Study Desk

Woe to those who drag ^(ac)iniquity with the cords of ^[m]falsehood, And sin as if with cart ropes;

^(ad)Who say, "Let Him make speed, let Him hasten His work, that we may see it; And let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near And come to pass, that we may know it!"

Woe to those who ^(ae)call evil good, and good evil; Who ^[n](af)substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who ^[o]substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

Woe to those who are ^(ag)wise in their own eyes And clever in their own sight!

^(ah)Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine And valiant men in mixing strong drink,

^(ai)Who justify the wicked for a bribe, And ^(aj)take away the ^[p]rights of the ones who are in the right!

Therefore, ^(ak)as a tongue of fire consumes stubble And dry grass collapses into the flame, So their ^(al)root will become ^(am)like rot and their blossom ^[q]blow away as dust; For they have ^(an)rejected the law of the Lord of hosts And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

On this account the ^(ao)anger of the Lord has burned against His people, And He has stretched out His hand against them and struck them down. And the ^(ap)mountains quaked, and their ^(aq)corpses ^[r]lay like refuse in the middle of the streets. ^(ar)For all this His anger ^[s]is not spent, But His ^(as)hand is still stretched out.

He will also lift up a ^(at)standard to the ^[t]distant nation, And will ^(au)whistle for it ^(av)from the ends of the earth; And behold, it will ^(aw)come with speed swiftly.

^(ax)No one in it is weary or stumbles, None slumbers or sleeps; Nor is the ^(ay)belt at its waist undone, Nor its sandal strap broken.

^[u](az)Its arrows are sharp and all its bows are bent; The hoofs of its horses ^[v]seem like flint and its chariot ^(ba)wheels like a whirlwind.

Its ^(bb)roaring is like a lioness, and it roars like young lions; It growls as it ^(bc)seizes the prey And carries it off with ^(bd)no one to deliver it.

And it will ^(be)growl over it in that day like the roaring of the sea. If one ^(bf)looks to the land, behold, there is darkness and distress; Even the light is darkened by its clouds.

In the year of ^(a)King Uzziah's death ^(b)I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.

Seraphim stood above Him, ^(c)each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

And one called out to another and said, "^(d)Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The ^[a](e)whole earth is full of His glory."

And the ^[b]foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the ^[c](f)temple was filling with smoke.

Then I said, "^(g)Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of ^(h)unclean lips, And I live among a ⁽ⁱ⁾people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the ^(j)King, the Lord of hosts."

Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the ^(k)altar with tongs.

He ^(l)touched my mouth with it and said, "Behold, this has touched your lips; and ^(m)your iniquity is taken away and your sin is ^[d]forgiven."

Then I heard the ⁽ⁿ⁾voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then ^(o)I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

He said, "Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on ^(p)listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand.'

"^(q)Render the hearts of this people ^[e](r)insensitive, Their ears ^[f]dull, And their eyes ^[g]dim, ^(s)Otherwise they might see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed."

Then I said, "Lord, ^(t)how long?" And He answered, "Until ^(u)cities are devastated and without inhabitant, Houses are without people And the land is utterly desolate,

"The Lord has ^(v)removed men far away, And the ^[h](w)forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.

"Yet there will be a tenth portion in it, And it will again be subject to burning, Like a terebinth or an ^(x)oak Whose stump remains when it is felled. The ^(y)holy seed is its stump."

Now it came about in the days of ^(a)Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that ^(b)Rezin the king of Aram and ^(c)Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but ^(d)could not ^[a]conquer it.

When it was reported to the ^(e)house of David, saying, "The Arameans ^[b](f)have camped in ^(g)Ephraim," his heart and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake ^[c]with the wind.

Then the Lord said to Isaiah, "Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and your son ^[d]Shear-jashub, at the end of the ^(h)conduit of the upper pool, on the highway to the ^[e]fuller's field,

and say to him, ‘Take care and be ⁽ⁱ⁾calm, have no ^(j)fear and ^(k)do not be fainthearted because of these two stubs of smoldering ^(l)firebrands, on account of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the ^(m)son of Remaliah.

Because ⁽ⁿ⁾Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has planned evil against you, saying,

"Let us go up against Judah and ^[f]terrorize it, and make for ourselves a breach in ^[g]its walls and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,"

thus says the Lord ^[h] God : "^(o)It shall not stand nor shall it come to pass.

For the head of Aram is ^(p)Damascus and the head of Damascus is Rezin (now within another 65 years Ephraim will be shattered, so that it is no longer a people),

and the head of Ephraim is Samaria and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. ^(q)If you will not believe, you surely shall not ^[i]last."'"

Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying,

"Ask a ^(r)sign for yourself from the Lord your God; ^[j]make it deep as Sheol or high as ^[k]heaven."

But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord !"

Then he said, "Listen now, O ^(s)house of David! Is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will ^(t)try the patience of ^(u)my God as well?

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, ^(v)a ^[l]virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name ^[m](w)Immanuel.

He will eat ^(x)curds and honey ^[n]at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good.

^(y)For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, ^(z)the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken.

The Lord will bring on you, on your people, and on your father's house such days as have never come since the day that ^(aa)Ephraim separated from Judah, the ^(ab)king of Assyria."

In that day the Lord will ^(ac)whistle for the fly that is in the ^[o](ad)remotest part of the rivers of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.

They will all come and settle on the steep ^[p]ravines, on the ^(ae)ledges of the cliffs, ^(af)on all the thorn bushes and on all the ^[q]watering places.

In that day the Lord will ^(ag)shave with a ^(ah)razor, ^(ai)hired from regions beyond ^(aj)the ^[r]Euphrates (that is, with the king of Assyria), the head and the hair of the legs; and it will also remove the beard.

Now in that day a man may keep alive a ^(ak)heifer and a pair of sheep;

and because of the abundance of the milk produced he will eat curds, for everyone that is left within the land will eat ^(al)curds and honey.

And it will come about in that day, ^(am)that every place where there used to be a thousand vines, valued at a thousand shekels of silver, will become ^(an)briars and thorns.

People will come there with bows and arrows because all the land will be briars and thorns.

As for all the hills which used to be cultivated with the hoe, you will not go there for fear of briars and thorns; but they will become a place for ^[s](ao)pasturing oxen and for sheep to trample.

Then the Lord said to me, "Take for yourself a large tablet and ^(a)write on it ^[a]in ordinary letters: ^[b](b)Swift is the booty, speedy is the prey.

And ^[c]I will take to Myself faithful witnesses for testimony, ^(c)Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah."

So I approached the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. Then the Lord said to me, "Name him ^[d](d)Maher-shalal-hash-baz;

for ^(e)before the boy knows how to cry out ‘My father' or ‘My mother,' the wealth of ^(f)Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria."

Again the Lord spoke to me further, saying,

"Inasmuch as these people have ^(g)rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah And rejoice in ^(h)Rezin and the son of Remaliah;

"Now therefore, behold, the Lord is about to bring on them the ⁽ⁱ⁾strong and abundant waters of the ^[e](j)Euphrates, Even the ^(k)king of Assyria and all his glory; And it will ^(l)rise up over all its channels and go over all its banks.

"Then ^(m)it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass through, It will ⁽ⁿ⁾reach even to the neck; And the spread of its wings will ^[f]fill the breadth of ^[g]your land, O ^(o)Immanuel.

"^(p)Be broken, O peoples, and be ^[h](q)shattered; And give ear, all remote places of the earth. Gird yourselves, yet be ^[i]shattered; Gird yourselves, yet be ^[j]shattered.

"^(r)Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted; State a ^[k]proposal, but ^(s)it will not stand, For ^[l](t)God is with us."

For thus the Lord spoke to me ^[m]with ^(u)mighty power and instructed me ^(v)not to walk in the way of this people, saying,

"You are not to say, ‘It is a ^(w)conspiracy!' In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy, And ^(x)you are not to fear ^[n]what they fear or be in dread of it.

"It is the ^(y) Lord of hosts ^(z)whom you should regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, And He shall be your dread.

"Then He shall become a ^(aa)sanctuary; But to both the houses of Israel, a ^(ab)stone to strike and a rock to stumble over, And a snare and a ^(ac)trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

"Many ^(ad)will stumble over them, Then they will fall and be broken; They will even be snared and caught."

^(ae)Bind up the testimony, ^(af)seal the ^[o]law among ^(ag)my disciples.

And I will ^(ah)wait for the Lord ^(ai)who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; I will even look eagerly for Him.

^(aj)Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are for ^(ak)signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who ^(al)dwells on Mount Zion.

When they say to you, "^(am)Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter," should not a people ^(an)consult their God? Should they ^(ao)consult the dead on behalf of the living?

To the ^[p](ap)law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because ^(aq)they have no dawn.

They will pass through ^[q]the land ^(ar)hard-pressed and famished, and it will turn out that when they are hungry, they will be enraged and curse ^[r]their king and their God as they face upward.

Then they will ^(as)look to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be ^(at)driven away into darkness.

^[a]But there will be no more ^(a)gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He ^(b)treated the ^(c)land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the ^[b]Gentiles.

^[c](d)The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them.

^(e)You shall multiply the nation, You ^(f)shall ^[d]increase ^[e]their gladness; They will be glad in Your presence As with the gladness ^[f]of harvest, As ^[g](g)men rejoice when they divide the spoil.

For ^(h)You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, The rod of their ⁽ⁱ⁾oppressor, as ^[h]at the battle of ^(j)Midian.

For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult, And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.

For a ^(k)child will be born to us, a ^(l)son will be given to us; And the ^(m)government will ^[i]rest ⁽ⁿ⁾on His shoulders; And His name will be called ^(o)Wonderful Counselor, ^(p)Mighty God, Eternal ^(q)Father, Prince of ^(r)Peace.

There will be ^(s)no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the ^(t)throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with ^(u)justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. ^(v)The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.

The Lord sends a ^[j]message against Jacob, And it falls on Israel.

And all the people know it, That is, ^(w)Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, Asserting in pride and in ^(x)arrogance of heart:

"The bricks have fallen down, But we will ^(y)rebuild with smooth stones; The sycamores have been cut down, But we will replace them with cedars."

Therefore the Lord raises against them adversaries from ^(z)Rezin And spurs their enemies on,

The Arameans on the east and the ^(aa)Philistines on the west; And they ^(ab)devour Israel with ^[k]gaping jaws. ^(ac)In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.