IV. The Prophecies of Judgment and Blessing......................... 28:1-35:10
Isa 28:1
Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine!Isa 28:2
Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand.Isa 28:3
The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet:Isa 28:4
And the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the summer; which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up.Isa 28:5
In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,Isa 28:6
And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.Isa 28:7
But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.Isa 28:8
For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.Isa 28:9
Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.Isa 28:10
For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:Isa 28:11
For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.Isa 28:12
To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.Isa 28:13
But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.Isa 28:14
Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.Isa 28:15
Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:Isa 28:16
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.Isa 28:17
Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.Isa 28:18
And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.Isa 28:19
From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.Isa 28:20
For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.Isa 28:21
For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.Isa 28:22
Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth.Isa 28:23
Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech.Isa 28:24
Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? doth he open and break the clods of his ground?Isa 28:25
When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley and the rie in their place?Isa 28:26
For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him.Isa 28:27
For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod.Isa 28:28
Bread corn is bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen.Isa 28:29
This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.Isa 29:1
Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices.Isa 29:2
Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel.Isa 29:3
And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee.Isa 29:4
And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.Isa 29:5
Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly.Isa 29:6
Thou shalt be visited of the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.Isa 29:7
And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision.Isa 29:8
It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.Isa 29:9
Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.Isa 29:10
For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.Isa 29:11
And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:Isa 29:12
And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.Isa 29:13
Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:Isa 29:14
Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.Isa 29:15
Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?Isa 29:16
Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?Isa 29:17
Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?Isa 29:18
And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.Isa 29:19
The meek also shall increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.Isa 29:20
For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off:Isa 29:21
That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought.Isa 29:22
Therefore thus saith the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale.Isa 29:23
But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.Isa 29:24
They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.Isa 30:1
Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:Isa 30:2
That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt!Isa 30:3
Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.Isa 30:4
For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes.Isa 30:5
They were all ashamed of a people that could not profit them, nor be an help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach.Isa 30:6
The burden of the beasts of the south: into the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit them.Isa 30:7
For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this, Their strength is to sit still.Isa 30:8
Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever:Isa 30:9
That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD:Isa 30:10
Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:Isa 30:11
Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.Isa 30:12
Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon:Isa 30:13
Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.Isa 30:14
And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters' vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit.Isa 30:15
For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.Isa 30:16
But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.Isa 30:17
One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill.Isa 30:18
And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.Isa 30:19
For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee.Isa 30:20
And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers:Isa 30:21
And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.Isa 30:22
Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence.Isa 30:23
Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous: in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures.Isa 30:24
The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground shall eat clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan.Isa 30:25
And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.Isa 30:26
Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.Isa 30:27
Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:Isa 30:28
And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity: and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err.Isa 30:29
Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the LORD, to the mighty One of Israel.Isa 30:30
And the LORD shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones.Isa 30:31
For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod.Isa 30:32
And in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the LORD shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets and harps: and in battles of shaking will he fight with it.Isa 30:33
For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.Isa 31:1
Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD!Isa 31:2
Yet he also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his words: but will arise against the house of the evildoers, and against the help of them that work iniquity.Isa 31:3
Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail together.Isa 31:4
For thus hath the LORD spoken unto me, Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so shall the LORD of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof.Isa 31:5
As birds flying, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it.Isa 31:6
Turn ye unto him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted.Isa 31:7
For in that day every man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a sin.Isa 31:8
Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not of a mighty man; and the sword, not of a mean man, shall devour him: but he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be discomfited.Isa 31:9
And he shall pass over to his strong hold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the ensign, saith the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem.Isa 32:1
Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.Isa 32:2
And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.Isa 32:3
And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken.Isa 32:4
The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.Isa 32:5
The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful.Isa 32:6
For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the LORD, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.Isa 32:7
The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right.Isa 32:8
But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.Isa 32:9
Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech.Isa 32:10
Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women: for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come.Isa 32:11
Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones: strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins.Isa 32:12
They shall lament for the teats, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.Isa 32:13
Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city:Isa 32:14
Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks;Isa 32:15
Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.Isa 32:16
Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.Isa 32:17
And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.Isa 32:18
And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places;Isa 32:19
When it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the city shall be low in a low place.Isa 32:20
Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.Isa 33:1
Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.Isa 33:2
O LORD, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.Isa 33:3
At the noise of the tumult the people fled; at the lifting up of thyself the nations were scattered.Isa 33:4
And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpiller: as the running to and fro of locusts shall he run upon them.Isa 33:5
The LORD is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness.Isa 33:6
And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure.Isa 33:7
Behold, their valiant ones shall cry without: the ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly.Isa 33:8
The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.Isa 33:9
The earth mourneth and languisheth: Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down: Sharon is like a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits.Isa 33:10
Now will I rise, saith the LORD; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself.Isa 33:11
Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath, as fire, shall devour you.Isa 33:12
And the people shall be as the burnings of lime: as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire.Isa 33:13
Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might.Isa 33:14
The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?Isa 33:15
He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;Isa 33:16
He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.Isa 33:17
Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.Isa 33:18
Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?Isa 33:19
Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.Isa 33:20
Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.Isa 33:21
But there the glorious LORD will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.Isa 33:22
For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us.Isa 33:23
Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast, they could not spread the sail: then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey.Isa 33:24
And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.Isa 34:1
Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it.Isa 34:2
For the indignation of the LORD is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.Isa 34:3
Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.Isa 34:4
And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.Isa 34:5
For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment.Isa 34:6
The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.Isa 34:7
And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.Isa 34:8
For it is the day of the LORD'S vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.Isa 34:9
And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch.Isa 34:10
It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.Isa 34:11
But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness.Isa 34:12
They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing.Isa 34:13
And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls.Isa 34:14
The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest.Isa 34:15
There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate.Isa 34:16
Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.Isa 34:17
And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.Isa 35:1
The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.Isa 35:2
It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God.Isa 35:3
Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.Isa 35:4
Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.Isa 35:5
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.Isa 35:6
Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.Isa 35:7
And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.Isa 35:8
And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.Isa 35:9
No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:Isa 35:10
And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.