JULY 3
More of Isaiah's Prophecies Against Nations
With the death of
JUDGMENT AGAINST PHILISTINES. Isa.14:28-31
This oracle came in the year King Ahaz died.
Do not rejoice, all you Philistines,
that the rod that struck you is broken; from the root of mat snake will spring up a viper,
its fruit will be a darting, venomous serpent. The poorest of the poor will find pasture,
and the needy will lie down in safety. But your root I will destroy by famine;
it will slay your survivors.
Wail, O gate! Howl, O city!
Melt away, all you Philistines! A cloud of smoke comes from the north,
and there is not a straggler in its ranks. What answer shall be given
to the envoys of that nation?
"The lord has established
and in her his afflicted people will find refuge."
JUDGMENT AGAINST
An oracle concerning
Raise a banner on a bare hilltop,
shout to thorn; beckon to them
to enter the gates of the nobles. I have commanded my holy ones;
I have summoned my warriors to carry out my wrath —
those who rejoice in my triumph.
Listen, a noise on the mountains,
like that of a great multitude! Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms,
like nations massing together! The lord Almighty is mustering
an army for war. They come from
faraway lands,
from the ends of the heavens— the lord and the weapons of his wrath— to destroy the whole country.
Wail, for the day of the lord is near;
it will come like destruction from the Almighty. Because of this, all hands will go limp,
every man's heart will melt. Terror will seize them,
pain and anguish will grip them;
they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at each other,
their faces aflame.
Isa. 13:9-16
See, the day of the lord is coming
—a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger— to make the land desolate
and destroy the sinners within it. The stars of heaven and their constellations
will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened
and the moon will not give its light. I will punish the world for its evil,
the wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty
and will humble the pride of the ruthless. I will make man scarcer than pure gold,
more rare than the gold of Ophir. Therefore I will make the heavens tremble;
and the earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the lord Almighty,
in the day of his burning anger.
Like a hunted gazelle,
like sheep without a shepherd, each will return to his own people,
each will flee to his native land. Whoever is captured will be thrust through;
all who are caught will fall by the sword. Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes;
their houses will be looted and their wives ravished.
Isa. 13:17-22
See, I will stir up against them the Medes,
who do not care for silver
and have no delight in gold. Their bows will strike down the young men;
they will have no mercy on infants
nor will they look with
compassion on children.
the glory of the Babylonians pride, will be overthrown by God
like
She will never be inhabited
or lived in through all generations; no Arab will pitch his tent there,
no shepherd will rest his flocks there. But desert creatures will lie there,
jackals will fill her houses; there the owls will dwell,
and there the wild goats will leap about. Hyenas will howl in her strongholds,
jackals in her luxurious palaces. Her time is at hand,
and her days will not be prolonged.
isa. 14:1,2
The lord will have compassion on Jacob;
once again he will choose
and will settle them in their own land. Aliens will join them
and unite with the house of Jacob. Nations will take them
and bring them to their own
place. And the house of
as menservants and maidservants in the lord's land. They will make captives of their captors and rule over their oppressors.
On the day the lord gives you relief from suffering
and turmoil and cruel bondage, you will take up this taunt against the king of
How the oppressor has come to an end!
How his fury/has ended! The lord has broken the rod of the wicked,
the scepter of the rulers, which in anger struck down peoples
with unceasing blows, and in fury subdued nations
with relentless aggression. All the lands are at rest and at peace;
they break into singing. Even the pine trees and the cedars of Lebanon
exult over you and say, "Now that you have been laid low,
no woodsman comes to cut us down."
The graved below is all astir
to meet you at your coming; it rouses the spirits of the departed to greet you—
all those who were leaders in the world; it makes them rise from their thrones—
all those who were kings over the nations.
They will all respond,
they will say to you, "You also have become weak, as we are;
you have become like us." All your pomp has been brought down to the grave,
along with the noise of your harps; maggots are spread out beneath you
and worms cover you.
isa. 14:12-23
How you have fallen from heaven,
O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart,
"I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne
above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.'1 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High." But you are brought down to the grave,
to the depths of the pit.
Those who see you stare at you,
they ponder your fate: "Is this the man who shook the earth
and made kingdoms tremble, the man who made the world a desert,
who overthrew its cities
and would not let his captives go home?"
All the kings of the nations lie in state,
each in his own tomb. But you are cast out of your tomb
like a rejected branch; you are covered with the slain,
with those pierced by the sword,
those who descend to the stones of the pit. Like a corpse trampled underfoot,
you will not join them in burial, for you have destroyed your land
and killed your people.
The offspring of the wicked
will never be mentioned again. Prepare a place to slaughter his sons
for the sins of their forefathers; they are not to rise to inherit the land
and cover the earth with their cities.
"I will rise up against them,"
declares the lord Almighty.
"I will cut off from
declares the lord.
"I will turn her into a place for owls
and into swampland;
I will sweep her with the broom of destruction," declares the lord Almighty.
ANOTHER
An oracle concerning the Desert by the Sea:
Like whirlwinds sweeping through
the southland,
an invader comes from the desert, from a land of terror.
A dire vision has been shown to me:
The traitor betrays, the looter takes loot.
I will bring to an end all the groaning she caused.
At this my body is racked with pain,
pangs seize me, like those of a woman in labor; I am staggered by what I hear,
I am bewildered by what I see. My heart falters,
fear makes me tremble; the twilight I longed for
has become a horror to me.
They set the tables,
they spread the rugs,
they eat, they drink! Get up, you officers,
oil the shields!
This is what the Lord says to me:
"Go, post a lookout
and have him report what he sees. When he sees chariots
with teams of horses, riders on donkeys
or riders on camels, let him be alert,
fully alert."
And the lookout' shouted,
"Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower;
every night I stay at my post. Look, here comes a man in a chariot
with a team of horses. And he gives back the answer:
'
lie shattered on the ground!'"
O my people, crushed on the threshing floor,
I tell you what I have heard from the lord
Almighty, from the God of Israel.