my name, ‘Let Yahweh show his glory, let us witness your joy!’ But they shall be put to shame.

66:6 Listen. An uproar from the city! A voice from the Temple! The voice of Yahweh bringing retribution on his enemies.

66:7 Long before being in labour she has given birth. Before being overtaken by birth pangs, she has been delivered of a boy.

66:8 Who ever heard of such a thing, who ever saw anything like this? Is a country born in one day? Is a nation brought forth all at once, that Zion only just in labour should bring forth sons?

66:9 Am I to open the womb and not bring to birth? says Yahweh. Or I, who bring to birth, am I to close it? says your God.

66:10 Rejoice, Jerusalem, be glad for her, all you who love her! Rejoice, rejoice for her, all you who mourned her!

66:11 That you may be suckled, filled, from her consoling breast, that you may savour with delight her glorious breasts.

66:12 For thus says Yahweh: Now towards her I send flowing peace, like a river, and like a stream in spate the glory of the nations. At her breast will her nurslings be carried and fondled in her lap.

66:13 Like a son comforted by his mother will I comfort you. (And by Jerusalem you will be comforted.)

66:14 At the sight your heart will rejoice, and your bones flourish like the grass. To his servants Yahweh will reveal his hand, but to his enemies his fury.

66:15 For see how Yahweh comes in fire, his chariots like the tempest, to assuage his anger with burning, his threats with flaming fire.

66:16 For by fire will Yahweh execute judgement, and by his sword, against all mankind. The victims of Yahweh will be many.

 

A fragment condemning pagan mysteries

66:17 As for those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves to enter the gardens, following the one in the centre, who eat the flesh of pigs, reptiles, rats: their deeds and their thoughts shall end all at once – it is Yahweh who speaks.

 

An eschatological discourse

66:18 I am coming to gather the nations of every language. They shall come to witness my glory.

66:19 will give them a sign and send some of their survivors to the nations: to Tarshish, Put, Lud, Moshech, Rosh, Tubal, and Javan, to the distant islands[*a] that have never heard of me or seen my glory. They will proclaim my glory to the nations.

66:20 As an offering to Yahweh they will bring all your brothers, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules, on dromedaries, from all the nations to my holy mountain in Jerusalem, says Yahweh, like Israelites bringing oblations in clean vessels to the Temple of Yahweh.

66:21 And of some of them I will make priests and Levites, says Yahweh.

66:22 For as the new heavens and the new earth I shall make will endure before me – it is Yahweh who speaks – so will your race and name endure.

66:23 From New Moon to New Moon, from sabbath to sabbath, all mankind will come to bow down in my presence, says Yahweh.

66:24 And on their way out they will see the corpses of men who have rebelled against me. Their worm will not die nor their fire go out; they will be loathsome to all mankind.

 

END OF JB ISAIAH [66 Chapters].