The Message

Selected Grain by Grain

1 At that timeGodwill unsheathe his sword,

his merciless, massive, mighty sword.

He’ll punish the serpent Leviathan as it flees,

the serpent Leviathan thrashing in flight.

He’ll kill that old dragon

that lives in the sea.

2-5 “At that same time, a fine vineyard will appear.

There’s something to sing about!

I,God, tend it.

I keep it well-watered.

I keep careful watch over it

so that no one can damage it.

I’m not angry. I care.

Even if it gives me thistles and thornbushes,

I’ll just pull them out

and burn them up.

Let that vine cling to me for safety,

let it find a good and whole life with me,

let it hold on for a good and whole life.”

6 The days are coming when Jacob

shall put down roots,

Israel blossom and grow fresh branches,

and fill the world with its fruit.

7-11 HasGodknocked them to the ground

as he knocked down those who hit them? Oh, no.

Were they killed

as their killers were killed? Again, no.

He was hard on them all right. The exile was a harsh sentence.

He blew them away on a fierce blast of wind.

But the good news is that through this experience

Jacob’s guilt was taken away.

The evidence that his sin is removed will be this:

He will tear down the alien altars,

take them apart stone by stone,

And then crush the stones into gravel

and clean out all the sex-and-religion shrines.

For there’s nothing left of that pretentious grandeur.

Nobody lives there anymore. It’s unlivable.

But animals do just fine,

browsing and bedding down.

And it’s not a bad place to get firewood.

Dry twigs and dead branches are plentiful.

It’s the leavings of a people with no sense of God.

So, the God who made them

Will have nothing to do with them.

He who formed them will turn his back on them.

12-13 At that timeGodwill thresh

from the River Euphrates to the Brook of Egypt,

And you, people of Israel,

will be selected grain by grain.

At that same time a great trumpet will be blown,

calling home the exiles from Assyria,

Welcoming home the refugees from Egypt

to come and worshipGodon the holy mountain, Jerusalem.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/ISA/27-a5a1a3dfc7dee8f57a2325a1188ae064.mp3?version_id=97—

God Will Speak in Baby Talk

1-4 Doom to the pretentious drunks of Ephraim,

shabby and washed out and seedy—

Tipsy, sloppy-fat, beer-bellied parodies

of a proud and handsome past.

Watch closely:Godhas someone picked out,

someone tough and strong to flatten them.

Like a hailstorm, like a hurricane, like a flash flood,

one-handed he’ll throw them to the ground.

Samaria, the party hat on Israel’s head,

will be knocked off with one blow.

It will disappear quicker than

a piece of meat tossed to a dog.

5-6 At that time,God-of-the-Angel-Armies will be

the beautiful crown on the head of what’s left of his people:

Energy and insights of justice to those who guide and decide,

strength and prowess to those who guard and protect.

7-8 These also, the priest and prophet, stagger from drink,

weaving, falling-down drunks,

Besotted with wine and whiskey,

can’t see straight, can’t talk sense.

Every table is covered with vomit.

Theylivein vomit.

9-10 “Is that so? And who do you think you are to teach us?

Who are you to lord it over us?

We’re not babies in diapers

to be talked down to by such as you—

‘Da, da, da, da,

blah, blah, blah, blah.

That’s a good little girl,

that’s a good little boy.’”

11-12 But that’s exactly how you will be addressed.

God will speak to this people

In baby talk, one syllable at a time—

and he’ll do it through foreign oppressors.

He said before, “This is the time and place to rest,

to give rest to the weary.

This is the place to lay down your burden.”

But they won’t listen.

13 SoGodwill start over with the simple basics

and address them in baby talk, one syllable at a time—

“Da, da, da, da,

blah, blah, blah, blah.

That’s a good little girl,

that’s a good little boy.”

And like toddlers, they will get up and fall down,

get bruised and confused and lost.

14-15 Now listen toGod’s Message, you scoffers,

you who rule this people in Jerusalem.

You say, “We’ve taken out good life insurance.

We’ve hedged all our bets, covered all our bases.

No disaster can touch us. We’ve thought of everything.

We’re advised by the experts. We’re set.”

The Meaning of the Stone

16-17 But the Master,God, has something to say to this:

“Watch closely. I’m laying a foundation in Zion,

a solid granite foundation, squared and true.

And this is the meaning of the stone:

a trusting life won’t topple.

I’ll make justice the measuring stick

and righteousness the plumb line for the building.

A hailstorm will knock down the shantytown of lies,

and a flash flood will wash out the rubble.

18-22 “Then you’ll see that your precious life insurance policy

wasn’t worth the paper it was written on.

Your careful precautions against death

were a pack of illusions and lies.

When the disaster happens,

you’ll be crushed by it.

Every time disaster comes, you’ll be in on it—

disaster in the morning, disaster at night.”

Every report of disaster

will send you cowering in terror.

There will be no place where you can rest,

nothing to hide under.

Godwill rise to full stature,

raging as he did long ago on Mount Perazim

And in the valley of Gibeon against the Philistines.

But this time it’s againstyou.

Hard to believe, but true.

Not what you’d expect, but it’s coming.

Sober up, friends, and don’t scoff.

Scoffing will just make it worse.

I’ve heard the orders issued for destruction, orders from

God-of-the-Angel-Armies—ending up in an international disaster.

23-26 Listen to me now.

Give me your closest attention.

Do farmers plow and plow and do nothing but plow?

Or harrow and harrow and do nothing but harrow?

After they’ve prepared the ground, don’t they plant?

Don’t they scatter dill and spread cumin,

Plant wheat and barley in the fields

and raspberries along the borders?

They know exactly what to do and when to do it.

Their God is their teacher.

27-29 And at the harvest, the delicate herbs and spices,

the dill and cumin, are treated delicately.

On the other hand, wheat is threshed and milled, but still not endlessly.

The farmer knows how to treat each kind of grain.

He’s learned it all fromGod-of-the-Angel-Armies,

who knows everything about when and how and where.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/ISA/28-eb0480abbebeec973f2c2b5784a546e9.mp3?version_id=97—

Blind Yourselves So That You See Nothing

1-4 Doom, Ariel, Ariel,

the city where David set camp!

Let the years add up,

let the festivals run their cycles,

But I’m not letting up on Jerusalem.

The moaning and groaning will continue.

Jerusalem to me is an Ariel.

Like David, I’ll set up camp against you.

I’ll set siege, build towers,

bring in siege engines, build siege ramps.

Driven into the ground, you’ll speak,

you’ll mumble words from the dirt—

Your voice from the ground, like the muttering of a ghost.

Your speech will whisper from the dust.

5-8 But it will be your enemies who are beaten to dust,

the mob of tyrants who will be blown away like chaff.

Because, surprise, as if out of nowhere,

a visit fromGod-of-the-Angel-Armies,

With thunderclaps, earthquakes, and earsplitting noise,

backed up by hurricanes, tornadoes, and lightning strikes,

And the mob of enemies at war with Ariel,

all who trouble and hassle and torment her,

will turn out to be a bad dream, a nightmare.

Like a hungry man dreaming he’s eating steak

and wakes up hungry as ever,

Like a thirsty woman dreaming she’s drinking iced tea

and wakes up thirsty as ever,

So that mob of nations at war against Mount Zion

will wake up and find they haven’t shot an arrow,

haven’t killed a single soul.

9-10 Drug yourselves so you feel nothing.

Blind yourselves so you see nothing.

Get drunk, but not on wine.

Black out, but not from whiskey.

ForGodhas rocked you into a deep, deep sleep,

put the discerning prophets to sleep,

put the farsighted seers to sleep.

You Have Everything Backward

11-12 What you’ve been shown here is somewhat like a letter in a sealed envelope. If you give it to someone who can read and tell her, “Read this,” she’ll say, “I can’t. The envelope is sealed.” And if you give it to someone who can’t read and tell him, “Read this,” he’ll say, “I can’t read.”

13-14 The Master said:

“These people make a big show of saying the right thing,

but their hearts aren’t in it.

Because they act like they’re worshiping me

but don’t mean it,

I’m going to step in and shock them awake,

astonish them, stand them on their ears.

The wise ones who had it all figured out

will be exposed as fools.

The smart people who thought they knew everything

will turn out to know nothing.”

15-16 Doom to you! You pretend to have the inside track.

You shutGodout and work behind the scenes,

Plotting the future as if you knew everything,

acting mysterious, never showing your hand.

You have everything backward!

You treat the potter as a lump of clay.

Does a book say to its author,

“He didn’t write a word of me”?

Does a meal say to the woman who cooked it,

“She had nothing to do with this”?

17-21 And then before you know it,

and without you having anything to do with it,

Wasted Lebanon will be transformed into lush gardens,

and Mount Carmel reforested.

At that time the deaf will hear

word-for-word what’s been written.

After a lifetime in the dark,

the blind will see.

The castoffs of society will be laughing and dancing inGod,

the down-and-outs shouting praise to The Holy of Israel.

For there’ll be no more gangs on the street.

Cynical scoffers will be an extinct species.

Those who never missed a chance to hurt or demean

will never be heard of again:

Gone the people who corrupted the courts,

gone the people who cheated the poor,

gone the people who victimized the innocent.

22-24 And finally this,God’s Message for the family of Jacob,

the sameGodwho redeemed Abraham:

“No longer will Jacob hang his head in shame,

no longer grow gaunt and pale with waiting.

For he’s going to see his children,

my personal gift to him—lots of children.

And these children will honor me

by living holy lives.

In holy worship they’ll honor the Holy One of Jacob

and stand in holy awe of the God of Israel.

Those who got off-track will get back on-track,

and complainers and whiners learn gratitude.”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/ISA/29-f8f74e56edfce736ce3e0663f2731dcd.mp3?version_id=97—

All Show, No Substance

1-5 “Doom, rebel children!”

God’s Decree.

“You make plans, but not mine.

You make deals, but not in my Spirit.

You pile sin on sin,

one sin on top of another,

Going off to Egypt

without so much as asking me,

Running off to Pharaoh for protection,

expecting to hide out in Egypt.

Well, some protection Pharaoh will be!

Some hideout, Egypt!

They look big and important, true,

with officials strategically established in

Zoan in the north and Hanes in the south,

but there’s nothing to them.

Anyone stupid enough to trust them

will end up looking stupid—

All show, no substance,

an embarrassing farce.”

6-7 And this note on the animals of the Negev

encountered on the road to Egypt:

A most dangerous, treacherous route,

menaced by lions and deadly snakes.

And you’re going to lug all your stuff downthere,

your donkeys and camels loaded down with bribes,

Thinking you can buy protection

from that hollow farce of a nation?

Egypt is all show, no substance.

My name for her is Toothless Dragon.

This Is a Rebel Generation

8-11 So, go now and write all this down.

Put it in a book

So that the record will be there

to instruct the coming generations,

Because this is a rebel generation,

a people who lie,

A people unwilling to listen

to anythingGodtells them.

They tell their spiritual leaders,

“Don’t bother us with irrelevancies.”

They tell their preachers,

“Don’t waste our time on impracticalities.

Tell us what makes us feel better.

Don’t bore us with obsolete religion.

That stuff means nothing to us.

Quit hounding us with The Holy of Israel.”

12-14 Therefore, The Holy of Israel says this:

“Because you scorn this Message,

Preferring to live by injustice

and shape your lives on lies,

This perverse way of life

will be like a towering, badly built wall

That slowly, slowly tilts and shifts,

and then one day, without warning, collapses—

Smashed to bits like a piece of pottery,

smashed beyond recognition or repair,

Useless, a pile of debris

to be swept up and thrown in the trash.”

God Takes the Time to Do Everything Right

15-17 God, the Master, The Holy of Israel,

has this solemn counsel:

“Your salvation requires you to turn back to me

and stop your silly efforts to save yourselves.

Your strength will come from settling down

in complete dependence on me—

The very thing

you’ve been unwilling to do.

You’ve said, ‘Nothing doing! We’ll rush off on horseback!’

You’ll rush off, all right! Just not far enough!

You’ve said, ‘We’ll ride off on fast horses!’

Do you think your pursuers ride old nags?

Think again: A thousand of you will scatter before one attacker.

Before a mere five you’ll all run off.

There’ll be nothing left of you—

a flagpole on a hill with no flag,

a signpost on a roadside with the sign torn off.”

18 ButGod’s not finished. He’s waiting around to be gracious to you.

He’s gathering strength to show mercy to you.

Godtakes the time to do everything right—everything.

Those who wait around for him are the lucky ones.

19-22 Oh yes, people of Zion, citizens of Jerusalem, your time of tears is over. Cry for help and you’ll find it’s grace and more grace. The moment he hears, he’ll answer. Just as the Master kept you alive during the hard times, he’ll keep your teacher alive and present among you. Your teacher will be right there, local and on the job, urging you on whenever you wander left or right: “This is the right road. Walk down this road.” You’ll scrap your expensive and fashionable god-images. You’ll throw them in the trash as so much garbage, saying, “Good riddance!”

23-26 God will provide rain for the seeds you sow. The grain that grows will be abundant. Your cattle will range far and wide. Oblivious to war and earthquake, the oxen and donkeys you use for hauling and plowing will be fed well near running brooks that flow freely from mountains and hills. Better yet, on the DayGodheals his people of the wounds and bruises from the time of punishment, moonlight will flare into sunlight, and sunlight, like a whole week of sunshine at once, will flood the land.

27-28 Look,God’s on his way,

and from a long way off!

Smoking with anger,

immense as he comes into view,

Words steaming from his mouth,

searing, indicting words!

A torrent of words, a flash flood of words

sweeping everyone into the vortex of his words.

He’ll shake down the nations in a sieve of destruction,

herd them into a dead end.

29-33 Butyouwill sing,

sing through an all-night holy feast!

Your hearts will burst with song,

make music like the sound of flutes on parade,

En route to the mountain ofGod,

on the way to the Rock of Israel.

Godwill sound out in grandiose thunder,

display his hammering arm,

Furiously angry, showering sparks—

cloudburst, storm, hail!

Oh yes, atGod’s thunder

Assyria will cower under the clubbing.

Every blowGodlands on them with his club

is in time to the music of drums and pipes,

Godin all-out, two-fisted battle,

fighting against them.

Topheth’s fierce fires are well prepared,

ready for the Assyrian king.

The Topheth furnace is deep and wide,

well stoked with hot-burning wood.

God’s breath, like a river of burning pitch,

starts the fire.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/ISA/30-1e22a70b8799b6e403aeac8e7101ab42.mp3?version_id=97—

Impressed by Military Mathematics

1-3 Doom to those who go off to Egypt

thinking that horses can help them,

Impressed by military mathematics,

awed by sheer numbers of chariots and riders—

And to The Holy of Israel, not even a glance,

not so much as a prayer toGod.

Still, he must be reckoned with,

a most wise God who knows what he’s doing.

He can call down catastrophe.

He’s a God who does what he says.

He intervenes in the work of those who do wrong,

stands up against interfering evildoers.

Egyptians are mortal, not God,

and their horses are flesh, not Spirit.

WhenGodgives the signal, helpers and helped alike

will fall in a heap and share the same dirt grave.

4-5 This is whatGodtold me:

“Like a lion, king of the beasts,

that gnaws and chews and worries its prey,

Not fazed in the least by a bunch of shepherds

who arrive to chase it off,

SoGod-of-the-Angel-Armies comes down

to fight on Mount Zion, to make war from its heights.

And like a huge eagle hovering in the sky,

God-of-the-Angel-Armies protects Jerusalem.

I’ll protect and rescue it.

Yes, I’ll hover and deliver.”

6-7 Repent, return, dear Israel, to the One you so cruelly abandoned. On the day you return, you’ll throw away—every last one of you—the no-gods your sinful hands made from metal and wood.

8-9 “Assyrians will fall dead,

killed by a sword-thrust but not by a soldier,

laid low by a sword not swung by a mortal.

Assyrians will run from that sword, run for their lives,

and their prize young men made slaves.

Terrorized, that rock-solid people will fall to pieces,

their leaders scatter hysterically.”

God’s Decree on Assyria.

His fire blazes in Zion,

his furnace burns hot in Jerusalem.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/ISA/31-ca6f7912a17318be06a1fcbbb13a1e66.mp3?version_id=97—

Safe Houses, Quiet Gardens

1-8 But look! A king will rule in the right way,

and his leaders will carry out justice.

Each one will stand as a shelter from high winds,

provide safe cover in stormy weather.

Each will be cool running water in parched land,

a huge granite outcrop giving shade in the desert.

Anyone who looks will see,

anyone who listens will hear.

The impulsive will make sound decisions,

the tongue-tied will speak with eloquence.

No more will fools become celebrities,

nor crooks be rewarded with fame.

For fools are fools and that’s that,

thinking up new ways to do mischief.

They leave a wake of wrecked lives

and lies aboutGod,

Turning their backs on the homeless hungry,

ignoring those dying of thirst in the streets.

And the crooks? Underhanded sneaks they are,

inventive in sin and scandal,

Exploiting the poor with scams and lies,

unmoved by the victimized poor.

But those who are noble make noble plans,

and stand for what is noble.

9-14 Take your stand, indolent women!

Listen to me!

Indulgent, indolent women,

listen closely to what I have to say.

In just a little over a year from now,

you’ll be shaken out of your lazy lives.

The grape harvest will fail,

and there’ll be no fruit on the trees.

Oh tremble, you indolent women.

Get serious, you pampered dolls!

Strip down and discard your silk fineries.

Put on funeral clothes.

Shed honest tears for the lost harvest,

the failed vintage.

Weep for my people’s gardens and farms

that grow nothing but thistles and thornbushes.

Cry tears, real tears, for the happy homes no longer happy,

the merry city no longer merry.

The royal palace is deserted,

the bustling city quiet as a morgue,

The emptied parks and playgrounds

taken over by wild animals,

delighted with their new home.

15-20 Yes, weep and grieve until the Spirit is poured

down on us from above

And the badlands desert grows crops

and the fertile fields become forests.

Justice will move into the badlands desert.

Right will build a home in the fertile field.

And where there’s Right, there’ll be Peace

and the progeny of Right: quiet lives and endless trust.

My people will live in a peaceful neighborhood—

in safe houses, in quiet gardens.

The forest of your pride will be clear-cut,

the city showing off your power leveled.

But you will enjoy a blessed life,

planting well-watered fields and gardens,

with your farm animals grazing freely.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/ISA/32-487aba965380cc96fad4c5015444e19b.mp3?version_id=97—

The Ground Under Our Feet Mourns

1 Doom to you, Destroyer,

not yet destroyed;

And doom to you, Betrayer,

not yet betrayed.

When you finish destroying,

your turn will come—destroyed!

When you quit betraying,

your turn will come—betrayed!

2-4 God, treat us kindly. You’re our only hope.

First thing in the morning, be there for us!

When things go bad, help us out!

You spoke in thunder and everyone ran.

You showed up and nations scattered.

Yourpeople, for a change, got in on the loot,

picking the field clean of the enemy spoils.

5-6 Godis supremely esteemed. His center holds.

Zion brims over with all that is just and right.

Godkeeps your days stable and secure—

salvation, wisdom, and knowledge in surplus,

and best of all, Zion’s treasure, Fear-of-God.

7-9 But look! Listen!

Tough men weep openly.

Peacemaking diplomats are in bitter tears.

The roads are empty—

not a soul out on the streets.

The peace treaty is broken,

its conditions violated,

its signers reviled.

The very ground under our feet mourns,

the Lebanon mountains hang their heads,

Flowering Sharon is a weed-choked gully,

and the forests of Bashan and Carmel? Bare branches.

10-12 “Now I’m stepping in,”Godsays.

“From now on, I’m taking over.

The gloves come off. Now see how mighty I am.

There’s nothing to you.

Pregnant with chaff, you produce straw babies;

full of hot air, you self-destruct.

You’re good for nothing but fertilizer and fuel.

Earth to earth—and the sooner the better.

13-14 “If you’re far away,

get the reports on what I’ve done,

And if you’re in the neighborhood,

pay attention to my record.

The sinners in Zion are rightly terrified;

the godless are at their wit’s end:

‘Who among us can survive this firestorm?

Who of us can get out of this purge with our lives?’”

15-16 The answer’s simple:

Live right,

speak the truth,

despise exploitation,

refuse bribes,

reject violence,

avoid evil amusements.

This is how you raise your standard of living!

A safe and stable way to live.

A nourishing, satisfying way to live.

God Makes All the Decisions Here

17-19 Oh, you’ll see the king—a beautiful sight!

And you’ll take in the wide vistas of land.

In your mind you’ll go over the old terrors:

“What happened to that Assyrian inspector who condemned and confiscated?

And the one who gouged us of taxes?

And that cheating moneychanger?”

Gone! Out of sight forever! Their insolence

nothing now but a fading stain on the carpet!

No more putting up with a language you can’t understand,

no more sounds of gibberish in your ears.

20-22 Just take a look at Zion, will you?

Centering our worship in festival feasts!

Feast your eyes on Jerusalem,

a quiet and permanent place to live.

No more pulling up stakes and moving on,

no more patched-together lean-tos.

Instead,God!Godmajestic, God himself the place

in a country of broad rivers and streams,

But rivers blocked to invading ships,

off-limits to predatory pirates.

ForGodmakes all the decisions here.Godis our king.

Godruns this place and he’ll keep us safe.

23 Ha! Your sails are in shreds,

your mast wobbling,

your hold leaking.

The plunder is free for the taking, free for all—

for weak and strong, insiders and outsiders.

24 No one in Zion will say, “I’m sick.”

Best of all, they’ll all live guilt-free.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/ISA/33-9e9e5809f4f4dd4d1c1b3a4f9d3a7977.mp3?version_id=97—

The Fires Burning Day and Night

1 Draw in close now, nations. Listen carefully,

you people. Pay attention!

Earth, you, too, and everything in you.

World, and all that comes from you.

2-4 And here’s why:Godis angry,

good and angry with all the nations,

So blazingly angry at their arms and armies

that he’s going to rid earth of them, wipe them out.

The corpses, thrown in a heap,

will stink like the town dump in midsummer,

Their blood flowing off the mountains

like creeks in spring runoff.

Stars will fall out of the sky

like overripe, rotting fruit in the orchard,

And the sky itself will be folded up like a blanket

and put away in a closet.

All that army of stars, shriveled to nothing,

like leaves and fruit in autumn, dropping and rotting!

5-7 “Once I’ve finished with earth and sky,

I’ll start in on Edom.

I’ll come down hard on Edom,

a people I’ve slated for total termination.”

Godhas a sword, thirsty for blood and more blood,

a sword hungry for well-fed flesh,

Lamb and goat blood,

the suet-rich kidneys of rams.

Yes,Godhas scheduled a sacrifice in Bozrah, the capital,

the whole country of Edom a slaughterhouse.

A wholesale slaughter, wild animals

and farm animals alike slaughtered.

The whole country soaked with blood,

all the ground greasy with fat.

8-15 It’sGod’s scheduled time for vengeance,

the year all Zion’s accounts are settled.

Edom’s streams will flow sluggish, thick with pollution,

the soil sterile, poisoned with waste,

The whole country

a smoking, stinking garbage dump—

The fires burning day and night,

the skies black with endless smoke.

Generation after generation of wasteland—

no more travelers through this country!

Vultures and skunks will police the streets;

owls and crows will feel at home there.

God will reverse creation. Chaos!

He will cancel fertility. Emptiness!

Leaders will have no one to lead.

They’ll name it No Kingdom There,

A country where all kings

and princes are unemployed.

Thistles will take over, covering the castles,

fortresses conquered by weeds and thornbushes.

Wild dogs will prowl the ruins,

ostriches have the run of the place.

Wildcats and hyenas will hunt together,

demons and devils dance through the night.

The night-demon Lilith, evil and rapacious,

will establish permanent quarters.

Scavenging carrion birds will breed and brood,

infestations of ominous evil.

16-17 Get and readGod’s book:

None of this is going away,

this breeding, brooding evil.

Godhas personally commanded it all.

His Spirit set it in motion.

Godhas assigned them their place,

decreed their fate in detail.

This is permanent—

generation after generation, the same old thing.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/ISA/34-7d90b546119992eb5707e4f61a8a2dce.mp3?version_id=97—

The Voiceless Break into Song

1-2 Wilderness and desert will sing joyously,

the badlands will celebrate and flower—

Like the crocus in spring, bursting into blossom,

a symphony of song and color.

Mountain glories of Lebanon—a gift.

Awesome Carmel, stunning Sharon—gifts.

God’s resplendent glory, fully on display.

Godawesome,Godmajestic.

3-4 Energize the limp hands,

strengthen the rubbery knees.

Tell fearful souls,

“Courage! Take heart!

Godis here, right here,

on his way to put things right

And redress all wrongs.

He’s on his way! He’ll save you!”

5-7 Blind eyes will be opened,

deaf ears unstopped,

Lame men and women will leap like deer,

the voiceless break into song.

Springs of water will burst out in the wilderness,

streams flow in the desert.

Hot sands will become a cool oasis,

thirsty ground a splashing fountain.

Even lowly jackals will have water to drink,

and barren grasslands flourish richly.

8-10 There will be a highway

called the Holy Road.

No one rude or rebellious

is permitted on this road.

It’s forGod’s people exclusively—

impossible to get lost on this road.

Not even fools can get lost on it.

No lions on this road,

no dangerous wild animals—

Nothing and no one dangerous or threatening.

Only the redeemed will walk on it.

The peopleGodhas ransomed

will come back on this road.

They’ll sing as they make their way home to Zion,

unfading halos of joy encircling their heads,

Welcomed home with gifts of joy and gladness

as all sorrows and sighs scurry into the night.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/ISA/35-1fe226d1adde81d843a5606e2a23856a.mp3?version_id=97—

It’s Their Fate That’s at Stake

1-3 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria made war on all the fortress cities of Judah and took them. Then the king of Assyria sent his general, the “Rabshekah,” accompanied by a huge army, from Lachish to Jerusalem to King Hezekiah. The general stopped at the aqueduct where it empties into the upper pool on the road to the public laundry. Three men went out to meet him: Eliakim son of Hilkiah, in charge of the palace; Shebna the secretary; and Joah son of Asaph, the official historian.

4-7 The Rabshekah said to them, “Tell Hezekiah that the Great King, the king of Assyria, says this: ‘What kind of backing do you think you have against me? You’re bluffing and I’m calling your bluff. Your words are no match for my weapons. What kind of backup do you have now that you’ve rebelled against me? Egypt? Don’t make me laugh. Egypt is a rubber crutch. Lean on Egypt and you’ll end up flat on your face. That’s all Pharaoh king of Egypt is to anyone who leans on him. And if you try to tell me, “We’re leaning on ourGod,” isn’t it a bit late? Hasn’t Hezekiah just gotten rid of all the places of worship, telling you, “You’ve got to worship atthisaltar”?

8-9 “‘Be reasonable. Face the facts: My master the king of Assyria will give you two thousand horses if you can put riders on them. You can’t do it, can you? So how do you think, depending on flimsy Egypt’s chariots and riders, you can stand up against even the lowest-ranking captain in my master’s army?

10 “‘And besides, do you think I came all this way to destroy this land without first gettingGod’s blessing? It was yourGodwho told me, Make war on this land. Destroy it.’”

11 Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah answered the Rabshekah, “Please talk to us in Aramaic. We understand Aramaic. Don’t talk to us in Hebrew within earshot of all the people gathered around.”

12 But the Rabshekah replied, “Do you think my master has sent me to give this message to your master and you but not also to the people clustered here? It’s their fate that’s at stake. They’re the ones who are going to end up eating their own excrement and drinking their own urine.”

13-15 Then the Rabshekah stood up and called out loudly in Hebrew, the common language, “Listen to the message of the great king, the king of Assyria! Don’t listen to Hezekiah’s lies. He can’t save you. And don’t pay any attention to Hezekiah’s pious sermons telling you to lean onGod, telling you ‘Godwill save us, depend on it.Godwon’t let this city fall to the king of Assyria.’

16-20 “Don’t listen to Hezekiah. Listen to the king of Assyria’s offer: ‘Make peace with me. Come and join me. Everyone will end up with a good life, with plenty of land and water, and eventually something far better. I’ll turn you loose in wide open spaces, with more than enough fertile and productive land for everyone.’ Don’t let Hezekiah mislead you with his lies, ‘Godwill save us.’ Has that ever happened? Has any god in history ever gotten the best of the king of Assyria? Look around you. Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? The gods of Sepharvaim? Did the gods do anything for Samaria? Name one god that has ever saved its countries from me. So what makes you think thatGodcould save Jerusalem from me?’”

21 The three men were silent. They said nothing, for the king had already commanded, “Don’t answer him.”

22 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the court historian, tearing their clothes in defeat and despair, went back and reported what the Rabshekah had said to Hezekiah.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/ISA/36-20f24b63a496df932da14a1256a55c8d.mp3?version_id=97—