To The Word – Day 93

₁The royal line of David is like a tree that has been cut down; but just as new branches sprout from a stump, so a new king will arise from among David's descendants.

₁₀A day is coming when the new king from the royal line of David will be a symbol to the nations. They will gather in his royal city and give him honour. ₁₁When that day comes, the Lord will once again use his power and bring back home those of his people who are left in Assyria and Egypt, in the lands of Pathros, Ethiopia, Elam, Babylonia, and Hamath, and in the coastlands and on the islands of the sea. ₁₂The LORD will raise a signal flag to show the nations that he is gathering together again the scattered people of Israel and Judah and bringing them back from the four corners of the earth. ₁₃The kingdom of Israel will not be jealous of Judah any more, and Judah will not be the enemy of Israel. ₁₄Together they will attack the Philistines on the west and plunder the people who live to the east. They will conquer the people of Edom and Moab, and the people of Ammon will obey them. ₁₅The LORD will dry up the Gulf of Suez, and he will bring a hot wind to dry up the Euphrates, leaving only seven tiny streams, so that anyone will be able to walk across. ₁₆There will be a highway out of Assyria for those of his people Israel who have survived there, just as there was for their ancestors when they left Egypt.

₁A day is coming when people will sing,

₄A day is coming when people will sing,

₁This is a message about Babylon, which Isaiah son of Amoz received from God.

₂On the top of a barren hill raise the battle flag! Shout to the soldiers and raise your arm as the signal for them to attack the gates of the proud city. ₃The LORD has called out his proud and confident soldiers to fight a holy war and punish those he is angry with.

₄Listen to the noise on the mountains — the sound of a great crowd of people, the sound of nations and kingdoms gathering. The LORD of Armies is preparing his troops for battle. ₅They are coming from far-off countries at the ends of the earth. In his anger the LORD is coming to devastate the whole country.

₆Howl in pain! The day of the LORD is near, the day when the Almighty brings destruction. ₇Everyone's hands will hang limp, and everyone's courage will fail. ₈They will all be terrified and overcome with pain, like the pain of a woman in labour. They will look at each other in fear, and their faces will burn with shame. ₉The day of the LORD is coming — that cruel day of his fierce anger and fury. The earth will be made a wilderness, and every sinner will be destroyed. ₁₀Every star and every constellation will stop shining, the sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon will give no light.

₁₁The LORD says, “I will bring disaster on the earth and punish all wicked people for their sins. I will humble everyone who is proud and punish everyone who is arrogant and cruel. ₁₂Those who survive will be scarcer than gold. ₁₃I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place on that day when I, the LORD Almighty, show my anger.

₁₄“The foreigners living in Babylon will run away to their own countries, scattering like deer escaping from hunters, like sheep without a shepherd. ₁₅Anyone who is caught will be stabbed to death. ₁₆While they look on helplessly, their babies will be battered to death, their houses will be looted, and their wives will be raped.”

₁₇The LORD says, “I am stirring up the Medes to attack Babylon. They care nothing for silver and are not tempted by gold. ₁₈With their bows and arrows they will kill the young men. They will show no mercy to babies and take no pity on children. ₁₉Babylonia is the most beautiful kingdom of all; it is the pride of its people. But I, the LORD, will overthrow Babylon as I did Sodom and Gomorrah! ₂₀No one will ever live there again. No wandering Arab will ever pitch his tent there, and no shepherd will ever pasture his flock there. ₂₁It will be a place where desert animals live and where owls build their nests. Ostriches will live there, and wild goats will prance through the ruins. ₂₂The towers and palaces will echo with the cries of hyenas and jackals. Babylon's time has come! Her days are almost over.”

₁The LORD will once again be merciful to his people Israel and choose them as his own. He will let them live in their own land again, and foreigners will come and live there with them. ₂Many nations will help the people of Israel to return to the land which the LORD gave them, and there the nations will serve Israel as slaves. Those who once captured Israel will now be captured by Israel, and the people of Israel will rule over those who once oppressed them.

₃The LORD will give the people of Israel relief from their pain and suffering, and from the hard work they were forced to do. ₄When he does this, they are to mock the king of Babylonia and say:

“The cruel king has fallen! He will never oppress anyone again! ₅The LORD has ended the power of the evil rulers ₆who angrily oppressed the peoples and never stopped persecuting the nations they had conquered. ₇Now at last the whole world enjoys rest and peace, and everyone sings for joy. ₈The cypress trees and the cedars of Lebanon rejoice over the fallen king, because there is no one to cut them down, now that he is gone!

₉“The world of the dead is getting ready to welcome the king of Babylonia. The ghosts of those who were powerful on earth are stirring about. The ghosts of kings are rising from their thrones. ₁₀They all call out to him, ‘Now you are as weak as we are! You are one of us! ₁₁You used to be honoured with the music of harps, but now here you are in the world of the dead. You lie on a bed of maggots and are covered with a blanket of worms.’

₁₂“King of Babylonia, bright morning star, you have fallen from heaven! In the past you conquered nations, but now you have been thrown to the ground. ₁₃You were determined to climb up to heaven and to place your throne above the highest stars. You thought you would sit like a king on that mountain in the north where the gods assemble. ₁₄You said you would climb to the tops of the clouds and be like the Almighty. ₁₅But instead, you have been brought down to the deepest part of the world of the dead.

₁₆“The dead will stare and gape at you. They will ask, ‘Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble? ₁₇Is this the man who destroyed cities and turned the world into a desert? Is this the man who never freed his prisoners or let them go home?’ ₁₈All the kings of the earth lie in their magnificent tombs, ₁₉but you have no tomb, and your corpse is thrown out to rot. It is covered by the bodies of soldiers killed in battle, thrown with them into a rocky pit, and trampled down. ₂₀Because you ruined your country and killed your own people, you will not be buried like other kings. None of your evil family will survive. ₂₁Let the slaughter begin! The sons of this king will die because of their ancestors' sins. None of them will ever rule the earth or cover it with cities.”

₂₂The LORD Almighty says, “I will attack Babylon and bring it to ruin. I will leave nothing — no children, no survivors at all. I, the LORD, have spoken. ₂₃I will turn Babylon into a marsh, and owls will live there. I will sweep Babylon with a broom that will sweep everything away. I, the LORD Almighty, have spoken.”

₂₄The LORD Almighty has sworn an oath: “What I have planned will happen. What I have determined to do will be done. ₂₅I will destroy the Assyrians in my land of Israel and trample upon them on my mountains. I will free my people from the Assyrian yoke and from the burdens they have had to bear. ₂₆This is my plan for the world, and my arm is stretched out to punish the nations.” ₂₇The LORD Almighty is determined to do this; he has stretched out his arm to punish, and no one can stop him.

₂₈This is a message that was proclaimed in the year that King Ahaz died.

₂₉People of Philistia, the rod that beat you is broken, but you have no reason to be glad. When one snake dies, a worse one comes in its place. A snake's egg hatches a flying dragon. ₃₀The LORD will be a shepherd to the poor of his people and will let them live in safety. But he will send a terrible famine on you Philistines, and it will not leave any of you alive.

₃₁Howl and cry for help, all you Philistine cities! Be terrified, all of you! A cloud of dust is coming from the north — it is an army with no cowards in its ranks.

₃₂How shall we answer the messengers that come to us from Philistia? We will tell them that the LORD has established Zion and that his suffering people will find safety there.

₁This is a message about Moab.

The cities of Ar and Kir are destroyed in a single night, and silence covers the land of Moab. ₂The people of Dibon climb the hill to weep at the shrine. The people of Moab wail in grief over the cities of Nebo and Medeba; they have shaved their heads and their beards in grief. ₃The people in the streets are dressed in sackcloth; in the city squares and on the housetops people mourn and cry. ₄The people of Heshbon and Elealeh cry out, and their cry can be heard as far away as Jahaz. Even the soldiers tremble; their courage is gone. ₅My heart cries out for Moab! The people have fled to the town of Zoar, and to Eglath Shelishiyah. Some climb the road to Luhith, weeping as they go; some escape to Horonaim, grieving loudly. ₆The brook of Nimrim is dry, the grass beside it has withered, and nothing green is left. ₇The people go across the Valley of Willows, trying to escape with all their possessions. ₈Everywhere at Moab's borders the sound of crying is heard. It is heard at the towns of Eglaim and Beerelim. ₉At the town of Dibon the river is red with blood, and God has something even worse in store for the people there. Yes, there will be a bloody slaughter of everyone left in Moab.