A Prophecy Against Damascus

1A prophecy against Damascus:

“See, Damascus will no longer be a city

but will become a heap of ruins.

2The cities of Aroer will be deserted

and left to flocks, which will lie down,

with no one to make them afraid.

3The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim,

and royal power from Damascus;

the remnant of Aram will be

like the glory of the Israelites,”

declares the LordAlmighty.

4“In that day the glory of Jacob will fade;

the fat of his body will waste away.

5It will be as when reapers harvest the standing grain,

gathering the grain in their arms—

as when someone gleans heads of grain

in the Valley of Rephaim.

6Yet some gleanings will remain,

as when an olive tree is beaten,

leaving two or three olives on the topmost branches,

four or five on the fruitful boughs,”

declares the Lord, the God of Israel.

7In that day people will look to their Maker

and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.

8They will not look to the altars,

the work of their hands,

and they will have no regard for the Asherah poles

and the incense altars their fingers have made.

9In that day their strong cities, which they left because of the Israelites, will be like places abandoned to thickets and undergrowth. And all will be desolation.

10You have forgotten God your Savior;

you have not remembered the Rock, your fortress.

Therefore, though you set out the finest plants

and plant imported vines,

11though on the day you set them out, you make them grow,

and on the morning when you plant them, you bring them to bud,

yet the harvest will be as nothing

in the day of disease and incurable pain.

12Woe to the many nations that rage—

they rage like the raging sea!

Woe to the peoples who roar—

they roar like the roaring of great waters!

13Although the peoples roar like the roar of surging waters,

when he rebukes them they flee far away,

driven before the wind like chaff on the hills,

like tumbleweed before a gale.

14In the evening, sudden terror!

Before the morning, they are gone!

This is the portion of those who loot us,

the lot of those who plunder us.

1Send lambs as tribute

to the ruler of the land,

from Sela, across the desert,

to the mount of Daughter Zion.

2Like fluttering birds

pushed from the nest,

so are the women of Moab

at the fords of the Arnon.

3“Make up your mind,” Moab says.

“Render a decision.

Make your shadow like night—

at high noon.

Hide the fugitives,

do not betray the refugees.

4Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you;

be their shelter from the destroyer.”

The oppressor will come to an end,

and destruction will cease;

the aggressor will vanish from the land.

5In love a throne will be established;

in faithfulness a man will sit on it—

one from the house of David—

one who in judging seeks justice

and speeds the cause of righteousness.

6We have heard of Moab’s pride—

how great is her arrogance!—

of her conceit, her pride and her insolence;

but her boasts are empty.

7Therefore the Moabites wail,

they wail together for Moab.

Lament and grieve

for the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth.

8The fields of Heshbon wither,

the vines of Sibmah also.

The rulers of the nations

have trampled down the choicest vines,

which once reached Jazer

and spread toward the desert.

Their shoots spread out

and went as far as the sea.

9So I weep, as Jazer weeps,

for the vines of Sibmah.

Heshbon and Elealeh,

I drench you with tears!

The shouts of joy over your ripened fruit

and over your harvests have been stilled.

10Joy and gladness are taken away from the orchards;

no one sings or shouts in the vineyards;

no one treads out wine at the presses,

for I have put an end to the shouting.

11My heart laments for Moab like a harp,

my inmost being for Kir Hareseth.

12When Moab appears at her high place,

she only wears herself out;

when she goes to her shrine to pray,

it is to no avail.

13This is the word the Lord has already spoken concerning Moab. 14But now the Lord says: “Within three years, as a servant bound by contract would count them, Moab’s splendor and all her many people will be despised, and her survivors will be very few and feeble.”

A Prophecy Against Moab

1A prophecy against Moab:

Ar in Moab is ruined,

destroyed in a night!

Kir in Moab is ruined,

destroyed in a night!

2Dibon goes up to its temple,

to its high places to weep;

Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba.

Every head is shaved

and every beard cut off.

3In the streets they wear sackcloth;

on the roofs and in the public squares

they all wail,

prostrate with weeping.

4Heshbon and Elealeh cry out,

their voices are heard all the way to Jahaz.

Therefore the armed men of Moab cry out,

and their hearts are faint.

5My heart cries out over Moab;

her fugitives flee as far as Zoar,

as far as Eglath Shelishiyah.

They go up the hill to Luhith,

weeping as they go;

on the road to Horonaim

they lament their destruction.

6The waters of Nimrim are dried up

and the grass is withered;

the vegetation is gone

and nothing green is left.

7So the wealth they have acquired and stored up

they carry away over the Ravine of the Poplars.

8Their outcry echoes along the border of Moab;

their wailing reaches as far as Eglaim,

their lamentation as far as Beer Elim.

9The waters of Dimonare full of blood,

but I will bring still more upon Dimon—

a lion upon the fugitives of Moab

and upon those who remain in the land.

1The Lord will have compassion on Jacob;

once again he will choose Israel

and will settle them in their own land.

Foreigners will join them

and unite with the descendants of Jacob.

2Nations will take them

and bring them to their own place.

And Israel will take possession of the nations

and make them male and female servants in the Lord’s land.

They will make captives of their captors

and rule over their oppressors.

3On the day the Lord gives you relief from your suffering and turmoil and from the harsh labor forced on you, 4you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon:

How the oppressor has come to an end!

How his fury has ended!

5The Lord has broken the rod of the wicked,

the scepter of the rulers,

6which in anger struck down peoples

with unceasing blows,

and in fury subdued nations

with relentless aggression.

7All the lands are at rest and at peace;

they break into singing.

8Even the junipers and the cedars of Lebanon

gloat over you and say,

“Now that you have been laid low,

no one comes to cut us down.”

9The realm of the dead 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.

10They will all respond,

they will say to you,

“You also have become weak, as we are;

you have become like us.”

11All 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.

12How you have fallen from heaven,

morning star, son of the dawn!

You have been cast down to the earth,

you who once laid low the nations!

13You said in your heart,

“I will ascend to the heavens;

I will raise my throne

above the stars of God;

I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,

on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.

14I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;

I will make myself like the Most High.”

15But you are brought down to the realm of the dead,

to the depths of the pit.

16Those who see you stare at you,

they ponder your fate:

“Is this the man who shook the earth

and made kingdoms tremble,

17the man who made the world a wilderness,

who overthrew its cities

and would not let his captives go home?”

18All the kings of the nations lie in state,

each in his own tomb.

19But 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,

20you will not join them in burial,

for you have destroyed your land

and killed your people.

Let the offspring of the wicked

never be mentioned again.

21Prepare a place to slaughter his children

for the sins of their ancestors;

they are not to rise to inherit the land

and cover the earth with their cities.

22“I will rise up against them,”

declares the LordAlmighty.

“I will wipe out Babylon’s name and survivors,

her offspring and descendants,”

declares the Lord.

23“I will turn her into a place for owls

and into swampland;

I will sweep her with the broom of destruction,”

declares the LordAlmighty.

24The LordAlmighty has sworn,

“Surely, as I have planned, so it will be,

and as I have purposed, so it will happen.

25I will crush the Assyrian in my land;

on my mountains I will trample him down.

His yoke will be taken from my people,

and his burden removed from their shoulders.”

26This is the plan determined for the whole world;

this is the hand stretched out over all nations.

27For the LordAlmighty has purposed, and who can thwart him?

His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?

A Prophecy Against the Philistines

28This prophecy came in the year King Ahaz died:

29Do not rejoice, all you Philistines,

that the rod that struck you is broken;

from the root of that snake will spring up a viper,

its fruit will be a darting, venomous serpent.

30The 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.

31Wail, you gate! Howl, you city!

Melt away, all you Philistines!

A cloud of smoke comes from the north,

and there is not a straggler in its ranks.

32What answer shall be given

to the envoys of that nation?

“The Lord has established Zion,

and in her his afflicted people will find refuge.”

A Prophecy Against Babylon

1A prophecy against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw:

2Raise a banner on a bare hilltop,

shout to them;

beckon to them

to enter the gates of the nobles.

3I have commanded those I prepared for battle;

I have summoned my warriors to carry out my wrath—

those who rejoice in my triumph.

4Listen, a noise on the mountains,

like that of a great multitude!

Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms,

like nations massing together!

The LordAlmighty is mustering

an army for war.

5They come from faraway lands,

from the ends of the heavens—

the Lord and the weapons of his wrath—

to destroy the whole country.

6Wail, for the day of the Lord is near;

it will come like destruction from the Almighty.

7Because of this, all hands will go limp,

every heart will melt with fear.

8Terror 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.

9See, 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.

10The 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.

11I 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.

12I will make people scarcer than pure gold,

more rare than the gold of Ophir.

13Therefore 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.

14Like a hunted gazelle,

like sheep without a shepherd,

they will all return to their own people,

they will flee to their native land.

15Whoever is captured will be thrust through;

all who are caught will fall by the sword.

16Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes;

their houses will be looted and their wives violated.

17See, I will stir up against them the Medes,

who do not care for silver

and have no delight in gold.

18Their bows will strike down the young men;

they will have no mercy on infants,

nor will they look with compassion on children.

19Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms,

the pride and glory of the Babylonians,

will be overthrown by God

like Sodom and Gomorrah.

20She will never be inhabited

or lived in through all generations;

there no nomads will pitch their tents,

there no shepherds will rest their flocks.

21But desert creatures will lie there,

jackals will fill her houses;

there the owls will dwell,

and there the wild goats will leap about.

22Hyenas will inhabit her strongholds,

jackals her luxurious palaces.

Her time is at hand,

and her days will not be prolonged.

Hoshea Last King of Israel

1In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned nine years. 2He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, but not like the kings of Israel who preceded him.

3Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up to attack Hoshea, who had been Shalmaneser’s vassal and had paid him tribute. 4But the king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea was a traitor, for he had sent envoys to Soking of Egypt, and he no longer paid tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year. Therefore Shalmaneser seized him and put him in prison. 5The king of Assyria invaded the entire land, marched against Samaria and laid siege to it for three years. 6In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in the towns of the Medes.

Israel Exiled Because of Sin

7All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other gods 8and followed the practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced. 9The Israelites secretly did things against the Lord their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city they built themselves high places in all their towns. 10They set up sacred stones and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every spreading tree. 11At every high place they burned incense, as the nations whom the Lord had driven out before them had done. They did wicked things that aroused the Lord’s anger. 12They worshiped idols, though the Lord had said, “You shall not do this.”13The Lord warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers: “Turn from your evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire Law that I commanded your ancestors to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets.”

14But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their ancestors, who did not trust in the Lord their God. 15They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their ancestors and the statutes he had warned them to keep. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless. They imitated the nations around them although the Lord had ordered them, “Do not do as they do.”

16They forsook all the commands of the Lord their God and made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves, and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the starry hosts, and they worshiped Baal. 17They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced divination and sought omens and sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger.

18So the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them from his presence. Only the tribe of Judah was left, 19and even Judah did not keep the commands of the Lord their God. They followed the practices Israel had introduced. 20Therefore the Lord rejected all the people of Israel; he afflicted them and gave them into the hands of plunderers, until he thrust them from his presence.

21When he tore Israel away from the house of David, they made Jeroboam son of Nebat their king. Jeroboam enticed Israel away from following the Lord and caused them to commit a great sin. 22The Israelites persisted in all the sins of Jeroboam and did not turn away from them 23until the Lord removed them from his presence, as he had warned through all his servants the prophets. So the people of Israel were taken from their homeland into exile in Assyria, and they are still there.

Samaria Resettled

24The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Kuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took over Samaria and lived in its towns. 25When they first lived there, they did not worship the Lord; so he sent lions among them and they killed some of the people. 26It was reported to the king of Assyria: “The people you deported and resettled in the towns of Samaria do not know what the god of that country requires. He has sent lions among them, which are killing them off, because the people do not know what he requires.”

27Then the king of Assyria gave this order: “Have one of the priests you took captive from Samaria go back to live there and teach the people what the god of the land requires.” 28So one of the priests who had been exiled from Samaria came to live in Bethel and taught them how to worship the Lord.

29Nevertheless, each national group made its own gods in the several towns where they settled, and set them up in the shrines the people of Samaria had made at the high places. 30The people from Babylon made Sukkoth Benoth, those from Kuthah made Nergal, and those from Hamath made Ashima; 31the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire as sacrifices to Adrammelek and Anammelek, the gods of Sepharvaim. 32They worshiped the Lord, but they also appointed all sorts of their own people to officiate for them as priests in the shrines at the high places. 33They worshiped the Lord, but they also served their own gods in accordance with the customs of the nations from which they had been brought.

34To this day they persist in their former practices. They neither worship the Lord nor adhere to the decrees and regulations, the laws and commands that the Lord gave the descendants of Jacob, whom he named Israel. 35When the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites, he commanded them: “Do not worship any other gods or bow down to them, serve them or sacrifice to them. 36But the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt with mighty power and outstretched arm, is the one you must worship. To him you shall bow down and to him offer sacrifices. 37You must always be careful to keep the decrees and regulations, the laws and commands he wrote for you. Do not worship other gods. 38Do not forget the covenant I have made with you, and do not worship other gods. 39Rather, worship the Lord your God; it is he who will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies.”

40They would not listen, however, but persisted in their former practices. 41Even while these people were worshiping the Lord, they were serving their idols. To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their ancestors did.

Ahaz King of Judah

1In the seventeenth year of Pekah son of Remaliah, Ahaz son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign. 2Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God. 3He followed the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, engaging in the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. 4He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree.

5Then Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem and besieged Ahaz, but they could not overpower him. 6At that time, Rezin king of Aram recovered Elath for Aram by driving out the people of Judah. Edomites then moved into Elath and have lived there to this day.

7Ahaz sent messengers to say to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, “I am your servant and vassal. Come up and save me out of the hand of the king of Aram and of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.” 8And Ahaz took the silver and gold found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace and sent it as a gift to the king of Assyria. 9The king of Assyria complied by attacking Damascus and capturing it. He deported its inhabitants to Kir and put Rezin to death.

10Then King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria. He saw an altar in Damascus and sent to Uriah the priest a sketch of the altar, with detailed plans for its construction. 11So Uriah the priest built an altar in accordance with all the plans that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus and finished it before King Ahaz returned. 12When the king came back from Damascus and saw the altar, he approached it and presented offerings on it. 13He offered up his burnt offering and grain offering, poured out his drink offering, and splashed the blood of his fellowship offerings against the altar. 14As for the bronze altar that stood before the Lord, he brought it from the front of the temple—from between the new altar and the temple of the Lord—and put it on the north side of the new altar.

15King Ahaz then gave these orders to Uriah the priest: “On the large new altar, offer the morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering, the king’s burnt offering and his grain offering, and the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their grain offering and their drink offering. Splash against this altar the blood of all the burnt offerings and sacrifices. But I will use the bronze altar for seeking guidance.” 16And Uriah the priest did just as King Ahaz had ordered.

17King Ahaz cut off the side panels and removed the basins from the movable stands. He removed the Sea from the bronze bulls that supported it and set it on a stone base. 18He took away the Sabbath canopy that had been built at the temple and removed the royal entryway outside the temple of the Lord, in deference to the king of Assyria.

19As for the other events of the reign of Ahaz, and what he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 20Ahaz rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. And Hezekiah his son succeeded him as king.