A note on the book of Isaiah

There are 66 chapters in Isaiah’s book. The book is easier to understand if we put it into 5 parts. We have done this below. The word list explains the words prophet and messiah. The words king, servant and messiah do not always mean the same people in Isaiah’s book. This often confuses us in Isaiah’s book.

The five parts of Isaiah

PART 1 (Chapters 1-5) Isaiah describes the people in the country called Judah and its capital city Jerusalem.

PART 2 (Chapter 6) God makes Isaiah into a prophet.

PART 3 (Chapters 7-37) God’s KING rules God’s people.

PART 4 (Chapters 38-55) God’s SERVANT saves God’s people.

PART 5 (Chapters 56-66) God’s MESSIAH beats God’s enemies. PART 1: Chapters 1-5 Isaiah describes the people that live in the country called Judah and its capital city Jerusalem We can put PART 1 into 3 smaller parts. This makes it easier to understand. Isaiah 1:2-9 ~ The Problems of their Country Isaiah 1:10-20 & 2:6-12 ~ The Problems of their Religion Isaiah 1:21-31 & 2:22-4:1 ~ The Problems of their People Isaiah 2:1-5 and 4:2-6 are not about problems. They contain promises.Chapter 5 is not about problems. It tells the people what God will do to them. Because they have not obeyed him, he will punish them.

1

1 This is what Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw. He saw things about the country called Judah and the city called Jerusalem. It happened when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah were kings of Judah. The problems of the country called Judah

2 Hear (the LORD, you) skies! And listen (to him, you) earth, because the LORD, he has spoken! (He has said,) ‘I have helped (my) sons to grow. And I have loved them. But even they have fought against me!

3 A cow knows its master. And a horse (knows) where its keeper feeds it. But Israel, they do not know (me). My people, they do not understand (me).’

4 Oh! (You are a) country that does not obey me. (All your) people are (like people who are) carrying a heavy weight. (It is) the wrong things (that you have done). (You are a) family (of people) that is always doing bad things. (You are) sons that destroy (everything). They have left the LORD. They think that the Holy (God) of Israel is silly. They have become strangers. Their backs are towards (him).

5 So, you continue to fight (against God). (The enemy) will only hurt you again. (Your) whole head is not well and (your) whole heart is ill.

6 From the under part of the feet, even to the head, there is no health in you. (There are) places (where people have) hit (you). (There are) places that hurt. People have cut some places until they bleed. Nobody has cleaned those places. Nobody has tied a cloth round them. Nobody has put medicine on them.

7 Your country is empty. Fire has burned your cities. Foreign people have taken everything from your fields. (They did it) in front of you. Strangers have destroyed (your country).

8 The Daughter of Zion, (Jerusalem,) remains like an empty hut in a vineyard. (She is) like a hut in a field of fruit. (She is) like a city that an enemy is attacking.

9 Unless the LORD of Everything had left some people to continue living, we would have been like Sodom. We would have been like Gomorrah. The problems of the religion of the country called Judah Note:People that believe in God have a religion. We show it in two ways.· We meet in special buildings, like churches. There, we pray to God.· We obey our God always. It is important to do this when we are not in our special buildings.

10 Hear what the LORD says, (you) rulers of Sodom. Listen to our God. He is saying what you must do, (you) people in Gomorrah.

11 ‘All your sacrifices do not matter to me.’ (This is what) the LORD is saying. ‘I have had enough (sacrifices) that you have burned as gifts to me. (I have had enough) male sheep and the best bits of fat animals. (I have had enough) of the blood of male cows, goats and young sheep. They do not give me pleasure.

12 (There are times) when you come to appear in front of me. But nobody asked you to do this. Do not walk heavily round my temple.

13 Do not bring gifts (to me) that mean nothing! I do not like your incense. I do not like your new moons, (your) sabbaths and (your) special meetings. These meetings are bad.

14 I really do not like your new moon meetings and your holy days. They have become like a heavy weight for me. I am tired because I have to carry them.

15 I will hide my eyes from you, when you lift up your hands (to me). I will not listen (to you), even if you pray (to me) often. Your hands are full of blood.

16 Wash yourselves (and) make yourselves clean! Take away the bad things that you are doing. Then I will not see them. Do not continue to do what is wrong.

17 Learn to do what is right. Make justice your purpose. Do not let masters be very cruel (to people). Do not let people hurt children who have no father. Say good things on behalf of women whose husbands are dead.

18 Come, now’, the LORD is saying. ‘We should talk about this together. Even if your sins are as bright red, they shall be as white as snow. Even if they are as dark red, they shall be like wool.

19 Agree (with me). And obey (me). If you do (these things), you will eat the best food in the country.

20 But (if you do not do these things), the sword will kill you. (It will kill you) if you do not obey me. (It will kill you) if you continue to fight against me.’ This is what God himself has said. The problems of the people that live in the country called Judah

21 Oh! The City that Loved Me (as a wife) has become like a prostitute! (The city was) full of justice. Good people lived in her, but now there are people who murder (other people there).

22 Your silver has become dirt and you have mixed water with your best wine.

23 Your rulers are fighting against (God). And they are friends of robbers. They all accept things to help people (that they should not help). And (they all) hope for gifts like these. But they do not help children that have no father. (They do not help these children) when people hurt them. The women whose husbands are dead have problems. But (the problems) do not come to the (rulers).

24 So the Lord says this. (He is) the LORD of Everything (and he is) the Powerful (God) of Israel. ‘Oh! I will get rest from my enemies. And I will punish those people who fight against me.

25 And I will turn my hand against you and I will wash away all your dirt with soap and brush. So I will remove everything that is not clean.

26 And I will give back to you your judges, as (you had them) a long time ago. And (I will give back to you) the people that say what you must do, as at the beginning. After this, you will be called The Good City, and The City that Loves Me.’

27 (God) will use justice to make Zion free. (He will make things) right for the people that return (to him).

28 But he will destroy people that sin. (And he will destroy) those people that continue to fight (against him). The LORD will kill everybody that goes away from him.

29 Really, they will be ashamed of their special trees (called) oaks. You have found a lot of pleasure in them. The gardens that you have chosen will make you really ashamed.

30 You will be like an oak tree whose leaves are dying. (You will be like) a garden without water.

31 The strong man will become like something that burns easily. His work will be like something that causes things to burn. They will both burn together and nobody will put out the fire.

2

1 This is what Isaiah, the son of Amoz, ‘saw’ about Judah and Jerusalem. Words that cause us to hope in God

2 This is what will happen in the last days. The mountain, where the house of the LORD is, will always be there (in Jerusalem). It will be the most important mountain. It will be higher than the hills (round it). (People from) every country will come towards it.

3 And people from many countries will come (to it). And they will say, ‘Come! We shall go to the mountain of the LORD. We must go to the house of the God of Jacob. Then he will teach us his ways, so that we can walk in his paths.’ So, the word (of God) will go out from Zion. The LORD’s words will go out from Jerusalem.

4 (God) will be the judge between the nations. He will say (who is right. And he will say) who is wrong. They will use hammers to change their swords into parts of ploughs. And they will use their knives to prune plants. Nations will not attack other nations with swords, neither will they learn how to fight again.

5 House of Jacob, come and we shall walk in the light of the LORD.House of Jacob means Israel’s people. God changed Jacob’s name to Israel. The problems of religion in Judah and Israel

6 But you, (LORD), have gone away from your people. They are the house (family) of Jacob. They are full (of magic) from (countries in) the east. They are like the people called Philistines. They have people who use magic to find out what will happen. Also, they join hands with foreign people.

7 Their country is full of silver and gold and they have many valuable things. Their country is full of horses and they have many chariots.

8 Idols that are worth nothing fill their country. They get down on the ground in front of things that their hands have made. (They are things) that their own fingers have made.

9 So, (the LORD) makes people humble and everyone becomes low! (LORD), do not lift them up again!

10 Go into (the holes in) the rocks and hide in the ground. (Hide) because you are afraid. (You are afraid) of (what) the LORD (will do). And (hide from) his great power.

11 (The LORD) will stop the way that proud people look at other people. And (he will make) very proud people humble. On that day, only the LORD will be important.

12 Yes! The LORD of Everything will choose a day. Then, (in that day, the LORD) will make humble everyone that is proud, very proud and important.13-16 (The LORD will be) against all these things:· the high, the really high cedar trees in Lebanon· the oak trees in Bashan· the very high mountains· the highest hills· tall buildings· strong walls· boats from Tarshish· beautiful ships.

17 (The LORD) will stop the way that proud people look at other people. And he will make very proud people humble. On that day, only the LORD will be important.

18 And nobody will see any of the idols again.

19 And (people) will run to holes in the sides of the rocks and to holes in the ground. (They will run) because they are afraid of the LORD. (They will run) from his great power. (They will run) when he comes to punish the earth.

20 In that day people will throw away their silver idols and their gold idols. (They will throw them) to (animals) called rats and bats. They made (these idols) so that they could worship them.

21 Then people will run to large holes in the rocks and to holes in (the sides of) mountains. (They will run) because they are afraid of the LORD. And (they are afraid) of his great power, when he comes to punish the earth.

22 Do not ask human people (to help you). They get air through their noses! They are worth (nothing).

3

The problems of the people in Judah and Israel

1 I will show you what the Lord, the LORD of Everything (will do). He will remove from Jerusalem and Judah everything that helps them. (He will take away) everything that supplies their food and their water.2-3 (He will take away these people):· the strong man and the soldier· the judge and the prophet· the person who uses magic to find out what will happen and the older (leader)· the captain of 50 (soldiers) and the very important man· the person that tells people what to do and the good worker· the person that uses magic.

4 ‘And I, (the LORD), will make boys their leaders and children will rule over them.’

5 The people will be cruel to each other. (It will be) man against man. (It will be) man against the person that lives near him. Young people will say bad things to older people. And bad people will say bad things to good people.

6 Then a man will hold his brother strongly in the house of his father. (The man will say), ‘You have a coat. So, you can be our leader! Then you can rule over these buildings that (the enemy) destroyed!’

7 On that day, (the brother) will refuse. He will say, ‘I cannot help! There is no food and no coat in my house. Do not make me a leader of people.’

8 (This will happen because the leaders of) Jerusalem and Judah have started to fall. Then they have fallen down. Their words and the things that they do are against the LORD. They have said bad things about his great glory.

9 Their faces show what they are really like. It is clear that they have sinned, like the (people in) Sodom. They do not hide it. It is so sad! They have brought great trouble to themselves.

10 Tell the very good people that things will be well for them. They will enjoy the results of the good things that they have done.

11 The very bad person will be very sad. He will have great trouble. (Here is the reason.) What his hands have done (to other people) will happen to him.

12 Children are cruel to my people and women rule over them. My people, your leaders have not ruled you well. They have led you away from the (right) paths.

13 The LORD stands up to tell (his enemies) that they have done wrong things. He stands as a judge of (many) countries.

14 The LORD comes as judge of those people who are in the government. (He comes as judge) of the leaders. (He says that) they burned the vineyard. Also, they kept what they took away from the poor people.

15 The LORD of Everything asks (them these questions):· ‘Why do you hit my people, so that they break into pieces?’ (which means, ‘Do not hit my people, so that they break into pieces.’)· ‘Why do you walk on the faces of the poor people?’ (which means, ‘Do not walk on the faces of the poor people.’)

16 The LORD says, ‘The Daughters of Zion are very proud. They lift up their necks when they walk. They glance to see (if the men are looking at them). They walk (so that men do look at them). The little bells on their ankles make a sound when they walk.

17 So the LORD will make places that hurt them on their heads. He will make their heads bald.’18-23 In that day the Lord will take away the valuable stones that they wear on their ankles, heads, necks, ears, arms, fingers and noses. He will take away their beautiful clothes and belts, their perfumes and charms.

24 There will be a bad smell instead of perfume. There will be a rope instead of a belt. They will not have lovely hair. They will be bald instead. Instead of good clothes (they will wear) cheap hairy cloth. They will not be beautiful. Instead, there will be only shame.

25 Swords will kill your men. Your strong men will die in wars.

26 And the gates (of Zion) will be (like) sad (people). And they will (be like people who) cry. Zion will (be like people who) sit on the ground. (And the city will be) empty.

4

1 In that day, 7 women will (find and) hold one man. They will say, ‘We will eat our own bread and we will wear our own clothes. But, let us call ourselves by your name. Take away our shame.’ More good news

2 In that day, the Branch of the LORD will be something pretty and something that has glory. And the fruit of the land will be as something proud and something beautiful. (They will be) for Israel’s people that will become free.

3 Everyone that remains in Zion will be called holy. Also, (everyone) who stays in Jerusalem (will be called holy). All their names will be on a list of people who are living in Jerusalem.

4 (This will happen) when the Lord will wash away the dirt from the Daughters of Zion. Also, (then) he will make Jerusalem clean from the marks left by blood. (He will do this) by a spirit that will be a judge and by a spirit of fire.

5 (This is what) the LORD will make over all the mountain called Zion. And (it will be over) all the people that come together there. (He will make) a lot of smoke during the day. And (he will make) a fire, which shines in the night. The glory will be like a coat over everything.

6 It will be a place to hide from the heat in the day. And it will be a place to hide from storms and rain.

5

God punishes his people

The song of the vineyard

1 Now I will sing for the person that I love. (I will sing) a song of love about his vineyard. &nnbsp; ‘The person that I love has a vineyard. It is on a hill where plants grow well.

2 He dug (the ground) and he removed the stones. He planted the best vines in it. He built a place where he could watch (the vineyard). He also made a place to store grapes in it. Then he waited for (the vineyard) to grow (good) grapes. But it grew bad grapes.’

3 And now, (listen to me,) you people that live in Jerusalem. And (listen,) all you people that live in Judah. You decide who was wrong, me or my vineyard.

4 There was nothing else that I ought to have done for my vineyard. I had done everything for it! I waited for (good) grapes. (Tell me) why it gave bad grapes!

5 And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away its wall. Then (animals will come in and) eat (the vines). I will knock down its wall and (the animals) will walk all over (the vineyard).

6 I will make the land so that nobody can use it. Nobody will prune the vines or dig the ground round them. So weeds and thorns will grow there. I will say to the clouds, ‘Do not (drop) rain on it.’

7 Now the vineyard of the LORD of Everything is like a picture of Israel. The plants (in it) that he likes are the people in Judah. The LORD looked for justice, but he saw only the opposite. (He wanted) people to be very good. But he only heard people that were crying for help.

The wrong things that the people in Jerusalem and Judah have done

8 The people who build (one) house (next) to (another) house will be very sad. Also, they join (one) field to (another) field. (They do this) until there is no more room. Then you live alone on the land.

9 I have heard the LORD of Everything (promise this. He said this.) ‘I am sure that many houses will be empty. There will be large and beautiful houses that nobody lives in.

10 Also, large parts of the vineyard will give only a small amount (of wine). Very large amounts of seed will cause only a few plants to grow.’

11 The people that get up early in the morning will be very sad. (They do this) so that they can get a drink of alcohol. They go to bed late in the evening, so that wine can cause them to become drunks.

12 At their parties there is (music from) lyre and harp, tambourine and flute. (They enjoy) their wine. But they think that God’s works have no value. They do not really like what he has made.

13 So my people will go into exile, because they do not understand (God). Their leaders will die because they do not have enough food. And very many people will not have anything to drink.

14 So Sheol will open its mouth very wide to eat more (people). The leaders and the people will go into it. (Death will take in) the crowds that make a lot of noise. Also, (it will take in) the people that have parties (in Jerusalem).

15 So (the LORD) will make people humble. Then (God) will make everybody low! (He will) take away their proud faces.

16 But his justice will make the LORD of Everything great! The Holy God will show that he is holy because he is so very good.

17 Then the sheep will eat grass as (they do in) their own fields. Young sheep will eat in the large houses (that the enemy) destroyed.

18 The people who tie themselves to sin with silly (pieces of) line will be very sad. (They pull) sin as (a horse pulls) a cart with ropes.

19 Those people who say, ‘(The LORD) must hurry!’ will be very sad. (They say) ‘He must do his work quickly, so that we can see it. We want to hear the ideas of the Holy (One) of Israel. We want them to happen! Then we will really know (that they are true)!’

20 The people that call wrong things right and right things wrong will be very sad. They say that it is light when it is dark. And (they say) that it is dark when it is light. They say that bitter things are sweet. And (they say) that sweet things are bitter.

21 Some people think that they are clever. Those people will be very sad. They think that they are clever.

22 Some people think that they are great. Those people will be very sad. (They think this) because they drink much wine. Also, some people are strong when they mix strong drink. (Those people will be very sad.)

23 They do not punish guilty people, when (the guilty) people give them money. There is no justice for people that are not guilty.

24 So as (surely as) fire burns dry plants, parts of them will fall into pieces. And as fire burns away dry grass, their flowers will blow away like small pieces of dirt. (This will happen) because they refused to obey the LORD of Everything. He said what they should do. (But they did not do it.) And they thought that the words of the Holy One of Israel were silly.

25 For this reason the LORD became angry with his people. He punished them, as if someone had hit them with his hand. And the mountains moved and (his people’s) dead bodies became like dirt in the streets. (The LORD has done) all this but he is still angry with them. And his hand is still ready (to hit them again).

God will send a message to another nation from far away to punish His people

26 (The LORD) will send a message to nations that are far away. And he will (blow on his) whistle to (a nation at) the ends of the earth. And look! Here (its army) comes, very quickly!

27 Nobody is tired; nobody falls down. Nobody rests; nobody sleeps. Nobody has a belt that they have not fastened. And nobody has broken a part of a shoe.

28 Their arrows are sharp and their bows are ready to shoot. Their horses’ feet are (as hard) as stones. And the wheels (on their chariots go as fast) as a strong wind.

29 They roar like a lion, they make a noise like a young lion. They roar while they catch an animal to eat. They carry it away and nobody can save it.

30 On that day, (the enemy) will roar over what they catch. Their roar will be like the sea. And if anybody looks to the land they will see darkness. And (they will see) people that are very much afraid. Also, clouds will hide the light (of the sun). PART 2: Chapter 6 God makes Isaiah into a prophet

6

1 (It happened) in the year when King Uzziah died. I saw my Lord. He was sitting on a very high seat. The ends of his very long coat filled the temple.

2 Above (the Lord) were seraphs. They were waiting to do what he wanted them to do. Each one had 6 wings. Two (of the wings) were covering their faces. Two of them were covering their feet. With two of them they were flying.

3 One (seraph) spoke to another. They said, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Everything! The whole earth is full of his glory.’

4 When each (seraph) spoke, the door-steps of the temple moved. Also, the temple was full of smoke.

5 Then I said, ‘I am very sad, because I must not speak! I am a man with lips that are not clean. And I live among people with lips that are not clean. And with my own eyes I have seen the King, the LORD of Everything!’

6 Then one of the seraphs flew towards me. In his hand was a (piece of) coal that was burning. He had taken it from the altar with a special tool.

7 And he touched my mouth (with it). And he said, ‘Look! This has touched your lips and it has taken away your guilt. It has covered your sin.’

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord. He said, ‘Whom shall I send and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘I am here. Send me.’

9 And (God said), ‘Go! And tell this to the people (in Judah):· “Always listen, but you will never understand!· Always look. But you will never see what it means!”

10 Make the heart of these people fat. Close their ears and shut their eyes. If (you do not do this) they will see with their eyes. They will hear with their ears and they will understand with their hearts. (Then they will) turn and they will be well again.’

11 Then I said, ‘For how long, Lord, (must I do this)?’ And (this is what) he answered:· ‘(Do it) until (their enemy) destroys the cities. Then nobody will live there.· (Do it until) nobody lives in the houses.· (Do it until) they cannot use the land in any way.·

12 (Do it until) the LORD removes people to far away (places).· And (do it until an enemy has) destroyed many places inside the country (called Israel).

13 And even if one in every 10 (places or people) stay, an enemy will burn them again! (They will do it as they burn) trees called terebinths and oaks. But from what remains of such a tree, an holy people will grow.’ PART 3: Chapters 7-37 God’s king rules God’s people We can put PART 3 into 6 smaller parts. This makes it easier to understand.Chapters 7-12 ~ King AhazChapters 13-23 ~ Countries near JudahChapters 24-27 ~ The Little ApocalypseChapters 28-33 ~ The Sad PeopleChapters 34-35 ~ The Centre of the BookChapters 36-37 ~ King Hezekiah

7

King Ahaz refuses to ask God for a message

1 Ahaz became the king of Judah. He was the son of (King) Jotham. (Jotham was) the son of (King) Uzziah. (When Ahaz was king), Rezin, the king of Syria, and Pekah, the king of Israel, both attacked Jerusalem. But they did not win the fight. (Pekah was the) son of Remaliah.

2 (People that were in the government) told (this to Ahaz. He was from) the family of David. (They said,) ‘Syria and Ephraim have agreed (to attack you).’ Ahaz and his people (were afraid). Their hearts moved, as trees in the forest move in the wind.

3 Then the LORD said to Isaiah, ‘Go out and meet Ahaz. You and Shear Jashub, your son, will meet him at the end of the water stream. That (stream) pours from the higher pool down to where people wash clothes.’

4 (The LORD said,) ‘Say (to Ahaz), “Be careful. And be very quiet. Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid because Rezin and the people from Syria and Pekah, the son of Remaliah, are angry. They are trying to ‘start a fire’, but their ‘fire’ will soon finish.

5 (Do not be afraid) because (the king of) Syria and the son of Remaliah have made bad plans against you. They have said,

6 ‘We must attack Judah. We will frighten (the people). We will destroy (their country) and it will become ours. We will make the son of Tabeal king there.’

7 The LORD, who is Lord, says this. ‘It will not happen, it will never happen!

8 (It will not happen,) because the capital (city) of Syria is Damascus. Now the king of Damascus is Rezin. And 65 years from now Ephraim will not be (a country)! There will be no people (of Ephraim) there.

9 And the capital (city) of Ephraim is Samaria. And the king of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. And if you do not believe this, you will not be alive (either).’ ” ’

10 And the LORD spoke again (to Isaiah. ‘Say this) to Ahaz.(’)

11 He said, ‘Ask the LORD your God for a message. Ask for it deep (in the earth) or high (in the sky).’

12 But Ahaz said, ‘I will never ask (for a message) or ask the LORD to do something.’

13 And he (Isaiah) said, ‘Now listen, (Ahaz. You belong to the) family of David! You are making (your) people angry (with you). And you are making God angry with you too.

14 So the Lord himself will give you a message. Look, the virgin will become pregnant. She will have a son and she will call his name Immanu El.

15 (One day) he will know (the difference between) right things and wrong things. Then he will (be old enough) to eat butter and sugar.

16 But even before the child knows (the difference between) right things and wrong things, (Assyria) will destroy (Ephraim and Syria). The two kings that you are afraid of will be (in other countries themselves).

17 The LORD will bring the king of Assyria to you and to your people. (He will come) to the house of your father. It will be a special time. There have been no days like it since Ephraim became separate from Judah.’

18 On that day the LORD will tell the flies at the higher end of the river in Egypt that they must come. And he will tell the bees in the country called Assyria that they must come.

19 And they will all come and they will land on (these places):· the valleys with high sides· the holes in the rocks· all the thorn bushes· all the places where there is water.

20 On that day the Lord will use the king of Assyria. He will come from beyond the river. He will cut off the hair from your head, your legs and your beard.

21 On that day a man will keep alive a young cow and two goats.

22 They will give a lot of milk, so he will have butter to eat. Everyone that remains in the country will eat butter and sugar.

23 On that day, in every place where there were 1000 vines, there will be weeds and thorns. (1000 vines) are worth 1000 pieces of silver.

24 A man will go there with a bow and arrows. (He will do this) because there will be brambles and thorns on all the land.

25 Nobody will go to the hills because they are afraid of the brambles and thorns. (These are the hills where) people would dig to grow plants. Now cows go there and sheep run about.

8

God will use Assyria to destroy Israel and Syria

1 And the LORD said to me, ‘Get something big to write on. Then write on it, with a tool that will write (words on stones. Write “This is) about Maher-shalal-hash-baz.”

2 And I will ask (two) special people to come to me. They must say what is true. (One will be) Uriah the priest and (the other will be) Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah. They will be my special people. They must say what is true.’

3 Then I went to the prophetess. She became pregnant and she had a son. And the LORD said to me, ‘Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz.

4 Before the child knows how to say “my father” or “my mother” (this will happen). The king of Assyria will carry away the valuable things from Damascus and from Samaria.’

5 The LORD spoke to me again. (He told me) that I must say,

6 ‘This people has refused (to accept) the waters of Shiloah, which move quietly. And (they have said that they) are very happy about Rezin and the son of Remaliah.

7 So, see (what will happen). The LORD will bring against them the waters of the River (Euphrates). (The waters will be) strong and powerful. (Really, the waters will be) the king of Assyria and his powerful (armies). (They will come) like a great river that rises. And it goes over its sides.

8 Then it will pour quickly into Judah. It will rise over its sides and it will go over (the land). It will even reach the neck! His wings will open out and cover all your country, Immanu El.

9 Join together (against your enemies), you people, but they will kill you all. Listen carefully, all you far countries. Get ready for war, but (your enemies) will kill your people. Get ready to fight, but (your enemies) will kill you.

10 Make plans together, but (the plans) will fail! Talk about what you will do. But it will not happen. (Your plans will fail) because Immanu El (God is with us)!’

11 Now the LORD spoke to me. (He said this) while his strong hand was upon me. He said that I must not to do what this people (the people in Judah) were doing. He said,

12 ‘You must not think, “Everything that this people call a secret plan is a secret plan.” Also, do not be afraid of what they are afraid of. And do not let it frighten you.

13 Instead, be afraid of the LORD of Everything! You should think of him as holy. You should be afraid of him,

14 because he, (the LORD,) will be a safe place. But for both houses of Israel (he will become like) a stone that will make people angry. And (he will become like) a rock that will cause them to fall over. To the people in Jerusalem, (the LORD) will become someone to catch and to hold them.

15 Many people’s feet will hit something and they will fall. (The LORD) will hurt them very badly. He will catch and hold them!’

16 Tie up what I have said (in a scroll). Fasten what I have taught to my disciples.

17 And I will wait for the LORD. He is hiding his face from the house of Jacob (Israel’s people). But I believe that he (the LORD will do something).

18 Here am I and the children that the LORD has given to me. We are messages, messages from the LORD of Everything to (the people in) Israel. He lives on the mountain (called) Zion.

19 And they will say to you, ‘Ask the mediums and wizards. They will tell you what you should do.’ (Mediums and wizards) make noises like birds or animals! People should ask their God what to do. People who are alive should not talk to dead people.

20 (Listen again) to what I have said. And (listen) to what I have taught you. (If you listen to) their words, then there will be no dawn!

21 Then they will go through the country and they will not be very happy. They will not have enough to eat. Because they do not have enough to eat, they will become angry. They will look up (to where God lives). Then they will say bad things about their king and about their God.

22 And they will look to the earth. But they will see that it is dark and (that people are) not very happy. In the dark, (people will be) very sad. It will push (people) into something even blacker.

9

Good news for God’s people

1 But there will be no dark places for the people that were not very happy. In past years, (God) let trouble happen to the people in the places called Zebulun and Naphtali. But in future years, he will send glory to (these places):· the country by the sea· the land at the other side of the (River) Jordan· the part (of Israel) that people in other countries (call) Galilee.

2 The people that walk in the dark will see a great light. The light will shine on those (people) that live on land full of dark shadows.

3 You (LORD) will make the country bigger. And you will make its people much happier. They will be happy with you as when people are happy at harvest time. Soldiers are also happy, because of what they have won in war. And its people will be happy like them.

4 (This is) because, as in the time of Midian, (you will kill our enemies). You will break (these things):· the yoke (that carries) their heavy weights· the sticks (that they hit) our backs with· the rod that hurts us.

5 Then they will burn as material for the fire every boot that soldiers wore in war. And (they will burn) the clothes with blood on them.

6 (They will do this) because a child is born for us. (God has) given us a son. And that son will always have authority (to rule the people). And (people) will call him by these names:· Wonderful Friend· Great God· Father for Always· Leader who brings Peace

7 His authority will become greater. And the peace that he will bring will never come to an end. He will be king over (the land) that David ruled. He will make it safe. He will make sure that it has justice. And its people will be very good, now and always. The LORD of Everything will cause this to happen, because he loves (his people). God has punished Israel and he will do it again Note. Isaiah says this 4 times in 9:12, 17, 21 and 10:3.

8 The Lord sent a message against Jacob and it came to Israel.

9 And all the people (that live in) Ephraim and Samaria know about it. They praise themselves (with these words).

10 ‘(Our) brick (houses) fell down. But we will build them again with stones that we have cut. They have knocked down (buildings that we made from) sycamore trees. But we will build them again with cedar (trees, which are better).’

11 But the LORD will make the enemies of Rezin stronger against him. Also, he will help those enemies.

12 The people from Syria on the east and the people from Philistia on the west have opened their mouths. And they have eaten Israel. But (the LORD) is still angry and his hand is still ready (to hit them again).‘They have eaten Israel’ means ‘They have beaten the people in many places and now they rule those places.’

13 But the people did not turn to him who hit them. Neither did they go to the LORD of Everything.

14 So in one day the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail. (He will also cut off) palm branch and reed.

15 The head means the older men and the important people. The tail means the (false) prophets. They teach what is not true.

16 The leaders of this people lead them away from what is true. They confuse the people that they are leaders of.

17 So the Lord will not feel happy with their young men. And he will not be kind and help (children) without fathers. (He will not help) women whose husbands are dead. This is because nobody obeys God. (Everyone) does wrong things. What everyone says tells us this. They are fools. But (the LORD) is still angry and his hand is still ready (to hit them again).

18 The wrong things (that people do) burn like a fire. They eat up briars and thorns. They burn up the bushes in the forest. And they rise up (into the sky) like a lot of smoke.

19 He is very angry, so the LORD of Everything will burn the land. Also, the people will be like material for the fire. No man will be kind to his brother (another Jew).

20 They will take food on their right (side), but they will remain hungry. And they will eat what is on the left (side), but it will not fill them. Everyone will eat the body of the person that lives near him.

21 Ephraim will eat Manasseh and Manasseh will eat Ephraim. And both of them (will fight) against Judah. But (the LORD) is still angry and his hand is still ready (to hit them again).

10

1 (Some) people make rules that are not fair. (They also make) rules that are cruel to people. Those people will be very sad.

2 (They do these things:)· (Some) people need many things. (Their rulers) do not let them get what is fair.· They take away what poor people should have.· They rob women whose husbands are dead of everything.· And they are cruel to children whose parents are dead.

3 You can do nothing when God punishes you. And (you can do nothing) in a storm that comes from far away. Nobody will help you and there will be nowhere to hide your valuable things.

4 You can only go to be with the people that are in a prison. Or perhaps you will die with those (that the enemy) kills in war. But (the LORD) is still angry and his hand is still ready (to hit them again). Then God will punish Assyria

5 (The people) in Assyria (will be very sad). (I will use them) like a stick, because I am angry. They (will be like someone who hits Israel) with a heavy stick. (They will do that) because I am so very angry.

6 I will send (the people from Assyria) against (Israel, because Israel) does not obey God. I will tell (them that they must attack Israel). I am angry with the people (in Israel). (The people from Assyria) will take what (the people in Israel) have. And they will rob them of their things. Then (the people from Assyria) will walk all over them, as (if Israel’s people were) dirt in the streets.

7 But this is not what (Assyria’s people) are thinking. Their ideas are different. They want to beat as many countries as they can. (They want) to destroy them.

8 (The king of Assyria) boasts, ‘All the leaders of my armies are (like) kings!

9 (The city that is called) Calno is like Carchemish. Hamath is like Arpad and Samaria is like Damascus.

10 My hand took all these places and their idols. They had more idols than Jerusalem and Samaria.

11 So I will do to Jerusalem and her idols what I did to Samaria and her idols.’

12 The Lord will finish all his work against the hill called Zion and Jerusalem. Then (he will say), ‘I will punish the king of Assyria. He boasts in his mind and there is pride in his eyes.’

13 (This is what the king of Assyria) says. ‘I have done this because I am so strong. Also, I am very clever. (So) I know (what to do). I have removed the boundaries between countries. Also, I have taken their valuable things. Like a wild animal, I have attacked their people.

14 My hand found the valuable things of (many) countries. (I did this) as one finds a (bird’s) home. I have got all the earth (as easily) as people take eggs from an empty bird’s home. And nobody moved a wing or opened a mouth to make a noise.’

15 (The LORD says,) ‘The axe is not more powerful than the person that uses it. A tool is not more important than the person that uses it. (Also, it is silly) to think that a stick can move its user! Or (it is silly to think) that a thick stick can move a man!

16 So the Lord, the LORD of Everything, will send an illness to (Assyria’s) fat soldiers. They will become thin! He will light a fire under their pride. It will burn with a bright light.

17 (The LORD, who is) the Light of Israel, will become a fire. The Holy One (of Israel) will become a bright fire. And it will burn and destroy (Assyria’s) thorns and briars in one day.

18 (The LORD) will completely destroy (Assyria’s) great forests and its good fields. Its people’s spirit and body will become as nothing.

19 Only a few forest trees will remain, so that even a child will be able to count them! But God will help the people that continue to love him

20 When that happens, (this will happen to) the remnant of Israel. (They are) the people of Jacob that are still alive.· They will not get help from (Assyria), which beat them.· Instead, they will get all their help from the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.

21 A remnant, a remnant of Jacob, will return and get help from the Great God.

22 Israel, only a remnant (of you) will return. (This is) even when there are so many of you. (There are as many of you) as there are bits of sand on the sea shore.

23 This will happen because the Lord, the LORD of Everything, will destroy the whole country. (He will destroy it), as he promised to do.’

24 So, this is what the Lord, the LORD of Everything says. ‘My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of the people from Assyria. They will be like someone who hits you with a stick. They will lift up a big stick against you like the people in Egypt did.

25 But soon I will not be angry with you. Instead, I will be angry (with the people from Assyria) and I will kill them.

26 And the LORD of Everything will use a whip against them. He will do this as when he killed Midian’s people at the Rock of Oreb. His stick will be over the sea, and he will lift it up. (He will lift it up) as he did in Egypt.

27 In that day the weight will come off your shoulder. (The LORD) will destroy the yoke on your neck.’

28 (Assyria) will start from Rimmon and he will go to Aiath. He will pass through Migron. He will store his things at Michmash.

29 They will pass (through the hills), and they will stay for a night at Geba. (The people in) Ramah will be afraid and (the people in) Gibeah of Saul will run away.

30 People in Gallim, shout (for help)! Listen, (people in) Laish. Answer them, (people in) Anathoth.

31 (The people in) Madmenah will run away. And those that live in Gebim will rush to a safe place.

32 He will remain at Nob the day (that he arrives there). He will move his fist angrily towards the people who live in Zion and on the hill of Jerusalem.

33 But look! The Lord, the LORD of Everything, will cut off the branches with (his) power which frightens (people). He will cut down the tallest trees. And he will cause those that are very high to lie low.

34 He will cut down the trees in the forest with an axe. Also, (the great trees from) Lebanon will fall down.

11

The good king, called the Branch, that God will send

1 The part of the Tree of Jesse that remains will start to grow. Then a Branch will grow from the part of it that is under the ground.

2 The Spirit of the LORD will come on him. (It will be like this:)· a spirit that knows what is right; and (a spirit that) knows what things mean· a spirit that tells people the (right) thing to do and that has authority· a spirit that knows everything and that is afraid of the LORD.

3 To obey the LORD will give pleasure (to the Branch). He will not decide about things (only) with what his eyes see. (He will not) decide (only) with what his ears hear.

4 But what he decides about poor people will be with justice. Also, he will decide about people who are not powerful. He will be fair. He will punish bad people and his words will kill them.

5 (He will wear) true justice like a belt round him. (He will) also (wear) as clothes (the fact that he is) always there.

6 Wolves will live with young sheep (and will not eat them)! And leopards will lie down with young goats! Young cows and lions will feed together and young children will lead them!

7 Cows and bears will feed (together) and their young (animals) will lie down together. And lions will eat dry grass like cows.

8 And a small baby will play (safely) near the hole where a dangerous snake (lives). And a young child (will be safe) if he puts his hand on to the home of (another) dangerous snake.

9 They will not hurt nor kill (each other) in all my holy mountain. Then the earth shall be as full of facts about the LORD as water fills the sea.

10 In that day, the part (of the tree) of Jesse will be a like a sign to (all) peoples. Other countries will come to him. And the place where he lives will be wonderful.

11 And on that day, my Lord will do something for the second time. He will save the remnant of his people that are still (alive. He will take them) from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Elam, Shinar, Hamath and from countries by the sea.

12 (The Lord) will lift up a sign for these countries (to see). He will bring together the people from Israel (that Assyria) took away. He will bring back the exiles of Judah from all over the earth.

13 No longer will Ephraim not like (Judah) and Judah will not attack (Ephraim) any longer. Ephraim will no longer want what Judah has. Also, Judah will not cause trouble for Ephraim again.

14 But together they will attack the low hills of Philistia to the west. They will beat the people to the east (of the River Jordan). They will fight against Edom and Moab, and the people in Ammon will obey them.

15 The LORD completely destroyed part of the Sea of Egypt. He will lift his hand over the River (Euphrates). Then he will send a hot wind that burns things. It will make (the river) into 7 streams, so that people can cross it with dry feet.

16 And there will be a good road from Assyria for the remnant. (They are the LORD’s) people that remain. It will be (as good a road) as when Israel came up from the country called Egypt.

12

Isaiah’s psalm (or song to God)

1 You will say in that day, ‘I praise you, LORD. You were angry with me, but now, you are not angry (with me). Now you are being kind to me.

2 Listen! God has made me safe! I will continue to believe (in him). And I will not be afraid because the LORD, the LORD, has made me strong. He is the person that I am singing about. He has made me safe.

3 You will get water happily from the wells. (This water) will make you safe.’

4 And you will say in that day, ‘Praise the LORD! Shout (aloud) his name! Tell everybody what God has done. Cause them to remember that he is very great.

5 Sing psalms to the LORD because he has done wonderful things! Cause everyone in the world to know it!

6 Everyone that lives in Zion, shout! And sing because you are so happy! The Holy One of Israel is great and he is (living) with you.’

13

God will destroy Babylon

1 (These are) serious words (about) Babylon that Isaiah the son of Amoz ‘saw’.The word ‘saw’ here means ‘understood’. He may also have ‘seen’ something that God showed to him.

2 Lift up a sign on an empty hill. Shout aloud to them and lift a hand! Then they will go through the gates of the kings.

3 I myself have sent my holy ones. I have told them what they must do. Also, my brave soldiers (must say) that I am very angry. I have sent them. (They are) my proud (soldiers). Nobody has ever beaten them.Verse 3 ‘holy ones’ here may mean angels. Or it may mean the soldiers that God will use.

4 (Listen to) the sound of a very big crowd! (They are) people (that are) on the mountains! (Listen to) the sound of these people. They are shouting while they come together from many countries! The LORD of Many (Armies) is preparing an army ready for war.

5 People are coming from a country that is far away. (They are coming) from the ends of the skies. The LORD (is coming) with arms, (because he is) angry. He will destroy the whole country (of Babylon).

6 Weep, because the day of the LORD is near. It will happen when Shaddai destroys (your country).

7 Everybody’s hands will become weak because of this. And every human heart will fail,

8 and they will be very much afraid. They will hurt and they will be in much pain. They will be (afraid) like a woman that is having (a baby). They will look at each other and their faces will frighten each other.

9 Look! The day of the LORD will happen (soon!) (It will be) cruel. (The LORD) will be angry. He will be like an angry fire! It will make the country (of Babylon) empty and it will kill (all the) sinners in it.

10 Yes! The stars in the skies, all of them, will give no light. When the sun appears (in the morning), it will still be dark. The moon will not shine.

11 I will cause very bad things to happen to the world. And (I will punish) bad people for their sins. I will not let proud people think that they are better (than anyone else). And I will beat strong people that hurt (weak people).

12 I will make men harder to find than the best gold. And men and women will be more difficult to find than gold from Ophir.

13 So I will cause the skies to move. The earth will move. And (people) will see how angry the LORD of Many (Armies) is.

14 And people will look at each other and they will run away to their own country. They will be like wild animals that run away from the hunter. Or (they will be) like sheep with nobody to lead them.

15 (The foreign army) will (kill) with sharp knives anyone that tries to run away. And they will kill with the sword anyone that they catch.

16 They will break young children into pieces while (the children’s parents) watch. They will rob the people’s homes and they will have sex with their wives.

17 Look, I will cause the Medes to come (to fight) against (Babylon). (The Medes) do not ask for silver or gold.

18 Their bows will kill the young men. They will not be kind to babies. And they will not seem sorry for the children.

19 And Babylon will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God destroyed them. (This will happen even if other) countries think, ‘Babylon is beautiful.’ The people in Chaldea are proud of (Babylon).

20 People will never live there again. And none of its children will ever live there again. No Arab will put his tent there. No farmers will cause their animals to lie down there.

21 Only wild animals will lie down there. Its houses will be full of owls that scream. And ostriches will live there. Wild goats will dance about in it.

22 Hyenas will make a noise in its tall buildings and jackals will live in its beautiful palaces. (The Medes) will soon destroy it. It does not have many more days.

14

A few words about Israel

1 The LORD will be sorry for Jacob and he will choose Israel again. Then he will give them rest in their own country. Also, people from a foreign country will join themselves to the people of Jacob. They will really become united with them.

2 And the (foreign) people will take the people (of Israel) and bring them to their own country (Israel). Then the people of Israel will rule the foreign people in the LORD’s country. They (the foreign people) will become male and female slaves. So the people that made (Israel) prisoners, will be prisoners themselves! (Israel) will rule over the people that were cruel to them. More about Babylon

3 On that day, this will happen. The LORD will give you rest from these things:· all your pain and illnesses· the cruel way that (your enemies) caused you to work.

4 You will laugh at the king of Babylon. Then you will say (to him), ‘Now you cannot be cruel to us, nor can you attack us!

5 The LORD has destroyed the authority of bad people. He has removed the power of the rulers (of Babylon).

6 (The rulers of Babylon) hit many people because they were angry with them. They never stopped hitting them. They were very angry, so they attacked (other) countries. They never stopped fighting them.

7 (But now) there is no war in the whole world and it can rest. Everyone is singing (because they are so happy)!

8 Even the pine trees and the cedar trees in Lebanon are happy. (They say this) to you, (king of Babylon): “Since (the LORD) beat you, nobody has come to cut us down!”

9 When you arrive there, you will get much interest from (the people in) Sheol. People there will (come) to meet you! You will wake up the Rephaim, who were all leaders on the earth. (They will come) to say, “welcome” to you. All who were kings of the their countries will stand up from their seats.

10 All of them will speak to you and say this. “Even you have become as weak as we (are)! You have become like us!”

11 Your pride will bring you down to Sheol with the noise of your harps. Under you will be a bed of maggots and (over you) a blanket of worms.’ More words about Babylon Some Christians believe that these words are also about Satan.

12 ‘Look at you! You have fallen from the skies! You shine. (You are called the) Son of the Dawn! You made many countries low, but now you are low yourself!

13 You said in your mind, “I will go up into the heavens. I will put my seat above the stars of God. I will sit in the mountain in the far north with God’s leaders.

14 I will rise above the tops of the clouds. I will be like the Most High.”

15 But he has brought you down to Sheol, to the deepest Pit!’ More words about Babylon

16 ‘Those (people) that see you will really look at you. They will think this about you. “This is the man that caused the earth to move. He caused countries to shake.

17 (This is the man) that made the world like a desert. He destroyed its cities. He did not let his prisoners go (back to their) homes.”

18 All the kings of all the countries – yes! all of them – lie down in a good place. Each (king lies) in his own grave.

19 But you, they will throw you out without a grave! You will be like a branch (that people throw) away. Or (you will be like) the clothes of a dead man that a sword has cut. (You will be like) someone that fell on to the stones in a big hole. Or (you will be like) a dead body that people have kicked.

20 They will not bury you with the other (kings of Babylon). Here are the reasons:· You have destroyed your country.· You have killed your (own) people.Nobody will ever remember again this son of very bad people!

21 Prepare a place where they will kill his children. (They will kill them) because their parents sinned. Then his children will not rule the world or fill it with cities.’

22 ‘I will fight against them’, says the LORD of Many Armies. The LORD of Many Armies also says, ‘I will remove the name of Babylon. (I will remove its) people that remain, their children and their children’s children.’

23 The LORD of Many Armies says this also: ‘I will make (Babylon) a place where owls live. Also, (it will be a place) where there are pools of water. And I will take it away completely (like a man sweeps things away) with a brush.’ A few words about Assyria

24 The LORD of Many Armies has made a serious promise. ‘It will happen as my plan says. I will really do what I have decided to do.

25 I will kill the man from Assyria in my country. Also, I will put him under my feet on my mountains. Then, he will not be cruel to my people. Also, they will not have to carry his heavy weights again.’

26 This is the plan that (he) made for the whole earth. And this is the hand that (he) lifted over all the nations.

27 This is the plan of the LORD of Many Armies. Nobody can change it. He has lifted up his hand. Nobody can change this. A few words about Philistia

28 In the year that King Ahaz died, (Isaiah) received this message:

29 ‘Do not feel happy, you people in Philistia. (God) has broken the stick that hit you. But from that snake a more dangerous snake will come. And from that (snake) will come a snake that can fly!

30 But poor people will feed their (animals) that were born first. And people that need (help) will sleep safely. Then I will cause your people (in Philistia) to die because there is no food. And I will kill the people that remain.

31 Gate (of the city), cry! City (itself), scream! Move away, all you people in Philistia! (Do this) because smoke will come from the north. Everybody in (that) army will march quickly.’Verse 31 The gate in a city was the place where important people met. So the word ‘gate’ may mean these important people here.

32 ‘What shall we say to the people that bring messages from the government? Say that the LORD has built Zion. And (say) that his poor people will be safe there.’

15

Words about Moab

1 (This is) a serious message (about) Moab. It is true! In one night (an enemy) destroyed Ar (and) Moab made no noise. It is true! In one night (an enemy) destroyed Kir in Moab (and Moab made) no noise.

2 (The people in) Dibon have gone up to their temple to weep. (They have gone up to) the high places. Moab is crying about Nebo and Medeba. Every head is bald and (they have) cut off every beard.

3 They are wearing hairy cloth in the streets. On the roofs (of their houses) they are weeping. And in the open places (in their towns they are weeping). Tears cover their faces.

4 Then (the people in) Heshbon and Elealeh cried aloud. (People) as far away as Jahaz heard the sound! The soldiers of Moab cry aloud (because they are afraid). The minds (of Moab’s people) are afraid.

5 Inside, I feel like a man who is crying aloud for Moab! Its people have run away as far as Zoar (and) Eglath Shelishijah. It is true! They weep while they climb up the hill to Luhith. It is true! On the road to Horonaim they shout aloud, ‘(An enemy) has destroyed (us)!’‘Inside, I feel like a man who is crying aloud for Moab!’ Isaiah means that he feels very sad.

6 It is true! It is not wet; it is dry in (the Valley of) Nimrim. It is true! The grass is dead. Nothing new is growing. (And) there is nothing (that is) green.

7 So, they are carrying away over the Wadi Arabim whatever they found still (in the fields). And they are carrying away what they have saved.The Wadi Arabim was a small river.

8 It is true! The sounds (of people that ask for help) reach the edges of Moab. (People) as far as Eglaim heard (Moab’s) sad songs. (Moab’s) sad songs reached Beer Elim.

9 It is true! Blood fills the waters of Dimon. It is true! More (bad) things will happen to Dimon. A lion will wait for those that run away from Moab. And (it will wait) for those that remain (in the) country.

16

More about Moab

1 Send young sheep from the ruler of the country (to Jerusalem). Send them from Sela across the desert to the mountain of the Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem).

2 The women from Moab (are crossing) the River Arnon. (They are) like birds that are learning to fly. (The mother bird) has pushed them out from their home.

3 Tell us what we should do! Be fair about what you say! Cause your shadow (over us) to seem like it is night in the middle of the day! Hide the refugees! Do not show (to their enemies) the people that have run away!

4 Let the people from Moab who are running away stay with you. Hide them from (the enemy that is) killing them. It is true! People will not be cruel to those who are weak. People will not destroy things. People that fight will disappear from the country.

5 Someone from David’s family will build a kingdom. The man that rules it will be fair and honest. He will be a fair judge. He will decide rightly. And he will quickly cause (his people) to do what is right.

6 We have heard about the pride of Moab. (Moab was) very proud. In its pride, (Moab) thought that it was better (than other people). And Moab said things that were not kind (to them).

7 So Moab weeps. All Moab weeps for itself. Sing a sad song. And cry for the cakes made with very dry grapes from Kir Hareseth!

8 It is true! There are no (fruits) in the fields in Heshbon. And (there is nothing on) the vine of Sibmah. The rulers of (other) countries have destroyed its branches. (The branches) reached to Jazer (in the north-west) and as far as the desert (in the east). Its new branches grew and they crossed over (the Dead) Sea.

9 Because of this, I weep for the vine of Sibmah, as Jazer weeps. I put my tears all over you, Heshbon and Elealeh. It is true! The noise of war has fallen on your plants and on your fruit.Verses 8 and 9 Isaiah seems to write about the vines in Sibmah like they were one big vine.

10 Nobody is really happy in the fields. Nobody sings or shouts (because they are happy) in the vineyards. Nobody jumps on the grapes in the places where they make wine. I have caused the noise to stop.

11 So, I cry deep inside me for Moab. It is like the sad sound of a harp. And I am hurting for Kir Hareseth.

12 And when the people in Moab come to their high place, they will become very tired. When they come to pray at their temple, nothing will happen.

13 Those are the words that the LORD has already spoken about Moab.

14 But now the LORD says, ‘In three years, everybody will laugh at Moab. Count these years like (the years that) people pay a worker. Then (God) will make all Moab’s many proud people humble. And only a few of them will remain, a very small number.’

17

Words about Damascus

1 (This is a) serious message (about) Damascus. Look! (The enemy) broke the city called Damascus into a lot of stones.

2 Nobody lives in the cities of Aroer. They have become (places) where groups (of animals) lie down. Nobody makes them afraid.

3 There are no strong cities in Ephraim and no kings in Damascus. The few people that remain in Aram are as great as the people of Israel! (This is what) the LORD of Many Armies is saying.

4 On that day the LORD removed the things that Jacob was proud of. His fat body became thin!

5 And it was like when a farmer got all the grain. He did it while it was still (in a field). With his arm he cut off the fruit from the plants. Then it was like when someone gleans some of the grain in the Valley of Rephaim.

6 There was not much in (Israel). It was like someone that hit an olive tree. There were only two or three small olives on the highest branch. And (there were only) 4 or 5 fruits on the branches of a fruit tree. (This is what) the LORD, the God of Israel, (is) saying.

7 On a day (like) that, people should obey their Maker. They should turn to the Holy One of Israel.

8 They should not think that the altars (can help them). Their hands have made (these altars). They should not turn to what their fingers have made. These are (images of the female god called) Asherah. And the altars (are where they burn) incense.

9 On that day, (Israel’s) strong cities became like empty cities. (They were like) those (other) empty forests and woods. People had left them when Israel (first attacked them). So (the cities) were empty groups of stones,

10 for these reasons. You forgot the God that made you safe. You did not remember the Rock that hid you (from danger). You planted gardens for a false god and you planted vines for a foreign god.Verse 10 ‘the Rock’ means God.

11 So, there were no fruits. On the day that you planted them, you caused them to grow well. They had flowers on the morning that you planted them! But all this finished in a day that was very sad. And (there was) pain that nothing could take away.

12 Oh, (listen)! (The people in) many countries are roaring. They are making a noise like an angry sea! And (listen)! The (people in those) countries are roaring, they are roaring like great amounts of water!

13 The (people in those) countries are roaring; they are roaring like great amounts of water! But when (the LORD) will shout at them, they will run far away. The wind will blow them away like dead bits of plants on the hills. Or it will blow them away like dirt that blows about before a storm.

14 Look! In the evening everyone is very much afraid. And in the morning nobody is there! This is what will happen to anyone that takes things from us. (It will happen to anyone who) robs us.

18

Words about Cush

1 Oh! (There is) a country (where the) ships have wings. It is near the rivers of Cush.

2 It is sending messages by people in boats (that they) made from papyrus. They sail on the top of the waters. Go, take a message quickly. (Go to) a country where (the people) are tall. And their skins are not hairy. (It is a country where everyone), both near and far, is afraid of its people. The country is very strong and rivers cut the land into parts.There were two places called Cush 2700 years ago. One is near Ethiopia, the other near Iraq. Most Bible students think that here it is Ethiopia. We cannot be sure.

3 Everybody that lives (in the) world and (on the) earth, (listen to this). You will see a sign on the tops of the mountains. You will hear the sound of a trumpet.

4 This (is what) the LORD said to me. ‘I will watch quietly from my place. I will be as quiet as the heat that shines from the sun. (I will be as quiet as) the mist that rises at harvest time.’

5 Then, before the harvest, (the LORD) will cut off the new parts of the plants. He will use a special knife. He will cut off the wide branches and take them away. (He will do this) after the flowers have gone. But (he will do it) before the fruit is ready to pick.

6 (He) will leave them all for the birds that catch small animals in the mountains to eat. (He will leave them) to the wild animals on the land. The birds (will feed) on them all the summer. And the wild animals will (feed) on them all the winter.

7 At that time (people) brought gifts to the LORD of Many Armies. The people are tall and their skins are not hairy. Everyone both near and far is afraid of these people. The country is very strong, and rivers cut the land into parts. (They will come) to a place where the Name of the LORD of Many Armies is. It is a mountain called Zion.

19

Words about Egypt

1 (This is a) serious message (about) Egypt.Look! The LORD will come to Egypt. He will ride on a cloud that will move quickly. The false gods of Egypt will be afraid when he comes. Also, the heart of Egypt will turn into water inside.‘the heart of Egypt will turn into water inside’ means that all the people in Egypt will be very much afraid.

2 ‘I will cause Egypt’s men (to fight) against Egypt’s men. A man will fight against his brother. A man will fight against the man that lives near him. A city (will fight) against a city and a kingdom will fight against a kingdom.

3 (I will) pour out the spirit of Egypt from inside it. And I will confuse their plans. (So) they will ask (for help from) their false gods. And (they will ask for help from) the spirits of dead people, and from mediums and from wizards.

4 And I will give Egypt into the power of a cruel master. And a powerful king will rule over them.’ (This is what) the Lord, the LORD of Many Armies says.

5 And the waters of the sea will become dry. And the river will have no water and so it will become dry.

6 And the canals will have less (water) and they will have a bad smell. And the streams of Egypt will become dry. The reeds and the other plants that grow by the river will die.

7 (And) the plants at the side of the river (Nile) will die. And (the plants near) where the river goes into the sea (will die). Everything (that people) plant by the river will become dry. (The wind will) blow it away and (there will be) nothing there.

8 And the fishers will be very sad. Then, everyone that throws a bent piece of metal and a line into the river will cry. Also, those people that put something on the water to catch fish will have nothing (to eat).

9 The people that work with the flax will not know what to do. The women that comb (the flax) will not be happy. Neither will the men that make it into cloth (be happy).

10 This will destroy the spirit of the workers (in Egypt). Everyone that works for money (will feel) sick inside them.

11 The leaders of Zoan are really fools! The best people in Pharaoh’s government say that he must do silly things! You cannot say to Pharaoh, ‘I am a son of a man who knows nearly everything. (I am) a son of (someone who was) king a long time ago.’

12 Where, then, (Pharaoh), are your clever men? (Or, Pharaoh, you have no clever men!) Cause them to tell you now what they know. They know what the LORD of Many Armies will do against Egypt.

13 The leaders in Zoan have made themselves into fools. The leaders of Noph have confused each other. The leaders of (these) groups (of people) have caused Egypt to choose wrongly.

14 The LORD has mixed into the people (of Egypt) something that confuses their spirits. In everything that they do they choose wrongly.) They choose wrongly like a drunk that is being sick.

15 There is nothing that anybody in Egypt can do. They may be like a head or like a tail, a branch on a palm tree or a reed. (There is nothing that they can do.)

16 In that day the people in Egypt will be afraid, like women. They will be afraid when the LORD of Many Armies uses his power against them.

17 The (name of the) country called Judah will frighten the people in Egypt very much. When people say (the name Judah), they will be afraid of the LORD of Many Armies. They will be afraid of what he has decided to do against them.

18 In that day 5 cities in the country called Egypt will speak the language of Canaan. (The people in them) will promise to obey the LORD of Many Armies. One of the towns will be called Sun City.

19 In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the middle of the country called Egypt. Also, (there will be) a tall stone to the LORD at the edge (of Egypt).

20 Those (two things) will be like notices to tell (everyone in) the country called Egypt about the LORD of Many Armies. (The people in Egypt) will pray to the LORD because other people are cruel to them. Then, this is what he will do. He will send someone to make them safe. And he will send a judge who will remove the danger from them.

21 And the LORD will know the people in Egypt. And also, the people in Egypt will know the LORD in that day. And they will worship (the LORD) and they will offer gifts to him. They will make promises to the LORD. And they will do what they have promised to do.

22 And (if) the LORD should send to Egypt a plague, he (really) will hurt them. But then he will make them well again. And then they will return to the LORD. And he will answer their prayers and he will make them well.

23 In that day there will be a road from Egypt to Assyria. (People from) Assyria will go to Egypt and (people from) Egypt will go to Assyria. People from Egypt and Assyria will worship together.

24 In that day Israel will be the third (country) with Egypt and Assyria. Good things will happen in the middle of the country.

25 The LORD of Many Armies will do good things for them. He will say, ‘I will do good things for my people Egypt, and Assyria, which I have made. And I will do good things for Israel that I have chosen.’

20

Words about Egypt and Cush

1 In the year (711 B.C.) (the man called the) Tartan came to Ashdod. (This was) when Sargon, the king of Assyria, sent him. He fought against Ashdod and he destroyed it.

2 In that time the LORD spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz. (He) said, ‘Go and take the hairy clothes off your body and the shoes from your feet.’ And (Isaiah) did this. He walked about without clothes and without shoes.

3 And the LORD said, ‘My servant Isaiah walked without clothes and without shoes for three years. It was a message and a prophecy against Egypt and Cush.

4 This is what the king of Assyria (will do). He will take away (people) from Egypt as prisoners. And (he will take people) from Cush as exiles. Young people and old people will go. They will have no clothes or shoes. (People) will see their bottoms (where the backs of the legs and the body join). This will make the people in Egypt ashamed.

5 They will not be very happy and they will be ashamed. They had hoped that Cush (would help them). And they had said that Egypt (would help them also).

6 The people that live along this coast will say in that day, “Look! This happened to the people that we hoped (would help us). We went to them for help. (We did this) to get away from the king of Assyria. And now, we do not know how to get away (from him).” ’

21

Words about Babylon

1 (This is) a serious message about the desert near the sea. It comes from the desert. (It comes) from a frightening place. It is like a storm from the Negev desert.Verse 1 Bible students do not know where this desert was. It was either south of Jerusalem, or south of Babylon. This translation believes that it was Babylon.

2 I received a difficult message. The robber robs and the destroyer destroys. Elam, go up (to Babylon)! Media, attack (Babylon)! (The LORD says,) ‘I will stop (Babylon) crying.’

3 (All) this hurts me. Bad pains attack me. (They are) like the bad pains that a woman feels. (She feels them) when she has a baby. What I hear bends me over. And that is why I cannot listen. What I see frightens me. And that is why I cannot look.

4 It confuses my mind. I am very much afraid. I wanted a quiet evening. But now that quiet evening has become (a time) when I am very much afraid.

5 They prepare a special meal. They put down the carpets. They eat and drink. Officers, make your shields ready!

6 This is what the Lord said to me. ‘Go! And cause somebody to stand and to watch (what will happen). (Ask) him to report what he sees.

7 If he reports (one of these) then cause him to watch.· a rider· a pair of (men on) horses· a rider on a donkey· a rider on a camel.And he must watch very well.’

8 Then the man that watched shouted. (He said), ‘Lord, I am standing every day on a building (from which I can see everything). I am standing at my place every night.

9 And look! Someone is coming! (It is) a rider, (it is) a man with a pair of horses!’ (The man) reports and says this. ‘(An enemy) has destroyed Babylon! (The enemy) has destroyed it! All the images of its people’s gods lie in pieces on the ground!’

10 (Judah), they have hurt you. They have hurt you very much. (But) I have told you what I have heard from the LORD of Everything. (He is) the God of Israel. Words about Edom

11 (This is) a serious message about Dumah. Someone is shouting to me from Seir. (They are asking,) ‘Keeper, how much more of the night (is there)? Keeper, how much more of the night (is there)?’

12 The keeper said, ‘The morning will come, (but) so will the night. If you want to ask (again, then) come back. Come (and) ask!’ Words about Arabia

13 (This is) a serious message about Arabia. Caravans of people from Dedan, you will find a safe place (behind) the bushes in the wild country.

14 (There) you will give water to (people) who need a drink. People that live in Tema will give bread to the refugees.

15 (Do this) because they are running away from (all this):· swords· swords (that are) ready to fight· bows (that soldiers have) bent· the dangerous battle.

16 This is what my Lord has said to me. ‘In less than a year, all the important people in Kedar will have gone. A servant (that someone has) paid counts a year. Count the year like that.

17 Only a few of the men that use bows (from the) soldiers of the men from Kedar will remain. (This will happen) because the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken.’

22

Words about Jerusalem

Words about the city itself

1 (This is) a serious message about the Valley (in Jerusalem that Isaiah ‘saw’) in a vision. Something is the matter with you. You have all gone up on to the roofs of your houses!The word ‘saw’ here means ‘understood’. He may also have ‘seen’ something that God showed to him.

2 (Your) city is full of noise. And (it is full of people that are) rushing about. The town is having a party! The sword did not kill the people that are dead. They did not die in a war.

3 (The enemy) caught all your leaders that ran away. (The enemy) did not have to use one bow. Some of them ran a long way away, but (the enemy) caught them all!

4 So I said, ‘Leave me alone! Let me cry the saddest tears. Do not try to make me happy, because (the enemy will) kill many of my people.

5 (This is) because my Lord, the LORD of Everything, will have a day of noise. (It will be) in the Valley of Vision (in Jerusalem). There will be feet that are running and (it will) confuse people. (The enemy) will destroy walls and people will shout (for help) to the hills.’

6 (People will say), ‘(People from) Elam carried baskets of arrows. (There were) men with chariots and horses and (soldiers from) Kir lifted up (their) shields.’

7 So your best valleys will be full of chariots and men on horses will attack (your city’s) gates.

8 (The LORD) will take away from Judah the place where its people hide themselves. So, in that day, you will look for arms in the House of the Forest (in Jerusalem).

9 You will see that there are many holes in the walls of the City of David. Also, you will get water from the Lower Pool.

10 Then you will count the houses in Jerusalem. And you will knock down the houses to make the walls (of Jerusalem) stronger.

11 You may have built a place inside the walls (of Jerusalem) to put water from the Old Pool. But you have not looked to its Maker. And you did not see the person that made plans for it long ago.

12 And in that day my Lord, the LORD of Everything, will ask for (people) to weep and to cry aloud. He will ask them to cut the hair off their heads. Also, they must wear hairy clothes.

13 But look! (Everybody is) happy, they are very happy. They are killing cows and sheep. They will eat meat and drink. (They are saying,) ‘We will eat and drink, because tomorrow we will die.’

14 But this is what the LORD of Everything has told me. ‘(I will) certainly not excuse this sin until you (all) die.’ (This is what) my Lord, the LORD of Everything said.

Words about one of the leaders in Jerusalem called Shebna

15 This (is what) my Lord, the LORD of Everything, said. (He said,) ‘Stand up and go to this (man) Shebna. He has authority in (the king’s) house.

16 (Say to him,) “You should not be here. (God did not say) that you (could be) here. You have cut (in the rock) here for yourself a tomb. You have cut a tomb in the side of the hill. You have cut for yourself a place in the rock to put your dead body.

17 Look! The LORD will throw you; he will throw you (away, you) strong man! (First) he will hold on to you in his strong hand.

18 (Then) he will make you like a ball; he will make you like a ball. (Then he will) throw you like a ball into a wide country. You will die there. (There) your great chariots will make your master’s family ashamed.”

19 I will remove you from your job. And he will throw you down from the place where you are an officer.’

Words about another leader, called Eliakim

20 ‘And this is what will happen in that day. I will tell my servant Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah that he must come.

21 And I will put on him your (Shebna’s) special clothes and I will tie your special belt round him. And I will give him your authority. Then he (Eliakim) will become (like) a father to everyone that lives in Jerusalem and to the people of Judah.

22 And I will put the key of the family of David on his shoulder. What he opens, nobody will close. What he closes, nobody will open.

23 And I will fix him in place (like a) strong bent piece of metal. And he will make his father’s house famous.

24 But the whole weight of his father’s family will hang on him (like that piece of metal). All his children and their children, like cups and bottles that contain things, (will hang on him).’

25 (This is what) the LORD of Everything says: ‘In that day the bent piece of metal that (they) fixed strongly, will not hold. (I will) cut it down and it will fall. And the weight on it will fall off because the LORD has spoken (it).’

23

Words about Tyre

1 (This is) a serious message about Tyre.Cry aloud, (you people in) the ships (that go) to Tarshish. (An enemy) has destroyed it. There is no house to come home to. They heard about this in the country called Cyprus.

2 Weep, (you people) that live on the island. (Weep, you) merchants of Sidon, that the sailors made rich.

3 Grain came from the River Nile on the great seas. The fruits from the River Nile brought money (to Phoenicia). So it became a market place for (many) countries.

4 (You people that live in) Sidon, be ashamed. (Be ashamed,) because the sea has spoken. The power of the sea, (Tyre), has said, ‘I have not been in labour. (Children) have not been born. I have not had sons nor been a parent to daughters.’

5 When (the people in) Egypt receive the news, they will be in much pain at the report from Tyre.

6 Cross over to Tarshish! Cry aloud, you people that live on the island.

7 (This is) the city where you had many parties. It is old, very old. (Now) their feet have taken its people to live in countries that are far away.

8 People do not know who made these plans against Tyre. (Tyre is the city that) gives crowns (to people). Its merchants are like kings. Its merchants are famous in (all) the world.

9 The LORD of Everything thought that he should do this. (He did not want) people to feel more important than they were. And (he wanted) to cause all the famous people in the world not to feel important. (That is why he did it.)

10 Travel through your country, people in Tarshish, as (easily as the people in Egypt travel along) the River Nile. (Travel) because now, nobody will stop you.

11 The LORD has lifted his hand over the sea. He made kingdoms afraid. He told (his armies) what they must do in Phoenicia. (They had to) destroy all (Phoenicia’s) strong buildings.

12 Then he said, ‘Do not continue your parties. (The enemy) has destroyed you, you people that live in Sidon. Get up! Cross over to Cyprus. Even there you will not find rest for yourself.’

13 Look at the country called Babylon! Its people are all dead! The (armies) from Assyria made it a place for wild animals (to live in). They (the men from Assyria) built small mountains (of earth that they climbed on) to attack it. They took everything away from its strong buildings and they destroyed (Babylon).

14 Cry aloud, you ships of Tarshish. (Your enemy) has destroyed your strong port.

15 At that time (people will) forget Tyre for 70 years. This is how long one king lives. At the end of 70 years something will happen to Tyre. It is like the song about the prostitute.

16Prostitute that (people) have forgotten, walk about the city with your harp. Play it well. Sing many songs. Then (people) will remember you again.’

17 At the end of 70 years the LORD will be kind to Tyre. It will ‘become a prostitute’ again! (This means that) its merchants will go to all the kingdoms of the world on the earth.

18 And this will happen: All the money that (Tyre) gets and all the profit will go to the LORD. (Tyre) will not hide it or store it. Rather, the profit (will go) to the people that live near the LORD. (They will have) plenty of food and good clothes. About Isaiah chapters 24-27 Most English translations call the last book in the Bible, ‘Revelation’. Apocalypse is the Greek name of the book called Revelation. (Greek is a language.) ‘Revelation’ means ‘things that somebody shows to us’. In the Book of Revelation, those things are about the end of the world. Some Bible students say that chapters 24-27 of Isaiah are also about the end of the world. They are sometimes called ‘little apocalypse’ because they are shorter than Revelation. What happened to ‘the country’ called Judah or Babylon will happen to the whole world. Bible students are not sure whether ‘the country’ means Judah or Babylon or somewhere else.

24

Things that will happen to bad people

1 Understand (this)! The LORD will make the country empty and he will destroy it. He will destroy the ground. And he will move the people that live in it in all directions.

2 It will be the same for (all these people):· the people and the priest· the servant and his master· the girl that is a servant and her mistress· the buyer and the seller· the lender and the borrower· the person that has lent money and the person that has borrowed money.

3 (Enemies) will completely destroy the land. (They) will take everything from it. The LORD says that (this will happen). (So it will happen.)

4 The land will be dry and it will die. The world will become weak and it will die. The important people in the country will become weak.

5 The people that live in the country have made it dirty. (This happened) for these reasons:· They have not obeyed (God’s) rules.· They have changed (God’s) rules.· They have decided to forget (God’s) covenant that will always be true.

6 That is why a curse is destroying the country. And the people that live in it are hurting. This is because they have done wrong things. (Something) burns the people that live in the country. Only a few of them remain.

7 The wine dries up and the vine dies. The people that want to drink (the wine) are not happy.

8 The happy sound of the tambourine stops. The noise from parties has finished. The harp does not make any happy music.

9 People do not sing while they drink wine. The beer does not taste nice to those that drink it.

10 (Enemies) have destroyed the city (so that) it is without shape. (People) locked every house so that (the enemy) could not get in.

11 People shout for wine in the streets. Everybody that is happy becomes sad. Nobody in the country laughs.

12 (Enemies) have destroyed the city. (They) knocked down the gates (of the city) and they destroyed them.

13 This will happen through all the country and among (other) countries. They will be empty like an olive tree that people hit. Or (they will be empty like a vine) with a few grapes (that people have) not picked. The song of the few people that remain (verses 14-16a)

14 These (are the people) that use their voices to shout aloud! From (the sea in) the west they say that the LORD is great!

15 So, in (the countries in) the east give praise to the LORD. (Give praise) to the LORD God of Israel. (Give praise) from the islands in the sea.

16 From every part of the country we hear songs that give praise to the Righteous One. Isaiah’s sad song (verses 16b-23)But I said, ‘I have become thin and weak! I have become thin and weak! I am so sad! Bad people are doing bad things. Yes, the bad people are being really very bad!’

17 People in the country, terror, a big hole in the ground and a trap will kill you!

18 The person that runs away from the sound of terror will fall into the big hole. A trap will catch the person that climbs out of the big hole. (It will happen) because (someone has) opened the windows of the sky. Also, (they have) moved what is under the land.

19 All this has completely broken the land. It has torn the land into pieces. It has moved the land very much.

20 The earth walks like a man that is a drunk. It moves about like a tent (in the wind). The wrong things that (the people in the country) have done feel heavy upon the country. So it will be like someone who falls down. And it will be like someone who never gets up again.

21 On that day the LORD will punish (anything with) power in the skies above. And (he will punish) the kings on the land below.

22 (The LORD) will bring them together like prisoners in a hole in the ground. He will lock them in a prison and after a long time he will punish them.

23 The white (light of the moon) will disappear. And the heat (of the sun) will become cold. (This is) because the LORD of Everything will be king on the hill called Zion. Then, his leaders in Jerusalem will see that he is very great.

25

A song that gives praise to God, because God killed the enemies

1 LORD, you are my God and I will give you praise. I will say that you are very great. And I will give praise to your name, because you have done wonderful things. You said long ago what you would do. And you have done it. (You were) honest and (your promises) were true.

2 And you have broken the city into a hill (of stones). (You have) destroyed the strong city. The strong city that foreign people (live in) has gone. Nobody will build it again.Verse 2 Bible students cannot be sure which city this is.

3 So, a strong country will give you praise. The city in a cruel country will be afraid of you.

4 (This is) because you (LORD) have made (your) poor people safe. (You have) made safe the people that needed (help) in their trouble. (You) hid them from the storm (and you were their) shade from the heat. The attack of the cruel people was like a storm that knocked against a wall.

5 (And the storm was) like heat in a dry sandy place. You, (LORD), stopped the noise of the foreigners. The shade of a cloud makes less the heat (of the sun). In the same way, you took away the songs of the enemies. They thought that they had beaten us. (That is why they sang.)

6 The LORD of Everything will make a feast for all people upon this mountain (in Jerusalem). It will be a feast of the very best meat, a feast with the very best wine. (It will be a feast) of the very best meat that makes people strong. It will be a feast with the best wines.

7 And on this mountain (the LORD) will destroy the shroud that covers all people. It is a shroud that is over every country

8 He will destroy death for always. The LORD, my master, will dry the faces of everyone that has tears (in their eyes). People will not feel ashamed again, over all the earth. This is what the LORD has promised to do.In verses 7 and 8, the word that we have translated ‘destroy’ means ‘swallow’. It is what happens to food after we eat it with our mouths.

9 On that day they will say, ‘Look! This is our God! We have waited for him to come and to make us safe. This is the LORD! We have waited for him. So we shall be happy, very happy, because he has saved us.’

10 The power of the LORD will stay on this mountain. And he will walk on the people from Moab as people walk on dead grass and animal dirt.

11 And (the people from Moab) will put their hands into it. (They will be) like someone that puts out (his hands) to swim. But they will go down deep in the water, even if they are able (to swim) with their hands.

12 And (the LORD) will knock down their high, strong walls. He will throw them down. He will make them low and he will turn them into small bits of dry dirt on the ground.

26

Another song that gives praise to God

1 In that day, (people) will sing this song in the country called Judah.We have a strong city. (The LORD) made walls inside and outside (the city), to make us safe.In verse 1, the Hebrew word for ‘safe’ that Isaiah used was ‘jeshuah’. This is the Hebrew word that we translate ‘Jesus’!

2 Open the gates (of the city), so that the righteous people can come in. (The righteous people) are those people that continue to believe (the LORD).

3 You, (LORD), will make safe the person whose mind is always thinking about you. (You will keep him) safe, because he believes you.

4 Always, always believe the LORD! (Do this) because the LORD, the LORD is a (like a) Rock. He will always be alive.

5 He brings down low the people that live in high places, in a city on tall (hills). He makes it low. He brings it down to the ground. He throws it into the dirt.

6 Feet will walk on it. The feet of the poor people and of the weak people (will walk over it).

7 The path that righteous people walk on is flat. You, (LORD), make clear the way of righteous people.

8 Yes, LORD, we wait for you in the path that your rules (point us to). In our minds, we want (everybody to know) your name. And (we want everybody to know) that you are famous.

9 My mind wants you in the night time and my spirit wants you in the morning. The people in the world will learn what ‘righteous’ means. (This will happen) when you are ruling in the country.

10 Bad people will not learn, if nobody punishes them. (They will not learn) what ‘righteous’ means. In a country where people are honest, (bad people) will continue to do bad things. They do not obey the rules of the LORD.

11 LORD, you have lifted up your hand (to hit them), but they do not see it. (But one day) they will see that you really love your people. Then, I pray that they will become ashamed. I pray that fire will burn up your enemies.

12 LORD, you will keep us safe. Really, all that we have done, you have done on our behalf.

13 LORD, our God, other lords than you have ruled over us. But only to your name do we give praise.

14 Now (the other lords) are dead. They are not alive. Their spirits have gone and they will not rise up (again). You punished them and you killed them. You have done it, so that we do not remember them.

15 LORD, you have made the country larger. You really have made the country larger. You have received praise for yourself. You have made all the edges of the country bigger.

16 LORD, they came to you when they had trouble. They prayed quietly to you when you punished them.

17 LORD, we were with you, like a woman who would soon have a baby. Just before she had her baby (we were like her). We could not keep still and we cried with the pain.

18 We were going to have a baby. We could not keep still and we cried with the pain. But we gave birth only to wind! We have not made the earth safe. We have not killed the people in the world.

19 But your dead (people) will live (again). Their bodies will rise up (from the grave). Wake up! Shout because you are so happy, you (people) that live in the ground! (Shout), because your dew is like the dew of the morning. The earth will give birth to the dead (people) in it.

20 My people, go into your rooms and shut the doors behind you. Hide yourselves for a short time, until (the LORD) is not angry.

21 Look, the LORD is coming out of his house. He will punish the people on the earth because they have not obeyed him. The earth will show (him) the blood (that people) poured out on it. It will not hide any longer the (dead) bodies (that people have) killed.

27

1 In that day the LORD will punish Leviathan. (The LORD will use) his sword. (His sword is) great, powerful and strong. (Leviathan is) a snake that moves quickly (in the sea). (It is) a snake that puts itself (round things). He will kill that great animal in the sea. God will guard his people

2 ‘In that day, sing about a field where vines are growing. It is full of fruit!

3 I, the LORD, will guard it. I will continue to put water on it. I will guard it night and day, so that nobody will destroy it.

4 I am not angry. If there was a thorn or a briar (in my field of vines), I would march against it in a war. I would make fire out of (the thorns and briars).

5 Or (the field) should come to me. I will make it safe. It should not fight with me. It should rest with me.

6 The days will come when Jacob will grow (like a plant) in the ground. Israel will grow and make flowers. They will fill all the world with fruit.’ God has a purpose when he punishes people

7 (The LORD) has hit (those enemies) that hit (his people). He has hit (his people) like that. (The LORD) has killed (those enemies). He has killed (his people) like that.

8 (LORD) you fought (against your people). You sent them into exile. He made them go with a cruel wind. It was like a day when the east wind blows.

9 This, then, is how Jacob will be sorry because of his sins. And this will be the result when (God) has taken away (Jacob’s) sin completely. (The LORD) will break all the altar stones to pieces like chalk stones. (He will) not leave the Asherah poles or incense altars standing.

10 Then the strong city will be empty. Everybody that lived there will leave it. It will be like a dry sandy place. Nobody will go there. Young cows will eat the grass and they will lie down there. They will eat everything on the branches (of the trees).

11 When their branches become dry, people will break them off (the trees). The women will come and make fires with them. (This will happen) because these people do not understand things. So, their Maker will not help them. Also, their Creator will not be kind to them.

12 And in that day (this) will happen. The LORD will pick (fruit) from the River (Euphrates) to the stream of Egypt. So (the LORD) will fetch you one by one, (you) sons of Israel.We think that ‘the stream of Egypt’ means the River Nile.

13 And in that day (this) will happen. (Someone) will make a sound on a great trumpet. And people that are dying in the country called Assyria will come. Also, people in exile in the country called Egypt (will come). They will worship the LORD in the mountain at Jerusalem.

28

A sad song about Ephraim

1 (There will be a) very sad (day in) Ephraim! The leaders (of Ephraim) are very proud, (but they) are drunks. (Ephraim is like) a beautiful flower, but it will die. It will not always be beautiful. (Ephraim) is at the top of a valley where there are good plants. But wine causes (its people) to fall over.

2 Look! The Lord has (somebody who is) powerful and strong. He is like a storm of ice (from the skies) and (he is like) a wind that destroys (things). (He is) like a storm of rain with a great amount of water. He will throw (Ephraim) to the ground with (his) hands!We think that ‘somebody’ and ‘he’ in this verse means the country called Assyria or its army.

3 (His) feet will walk on the proud leaders. These (leaders) are the drunks of Ephraim.

4 And (Ephraim) will be like a (fruit called a) fig. It is ready to eat when they pick it. When someone sees it, he will pick it. And he will eat it! (This Ephraim is like) a beautiful flower. But it will die, and it will not be beautiful. It is at the top of a valley. Good plants are there.

5 In that day the LORD of Everything will be a wonderful leader. And (he will be) a beautiful ruler for his people that remain (in their country).

6 (The LORD) will help people to decide what is right. He will make the people strong who guard their city.

7 But wine also causes most (people in Jerusalem) to fall down. And beer makes them into drunks. Beer causes priest and prophet to fall over. And wine confuses (their minds). Beer causes them to fall over. And when they see visions they cannot understand them. They become silly when they decide what to do.

8 They are sick over all their tables. And there is nowhere that is not dirty.

9 (They say,) ‘He is teaching what he knows (to us)! He is explaining his message (to us)! (He thinks that we are babies!) (And he thinks that) we have just stopped drinking milk! (He thinks that) we have just come from (our mother’s) breast!

10 (It sounds like,) “Tsaw latsaw tsaw latsaw; qaw laqaw qaw laqaw; zeir sham, zeir sham.” ’

11 So, with foreign lips and a strange language (God) spoke to this people.

12 He said to (this people), ‘This (is your) place to rest. Let the tired (people) rest.’ And (he said), ‘This (is your) place to be quiet in.’ But they would not listen.

13 So then, the LORD’s message will sound to them like, ‘Tsaw latsaw tsaw latsaw, qaw laqaw qaw laqaw, zeir sham, zeir sham.’ So they will go, but they will fall over. (An enemy) will hurt them, and he will catch them in a trap.

14 So, listen to the LORD’s message. (Hear it), you people that laugh in a bad way (at me). And (obey it), you rulers of this people in Jerusalem.

15 What you are really saying (is this). ‘We have made a covenant with death and we have agreed with Sheol. When the waters rise, they cannot touch us. (This is) because we believe in lies. And what is not true will keep us safe.’

16 So the Lord, (who is) LORD, says, ‘Look! It is I who has put a stone in Zion. (People now know) that this is a good stone. (It is) a valuable stone, because (it makes) the corners (of buildings). (It is) a strong stone to build on. The person that believes (in the LORD) will never be sorry.

17 If you do what is right and fair, I may be able to help you. (But if not), the rain of ice will carry away the lies that you believe. And water will pour into your safe place.

18 (I will) stop your covenant with death. What you agree with Sheol will not continue. When the water rises, it will pour over (you). (It will drown) you.

19 Every time that it comes to you, it will carry you away. Certainly, every morning, any day and any night, it might pour over you. And, if you understand the message, then you will be very much afraid.’

20 (You know what people say.) ‘The bed is so short that you cannot lie in it. The blanket is so narrow that you cannot put it round yourself.’

21 But the LORD will do something, like he did at Mount Perazim. He will be very angry, as he was in the Valley of Gibeon. He will do something that is very strange. He will do something that is not usual.

22 So, do not laugh in a bad way (at me). (If you do), your chains will be even heavier. The Lord, the LORD of Everything, told me that (he has) decided to destroy all the land.

23 Listen and hear my voice! Listen (to me). And hear what I am saying!

24 When the farmer ploughs to plant (seeds), he does not plough every day. He does not always break his ground into small pieces.

25 When he has made the ground flat, he plants carraway and cummin. He plants all the different grain seeds in their own places (in his field).

26 His God teaches him and (his God) tells him the right (thing) to do.

27 (Farmers) do not remove carraway (seeds) with a special machine. Nor do they get cummin seeds like this. They hit carraway (seeds) and cummin (seeds) with a stick.

28 (But they do use) a special machine to get (grain) to make bread. But they do not do it for too long. (The farmer) does not drive the wheels of the special machine over (the grain). And his horses do not walk on it.

29 The LORD of Everything causes them to know all this. What he tells them to do is wonderful. And his wisdom is great.

29

A sad song about Ariel

1 (There will be a) very sad (day in) Ariel. Ariel (is) the city that David attacked. Continue to have your usual feasts every year.

2 But I will bring trouble to Ariel. And (Ariel) will not be happy. It will be very sad. And (Ariel) will be my ariel, (my fire place).

3 And I will do (these things): (My army will) attack you. (They will be) in a circle round you. (I will) put an army against you on every side. (I will) build things against you to attack you.

4 Then you will become humble and you will speak from the ground. And, from low in the dirt, what you say will be difficult to hear. And your voice will come from the ground like (the voice of) the spirit of a dead person. And from the dirt, you will speak very quietly.

5 But your enemies will become like many small bits of dirt. And the crowds of cruel (soldiers) will be like dead bits of a plant in the wind. (This is) because, in a moment,

6 the LORD of Everything will visit you! (It will be like) thunder, or when the ground moves. (It will be like) a very loud noise. (It will be like) a very strong wind and a great storm. And (it will be like) a fire that burns up everything.

7 This will happen to all the many countries that attack Ariel. (It will happen to) everyone that fights against it and its strongest building. (It will happen to) all (the soldiers) that are in a circle round it. They will be like a dream that people see in the night!

8 It will be like a hungry man who dreams. (He dreams) that he is eating (something). But, look! He wakes up hungry! Or it will be like a thirsty man. He dreams that he is drinking. But, look! He wakes up and look! He is still weak because he is still thirsty! This will happen to the many (soldiers) from all the countries that fight against the hill called Zion.

9 (This will) hit you (so that you become) like fools. And you will not believe it! You will become blind, so that you cannot see anything! You will become drunks, but not from wine! You will fall over, but not (because you have drunk) beer!

10 (But it is) because the LORD has caused you to go into a deep sleep. He has shut the eyes of your prophets and he has covered the heads of your seers.

11 And all this vision is for you. (It is) the words in a closed book. Give the book to someone that can read. And say (to them), ‘Read this, please.’ But he will answer, ‘I cannot (read it, because) someone shut it.’

12 Or, give the book to someone that cannot read. Say, ‘Read it, please.’ But he will answer, ‘I do not know how to read.’

13 The Lord says, ‘These people pray to me with their mouths. And their lips say that I am important. But their hearts are far from me. And to worship me they use rules that men have made.’‘Their hearts are far from me’ means ‘they are not really thinking about me’.

14 ‘So look! I will surprise these people again. (I will) surprise (them) again and again! (Some) people are able to use what they know rightly. But they will not be able to. The people with good minds will not be able to use them.’

15 (There will be a) very sad (day) for those people who (do these things):· They really try to hide from the LORD what they tell (to the king).· They work in dark places (where nobody can see them).· And they say, ‘Nobody knows us.’· (And they say,) ‘Nobody sees us.’

16 You turn things the wrong way up! You confuse the person who makes pots with the clay! The thing that somebody made cannot say to its maker, ‘You did not make me!’ The pot cannot say to the person who makes pots, ‘You do not know anything!’

17 In a very short time, (the country called) Lebanon will become a garden of fruit trees. And Carmel will be like a forest.

18 At that time, people who were not able to hear will hear someone read words from a book. And people who were not able to see will see. And they will not remain in shadows and in the dark.

19 And the LORD will make humble people happy again. And the poor people will sing songs to the Holy (God) of Israel, because they are so happy.

20 (This is) because cruel people will go. People that laugh in a bad way (at God) will not appear anywhere. And (the LORD) will kill everybody that is preparing to do bad things.

21 These (bad) people (do these things):· They say that a man has done something wrong with (only) a word.· They set a trap for the judge at the city gate.· And they do not let a man who has done nothing wrong get a fair result.

22 So this is what the LORD says to the house of Jacob. (He is the LORD) who saved Abraham. ‘Jacob will not be ashamed again. And his face will never lose colour (because he is afraid).

23 They will see their children, which my hands made, among them. Then they will keep my name holy. They will praise the Holy (God) of Jacob and they will show great love for the God of Israel.

24 Also, people whose minds are confused will understand (things). (Some) people always say that something is wrong. Then, they will be happy to learn (things).’

30

A sad song for those who want to join with Egypt

1 ‘(It is) a very sad (day) for children who do not obey (their father)’, says the LORD. ‘They have decided what to do, but they did not ask me (about it). They have decided to agree (with Egypt), but without my Spirit’s (help). They have done more and more sins as a result.

2 They hurry to go down to Egypt. But they do not ask me what to do. They ask for Pharaoh’s help to make them safe. And they look for the shadow of Egypt to cover them.

3 But Pharaoh’s help will make you ashamed. And you will not receive help in Egypt’s shadow.

4 Their leaders have arrived in Zoan and their people with authority have gone to Hanes.Zoan and Hanes are two places in Egypt.

5 Everyone will be ashamed because the people (in Egypt) will not be able to help them. They will not bring any help to you. (They will) not really (bring to you) any help. (They will) only (make you) very much more ashamed.’

6 (These are) sad (words) about the animals (that go through) the Negev. It is a place where there is trouble and danger. (These wild animals live) there:· lionesses and lions that roar· snakes and dangerous snakes that fly.(Here the leaders of Judah) carry their valuable things on the backs of horses. And they carry their very valuable things on the backs of other animals. They do this on behalf of people that cannot help them!

7 Egypt has no value. They will not send any help. So, I call (Egypt) ‘Rahab’ or ‘She shouts while she does not move’.

8 Now go! Write it down on a piece of stone for them. Also, write it in a book. Then, in future days, it will always be there to read.

9 These (people) are people that do not obey (the LORD). They are his children and they disappoint (him). They are children that do not want to listen to the LORD’s words.

10 They say to the seers, ‘Do not see anything!’ And (they say) to the prophets, ‘Do not tell us what is the right (thing to do). Tell us nice things. Say what is not true!

11 Leave this path. Get off this road. Do not hold the Holy (God) of Israel in front of us.’

12 So, this is what the Holy (God) of Israel says. You have not listened when my word told you about the danger. And you thought that it was right to be cruel to people. And you have believed in lies.

13 So this will happen. This sin will be for you like a high wall that is not safe. It will bend over, and in a moment, it will fall down.

14 He (the LORD) will break it into pieces as (easily as someone breaks) a piece of pot. He will destroy it, and he will not feel kind about it. There will not be a (big) piece (of pot) among the bits. It cannot lift a stick that is burning from a fire. It cannot bring water from a pool.

15 Now this is what the Lord said, the LORD (who is) the Holy (God) of Israel: ‘You will be safe if you return (from Egypt) and rest. Be quiet and believe (in God). Then you will be strong. But you would not (listen).’

16 But you said, ‘No! We will run away on horses.’ So you will run away. (You said) ‘We will ride away very quickly.’ So the people that run after you will move quickly.

17 A thousand (1000) (of you will run away) from only one enemy. You will (all) run away from 5 of them! They will leave you like a sign on the top of the mountain, or like a flag on a hill. God is kind and fair

18 So the LORD will wait (before) he is kind to you. So, also, (one day) he will start to show you his great love (for you). (It is) because the LORD is a fair God. He will make everyone that waits for him very happy.

19 Yes! You people of Zion that live in Jerusalem, you will not weep again. (The LORD) will be very kind to you when you shout for help. When he hears you, he will answer you.

20 (In the past) the Lord has given you trouble as your bread and he has given you pain as your water. But then your Teacher will not hide himself from you. You will see him with your own eyes.

21 And your ears will hear a word near you, but behind you. When you turn to the right or to the left it will say, ‘This is the way. Walk in it.’

22 And you will not use your idols. You cut them from wood with a knife. Then you covered them with silver. You will not use your idols that you made from metal. You covered them with gold. You will throw them away like dirty things. You will say to them, ‘Go!’

23 He (the LORD) will send rain for your seeds that you plant in the ground. And plenty of good food will come from the ground. In that day your cows will eat (grass) in wide fields.

24 And the cows and the horses that work (on) the ground will eat the best food for animals. (Farmers) will use a big farm fork and a spade to give it to them.

25 And on every tall mountain and on every high hill, water will pour down in streams. (This will happen) on the day when high buildings fall. And many people will die.

26 Also, the moon will shine as bright as the sun. And the light of the sun will be 7 times brighter. It will be like the light of 7 days (at the same time)! This will happen when the LORD puts soft cloths on his people. He will put the cloths where (the LORD) hit them hard. And he will make them better where he hurt them.

27 Look! The LORD himself is coming from far away. There is fire in his nose and smoke like thick clouds (are all round him). His lips show that he is angry. His tongue eats things like a fire (burns them).

28 From his mouth (comes something) that is like a lot of water. It will reach up to (someone’s) neck. He moves (many) countries to make them separate and to destroy them. And he (will be like a man who) puts a bit in (horses’) mouths, to lead them away.

29 And you, (my people,) will sing! It will be like the night when there is a big party for everyone in your church. You will feel very happy inside you! It will be like when people go up to the LORD’s (temple). There will be music. (Another name for the LORD) is the Rock of Israel.

30 Then the LORD will cause people to hear his voice. (It will be) like the voice of a great king! He will cause (people) to see his arm when it comes down (to hit them). He will cause people to know that he is very, very angry. (He will be like) a fire that burns everything. (He will be like) a cloud that drops (much rain). (He will be like) a storm that makes a lot of noise. (He will drop like) bits of ice.

31 The voice of the LORD will completely destroy Assyria. He will knock them down with his stick to show to everybody that he is a king.

32 He will hit them with his stick. He will use his stick to punish them. It will sound like the music of harps and tambourines while the LORD fights them in a war. (He will use) his arms to hit them.

33 (The LORD) has already made (the fire called) Topheth ready. He prepared it for the king (of Assyria). The hole in the ground for the fire is deep and wide. There is plenty of wood for the fire. The air from the LORD’s mouth will light the fire. (The air) is like a stream of sulphur that is on fire.

31

God’s help is better than help from Egypt

1 (It will be) a sad (day) for those people that go down to Egypt. They want help and horses (from Egypt). They think that chariots will help them. (This is) because there are very many (chariots in Egypt). And (they hope for help from) men that ride on horses. (This is) because these (men) are very strong. And they do not ask the Holy (God) of Israel for help. And they do not ask LORD to tell them what to do.

2 But (the LORD) knows the best thing to do. Also, he can kill people. He does not change what he says. And he will do something against the people that do bad things. (And he will do something against) those people that help people to do bad things.

3 The men in Egypt are (only) men. They are not God. Their horses are animals, not spirits. When the LORD puts out his hand, the helper will fall down. And the person that he helps will fall down too. They will all come to an end together.

4 This is what the LORD said to me. ‘The LORD of Everything will come down to fight on the mountain of Zion and on its hill. He will make a noise like a lion or a young lion. It makes noises over what it has caught. He will not be afraid of the group of sheep farmers when they come out against (the lion).’Verse 4 When he says ‘sheep farmers’ here, he means the leaders of Israel.

5 The LORD of Everything will make Jerusalem safe. He will fly round it like a bird. He will make it safe, and he will make it free. He will pass over it and he will save it.Verse 5 ‘pass over’. Isaiah uses the words of an important time for his people: the Passover.At Passover, the Jews remember one night when they were slaves in Egypt. God caused the people in Egypt to make the Jews free. (See Exodus chapter 12.)

6 People of Israel, turn (back) to him. You have caused him to feel very sick and ill.

7 (Turn back to him) because in that day everyone must throw away their gold and silver idols. Your hands made them for you, which was wrong.

8 A sword will kill the man from Assyria. A man will not do it. And a sword, that is not held by a man, will kill him. And (he) will run from the sword. And it will cause his young men always to do difficult work.Some Bible students think that ‘the man from Assyria’ means the army from Assyria.

9 ‘The (king of Assyria), (who is like) their rock, will run away. (He will run away) because he is so afraid. And his (army) leaders will run away because they are all afraid of the war flag.’ This is what the LORD says. His fire is in Zion and his ariel is in Jerusalem.

32

God promises that his people will have a good king

1 A king will be a good judge. And leaders will be fair judges. Think about those things.Some Bible students think that the words in verse 1 mean, ‘A king should be a good judge and leaders should be fair judges.’

2 Then each (ruler) will be like a place to hide from the wind. And he will be like someone who covers us from the storm. (He will be) like streams of water in a dry place. And he will be like the shadow of a big rock in very dry land.3-4 Now think (about these things):· The eyes of people that see will never shut.· And the ears of people that hear will really listen.· And people who are too quick to speak will wait to understand.· And the tongues of people that speak with difficulty (now) will speak clearly (then).

5 Then they will not again call a fool clever. They will not say that a cheat is honest.

6 What a fool says is silly and his mind thinks about bad (things):· He does things that do not obey God’s rules.· He says wrong things about the LORD.· He does not give food to hungry people.· And he does not give thirsty people a drink.

7 The things that a cheat does are bad. They cause people to believe what is not true. Also, his ideas are bad. (He decides) to hurt poor people. What he says about them is not true. And he gives false reasons, even when (the poor) people speak the truth. (They are people) who need (help).

8 But a good person wants (to do) good things. Also, he does the good things that he promised to do. An enemy (Assyria) will attack you before your good king comes

9 You women that have no problems, get ready. Listen to my voice. You ladies that feel so safe, hear my words (to you).

10 In less than a year, you (women) that feel so safe will worry. (You will worry) because the grape harvest will fail. The harvest of fruit will not happen.

11 Shake, you women that have no problems. Be afraid, (you ladies) that feel so safe. Take off (your clothes) so that you are wearing nothing. Then put a cloth about the tops of your legs.

12 Hit your breasts for these (reasons). (There are no) good fields. The vine has no fruit.Verses 9-12 We think that ‘women’ and ‘ladies’ here is like a picture of towns and cities.

13 The ground where our people work gives (only) thorns (and) briars. Also, (this is) because (there are no) happy homes in the happy city.

14 It is a fact that (the king) will go from his beautiful house. The city where many people live will be empty. The hill (in Jerusalem) and the tall building, where people watch (for enemies), will always be homes for animals. (They will be) a happy place for wild horses (to live in), and fields where groups (of animals feed).

15 (This will happen) until (God) pours his Spirit on us from above (the earth). Then, the wild places will become gardens and the gardens will become forests.

16 Then (people) will decide fairly in the wild places. And (they will say) good things in the fields that contain plenty of fruit.

17 And when people do good things, there will be no war. When people do good things there will be a quiet and safe life. It will continue for a long time.

18 My people will live in a place where there is no war. Their homes will be safe and they will sleep without pain.19-20 Ice may knock down the trees in the forest. But, even then, people who plant seeds by the stream will be happy. (Even if a storm) completely destroys the city, they will let their cows and horses go to the fields freely.

33

Another sad song

1 It will be very sad for you, the country that destroys (other countries). But no (other country) has destroyed you, yet. (It will be sad for) you, the country that is not honest (with other countries). But no (other country) has not been honest with you yet. When you stop destroying (other countries, one of them) will destroy you. When you stop not being honest (with other countries,) they will not be honest with you.

2 LORD, be kind to us. We look to you for help. Make us strong every day. Save us when trouble happens.

3 At the sound of a voice, people run away. When you go to war, (the people in other) countries run away.

4 People get things together (after a war), as a locust gets (food). As locusts rush (to their food), so people rush (to those things).

5 The LORD is more important (than anyone else). He lives high above (the earth). He will fill Zion with fair answers to questions. And (everybody will do) what is right.

6 He will make your lives safe and you will keep your money. Here are the valuable things that he gives (to you):· You will have the right answers for questions.· You will know everything (that you need to know).· You will be (properly) afraid of the LORD.

7 Look! The brave men (from Jerusalem) weep in the streets. Officers went (to Assyria). They asked for the war to stop. Now they cry very sad tears.

8 The important roads are empty and nobody travels on the smaller roads. (The enemy) stopped the covenant. He does not like the cities and he does not love anyone.

9 The land itself is very sad and it is becoming dry. Lebanon is ashamed and it is dying. Sharon is like a sandy place and the leaves in Bashan and Carmel are dying.

10 The LORD says, ‘Now will I stand up. Now I will lift myself up. Now I will raise myself up.

11 You make dry grass and you call it straw. Your own breath will destroy you as fire (burns up that dry grass).

12 (It) will burn the bones of people to make lime. They will burn as easily as thorn bushes, (when people) cut them down.

13 You people (that are) far away, listen. Listen to what I have done! And you people (that are) near, understand. Understand that I am very powerful.’

14 The sinners (that live) in Zion are afraid. (Some) people are not clean (as God sees them). (They are also) afraid. (They ask this.) ‘Which of us can live with a fire that burns everything? Which of us can live with a fire that will never stop burning?’

15 (The answer is) the person that (is like this):· He is very good and he speaks what is right.· He gets nothing when he is cruel to people.· His hands will not accept money to do wrong things.· He closes his ears against ideas to kill (people).· And he shuts his eyes, so that he does not think about bad (things).

16 (That person) will be the person that lives on high places. That person’s safe place will be in the rocks. People like that will always have food and their drink will not stop.

17 Your eyes will see that the king is beautiful. (Your eyes) will see a country that reaches to far away.

18 Your mind will think about when were afraid. (You will say,) ‘The (enemy) officer who counted (things) has gone! (The man who) weighed (everything) has gone! (The man who) counted high buildings has gone!’

19 You will never see those cruel people again. They speak words that are difficult to understand. Their language is strange. It is difficult to understand it.

20 Look at Zion. It is the city where we have our parties. Your eyes will see Jerusalem. It is a place where there is no war. It is (like) a tent that people will never remove. They will never pull up its pegs. They will never break any of its ropes.

21 It is there (in Jerusalem) that the LORD will be our powerful (God). It will be (like) a place with wide rivers and streams. No boat that men push along will go on them. No great ship will sail on them.

22 The LORD is our judge. The LORD gives us our rules. The LORD is our king. It is (the LORD) that will make us safe.

23 The ropes on your ship hang down. The wood that they hang from is not safe. They have not put the sail up. Then people will have the many things (that they took from their enemies). And even people who cannot walk well will carry away something!

24 Nobody that lives in Zion will say, ‘I am ill.’ And (God will not) punish people that live there again. About Isaiah chapters 34 and 35 These chapters are a poem at the ‘heart’ of Isaiah’s book. In English, the heart is where you feel sad or happy. Isaiah thought that these chapters were very important. So these chapters are at an important place in Isaiah’s book.Isaiah 34:1-15 is a bad dream; in it, God punishes Edom.Isaiah 35:1-10 is a good dream; in it, God gives his people gifts.

34

God punishes the people in Edom

1 Come near (to me), you (people in all) countries, and listen (to me). (All) you people, think about what I am saying to you. Hear (me, all) the earth, and everything that is in it. (Listen, all the) world, and all that comes from it.

2 Yes! The LORD is (right to be) angry against every country. And (he is right to be) very angry against all their armies. (The LORD) will destroy them. He will send them to their deaths.

3 Nobody will bury the dead bodies. The dead bodies will fill the air with a very bad smell. Their blood will go down into the mountains.

4 And every army in the skies will be like water. And the skies will close up like a book. And all their armies will fall like leaves that fall from a vine. (They will fall) like the fruit called figs from a fig tree.

5 When my sword has done its work in the skies, it will come down on Edom. (It will fall) on the people that I have decided to kill.

6 The LORD (is right) to use a sword! (He will) put it into blood. (He will) cover it with meat. It is the blood of young sheep and goats. It is the meat from inside male sheep. Yes! The LORD (is right) to make a sacrifice in Bozrah. He will kill many people in the country called Edom.Bozrah was an important town in Edom, to the east of Judah.

7 And wild cows will fall with them. Young male cows (will die) with old cows. Blood will go into their land. Meat will go into their earth.

8 Look! The LORD (is right) to have a day when he will punish (people). It will be a year when (the LORD) helps Zion. (It will be a year) when he punishes (Zion’s enemies).

9 The streams in sandy places (in Edom) will turn into pitch. Its ground will turn into sulphur that is burning. Its land will become pitch that is on fire.

10 Nobody will put out (the fire) in the day or in the night. Smoke from (the fire) will rise up for a long time. (The land) will be empty from one century to the next century. Nobody will ever pass through it again.

11 But (these owls) will be in it: the sandy owl, the owl that screams and the great owl. And the large black bird called a raven will build its home there. And (the LORD) will hold over it a line that measures. (It will make it) without shape. (He will hold over it) a special line (that will make it) empty.

12 (Edom’s) leaders will have nothing there that they can call a kingdom. And all its officers will vanish.

13 And thorn bushes will cover its beautiful houses. Weeds and briars (will cover) its castles. The country will be a home for jackals. And ostriches will live in it.

14 Wild animals and hyenas will come together. And wild goats will make a noise to each other. Also, the bad female spirit called Lilith will rest there. And she will find for herself a place in which to stay.

15 The owl will build a home there. And she will keep her eggs there until they become baby birds. And she will keep them safe under the shadow (of her wings). Vultures will meet there too. Each has her mate.

16 Look in the LORD’s book and read this! ‘Not one of them will not be there. Not one of them will be without her mate. (This is) because (the LORD’s) mouth said that it must happen. And his breath will bring them together.

17 He (the LORD) will give their places (to them). And his hand will give (these things) to them with the line that measures. They will have (that country) always. They will live in it from one century to the next century.’

35

God gives gifts to his people

1 The sandy place and the dry land will be happy. The wild places will feel happy and (flowers) will grow there.

2 Flowers will appear quickly on the (plant that is called) crocus. (The land) will be very happy. It will be so happy that it will shout (aloud)! It will be as beautiful as Lebanon. (It will) seem like places in Carmel and Sharon. (These places) will see that the LORD is very great. (They will see) that our God is very, very good.

3 Make (your) weak hands strong. Make the knees that will not hold (you) up strong.

4 Say to the people who are very much afraid, ‘Be strong! Do not be afraid! Your God will come. He will come to punish (his enemies). He will punish them fairly. He will come and he will save you.’

5 Then (the LORD will) open the eyes of people that are not able to see. And he will clear the ears of people that are not able to hear.

6 Then people that cannot walk will jump like deer. And people that cannot speak will shout. (This is) because they are so happy. Yes! (God) will pour water into the wild, dry places. And (he will) pour streams (of water) into the sandy places.

7 Then the hot sand will become a pool (of water). And water will come up from the ground that is very dry. In the places where jackals had lived, reeds and plants like that will grow instead of grass.

8 And there will be a high road there, a way. Its name will be ‘The Holy Way’. People that are not clean will not go on it. It will be for those (people) that walk in the Way. Fools who are very bad people will not walk on it.

9 No lions will be there. No dangerous wild animals will walk on it. Nobody will find those (animals) there. Only people (that the LORD has) bought back (from death) will walk there.

10 And the people that the LORD has bought back (from death) will return. And they will sing while they go into Zion. And they will never stop enjoying themselves. It will show on their faces. Everywhere that they go they will be very, very happy.

36

Assyria’s army arrives in Judah

1 King Hezekiah had ruled (Judah) for nearly 14 years. Then, King Sennacherib of Assyria attacked all the cities in Judah that had high, strong walls. He beat them and they became his.

2 And the king of Assyria sent the leader of his soldiers from Lachish. (He came) to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. This leader had a large army with him. He stopped at the water stream (that went) from the higher pool. It was on the road, near the place where people wash clothes.

3 And these people came out to (meet) him:· Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah. (He was) the most important (servant) in the (king’s) beautiful house.· Shebna, the leader of the government.· Joah, the son of Asaph. He was (the king’s) writer.4-5 And the (soldiers') leader said to these men, ‘Now (please) say (this) to Hezekiah. This is what the Great King, the king of Assyria, says (to you):· “You should not believe (that God will help you)!· Words alone cannot tell you what to do!· And they cannot give you the power (that you need) for war!· I do not know anyone who will help you to fight against me!

6 Look, (I know that) you are hoping for help from Egypt. (Egypt is like) a stick that people use. It helps them to walk. But it will break! If you push on it, it will go into your hand, like a sharp piece of reed. That is what will happen to anybody that hopes for help from Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.

7 But you might say to me, ‘We are hoping that the LORD our God will help us.’ (Then I will answer this.) He is the (God) whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed! (Hezekiah) said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You must worship (God) only at this (one) altar.’ ”

8 And now’, (said Rav Shakeh, the leader,) ‘agree today with my master, (who is) the king of Assyria. And I will give you 2000 horses, if you can put (2000) riders on them!

9 You cannot refuse (what I offer. I am) the least important of my master’s officers. But you are (still) hoping that Egypt will send chariots and riders on horses.

10 And (there is) something else. Surely I would not attack and destroy this country without help from the LORD! The LORD told me, “March against this country and destroy it.” ’

11 Then Eliakim, Shebna and Joah spoke to Rav Shakeh. (They said,) ‘Please, speak to your servants in (our) Aramaic language, because we do understand it. Do not speak to us in Hebrew, or the people on the (city) wall may hear (you).’

12 But Rav Shakeh said, ‘My master did not send me to say these things only to you and to your master. Also, he sent me to say them to the people that are sitting on the (city) wall. Like you, they will have to eat the material that their own body wastes. And they will have to drink the water that their own body wastes.’

13 Then Rav Shakeh stood up. He shouted in a loud voice in Hebrew. ‘Hear the words of the king. (They are what) the Great King of Assyria (is telling you).

14 This is what the king (of Assyria) says (to you). “Do not let Hezekiah tell you what is not true. Hezekiah cannot save you.

15 And do not let Hezekiah cause you to agree with him. (He wants you) to believe in the LORD. He tells you that the LORD really will make you free (from Assyria). (He says that the LORD) will not give this city to the king of Assyria.

16 Do not hear (and obey) Hezekiah!” This is what the king of Assyria says (to you). “Do not have a war with me. Come out (of your city) to me. Then you will all eat (the grapes) from your own vines and (the figs) from your own fig trees. And you will all drink the water from your own wells.

17 (Do this) until I come (to you). Then I will take you away to a country like your own country. (It is) a country where grain and new wine grow. (It is) a country (where they make) bread. And (it is a country) where vineyards grow.

18 Do not (hear and obey) Hezekiah. He will (be like a man who) leads you the wrong (way). He says that the LORD will save you. No other country’s god has saved his people from the power of the king of Assyria.

19 The gods of (the cities called) Hamath and Arpad (could not help them). The gods of (the city called) Sepharvaim (could not help them). None (of these gods) saved Samaria.

20 None of these gods has saved his own country from my power. Can the LORD save Jerusalem from my power?” ’

21 But the people were quiet and they did not answer him one word. (They did this) because King (Hezekiah) had said, ‘Do not answer him.’

22 Then (these people) came to Hezekiah:· Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah. (He was) the most important (servant) in the (king’s) beautiful house.· Shebna, the leader of the government.· Joah, the son of Asaph. He was (the king’s) writer.They tore their clothes. And they told the king all the words that Rav Shakeh (had said).

37

Hezekiah sends a message to Isaiah

1 When King Hezekiah heard (the report of his servants), he tore his clothes. Then he put on cheap hairy cloth and he went into the temple. (It was the temple) of the LORD (in Jerusalem).

2 And he sent Eliakim and Shebna and the leaders of the priests to Isaiah the prophet. (Isaiah) was the son of Amoz. (Eliakim was) the most important servant in the (king’s) house. (Shebna was) the leader of the (king’s) government. And (Eliakim, Shebna and the priests) all wore cheap hairy clothes.

3 And they told (Isaiah), ‘This is what Hezekiah says. “There are many problems at this time. And (Rav Shakeh’s) words make me ashamed. (The problems) are like a child that is ready to be born. But (its mother) is not strong enough for it to be born.

4 Perhaps the LORD, (who is) your God, will do something about the words of Rav Shakeh. Rav Shakeh’s master is the king of Assyria. (The king) sent (Rav Shakeh) to laugh in a bad way at the God who is really alive. Maybe the LORD your God will tell (Rav Shakeh) that his words were wrong. (God) has heard them. So, pray for the people that remain (in Jerusalem).” ’

5 So Hezekiah’s servants came to Isaiah.

6 Isaiah said to them, ‘Tell your master that the LORD says this. “Do not be afraid of the words that you have heard. The servants of the king of Assyria are not important. They have said very bad things about me.

7 Listen (to me)! I will put a spirit into (the king of Assyria). Then, he will hear a certain report. When (he hears it), he will return to his own country. And there, I will cause (someone) to kill him with a sword.” ’

8 Then, Rav Shakeh heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish (city). So (Rav Shakeh) left Jerusalem and he found the king (of Assyria). The king was fighting against Libnah (city).

9 Now (the king of Assyria) heard (this report) about Tirhakah. (Tirhakah) was the king of Ethiopia. (The report) said, ‘He has come out (from Ethiopia) to fight against you.’ And when (the king of Assyria) heard this, he sent people (to Jerusalem) with a message. They had this message for (King) Hezekiah.

10 ‘Say this to King Hezekiah of Judah. Say, “You are hoping that your God will help you. But do not let him tell you what is not true. (Your God) says that the king of Assyria will not destroy Jerusalem.

11 But you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the (other) countries. They destroyed them completely. And (your God) will not save you.

12 The gods of (these other) countries did not save them. My ancestors destroyed Gozan and Haran, Rezeph and the people of Eden (that lived) in Tel Assar.

13 The kings of Hamath and Arpad have gone. The king of the city called Sepharvaim has gone. And the kings of Hena and Ivvah have gone.” ’

14 And Hezekiah received the letter from the people that brought the message. And he read it and then he went up to the temple of the LORD. He opened the letter in front of the LORD.

15 And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD. He said,

16LORD of Everything, (you are) the God of Israel. You sit on a seat between the very important angels. Only you are the God of all the countries in the world. You have made the skies and the earth.

17 LORD, turn your ears to me and hear (me). LORD, open your eyes and look (at this letter). Listen to all the words of Sennacherib. He sent them to laugh in a bad way at the God who really is alive.

18 It is true, LORD, that the kings of Assyria have made empty places from many countries and their land.

19 They threw their gods into the fire. They destroyed them because they were not really gods. Human hands made them from wood and stone.

20 So now, our LORD and our God, save us from the power of (the king of Assyria)! Then all the (people in all the) kingdoms in the world will know that only you are the LORD.’ God answers Hezekiah

21 Then Isaiah, (who was) the son of Amoz, sent a message to Hezekiah. ‘This is what the LORD, (who is) the God of Israel, says. “You have prayed to me about Sennacherib, (who is) the king of Assyria.” So,

22 this is what the LORD says about him.“(The) Virgin Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem),she does not like you; she laughs at you.(The) Daughter of Jerusalem,she moves her head about after you.

23 Who is it about whom you have said bad things? They were not true!Who is it that you have shouted at?Who is it that you have looked at proudly?(The answer is) the Holy (God) of Israel!

24 You have used your servants to say bad things about the Lord.You have said, ‘With many of my chariotsI have gone up very high mountains,the highest (mountains) in Lebanon.I have cut its tallest cedars downand I have cut down the best of its pine trees.I went to its highest places and to its best forests.

25 I dug wells and I drank (the) water (from them).I made all the rivers in Egypt dry with the parts under my feet.’

26 Surely, you have heard (this)!I decided what to do a long time ago!I decided what to do in past (years)!Now it has happened.You have caused strong cities to become mountains of stones.

27 The people in them are not strong.They are not happy. And they are confused.They are like plants in a field.(They are like) the new parts of young green plants.(They are like) grass on the roof (of a house).(The hot winds burn them) before they can grow.

28 I know (everything about you).(I know) when you sit down.And (I know) when you go out.And (I know) when you come in.And (I know) when you shout proudly at me.

29 You have shouted proudly at meand you have said bad things about me.So I will put my hook (a bent piece of metal) in your nose.And I will put my bit in your mouth.And I will cause you to return home by the same way that you came.”

30 And this will be a sign for you, (Hezekiah).“This year, you will eat what grows from its own (seeds).And in the second year, (you will eat) what grows from (the first year’s seeds).But in the third year you will plant (seeds) and you will pick (plants for food).And you will plant again the vineyards and you will enjoy their fruit.

31 And this will happen also to the people that remain in Judah.(Like plants), they will put roots down below (the ground) and they will grow fruit above (it).

32 (This will happen) because a remnant will come out from Jerusalem.And the people that remain will come out from the hill (called) Zion.The great love that the LORD of Everything has (for his people) will cause this to happen!”

33 This is what the LORD says about the king of Assyria.“He will not come into this city,and he will not shoot an arrow here.He will not stand in front of it with a shield.He will not build mountains of earth against it.

34 He will return (to Assyria) by the way that he came,and he will not come into this city.”(This is) the promise of the LORD.

35 “So I will make this city safe and I will save it.(I will do this to keep) my good name.I promised my servant David (that I would do it). (That is why I will do it.)” ’ God destroys Assyria’s army

36 Then an angel of the LORD went and he killed 185 000 men in the (army) from Assyria. When people got up in the morning, they saw all these dead bodies!

37 So Sennacherib, (who was) the king of Assyria, took his army away. He returned to (Assyria) and he stayed there in Nineveh.

38 He was worshipping his god Nisroch in the house (of Nisroch). (Two of) his sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer, killed him with (their) swords. Then, they ran away into the country called Ararat. (So) Esarhaddon, (who was another of) his sons, ruled instead of (Sennacherib).Verse 38 This happened about 20 years after verse 37 happened. PART 4: Chapters 38-55 God’s Servant saves God’s people Hezekiah’s mistake and God’s promises (chapters 38-40)

38

Hezekiah becomes ill

1 At that time, Hezekiah was very ill. He nearly died. And Isaiah the prophet, (who was) the son of Amoz, went to (Hezekiah). And (Isaiah) said to (Hezekiah), ‘This is what the LORD says. “Make everything ready for your son, because you will die. You will not get better.” ’

2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and he prayed to the LORD.

3 And he said, ‘Please remember, LORD, that I have been your good servant. (I have) always obeyed to you. I have worked for you with all my power. You have seen that I did good things.’ And Hezekiah wept sad tears.

4 Then the LORD told Isaiah (again what) to say.

5 ‘Go and say this to Hezekiah. “This is what the LORD says. (The LORD) is the God of your ancestor David. I have heard what you prayed. I have seen your tears. So, I will let you be alive for 15 more years.

6 I will save you from the power of the king of Assyria. Also, I will keep this city safe, this city (Jerusalem).” ’

7 And (Isaiah said), ‘This is a message to you from the LORD. (It is a message) that the LORD will do what he has promised (to do).

8 You can see the shadow of the sun when it falls on the stairs. (They are the stairs) that (King) Ahaz built. I will cause the shadow to go back ten steps (on these stairs).’ And the shadow did go back ten steps!

9 (This is) a poem that Hezekiah the king of Judah wrote. He wrote it after he got better from his illness.

10 I said, ‘I hope that I will not really go through the gates of Sheol during the best days of my life. I hope that (death) will not take from me my other years.’

11 I said, ‘I will not see the LORD (again). (I will not) live on this earth and (see) the LORD. I will never see these people (again). I will never be with the people that are living in this world.

12 (The LORD) has knocked down my house and he has taken it from me. (He did it) as (easily as someone packs away) the tent of a sheep farmer. (He has) caused my life to come to an end. It is like when someone finishes making a carpet. He rolls it up. It is like when someone has made some cloth. He cuts it away from the machine that he uses to make the cloth. (In a) day and (in a) night God brought me to my end.

13 I waited quietly until the dawn. Then, like a lion (does), (God) broke all my bones. (In a) day and (in a) night God brought me to my end.

14 I cried like a small bird, (perhaps) a thrush. I made a sad noise like a dove makes. My eyes became weak (while I looked) to the skies. Lord, save me from my trouble!

15 I do not know what I can say. (The LORD) has spoken to me and (the LORD) has done (all this to me). I will live quietly, because I felt so sad (inside me).

16 Lord, by these things, (people) have life. By all these things, my spirit has life. You gave me back my health and you have let me live.

17 Really, it was good for me to have such trouble. Your love did not let the Pit kill me, because you threw all my sins behind your back.

18 (People that are in) Sheol cannot thank you. Dead (people) cannot sing and praise you. People that go down to the Pit cannot enjoy your love.

19 People that are alive and not dead can thank you. I am doing it today. A father tells his children about your love.

20 The LORD will save me (from death). Then we will sing in the temple of the LORD every day of our lives. (We will sing with the music of) stringed instruments.’

21 Now Isaiah said (this earlier). ‘Make a hot cake of figs and put it on the bad place on (Hezekiah’s) skin. Then he will get better.’

22 And Hezekiah had asked, ‘What will show me that I will be able to go up to the temple of the LORD?’

39

Hezekiah’s mistake

1 When this happened, Merodach-Baladan was the king of Babylon. He was the son of Baladan. (Merodach-Baladan) sent Hezekiah letters and a gift. He had heard that (Hezekiah) was ill. But (now he heard) that Hezekiah was better.

2 Hezekiah was happy to meet the officers that (the king of Babylon) had sent. (Hezekiah) showed to them the places where he stored (his valuable things). He showed them what was there. (He showed them) silver and gold, spices and very good oil. (He showed them) all his arms and everything else that was valuable. There was nothing in his beautiful house or in his whole country that Hezekiah did not show them.

3 Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and (Isaiah) said to him, ‘What did these men say? And from where did they come to you?’ Then Hezekiah said, ‘They came to me from the far country called Babylon.’

4 And (Isaiah) asked, ‘What did they see in your house?’ So Hezekiah said, ‘They saw everything (that is) in my house. There is nothing among my valuable things that I did not show to them.’

5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, ‘Hear what the LORD of Everything says to you.

6 “This is what will certainly happen. (Soldiers from Babylon) will take everything (that is) in your beautiful house to Babylon. They will take everything that your ancestors have stored here until now. They will leave nothing (here)”, says the LORD.

7 “And some of your own sons, your grandsons (and their sons, too), will go to Babylon. (Soldiers from Babylon) will cause them to go there. And they will become eunuchs in the beautiful house of the king of Babylon.” ’

8 And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ‘The words that you said from the LORD are good.’ But what he really thought was, ‘There will be no war. And it will be safe while I am alive.’

40

God’s promises

1 ‘Say kind words to my people. Say kind words (to them)’, says your God.

2 ‘Speak to the minds of the people in Jerusalem and tell this to them:· (Your) life as soldiers in a war has finished.· (God has) excused (your) sins.· And the LORD’s hand has punished you twice for all (your) sins.’

3 A voice is shouting, ‘Prepare a road for the LORD in the sandy places. Make a straight road on higher ground for our God in the Arabah.

4 (God’s servants will) raise up (the lower parts of) every valley. And (they will) make every mountain and hill lower. The ground that nobody has dug will become like a garden. And (they will make) the hilly places flat.

5 Then, (people will) see the glory of the LORD. Everybody that lives on the earth will see it together. These are words that the LORD himself has spoken.’

6 A voice is saying, ‘Shout (something) aloud!’ But I say, ‘What shall I shout?’ (The voice answered), ‘Everybody is like grass and all their glory is like a flower in the field.

7 Grass will die and a flower will fall (to the ground). (This will happen) because the LORD’s breath will blow on them. Surely, everybody (is like) grass.

8 Grass will die and a flower will fall (to the ground). But a word that our God (speaks) will be true for all time.

9 You, (the servant that is) bringing good news to Zion, go up on to a high mountain. You, (the servant that is) bringing good news to Jerusalem, shout loudly with your voice. (Shout) aloud, and do not be afraid. Say to the towns in Judah, “Here is your God!”

10 Look! Your master, the LORD, is coming with power. And his arm will rule (the people) for him. Look (again)! He (is bringing) his gifts with him. And he will pay something (to his people).’Verse 10 ‘his arm will rule’ may mean ‘he will rule by his power’. But ‘the arm of the LORD’ means something special in Isaiah’s book. See Isaiah 53:1. Many Bible students say that it is a special name for Christ.

11 ‘He will love his sheep like a shepherd does. He will carry the young sheep in his arms. And he will hold them near to his heart. He will carefully lead (the sheep) that have young (sheep).’A shepherd is a sheep farmer. He is a like a picture of somebody that is careful for his people. God often sees his people as sheep that need a shepherd.

12 (He is the God) who has (done these things):· (He) measured (all) the waters (in the sea) in (one of) his hand(s).· (He saw that) the skies were as wide as (one of) his hands.· (He) put (all) the dirt of the earth into a bucket.· (He) weighed the mountains on the scales.· (He weighed) the hills in a balance.13-14 (There is nobody) who has (done these things).· (Nobody) understood the mind of the LORD.· (Nobody,) as his helper, told him what to do.· (Nobody) told (God) what to do when the LORD asked him.· (Nobody) taught him the proper way to do things.· (Nobody) taught him what things to know about.· (Nobody) showed him the way to understand things.

15 Surely, the countries are like a small quantity (of water) in a bucket. They are like a small bits of dirt on the scales. (The LORD) weighs the islands like small bits of dirt.

16 (A tree from) Lebanon is not enough to make a fire for his altar. Neither are its animals enough to burn on the altars (to make God happy).

17 All the countries in the world are like nothing in front of (the LORD). He thinks about them like they had no value. (They seem) less than nothing.

18 You cannot find anyone else that is like God. You cannot say that he is like any false god.

19 An able man makes a false god. An able worker covers it with gold. He also makes something from silver for it.

20 Some people are too poor to give a gift like that. They choose a wood that will not soon fall into pieces. They will look for an able man that will make a false god (from the wood). (But that false god) cannot move.

21 (Think about the things in verses 22-24.)· You should know (these things).· You should have heard (these things).· (Somebody) should have told (them) to you from the beginning.· You should have understood (them) since (God) made the earth.

22 (God) sits on a special seat where the earth and the sky meet. And the people (on the earth seem) like small insects (to him). He hangs out the skies like a curtain. And he makes them like a tent (that he can) live in.

23 He is the (God) that makes kings into nothing. He takes away (the power) from world leaders, so that they have none.

24 (Those leaders are like plants.) As soon as (somebody) plants them, (God) will blow on them. And as soon as (somebody) puts them into the ground, they will die. As soon as they put roots down, a strong wind will blow them away like dead plants.

25 The Holy (God) says (these things):· ‘You cannot say that I am like anybody.· Nobody is as good as (or better than) I am.’

26 Turn your eyes up and look at the skies. (He is the God) who created them. (God) made the very large number (of stars) and he gave each one of them a name. He did not forget to give a name to any of them, because of (his) great power. (God) is very, very strong.

27 You people of Jacob (Jewish people) say, ‘The LORD has forgotten what I am doing.’ And you people of Israel say, ‘My God is not fair to me.’ But you should not say those things.

28 You surely know this. You surely have listened to it! The LORD is the God that will always be alive. He is the Creator of (even) the parts of the earth that are very far away. He will never become tired or lose his strength. Nobody will ever understand his mind.

29 He makes tired people strong and he gives more strength to weak people.

30 Even young people get tired and they lose their strength. And young men will fall over (something) and they will fall (to the ground).

31 But people who hope (for help from) the LORD will get back (their) strength. They will fly high on wings like (large birds called) eagles. They will run and they will not become tired. They will walk and they will not fall over.

41

God is the Judge of the World

1 ‘You islands, be quiet when you come to me. And everybody must become strong again. They must move towards the front (of the court) and they must speak. We must meet together so that (I, the LORD) can be your judge.

2 (The LORD) will awake a man in the east (as from sleep). The good (God) will ask the man to follow (the LORD).· (The LORD) will give (many) countries to him.· (The LORD) will cause kings to go down on their knees in front of him.· (The LORD) will make (people) into dead bodies with that man’s sword.· (The LORD) will make) them like dry dead bits of plants. That man’s bow will blow them away.

3 He (the LORD’s servant) will run after them, but he himself will move on safely. He will go on a path (very quickly). His feet (will almost not touch the ground) while he travels.

4 (I am the God) who will do this. And I will cause it to happen’, (says the LORD). ‘(I am the God) who told you about everything from the beginning. I, the LORD, am the first (person). But I am he (who will be) with people at the end.’

5 The (people on the) islands heard this and they were afraid. It frightened the people at the far places of the earth very much. They came near (to each other). They met together.

6 Each (country) helped the other (country). Each person said to his brother, ‘Be strong!’

7 The careful worker let the worker who makes things out of gold hope. The man with a hammer said to the man with the large bit of iron, ‘What you have put together is good.’ Then he made (the idol) safe with bits of iron so that it could not fall over.

8 ‘But you, Israel, are my servant. Jacob, I have chosen you. You are the descendants of my friend Abraham.’Verse 8 ‘Jacob’ means the people in Israel and Judah, who were descendants of Jacob. The Hebrew word for descendants means ‘seed’. This means descendants who believe God. They love him and they obey him.

9 ‘I brought you from the ends of the earth. I brought you from its far corners. I have said, “You are my servant. I have chosen you. I have not refused to say that you are mine.

10 So do not be afraid, because I am with you. Do not be sad, because I am your God. I will make you strong and I will help you. Really, I will hold you with my right hand. (It is strong and) it wins wars.”

11 Everybody that is angry with you will surely be ashamed. They will lose their good name. Those that fight you will become like nothing. And they will die.

12 Even if you look for your enemies, you will not find them. The people that fight against you will disappear.

13 (This will happen) because I am the LORD. (I am) your God. I will hold on to your right hand. And I will say to you, “Do not be afraid. I will help you.”

14 Do not be afraid, you worm Jacob, you (people of) little Israel. I myself will help you.’ This is what the LORD says. He is your Redeemer. (He is the) Holy (God) of Israel.Jacob here means the Jews, who were descendants of Jacob.

15 ‘Look! I will cause you to become like a machine that threshes. It will be new and sharp, with many sharp metal points that are like teeth. You will thresh the mountains and you will break the hills. They will become (like) chaff.

16 You will make them into separate (small pieces). Then the wind will pick them up and a strong wind will blow them away. But you will be happy with the LORD. You will (have some of the) glory of the Holy (God) of Israel.

17 Poor people and people who need (water) look for water. But there is none. Their mouths are dry because they need a drink. I, the LORD, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will not forget them.

18 I will make rivers on hills where nothing grows. And (I will make) wells of water in the valleys. I will make pools of water in the sandy places. And (I will make) wells where the ground is dry.

19 I will put these kinds of trees into the sandy places: cedar, acacia, myrtle and olive. And I will put together into the Arabah these kinds of trees: pine, fir and cypress.

20 Then people will see this. They will know that the hand of the LORD has done it. They will think about it. And they will understand that the Holy (God) of Israel has created it.’Verse 19 These trees are not usually together in the same place.

21 The LORD says, ‘Tell me the reasons (for your thoughts).’ Jacob’s king says, ‘Say what you believe.

22 Bring (your idols) into (court). Cause them to tell us what will happen (in future years). Tell us about past things. Then we can think about them. And we will know what happened. Or tell us about events that will happen.

23 Tell us what will happen in future years. Then we will know that (your idols) are gods. Do something good or bad that will make us sad and afraid at the same time.

24 But your (idols) are less than nothing. And the things that you have made are really worth nothing. Anybody that chooses you is really very bad!’

25 ‘I will awake somebody from the north. And he will come from (the direction of) the sun when it rises. He will tell my name to people (by what he does). He will walk on the rulers (of the people) like they were mortar. And like a person who makes pots, he will make shapes with the clay.

26 Tell me who told (this) to you from the beginning. Then we would know (what would happen). Or (tell me who told this to you. They told it to you) before it happened. Then we could say, “He was right.”

27 Remember, I (God) was the first (person) to tell this to Zion. “Look, they are here!” I gave to Jerusalem somebody that brought good news.

28 I looked, but there is nobody (among the people). There is nobody to teach them what to do. There is nobody to answer (the questions that) I ask them.

29 Look! All (the idols) are false. What they do comes to nothing. Their idols are only like wind and they confuse people.’
Note:Here is the shape of chapter 41.Verse 1 ~ God, as the judge, tells the people in all the countries in the world that they must come to his court.Verses 2-4 ~ God, as an important person in the court, asks the question, ‘Who decides what happens in the world?’Verses 5-7 ~ The countries of the world say that they will believe in their false gods.Verses 8-20 ~ God, both as master and as redeemer, promises to help his people.Verses 21-24 ~ God, as an important person in the court, says that the idols cannot explain anything.Verses 25-29 ~ God, as judge, will send someone from the north to rule many countries.

42

The First Servant Song

The Song: God speaks about his servant

1 ‘Look at my servant, to whom I will give a lot of help. I chose him and he gives pleasure to my Spirit. I will put my Spirit on him and he will be a fair judge for every country.

2 He will not talk loudly, nor scream. And he will not shout with a loud voice in the streets.

3 He will not break a reed that somebody has bent. And he will not put out a fire that has almost stopped burning. He will always be kind (to his people) and he will be a fair judge.

4 Nothing will cause him to make a mistake. Also, he will always be brave, until there is justice (everywhere) on the earth. The islands will hope for what he has promised (to happen).’Verse 4 We think that the word ‘islands’ here means countries near to Judah.

God speaks to his servant

5 God (is) the LORD. This is what he says. (He is the God) who created the skies. He hung them up (like a curtain). He made the shape of the whole earth. (He made) everything that grows in it. He gives (air) to its people so that they can breathe. And he causes everybody to live that walks on (the earth).

6 (He says), ‘I (am) the LORD. I have asked you (to work for) Righteousness. I will hold your hand. I will keep you safe. And I will cause you to be a Covenant for the people. (You will be like) a light for the countries that are not Jewish.

7 (You will) cause blind eyes to see. You will make the prisoners free from (their) prison. And you will make free those people who sit in a dark prison, deep in the ground.

8 I am the LORD. That is my name. I will not give my glory to anybody else. (I will) not let people praise idols. (They should praise) me.

9 Everything (that I promised) in past years has happened. Now I will tell you about new things. Before they happen, I will talk about them to you.’

Words from Isaiah

10 Sing a new song to the LORD, you people that go down to the sea. And everything that is in (the sea), (sing a new song). Praise him from the far places of the earth, you islands and everybody that lives in them.Verse 10 We think that the word ‘islands’ here means countries near to Judah.

11 (The people in) the sandy places and in the towns near them should use their voices (to praise God). The places (where the people) of Kedar live should be very happy. The people in Sela should sing because they are so happy. They should shout from the tops of their mountains.

12 They should give glory to the LORD and they should praise him in the islands.

13 The LORD will march out like a strong man. He will awake like a soldier who is ready (to fight). He will shout the war song loudly. And then he will beat his enemies.

God speaks again

14 ‘I have been quiet for a long time. I have held myself back and I have done nothing. I am like a woman that is having a baby. I cry. I try to breathe. And I breathe out with difficulty, all at the same time.

15 I will make the mountains and hills into empty places. And I will make all the plants (that grow) there dry. I will make rivers into islands and I will make all the pools dry.

16 I will lead blind people by ways that they did not know. I will be their guide along paths that are new to them. I will make the dark places in front of them into light places. And I will make the rough places flat. These are the things that I will do. I will not leave (my people by themselves).

17 I will turn back (people) that believe in idols. And (people that) say to idols, “You are our gods” will be ashamed.

18 Listen (to me), you (people) who are not able to hear! You blind (people), look and see!

19 Who is blind? (Only) my servant (Israel is blind). Who is not able to hear? The man with the message that I send. (He is not able to hear.) Of all people, the person that believes me is really blind! Of all people, the servant of the LORD is really blind!

20 You have seen many things, but you have not thought about them. He (Israel) has opened his ears (to listen), but he hears nothing.’

More words from Isaiah

21 It gave pleasure to the LORD to make his great and fair rules. (He did this) because he was righteous.

22 But (an enemy) has robbed this people and he has taken things from them. (The enemy) has caught them all in holes in the ground or he has hidden them in prisons. (The enemy) took this people and nobody has saved them. They themselves are what the robber took. And nobody said, ‘Send them back.’

23 Not many among you will listen to this! Not many (of you) will think about it in the future!

24 Who gave Jacob (for the enemy) to rob? Who gave Israel’s people to those who robbed them? (The answer is) that it was the LORD. We have sinned against him. They would not walk in his ways. Also, they did not obey his rules.Verse 24 Jacob here means God’s people, who were descendants of Jacob.

25 So (the LORD) was very, very angry with them. (He caused) a very, very bad war. (He was so angry that) it was like a fire round them. But they did not understand (what he was doing). (The war) killed their people. But they did not know what it meant. About the Servant of the LORD Many Bible students, perhaps hundreds, have written about ‘the servant of the LORD’. The words come in other places in the Old Testament, but it comes most importantly in Isaiah chapters 41-55. The word LORD, with 4 capital letters, translates the Hebrew word YHWH. Some people pronounce it JEHOVAH. Nobody is sure what YHWH means. It may mean the same as God’s name in Exodus 3:14: ‘I AM THAT WHICH I AM’ or ‘I AM BECAUSE I AM’. It tells us that God is always alive!There are 4 parts of Isaiah that Bible students call ‘Servant Songs’. They are Isaiah 42:1-4; 49:1-6; 50:4-9 and 52:13-53:12. In Acts 8:30-35, we can read part of the story of a man from Ethiopia. Philip heard him read from the 4th Servant Song. Philip asked him if he understood what he was reading. The man did not understand, so Philip explained it to him. The question the man asked was this. ‘Is the prophet (Isaiah) speaking about himself, or about somebody else?’ Philip’s answer was, ‘Somebody else, Jesus’. Also, Matthew tells us that Isaiah wrote about Jesus in the first Servant Song, Matthew 12:14-21.But the servant in Isaiah chapters 41-55 (not only the 4 Servant Songs) is not always Jesus. Also, Jewish Bible students do not have the same answers as Christians. Lastly, the servant in some places in Isaiah chapters 41-55 is one person (or group of persons). But in other places it is somebody else. Here are some of the answers that Bible students have given. 1) Usually, Jewish Bible students say that the servant is nearly always the country called Israel. Christians agree that in some places, like Isaiah 41:18-20, Israel is called the servant of the LORD. Even in Babylon, after God has punished Israel, Israel continues to be God’s servant, as in Isaiah 43:21. 2) In Isaiah 44:28 and 45:1 the servant is King Cyrus of Persia. Isaiah 44:28 calls him the LORD’s ‘shepherd’. And 45:1 says that the LORD has ‘anointed’ him. A shepherd is a sheep farmer. He is a like a picture of somebody that is careful for his people. ‘Anointed’ means ‘someone poured oil on him’. Oil in the Bible often means God’s Holy Spirit. This gives the anointed person something to do and it gives him the authority and power to do it. The kings that lived after Cyrus are also God’s servants, Darius and Artaxerxes. 3) But Jesus is also a shepherd (John 10:11) and God has anointed him with the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:16). And Christians believe that Isaiah 53 can only be about Jesus. Also, it is true that Isaiah 42:1 may be about both Israel and the kings of Persia. But it is mostly about Jesus. So, when we read the words ‘the servant of YHWH’, they can mean several things:· the country called Israel· the prophet Isaiah· the rulers of Persia· Jesus Christ. ‘Christ’ is the Greek word for ‘anointed’. Greek is a language. For Christians, the servant of YHWH is JESUS THE ANOINTED! He is doing what Israel, Isaiah and Cyrus did 2700 years ago. God redeems Israel (chapters 43-45)

43

1 But now, this is what the LORD says. He (is the LORD) who created you, Jacob. And he (is the God) who gave shape to you, Israel. (He says this.) ‘Do not be afraid, because I have redeemed you. I have called you by (your) name. You are mine.

2 I will be with you, when you go through (dangerous) waters. (And when you go through) rivers they will not carry you away. When you walk through fire it will not burn you. And the fire will not make a fire out of you.

3 I will save you, because I, the LORD, am your God. (I am) the Holy (God) of Israel. I gave Egypt to ransom you and I gave Ethiopia and Seba in your place.

4 I think that you are valuable and very good. Because of this, and because I love you, (I will do this). I will take men for you and I will take people for your life.

5 Do not be afraid, because I am with you. I will bring your child(ren) from the east and I will fetch you from the west.

6 I will say to (people in) the north, “Give them back!” And I will say to (people in) the south, “Do not stop them from coming back.” Bring my sons from far (places) and my daughters from the ends of the earth.

7 (Bring) everyone who is called by my name. I created them. I gave them a shape and yes, I made them for my glory.

8 Lead out those (people) with eyes who are blind. (Lead out) those (people) with ears who cannot hear.

9 Bring every country together. And bring together all the people. Perhaps some of them said that this would happen. And (perhaps some of them) told us about what happened a long time ago. (If they did,) they should bring their witnesses. (They could) prove that they were right. Then other people will hear it and they will say, “It is true.”

10 You are my witnesses’, says the LORD. ‘You are my servant whom I have chosen. (I chose you) so that you may know (me). Also, (I wanted you to) believe that I am (God). And (I wanted you) to understand (that I am God). That is why (I chose you). Before me, nobody made a god. And there will not be (a God) after me.

11 I, only I, am the LORD. And, without me, there is nobody to save (you).

12 It was I, and not a foreign god among you, that showed (this to you). And I saved (you) and I told (this to you). You are my witnesses that I am God’, says the LORD.

13 ‘Yes! From a long time ago, I am (God). Nobody can save himself from my power. When I do something, nobody can change it.’

14 This is what the LORD says. (The LORD) is your redeemer (and he is) the Holy (God) of Israel. (He says), ‘I will send (an army) to Babylon because of you, (Israel). And I will make all the people from Babylon into prisoners. (They will be) in their ships. They think that they are very good.

15 I am the LORD (who is) your Holy (God). (I am) Israel’s Creator and your King.’16-17 This is what the LORD says. (He is the LORD who did these things:)· He made a road through the sea.· (He made) a path through the great waters.· He drew chariots and (their) horses, the army and (its) leaders, out (into the sea).· (He caused them) to lie there so that they would never get up again. He put them out and he blew them out, like a light.

18 (The LORD says,) ‘Forget what happened a long time ago. Do not think about that.

19 Look! I will do something that is new! Now it appears quickly. Surely, you can see it. I am making a road in the sandy places. And (I am making) streams in the wild places.

20 The wild animals, jackals and owls, give me praise. (They do this) because I give them water in the sandy places and streams in the wild places. (I want) my people that I have chosen to be able to drink. (That is why I do this.)

21 (They are) the people that I made for myself. (I did it) so that they could praise me aloud.

22 You did not pray to me, Jacob. You have not worked for me, Israel.

23 (It was) not to me that you brought sheep. (You did not) burn them to offer them to me. What you put at one side did not give me praise. I have not caused you to carry heavy grain to offer to me. I have not made you tired because I demanded incense (from you).

24 You did not bring (the plant called) calamus, which had a nice smell, for me. You did not give large amounts of meat from the animals that you burned to me. Instead, you caused me to carry your sins like a heavy weight. And you have made me tired every time that you did not obey me.

25 I, (but yes,) I am he who sweeps away your sins. (I do it) to keep my good name. I will not remember that you have not obeyed me.

26 Remember with me (what happened a long time ago). We should talk about it together. You think that you have not sinned. Tell me why you think that.

27 Your first ancestor did not obey me. And the people that spoke (to me) on behalf of you sinned against me.

28 So I made your holy leaders ashamed. Then I destroyed everything in Jacob (that I did not like). (Also, people) laughed in a bad way at Israel.

44

1 But now listen (and obey me), my servant Jacob. (Listen to me) Israel, whom I have chosen.’

2 This is what the LORD says. He (is the LORD) who made you. He gave you a shape when you were still inside your mother. And he will help you. (He says), ‘Do not be afraid, Jacob my servant and Jeshurun, whom I chose.

3 (Do not be afraid) for these reasons:· I will pour water on to land that is very dry.· I will pour streams (of water) on to dry ground.· I will pour out my Spirit on to your children.· I will do good things for your children’s children.

4 They will grow up like grass in a field. (They will grow) like tall trees by streams of water.

5 One (of them) will say, “I (belong) to the LORD.” And another (person) will call (himself) by the name Jacob. Then another (person) will write on his hand, “(I belong to) the LORD”, and he will call (himself) Israel.’

6 This is what the LORD says. (He is) the King and Redeemer of Israel and (he is) the LORD of Everything. (He says,) ‘I am the first (God) and I am the last (God). There is no God without me.

7 Is there (any God) like me? (If there is), he should say so. He must say it. And he should tell me (this):· What has happened since I made my people a long (time) ago?· What will happen in future years?Yes! He should say what will happen!

8 Do not move and do not be afraid. I told you this long ago. And I said that it would happen. You are my witnesses. Is there any God without me? No! There is no (other) Rock. I do not know about any (other God).’Verse 8 ‘Rock’ is a name for God.

9 Everybody that makes an idol (is) of no value. And the things that they have pleasure in will bring no help. Their witnesses cannot see (anything). Also, they will be ashamed, because they know nothing.

10 Everybody who has made the shape of a god has made (only) an idol. It will not help them.

11 Really, everybody like them will be ashamed. People who make (these things) are only human. They should all come and they should stand together (by their idols). They will be very much afraid. Also, they will quickly understand what fools they are.

12 A man that works with iron (takes) a tool. He holds (the iron) in the fire (with the tool). Then he uses a hammer. He gives (the iron) a shape. He has made (an idol) with his strong arms. But (then) he becomes hungry and he is not strong. He drinks no water and he feels weak.

13 A man that works with wood measures (it) with a ruler. Then he draws a shape with a pencil. He uses one tool to give (the wood) its first shape. He uses another tool to make the shape better. Then he causes its shape to seem like a man. (He has made) a beautiful human (shape). It will remain in a house.

14 (A man went) to cut down cedar trees for himself. He had taken cypress and oak (trees). And he had let them grow for himself, among the trees in the forest. He had planted a pine tree and the rain had caused it to grow.

15 It is (wood) for (the) man to burn. So he takes some of it and he makes himself warm. Yes, and now he lights a fire and he bakes bread. And then he makes a god and he worships it. He makes an idol and he goes down on his knees in front of it.

16 Half (of the wood) he burnt in the fire. He made his meal with (that) half. He cooked his meat. And he ate as much as he wanted. He also made himself warm and he said, ‘Good! I am warm. I can see the fire.’

17 From the other half he makes a god. (It is) his idol. He goes on his knees in front of it and he worships it. And he prays to it and he says, ‘Save me, because you are my god.’

18 These people know nothing. They understand nothing. (This is) because something is covering their eyes. So, they cannot see (anything). Their minds cannot understand (anything).

19 Nobody really thinks about it. Nobody knows about it, or understands it. (Nobody) says, ‘I burnt half of it in the fire. I even baked bread with the wood from it. I cooked meat and I ate (it). (Perhaps) I will make something to worship from what is still there. (Perhaps) I will go down on my knees in front of a piece of wood.’

20 It is like he is eating ashes. His mind has made a mistake. And it leads him away (from what is true). He cannot save himself. He does not understand that the thing in his right hand is a false (god).

21Jacob, remember these things, because you, Israel, are my servant. I caused you (to be) my servant. Israel, I will not forget you.

22 I have swept away your sins like (the wind sweeps away) a cloud. The wrong things that you have done (have disappeared) like clouds in the morning. Return to me, because I have redeemed you.’

23 Skies above (us), sing because you are so happy. (Sing), because the LORD has done this! Earth beneath (us), shout as loudly (as you can). You mountains, start to sing. (Do the same), you forests and all your trees! (Do this), because the LORD has redeemed Jacob. He has shown his glory in Israel.

24 This is what the LORD says. He is your Redeemer. He gave you a shape (when you were still) inside your mother. ‘I am the LORD, who has made everything. I alone hung out the skies (like a curtain). I made the earth by myself.

25 I will destroy the messages of the false prophets. Some people try to say what will happen in future years. I will cause them to seem like fools. Some people think that they are clever. They think that they know everything. But I will change that. (What they know) will mean nothing. My servants say what I will do. My prophets say what will happen. I will do (all those things).

26 I say about Jerusalem, “People will live there (again).” (I say) about the towns in Judah, “(People) will build them.” (And I say) about the (places that the enemy) destroyed, “I will build them again.”

27 I said to the watery deep (sea), “Be dry! And I made your streams dry.”

28 I say about Cyrus, “He is (like) my shepherd (sheep farmer). And he will do everything that gives me pleasure.” (Cyrus) will say about Jerusalem, “Build it again!” And (he will say) about the temple, “Lay out the stones to build it on.” ’

45

1 The LORD will say this to Cyrus, whom he has anointed. I will hold his right hand. Then he will beat the countries where he goes. He will take their (war) arms from kings. He will open doors in front of him, so that the gates will not be closed. (He will say,)

2 ‘I will go in front of you and I will make the mountains flat. I will break down bronze gates and I will cut through iron bars.

3 Also, I will give to you the valuable things (that people hide) in dark places. (I will give to you) the valuable things that they store secretly. Then you will know that I am the LORD. (I am) the God of Israel who will cause you to come. He will call you by (your) name.

4 I will cause you to come. I have called you by (your) name, because of my servant Jacob and because of Israel. I have chosen you (Israel). And I will give you a good name, even if you will not recognise me.

5 I am the LORD and there is no other (LORD). There is no God without me. I will make you strong, even if you will not recognise me.

6 Then, from east to west, people will know this. There is no (God) without me.In Hebrew, the word ‘east’ is ‘where the sun rises’. And the word ‘west’ is ‘where the sun goes down’.

7 I made the light and I created the dark. I cause (people) to do well and I create trouble. I (am) the LORD. I do all these things.’

8 I will ask the skies to send down good things. They will come down like rain. And I will prepare the earth to receive my power to save. That power will become great, like a plant that is growing. And good things will grow with it. I, (who am) the Lord, will cause this to happen.

9 Bad (things will happen) to people who quarrel with their Maker. (They are like) bits of pot (that are lying) among other bits of pot on the ground. The clay does not say to the person who makes the pots, ‘What are you making?’ And the things that you make (do not say), ‘He has no hands.’

10 Bad (things will happen) to people who say to their fathers, ‘What have you been father to?’ Or (bad things will happen to people) that say to their mothers, ‘What have you given birth to?’

11 The LORD says this about things that will happen in the future. (The LORD is) the Holy (God) of Israel and he is its Maker. (He says this:)‘You should not ask me questions about my children.You should not tell me what to do with what my hands have made.

12 It is I who made the earth. Then I created the people on it. (It was) I who, with my own hands, hung up the skies (like a curtain). I put all (the stars) in their places.

13 My good help will make (Cyrus) into a great leader. I will make all his paths straight. He will build again my city (Jerusalem) and he will make my exiles free. He will not get money or gifts because (he will do) this’, says the LORD of Everything.

14 This is what the LORD is saying. ‘This is what will come to you and what will become yours.· everything that (the people in) Egypt make· everything that (the people in) Cush sell· the tall people from Sabea.They will walk behind you. Metal lines (will tie them up) when they come to you. They will go down on their knees in front of you. They will pray to you. They will say, “Surely God is with you. And there is no other God.” ’

15 It is true. You are a God that hides himself! (You are) the God that makes Israel safe!

16 Everybody that makes idols will be ashamed. And nobody will give them praise. Together, they will have no praise.

17 The LORD will make Israel safe. (Israel) will be safe for all time. You will never be ashamed. And you will always have praise. This will always be true.

18 This is because the LORD says it. He (is the LORD that) created the skies. He is God. He made the earth and he gave to it its shape. He built it. He did not create it to be empty. He made it for people to live in. He says, ‘I am the LORD. And there is nobody else (that is LORD).

19 I have not spoken secretly. (I have not spoken) from somewhere that is a dark country. I did not say to the people whose ancestor is Jacob, “Look for me, but do not find me.” I am the LORD. I speak what is true. I say what is right.

20 Bring (yourselves) together! And come and put yourselves into a group. You (are) people that are running away from (other) countries. Some people that carry idols that they made from wood. Those people do not know anything. (They are people that) pray to (false) gods. (Those gods) cannot make them safe.

21 Speak! Tell us (what will happen)! Also, decide this together. Who said a long time ago that this would happen? Who said it in past years? It was I, the LORD! There is no God without me. I am a righteous God that saves (my people). There is (no other) God but me.

22 Turn to me and I will make you safe. (Do this), everybody on the earth. (Do this) because I am God. I am God and there is no other (God but me).

23 I, myself, have given you a promise. Because I am honest I have said this. I will change nothing that I have said. Everybody will go down on their knees in front of me. People will say their promises in every language in my (name).

24 People will say this about me. “Only with the LORD are things that are righteous and strong.” Everybody that was angry with (God) will come to (God). They will be ashamed.

25 With the LORD, everybody that has Israel for an ancestor will be righteous and they will be very, very happy.’ God will send Cyrus to beat Babylon (chapters 46-47)

46

1 Bel bends down. Nebo lies low. Animals that can carry heavy things carry these idols. (The animals) carry the idols, which are very heavy. They are very heavy for tired (animals).

2 (The false gods) fall down and they lie together. (The animals) cannot carry the heavy weights. (The false gods) themselves go away (into another country) as slaves.

3 ‘Listen to me, you people (that live) in Jacob. (Listen to me), everyone that remains from the people in Israel. I have helped you since you began to live inside (your mother). And I have carried you since you were born.

4 (I will do this) even until you are old. (Then) you will have grey hairs. I am he who will supply everything. I (will supply everything) that you need. I have made you and I will carry you. I will supply everything that you need. And I will save you.

5 No (god) is like me! (Bel, or Nebo) are not as good as me. You cannot say that any god is like me. You cannot say that I am the same (as them).

6 Some (people) pour out gold from a bag. And they weigh out silver on the scales. Then they pay someone who can work with gold. He makes it into a god. Then they bend down and they worship it!

7 They lift it on to their shoulders and they carry it. They put it in its place and it stands there. It cannot move from that place. If anyone shouts out to it, it does not answer. It cannot save anybody from his troubles.

8 Remember this and fix it in (your) mind. Do not forget it, you people that fight against me.

9 Remember the things that happened long ago. I am God and there is no other (God). I am God and there is nobody like me.

10 I told (you) at the beginning what will happen at the end. (I told you) from long ago about future things that will happen. I am the Person that says (this). My purpose will not change. And I will do everything that I want (to do).

11 I will send someone from the east like a bird that catches small animals. And (I will get) a man from a country that is far away. He will cause my purposes to happen. I really will do the things that I have promised to do. I have made a plan and I will really will cause it to happen.

12 Listen to me, you people that will not change your minds. (Listen), you people who are not righteous in any way.

13 Soon, I will come to do what is right. I am not far away. I will not wait any longer to come and save you. I will save (the people in) Zion (Jerusalem). (I will make) Israel beautiful.’

47

1 ‘Get down (on to the ground) and sit in the dirt, Virgin Daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a high seat, Daughter of the people in Chaldea. Nobody will say that you are quiet and pretty again.We think that ‘Virgin Daughter of Babylon’ means ‘all the people in Babylon’, mostly the leaders.

2 Use a stone to break (grain) into flour. Uncover your face. Lift up your skirt and make your legs bare. Walk through streams (of water).

3 Everybody will see that you are bare. Nothing will hide your sex parts. I will punish (you) and I will not leave anybody out.’

4 Our Redeemer is the Holy (God) of Israel. His name is the LORD of Everything. (He says this.)

5Daughter of the people in Chaldea, sit and make no noise. And go into dark (places). Nobody will call you the queen of kingdoms again.

6 I was angry with my people (Judah). I made what was mine not clean. I gave them into your power, but you were not kind them. You even made the old people into slaves.

7 You said, “I will always continue to be queen. (I will) always (be queen)!” But you did not think about these things. You did not think about what might happen (to you).

8 Now, listen (to me), you (women) that love pleasure. You do not say what is true about your safety. And you say (this) to yourself. “(Here) I am, and there is nobody except me. I will never be a widow and I will never lose (my) children.”

9 Both of these things will happen to you in one moment. (They will happen) in only one day. You will lose your children and you will become a widow. It will all happen to you, even if you (try to stop it) with much magic and powerful magic words.

10 You have believed this: The bad things that you have done would help you. And you have said, “Nobody sees me (when I do them).” But you are clever and you know so much. It has caused you to make mistakes. This happened when you said to yourself, “(Here) I am, and there is nobody except me.”

11 Then bad things will happen to you. And you will not know what magic words (will remove them). So they will destroy you and you will have no ransom for them. They will destroy you quickly, in a way that you have known nothing about.

12 Continue, then, with your magic! (Continue to say) your many magic words! You have worked a lot with them since you were children. Perhaps you will cause the magic things really to happen. Perhaps you will frighten (your enemies)!

13 All the things that you have learned have made you very tired! The people that (look at) different parts of the skies should stand up. Those people that study the stars should (stand up). They say what will happen each month. Cause them to save you from what will happen to you.

14 Surely, they are like dry grass! Fire will burn them (away). They cannot save themselves from the heat of the fires. This is not the wood that will bake their bread. (It is) not a fire to sit by.

15 This is (all) that they (have done) on your behalf. You worked with them since you were children. They were your friends. (But now) each of them continues to make mistakes. There is nobody to save you.’

48

God will send Cyrus to make his people free from Babylon

1 ‘Listen to this, you people of Jacob. Your name is Israel and you belong to the family of Judah. You (are people) that promise in the name of the LORD. Also, you ask the God of Israel for help. But you do not (do these things) honestly and fairly.

2 They even call themselves (people who live) in the holy city. And they hope that the God of Israel will help them. His name is the LORD of Everything.

3 I said (a) long (time) ago the things (that would) soon (happen). I myself said that they would happen. And I caused (everybody) to know (about them). Then, quickly, I did something and they happened!

4 (This is why) I did it. I knew that it would be difficult to cause you to think differently. It seems that your necks have become (as hard) as iron! The front of your head is like bronze!

5 So I told you these things long ago. Before they happened, I told you about them. Then you could not say, “My idol did them. My wood idol and my metal god decided that they would happen.”

6 You heard (these things). Now look at them all. Agree that it is true! From now, I will tell you new things. They will be things that you do not know. (They will be things that I) hid from you.

7 (I) created them now. I did not (create them) a long (time) ago. You did not hear about them before today. So you cannot say, “Yes. I knew about them.”

8 You have not heard them and you have not understood them. From (a) long (time) ago your ear has not listened to them. I know well that you do not always obey me. (People) said that you fought against (me) from (your) birth.

9 I will not be angry immediately, because of the name that I have. (So that people will give) me praise, I will not be angry with you. Then (nobody) will kill you.

10 I have made you clean, but not as (people make) silver (clean). I have let you have much trouble. It is like I put you in a fire. This has been to check how good you are.

11 I do this on my own behalf, (yes), on my own behalf! Really, I cannot let people say bad things about me. And (so), I will not give my praise to another (person or god).

12 Listen to me, (you people of) Jacob! (Listen to me, you people of) Israel. I have asked you to follow me. I am (your God). I am the first (God) and (I am) the last (God).

13 My own hand put out the parts that are under the earth. And my right hand hung up the skies. When I speak to them, they all stand (up) together.

14 All of you, come together and listen (to me). Not one (of your idols) said what would happen. The LORD has chosen a friend to help him. (This friend) will do what God wants to happen against Babylon. His arm (will be against) the people in Chaldea.

15 I, (yes,) I have spoken. Also, I have asked him to follow me. I will bring him (to Babylon). And he will do well in what he has to do.

16 Come near to me and listen to this. From the first time that I spoke (about it), it was not a secret. When it happens, I will be there.And now the LORD and Master has sent me with his Spirit’, (says God’s servant).

17 This is what the LORD says. He is your Redeemer, the Holy (God) of Israel. ‘I am the LORD your God. I will teach you what is the best (thing) for you. I will send you in the way that you should go.

18 I told you what you should do. You should have listened to what I said. Then your peace would be like a river. Also, the good things that you do would be like the waves in the sea.

19 Your children, and your children’s children, would be as many as there are little bits in some sand. Nobody would ever forget their names. Nobody would kill them in front of me.

20 Leave Babylon! Run from the people in Chaldea! Talk about it with happy shouts. Talk about it and send (the news) to the ends of the earth. Say that the LORD has redeemed Jacob his servant.’

21 They did not need a drink when he led them through sandy places. He caused water to pour from a rock for them. He broke the rock and water rushed out.

22 ‘There is no peace for bad people’, says the LORD.

49

The Second Servant Song

1 Listen to me, (you) islands. And hear (this, you) countries that are far away. The LORD chose me when I was inside my mother. From (when I was) inside her body he said my name.Verse 1 We think that the word ‘islands’ here means countries near to Judah.

2 And he made my mouth like a sharp sword. He hid me in the shadow of his hand. And he made me into an arrow (that he had caused) to shine. He hid me in his basket of arrows.

3 He said to me, ‘You are my servant. (You are) Israel. In you I will show (to everybody) that I am beautiful.’

4 But I said (that) my work had no purpose. I had done all that work for nothing. But the LORD will be my judge and my God (will know) the result of my work.

5 And now the LORD says (this). He (is the LORD) that made me inside my mother to be his servant.· (He did this) to bring Jacob back to him.· Also, (he did it) to bring Israel to himself.And I will have praise in the eyes of the LORD. My God will make me strong. He says,

6 ‘It is too small a thing for you, as my servant (to do these things):· Bring back the families of Jacob.· And bring together the people of Israel that I have kept alive.I will also make you (like) a light for the (people in other) countries. Then you will bring (the news) that I can save people to the ends of the earth.’

7 This is what the LORD says. (The LORD is) the Redeemer and the Holy (God) of Israel. (He says it) to him, (the servant). The country (Judah) thought that he was not important. And they did not like (him). (He was) the servant of rulers. (God says), ‘Kings will see you and they will rise up. Also, leaders will get on their knees (in front of you). (They will do this) because the LORD will always help (you). (He is) the Holy (God) of Israel, who has chosen you.’

8 This is what the LORD says. ‘When I am ready to do something for you, I will answer you. And in the day when I am ready to save you, I will help you. Also, I will keep you alive and I will cause you to be a covenant for the people. You will make the country safe, and you will cause (people) to live in the empty places.

9 You will say to the people (that are) in a prison, “Come out.” And (you will say) to those people that are in the dark, “Be free!”They will eat food at the sides of the roads. And there will be food for them on every empty hill.

10 They will not be hungry and they will not need a drink. The heat of the sun in the sandy places will not hurt them. He who loves them will be their guide. And he will lead them to water that comes up (from the ground).

11 I will make all my mountains into roads. And I will build up all my roads on higher ground.

12 Look! People will come from far away. And look! Some people will come from the north and some (will come) from the west. Some will (even) come from round Sinim.’

13 (Everything in) the skies, shout because you are so happy! (Everything on) the earth, be very happy! Sing loudly, you mountains! (Do this) because the LORD is being kind to his people. He will show his love to his people that are hurting.

14 But Zion said, ‘The LORD has left me. The Lord has forgotten me.’

15 (The LORD answered), ‘Can a mother forget the baby at her breast? Can she have no love for the child that came from inside her body? Yes, these (mothers) may forget, but I will not forget you.

16 Look! I have written (your names) on my (own) hands. Your walls (of Jerusalem) are always in front of me.

17 Your sons will hurry back (to you). People beat you and they destroyed you. But those people will leave you.

18 Use your eyes and look all round you. All your (sons) will come (together). They will return to you. Because I am alive’, says the LORD, ‘you will surely wear all of them as something beautiful. You will put them on as a woman does at the time of her marriage.

19 (The enemy) broke you and they destroyed you. They made your land empty. But now your (land) will be too small for the people (that will come to) you. The people that destroyed you will be far away.

20 Children were born to you while you were a widow. They will say (this). “This place is too small for us. Give us more room to live in.”

21 Then you will say in your mind, “I do not know how these (people) were born to me. I was a widow and I could not have any (children). I was in exile and (God had) thrown me away. So I do not know who brought them up. Look, (he) left me alone. So I do not know where they have (come from).” ’

22 The LORD, (who is) the Lord, says, ‘Look! I will point with my hand to (many) countries. I will lift up a mark to the people (in many countries). And they will bring your sons in their arms and they will carry your daughters on their shoulders.

23 Then kings will be (like) fathers for you and their queens will be (like) mothers (to your children). They will go down on their knees in front of you. Their faces will look to the ground. And they will taste the dirt by your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD. I will not disappoint people that hope in me.

24 You cannot take things away from strong soldiers. And you cannot save prisoners from people that are right to keep them.’

25 But this is what the LORD says. ‘Yes! (I) can take the prisoner from the strong soldier. And I will take back what the cruel man took away. I will fight with those people that fight with you. And I will make your children safe.

26 I will cause the people that are cruel to you to eat their own bodies. They will become drunks with their own blood, like it was wine. Then everybody will know that I, the LORD, have made you safe. (I am) your Redeemer, the Strong (God) of Jacob.’

50

1 The LORD says, ‘Your mother (Jerusalem) does not have a divorce notice. (I mean) that I did not send her away with (a notice). I did not sell you to any of the people with whom I had a debt. I sold you because of your sins. I sent your mother away because of wrong things (that she did).

2 Nobody was there when I came. Nobody answered when I spoke to them. My arm was not too short to ransom you. I was strong enough to save you. Look! With only a word I can make the sea dry. I can make rivers into sandy places. The fish in them will die because there is no water. And they will die because they need water.

3 I can make the sky dark and I can cover it with hairy cloth.’ The Third Servant Song

4 (The servant says,) ‘The Lord, who is LORD, has given to me a tongue. It has learned (what to say). I know what to say to give hope (for something good) to very tired people. He wakes me every morning. He wakes my ear to listen, like someone that he is teaching.

5 The Lord, who is LORD, has opened my ears. I have obeyed him and I have not turned back.

6 I offered my back to the people that hit me. And (I offered) my face to the people that pulled out my beard. I did not hide my face when (they did these things). They laughed in a bad way at me and they spat at me.

7 The Lord, who is LORD, will help me. So, I will not be ashamed. I have made my face (hard) like a stone. So, I know that I will not be ashamed.

8 He (the LORD) says that I am right. He is near (to me). Some people are saying bad things about me. We should talk to each other! Some people have said that I have done wrong things. We should talk about it together!

9 Look! The Lord, who is LORD, will help me. Some person may say that I have done wrong things. But people like that will all become like very old clothes. The moths will eat them up!’

10 Perhaps someone among you is afraid of the LORD. And perhaps someone obeys the word of his servant. Some people walk in the dark and they have no light. They should believe in the LORD and they should hope for help from their God.

11 But now, go and walk in the light of your fires. Everyone who has lit a fire (must do this). (So must) everybody that has got for themselves something on fire. (You must) go in the light of the fires that you have made. This is what you will receive from me. You will lie down in very great pain. Copy God’s servant (Isaiah 51:1-52:12)

51

1 ‘Listen to me, you people that are trying to be very good (like my servant). And (listen to me,) you people that are coming to the LORD. Think about the rock from which he cut you. And (think about) the rocky place from which he took you.

2 Think about your father Abraham. And think about Sarah who gave you birth. When I spoke to (Abraham), there was only one (of him). Then I blessed him and I made (from) him many (people).’Verse 1 The ‘rock’ is like a picture of Abraham.In verse 2, the word ‘father’ means ‘ancestor’.

3 Surely, the LORD will be kind to Zion. And he will make it strong again, when he looks at its buildings. (These are the people whose land the enemy) destroyed. He will make its sandy places like (the garden of) Eden. (He will make) its wild places like the garden of the LORD. (People will) be happy there. They will feel very happy there. (People will) hear songs that thank (God).

4 ‘Listen to me, my people. And hear me, my country. The law will go out from me. And what I fairly decide will be (like) a light to every country.

5 The good things that I do (will be) near (to you). I will soon make you very safe. And my arm will decide fairly for every country. The islands will look to me and they will hope for my arm (to arrive).’Many Christians believe that the Arm of the LORD is a name for Jesus.

6 ‘Lift up your eyes to the skies and look at the earth beneath (them). The skies will disappear like smoke and the earth will become old like a coat. The people that live there will die in the same way. But the safe place that I give will be there always. The very good things that I do will never fail.’Many translations have righteousness for ‘very good things’. It is not only what God does. It is also what he is.

7 ‘You people know that I am very good. (So) listen to me. You people have my law in your minds. (Listen to me.) Some people say that you are wrong, But do not be afraid of those people. Do not let them make you afraid with their bad words.

8 (Do not be afraid) because a moth will (seem to) eat them up! (It will seem to eat them) like (it eats) clothes. A grub will (seem to) eat them like (a grub eats) clothes. But the very good things that I do will never have an end. The safe place that I (offer to you) will never have an end.’

9 Awake, awake (you) arm of the LORD! Put on strength like (you put on) clothes! Awake, as you did in past days. (Awake) as you did for people many years ago. You cut Rahab into pieces. You pushed (your sword) into that large animal.

10 You made the sea and the deep waters dry. You made a road deep in the sea. The people that you redeemed crossed over.

11 And the people that the LORD has ransomed will return. And they will sing while they go into Zion. And they will be so happy that it will always show on their faces. They will continue to be happy, so very happy. Then, they will no longer feel sad and they will not want to cry.

12 ‘I, (the LORD, yes,) I am he that (will always) make (everybody) strong.You (people in Zion, you) do not have to be afraid of men that will always die. They are (only) the sons of (other) men and they are only like grass.

13 But (you all) forget the LORD that made you! He put the skies in their place. And he made what is beneath the earth. (Do not) be afraid every day of your life, because your oppressor is very angry. The oppressor wants to destroy things. But really he can do nothing, even if he is angry.

14 The people that are so afraid will be made free. They will not die in a hole in the ground. They will not be without their bread,

15 because I am the LORD your God. I am (the God) that moves the sea so that its waters make a great noise! His name is the LORD of Everything.

16 I have put my words into your mouth, (my servant). And I have covered you with the shadow of my hand. (It is I) that will put the skies in their place. And I will make what is beneath the earth. And I will say to Zion, “You are my people.” ’

17 Awake, awake! Get up, (people in) Jerusalem! The LORD has been angry with you and he has punished you. When he punishes you it is like you are drinking something bad from a cup. You have drunk everything from the cup that makes people afraid (in front of God).

18 There was nobody to be her guide, from all the sons that she gave birth to. There was nobody to lead her by the hand, from all the sons that she had taught.

19 These two things have (destroyed) you. I do not know anyone who can make you strong again. (An enemy) broke and they destroyed (your buildings). The sword (killed your people). And (they died because) there was no food. I do not know anyone who can make you happy again.

20 Your sons have fallen down. They lie at the end of every street. (They are) like animals that something has caught. The LORD was angry and the serious words of your God punished them.

21 So, hear this, you people that (God is) hurting. You are (like) drunks, but it is not because you have drunk wine.

22 This is what the Lord who is your LORD says. (He is) your God, that fights for his people. ‘Look! I have taken out from your hand the cup that makes you afraid. You will never drink again from that cup, the cup that contains my anger.

23 I will put it into the hands of the people that are cruel and unkind to you. (They are) the people that said, “Lie down flat (on the ground), so that we can walk over you.” And you made your backs like the ground. (You made them) like a street that people could walk over.’

52

1 Awake, awake, Zion! Put on strength like (you put on) clothes. Put on your beautiful clothes, Jerusalem, the holy city. People who are not God’s people will not come into you again.‘People who are not God’s people’. Isaiah wrote ‘people who are not clean’. Here it means ‘not clean like God is clean’. This was because they met people like the people from Babylon. Those people did not love the LORD God.

2 Remove the dirt (from yourselves). Get up and sit on your special high seat, Jerusalem. Make yourself free from the chains round your neck, Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem) (who is now) (like someone) in a prison.

3 (Do this) because the LORD says, ‘You sold yourselves for nothing, and I will redeem you without money.’

4 And the Lord who is LORD says, ‘Firstly, my people went down to live in Egypt. Then, not long ago, Assyria was cruel to them.

5 And now, this is what I (have got) here’, says the LORD. He says, ‘(An enemy) took my people away for nothing. And the rulers (of my people) are crying. And for all of every day (enemies) continue to say bad things about me.

6 So, my people will know my name. So, in that day, (my people) will know this. I said what would happen. Yes, I (said it)!’

7 The feet of the people that bring good news will be beautiful. (They will be beautiful while they run) on the mountains. The people that bring good news will tell you, ‘There is no war and there is no danger.’ They will say to Zion, ‘Your God rules (as king)!’

8 Listen! The men that watch over (your city) are saying (something). They are (all) shouting together because they are so happy. When the LORD returns to Zion, they will see it with their own eyes.

9 Sing aloud together, (you places in) Jerusalem that the enemy destroyed. (Do this) because the LORD has made his people happy again. He has redeemed Jerusalem.

10 The LORD has made his holy arm bare. (He has done it) in front of the eyes of the people in every country. Now, all parts of the earth can see that our God makes people safe.

11 Leave! Leave! Go out from there. Do not touch anything that is not clean. Go out from inside it! Those (people) that will carry the LORD’s special things, be clean!

12 But you will not go out quickly, or hurry away. (This is) because the LORD will go in front of you. And the God of Israel will be like an army behind you. The Fourth Servant Song (52:13-53:12)

13 Look! Everything that my servant says will be good. (It will be) right. (I will) raise him up and I will lift him up (to an important place). And I will make him very important.

14 (They) hit his body, so that it did not seem like (the body) of a man. (They) changed his shape, so that it was not like the shape of any human person. And when many people looked at him, they felt sick.

15 But he will pour (water or something like water) on many countries! Kings will shut their mouths because of him. (Here are the reasons:)· They will see things that nobody told them about.· And they will understand things that they have not heard about.Bible students do not really know why Isaiah used the word ‘pour’. Some students say that the word should be ‘startle’. This means ‘do something that surprises people’. We do not know what it means. And we do not know what the servant does! But it causes people to understand what happened to him.

53

1 Who has believed our message? And to whom has the LORD shown his Arm?There are two answers to each question in this verse. They are: Who has believed our message? Nobody, unless it was the people that he poured something on. To whom has the LORD shown his Arm? Nobody, if they look only at the human story of the servant. This human story is in verses 2 and 3.‘our message’ may mean ‘God’s message’.Many Christians believe that the Arm of the LORD is a name for Jesus.

2 (The Servant) grew up in front of him like a weak plant. And (he grew) from a root in dry ground. He was not beautiful and he did not seem like a king. We had no interest in him. We looked at him. But there was nothing to cause us to want him.

3 People did not like him. And they caused him to go away. (He was) a man who often felt very sad. And he knew what pain felt like. He was like someone from whom people hid their faces. People did not like him. And we decided that he was worth nothing.

4 Surely, he lifted up our pain (from us)! And he took away the things that cause us to feel sad. But we thought that he had become ill. (We thought that) God had hit him very badly. And (we thought) that he was sick.

5 They put a sword into him, but we had done the wrong things. They hurt him and they broke him because of our sins. (They gave) to him the punishment (that brought) peace to us. His wounds have given us health.

6 We have all gone away, like sheep. Each (of us) has turned to his own way. And the LORD has put all our sins on him.

7 They were very cruel to him, but he was always quiet. And he did not open his mouth. They led him away like a lamb to kill him. A sheep is quiet when they cut off its hairy coat. In the same way, he did not open his mouth.

8 They took him to a court. After this, they decided to take him (to die). And none of his people said that it was wrong. They did not let him stay in the country where people are alive. They hit him very badly because of the sins of my people.

9 They gave him a grave with very bad people. And he was with a rich (man) in his deaths. (They did this), but he had done nothing to hurt people. Also, he had said nothing that was not true.Verse 9 The word ‘deaths’ is plural in the Hebrew Bible. Isaiah’s book is in the Hebrew Bible.

10 But it was the LORD’s idea to hurt him and to break him. (The LORD) caused (people) to hurt (him). The LORD offered his life for sin, but (the servant) will see his seed. He will continue to live (after his death).‘seed’ usually means ‘children’. But here it is a special Bible word for people that love Jesus.

11 (Death) will hurt his spirit. But, after that, what he sees will make him happy. My very good servant will make many (people) very good, because they know him. And he will carry their sins (away).

12 So, I will give to him many (peoples). And he will have the strong (people) as his gift. (The facts are these.) He poured out his life until he died. He let people count him in with bad people. Also, he carried the sin of many (people) and he prayed for the very bad people. Enjoy the results of the Servant’s work (chapters 54-55)

54

1 ‘Sing, woman that cannot have a child. (Sing), you who have never had a baby. Sing a song and shout! Then, you will be so happy! (Sing), you, who never had the pain of giving birth (to a baby). (Do this), because the lonely woman will have more sons than the woman with a husband.’ This is what the LORD is saying.

2 ‘Make bigger the space that your tent covers. Make the curtains of your tent wider. Do not make it smaller! Make the sides longer and make the tent pegs stronger.

3 (Do this), because you will become larger, both to the right (side) and to the left (side). Your children (and their children) will cause people to go (from their own countries). (Your children) will live in the empty cities (of the people that go away).

4 Do not be afraid. You will not be ashamed. Nobody will take away your good name. You will not seem to be unimportant. Then, you will forget this: You were ashamed when you were young. You will not remember how bad you felt as a widow.

5 (This is) because your Maker is now your husband. His name is the LORD of Everything. The Holy (God) of Israel is your Redeemer. (People) call (him), “The God of all the earth”.

6 (This is) because the LORD has asked you (to come) back. (You were) like a wife (whose husband had) left (her) alone. (He has asked you to come to him, like a wife) who was not happy. (That) wife married when she was young. Then, (her husband) sent her away.’ This is what God is saying.

7 ‘For a short time I left you alone. But (now), because I love you very much, I will bring you back.

8 When I was angry, I hid my face from you, for a moment. But (now), with kind love that will always stay (with you), I will help you.’ This is what the LORD, (who is) your Redeemer, is saying.

9 ‘This is like the waters of Noah for me. Then, I promised that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So, now I have promised not to be angry with you. I will not punish you again.’Verse 9 ‘waters of Noah’ The story is in Genesis chapters 6-9.

10 ‘Even if the mountains move, my kind love for you will not fail. Even if (someone) removes the hills, no(body) will remove my covenant of peace (with you).’ This is what the LORD, who loves you, is saying.

11 ‘(My city, that the enemy) hurt, storms hit you. No(body) made you strong. Look! I will build you (again) with turquoise stones. (I will build you) on the top of very valuable blue stones called sapphires.’The city is Jerusalem (for Jews) or the New Jerusalem (for Christians). Isaiah does not use the name Jerusalem here. But he does write about ‘what is right’ (verse 14 zedek in the Hebrew language) and ‘peace’ (verse 13 salem in Hebrew). Melchizedek was the king of Jerusalem, Genesis 14:18. Isaiah wrote his book in the Hebrew language.

12 ‘I will build your castles with valuable red stones called rubies. (I will build) your gates with valuable stones that shine (in the light). (I will build) your walls with very valuable stones.

13 The LORD will teach all your sons. And your sons will have great peace.

14 (The LORD) will build you on (a base of) what is right. You will be far away from cruel (people). Really, you will have nothing to be afraid of. Nobody will ever frighten you again. (People that frighten you) will not come near to you.

15 If anybody attacks you, I will not have sent them. You will beat anyone who attacks you.

16 Look! I, I created the man that works with iron. He causes the coal to burn strongly. He makes arms that are good for their work. But it is I that have created the destroyer. That (destroyer) can destroy everything.

17 No arms that anybody will make will beat you. And you will show that this is true. Everything that people say against you is not true. This is what the servants of the LORD will enjoy. And their righteousness will be from me.’ These are the words of the LORD.

55

1Hoy! Everyone that needs a drink, come to the waters! And the person without money, come (to me). Buy (food) and eat! Come and buy wine and milk!

2 Do not spend money on (that which is) not bread. And do not work for (things which) do not make (you) happy. Listen! Listen to me. And eat (what is) good! Then your spirit will have pleasure in the best (things).

3 Listen and come to me! Hear (me), so that your spirit may live! Then I will make a covenant (of peace) with you (all), that will never end. (It will be) the kind love that I promised to David.

4 Look! I have made (David) someone that every country can listen to. (And I have made him) a leader and a ruler of all the countries.’Verses 3 and 4 The promises that God made to David would become true in God’s Servant.

5 ‘Surely, you will ask a country that you do not know to come to you. And a country that does not know you will hurry to you. (This will happen) because the LORD (is) your God. (He is) the Holy (God) of Israel. And he has made you really great!’

6 Come to the LORD while you can find him. Talk to him while he is near (to you).

7 The very bad (man) must stop doing bad things. And the very bad man (must stop having) his (bad) thoughts. He must turn to the LORD, who will be kind to him. And (he must turn) to our God, because (God) will certainly excuse him.

8 ‘(This is) because my thoughts are not your thoughts. And neither are your ways my ways.’ These are the words of the LORD.

9 ‘As the skies are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways. Also, my thoughts (are higher) than your thoughts (like that too).

10 The rain and the snow come down from the skies. And they do not return (to them) until they have put water on to the earth. And they cause (plants) to grow in the earth. Then (the plants) become strong. Then they give seeds for the gardener and they give bread for the eater.

11 It is the same with the word that I speak. It will not return to me empty. It will do what I want it to do. And it will cause to happen the purpose for which I sent it.

12 You will go out and you will be happy. And you will follow (your leader). You will have peace. The mountains and the hills will sing songs in front of you. And all the trees in the field(s) will hit their hands together!

13 Pine trees will grow in the place of thorn bushes, and myrtle bushes will grow in the place of briars. This will make the LORD famous. It will always be something that nobody will destroy.’ PART 5: Chapters 56-66 God’s Messiah beats God’s enemies A place where everyone can pray (chapters 56-57)

56

1 This is what the LORD is saying (to you). ‘Always be fair. And do what is right. (Do this) because I will make you safe. It will happen very soon. Also, soon I will show (everybody) that I am righteous.

2 (God) will bless the man that does this. (He will bless) the man that really does this. (That man) does not do the wrong things on the Sabbath and he does not make it dirty. And he does not let his hand do anything that is really bad.’Verse 2 ‘make it dirty’ here means ‘do what was wrong on the Sabbath’.

3 (A foreigner) may have promised to obey the LORD. That foreigner should not say, ‘The LORD will surely not let me join his people.’ And no eunuch should say, ‘I am only like a dry tree.’

4 The LORD says this to the eunuchs that do the things in this list:· They do not do wrong things on my Sabbaths.· They choose to do what makes me happy.· They really obey my covenant.

5 (He says,) ‘Then I will give to them these things inside the walls of my temple:· something to (cause people) to remember them· a name that is better than sons and daughters.I will give them a name that will always stay. Nobody will cut it off.’Verse 5 ‘cut it off’ A eunuch could not have children, because someone had cut off his male sex part.

6 ‘(This will happen) to foreigners who (do these things):· They promise to obey and to be the LORD’s servants.· They love the name of the LORD and they worship him.· They all do the right things on the Sabbath and they do not make it dirty.· They hold strongly to my covenant.’Verse 6 ‘make it dirty’ here means ‘do what was wrong on the Sabbath’.

7 ‘I will bring them to my holy mountain. And I will make them happy in my house for prayer. I will accept what they offer. (I will accept) what they burn as sacrifices on my altar. (This is) because (people will) call my house, “A house for prayer for people from every country”.’holy mountain’ means Zion, the mountain in Jerusalem where they built God’s house.‘house for prayer’ means a place where people pray to God. Here, it means the temple in Jerusalem. Jesus said these words again in Matthew 21:13.

8 The LORD (is the God) that brings the exiles of Israel together. The LORD (who is) Lord says, ‘I will bring even other (people) to them. (They will be) with those people that I have brought already.’

9 (God says this about bad people.) ‘Come here, you wild animals (that live) in fields! (Come,) you wild animals (that live) in the forest! Come and eat everything!’

10 Israel’s watchmen cannot see anything. They do not know anything. They are all (like) dogs that cannot make a noise. They cannot make the noise that dogs usually make. They lie about and they dream. They like to sleep.

11 They are (like) dogs that like to eat a lot. And they never have enough. (Also), they are (like) shepherds who understand nothing. They all turn to their own way. Everybody (tries) to get (what he can for himself).

12 (Each one of them) shouts, ‘Come, I must get wine! We must drink as much beer as we can! And tomorrow will be like today. It might be much better!’

57

1 When a very good man dies, nobody really thinks about it. (Death) takes away men that (God) loves. But nobody understands why (death) takes them away. It is to save the very good man from trouble that will come soon.

2 (When a good man dies) he goes into (a place where there is) peace. They lie on their beds. He is the man that walks in the right (way).

3 But you, come here! (You are) sons of a woman that does magic. (You are) the children of an adulteress. (You are the children of) a woman that sells her body for sex.

4 Tell me whom you are you laughing at in a bad way. Tell me about whom you are saying bad things. You push your tongue out of your mouth! You are a crowd of people that do not obey (God’s) rules. You do not say what is true.

5 You like to have sex among the big trees. Also, (you have sex) under every tree that hangs out (its branches). You kill and burn your children (for false gods). (You do this) in the deep valleys and under the rocks that hang over (the sides of hills).To have sex was one way in which they worshipped false gods.

6 Your place is among the flat (stones) in the deep valley. Yes, they, they are where you should be. Yes, you have poured out drink, to offer it to (your false gods). And you have offered (them) grain. Because of this, I, (God), will not change my mind.‘flat stones’ may mean false gods.

7 You have made your bed on a high and tall hill. You went there to offer things to your (false gods).

8 You have put your notice behind your door, where the door opens. But you left me and you opened your bed. You climbed into it and you opened it wide. You agreed with those people whose beds you loved. You saw a hand (to help you).Verses 7 and 8The notice might say that they were God’s servants. But they were not!‘bed’ here means a place to worship false gods. A man had sex with someone who was not his wife. That is how he worshipped those false gods.‘hand’ here means the hand of a false god. We could translate ‘a hand to help’ as ‘someone to help’.

9 You went to the king with olive oil and you made more perfumes. You sent your leaders far away and you even went down to Sheol.Verse 9 ‘the king’ may be the name of Moloch, a false god.

10 All your journeys made you very tired. But you would not say, ‘We cannot continue to hope.’ You became strong again and so you did not stop trying.

11 Perhaps someone is frightening you, so that you do not worship (me). Perhaps you are so afraid of someone that you cannot remember me. And you have not thought about me in your minds. Perhaps you are afraid of me because I have not said anything for a long time.

12 I will show (to everybody) the very good things that you do. (Only you think that they are good!) And they will not be a benefit to you.

13 You will shout for help. Then I will let all (your false gods) save you (if they can)! The wind will carry them all away. (Somebody’s) breath will blow them away. But anyone that comes to me for help will have the land. (He or she) will have my holy mountain.holy mountain’ here may mean Zion, the mountain in Jerusalem where they built God’s house.

14 He will say, ‘Build up (a road)! Build (it) up. Make a road. Remove the things that stop my people from using the road.’

15 The High (God), who is Above (Everything), is speaking. He (is the God that) will always be alive. His name is holy. (He says,) ‘I live in a high and holy place. But (I will live) also with anyone who has a lowly and a humble spirit. I will cause the spirit of the humble person to continue to live. I will also cause the heart of the lowly person to stay alive.

16 I will not always say that someone is bad. (I will not always) be angry (with him). (If I did, his) spirit would become weak in front of me. I made (him) alive when I made man.

17 His sin, greed made me angry and I punished him. I was angry and I hid from him. But he continued to do what he wanted to do.

18 I have seen what he is doing. But I will give him health again. Then I will be a guide to him and I will make him strong again.’

19 (God) will cause the people who are sad to speak words of praise. The LORD says, ‘(I will give) peace. (There will be) peace to the people that are far away. And (there will be peace) to those that are near. And I will give them health.

20 But bad people are like a sea that is always moving. Its waters throw up dirt. And they throw up wet material that is not clean.

21 There is no peace’, says my God, ‘for bad people.’

58

Fast or Feast

1 (God says),’Shout with (your) voice! Do not keep (the sound) quiet! Make a sound with your voice like a trumpet! Tell my people that they have not obeyed me. Also, (tell) the house of Jacob about their sins.’Verse 1 ‘the house of Jacob’ here means God’s people, Judah and Israel, who were descendants of Jacob.

2 ‘(Do this) because every day (my people) look for me. And it seems that they really want to know my ways. They are like a country that does what is right. And they seem not to have turned away from what their God wants them to do. They ask me to decide fairly. And they seem to want God to come near to them.’

3 (They say this.) ‘We have fasted and you, (God), did not see it. We made ourselves humble and you did not seem to see it.’ (God answers), ‘Look! On the day when you fast, you make yourselves happy. And you are not kind to the people that work for you.

4 Look! While you fast, you quarrel. Then you fight. And you hit each other with your fists. You cannot fast today so that (I, God) will hear your voice in (heaven).

5 I did not want you to do these things when you fast:· A man makes himself humble (only) for a day.· (A man) is humble, like a plant that is dying.· And (a man) lies on hairy cloth and ashes.That is what you do when you fast. (Do not think) that the LORD will accept that.6-7 This is the way that I want you to fast:· Remove the chains that wrongly tie (people) up.· And take off the chains (that hold) the yoke.· Let the people that the enemy has been cruel to go free.· And break every yoke.· Give some of your food to hungry people.· And give a safe place to the poor person who goes from place to place.· When you see bare people, give them clothes.· And do not turn away from your own family.

8 Then your light will shine like the (light at) dawn. And soon (everyone) will see that you are well again. Then your righteous (God) will go in front of you. And the glory of the LORD at your backs will make you safe.9-10 Then you will pray and the LORD will answer (you). You will ask for help and immediately he will say, “Here I am.”(You must do these things:)· Remove the yoke.· Do not point with the finger (at people) and say bad things (about them).· Use all your power to give help to hungry people.· Give to oppressed people the things that they need.Then your light will shine in the dark places and your night will be like midday.

11 (Then) the LORD will always be your guide. He will give to you plenty of everything, in a country where the sun is burning (everything). And he will make your bodies strong. You will become like a garden that has plenty of water. (You will be) like a well whose waters never fail.

12 You will build again the old (places that the enemy) destroyed. And you will build the old houses again. (People) will call you “The Person who Mends Broken Walls” and “The Person who Builds Again Streets with Houses”.13-14 If you (do these things), then you will enjoy yourselves with the LORD:· Do not do wrong things on the Sabbath.· Do not do what only what makes you happy you on my holy day.· Call the Sabbath a lovely day.· Call the LORD’s holy day a good day.· Think good things about (the Sabbath). (You will do this) when you do not do things in your own way.· Do not do things to make yourself happy (on the Sabbath). And do not speak words that are not important (on the Sabbath).(If you do these things,) I will cause you to ride on the high places in the country. Also, you will have a feast with what your ancestor Jacob gave to you.’ (Do these things) because the mouth of the LORD has said them.

59

1 Look! The hand of the LORD is not too short to save you. Neither is his ear too weak to hear you.

2 But the wrong things that you have done have made you separate from your God. Your sins have hidden (his) face from you, so that he will not listen (to you).3-4 (This is true) for these reasons:· Blood makes your hands red. The wrong things that you do are on your fingers.· Your lips have said things that are not true. Also, your tongue quietly says bad things.· Nobody asks for a judge to be fair. Nobody says things that are honest.· People give reasons that mean nothing. People say things that are not true.· People conceive trouble and they give birth to bad (things).This is like a picture of when people have an idea to do bad things. And then they do them.

5 It is like when a snake causes young snakes to come out of the snake’s eggs. And they are always making spiderswebs. People that eat the eggs (of spiders) will die. And when they break (a snake’s egg) a worse snake will come out.

6 They cannot use (spiders’) webs (to make) clothes. They cannot cover themselves with the things that they make from them. The things that they do are bad. And they use their hands to hurt people.

7 Their feet hurry (them) to do bad things. They rush to pour out the blood of people who have not done anything bad. Their thoughts are bad thoughts. They break and destroy things. They do that everywhere that they go.

8 They do not know the way to peace. Their paths are never honest. Their roads turn away (from what is good). Nobody that walks on them will have peace.

9 So, (God’s) rules are far away from us! So, righteousness does not reach us! We look for light, but everything is dark. (We look) for a little bit of light, but we see only dark shadows.

10 Like blind people, we touch the wall (to find our way). We find our way (when we touch things), like men without eyes. At midday, we fall down. (We are) like (people that are in) bad light. We are like dead people among strong people.

11 We all make angry noises, like bears (make). And we make sad noises, like doves make. We look for (people to obey God’s) rules, but we do not find any. (We look) for people to help us, but they are far away.

12 (This is) because we have done many (wrong) things. You, (God) think that they are wrong. And our sins speak against us. The things that we have done wrong are always with us. And we know about our sins.

13 We have not obeyed the LORD. And we have not tried to do what he wanted us to do. We have turned away from our God. We have spoken about being cruel to people. And we have spoken about fights against (God). We have thought about things in our minds that were not true. Then we have said those things.

14 So, (it is like) we have sent away (God’s) rules. And righteousness (is like a person who) is standing a long way away. Things that are true have fallen down in the streets. We will not let people be honest.

15 (People) cannot find what is true anywhere. Also, good people become (people that bad people) try to kill.And the LORD looked (at his people). And it did not make him happy that (people did) not obey his rules.

16 He saw that there was nobody to do anything (about it). And he thought that this was bad. So his own arm made his people safe. And (with) his own righteousness he made himself strong.

17 He put on righteousness to cover his body. And (he put on) what makes people safe to cover his head. He put on (these things as) clothes to fight against his enemies. And he wanted so much (to fight his enemies) that these (clothes) were like a coat all round him!

18 He will pay again to people what they should have.· He will be angry with the people that fight against him.· (There will be) a fair punishment for his enemies.· (He will) pay a fair price to the islands.

19 People will be afraid of the name of the LORD in the west. And from where the sun rises (in the east) they will see his glory. (They will say that) it is very good. (This is) because he will rush along like a river. The Spirit of the LORD will push him along.

20 ‘The Redeemer will come to Zion. (He will come) to the people of Jacob who are sorry because of their sins’, says the LORD.

21 ‘Now I myself have this covenant with them’, says the LORD. ‘My Spirit is with you and I have put my words into your mouth. They will not go from your mouth. (They will not go) from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of their children. This will be (true), now and for always’, says the LORD.

60

The first Song of the Messiah

1 Stand up and shine! (Do this) because your light has come! And the glory of the LORD has risen over you.The word ‘light’ here is a name for God’s Messiah. See John 9:5.

2 Look, because a dark cloud covers the earth. It is very dark over the people. But the LORD will rise up above you and (the world will) see his glory over you.

3 Then, people will come to your light from foreign countries. Also, kings will come to the bright light that is beginning to shine over you.

4 Open your eyes and look all round you. Everybody is coming together and they are coming to you. Your sons will come from far away and (you will) carry your daughters in your arms.

5 Then you will look and you will shine! And you will feel like your heart is jumping. And (it will) feel bigger (inside you). (This will happen) because they will bring valuable things from across the seas to you. The valuable (things) from other countries will come to you.

6 Groups of camels will be in your country. Young camels (will come from) Midian and from Ephah. And everybody from Sheba will come. They will carry gold and incense. Also, they will talk about how great that the LORD is.

7 (People) will bring to you all the farm animals from Kedar. They will offer the male sheep from Nebaioth to you. I (God’s Messiah,) will accept them when people offer them (to me) on my altar. So, I will make my great temple beautiful.

8 These are the people that fly along (quickly) like clouds. They come like birds to their homes.

9 (They do this) because the islands are looking for me to come. The ships from Tarshish are at the front (of the people that are coming). They bring your sons from far away. And they bring silver and gold. They will come to (the place where) the name of LORD your God (is important). (He is) the Holy (God) of Israel. (They do this) because he has made you beautiful.

10 And the sons of strangers will build your walls again. Also, their kings will be your servants. I hit you when I was angry. But I will be kind to you now that I am not angry (with you).

11 Your gates will always be open. (People) will never close them, during the day or during the night. Then, people can bring in (to you) valuable things from other countries. Their kings will come with them.

12 (Somebody will) destroy the country or the kingdom that will not be your servant. (That country) will really destroy itself completely.

13 The glory of Lebanon will come to you. (Its glory is its) pine trees, fir trees and cypress trees. They will make my temple beautiful. And I will put my glory where my feet touch the earth.

14 The people that were cruel to you will come (to you). They will bend in front of you. And everybody that did not like you will come (to you). (They will) bend on their knees at your feet. And they will call you, ‘The City of the LORD. (You are) Zion. (You) belong to the Holy (God) of Israel.’

15 People have kept away from you and they have not liked you. Now, everybody will always think that you are great. Nobody may travel through you, but everybody will (always) be happy because of you.

16 And you will drink the milk of other countries and the breasts of queens will feed you. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have made you safe. And I am your Redeemer. I am the very strong (God) of Jacob.

17 I will bring you gold, (I will not bring you) bronze. And (I will bring you) silver. (I will not bring you) iron. And you will not have wood, (but you will have) bronze. And (I will bring you) iron; (I will not bring you) stones. And I will make peace your ruler and righteousness will rule over you.

18 You will not hear in your country (the noise that) cruel people make. Nobody will break or destroy anything inside the edges of your country. And you will call your walls ‘A Safe Place’ and (you will call) your gates ‘Praise’.

19 The sun will not give you light in the day again, neither will the moon shine brightly on you. But (instead) the LORD will always be your light and your God will be your glory.

20 Your sun will never go down again and your moon will never disappear. (This is) because the LORD will always be your light. Then your sad days will end.

21 Then all your people will be righteous and they will always have the land. They will be like a small plant that I have planted. (They will be) the work that my hands have made. (They will) show that I am beautiful.

22 The least (person) will become a thousand (1000) people and the smallest (person) will become a strong country. I am the LORD. When it happens, I will do it quickly. The 2nd and 3rd Songs of the Messiah (chapters 61-62)

61

The second Song of the Messiah

1 The Spirit of the Lord, (who is) LORD, (is) upon me. (This is) because the LORD has anointed me to tell good news to poor people. He has sent me to make people happy again. (These are the people that trouble) has caused to be very sad. (He has sent me) to tell the people in a prison that they are free. And (he sent me) to tell the people in a prison that they can come out of the dark places.Verse 1 is about people who are very sad. They are sad because of what has happened to them. He will help them to feel better.

2 (He has sent me) to say (this. Now is) the year when the LORD will be kind. Also, the day when God will punish people (is near). (He has sent me) to make everybody who is very sad happy again. (They are so sad) that it causes them to weep.

3 (He has sent me) to do (these things). (I will do them) on behalf of all those people in Zion whose spirits are hurting:· (They will have) flowers on them; (they will not have) ashes (on them).· (They will have on them olive) oil that will make them happy. Then, they will not weep.· No longer will their spirits have no hope. Praise will be like a coat for them, instead.People will say that they are like large trees of righteousness. They will be (like trees) that the LORD has planted. They will show to people that the LORD is beautiful.

4 They will build again what (enemies) broke into pieces long ago. And they will make places new again (that enemies) destroyed long ago. They will mend the cities that (somebody) destroyed. (Someone) destroyed (the cities) when their grandparents were alive!In verses 4-9, Isaiah uses the words ‘they’, ‘them’, ‘you’ and ‘your’. They all mean ‘those people in Zion’, (verse 3).

5 Foreigners will come and they will be shepherds to your animals. People from foreign countries will work in your fields and in your vineyards.

6 And (people) will call you ‘priests of the LORD’. Your name will be ‘servants of our God’. You will have valuable things from every country. And you will tell everybody about how rich they (have made you).

7 You will not be ashamed, (because you will be) twice as (happy) instead. And (things will not) disappoint (them). They will sing aloud about what (the LORD has) given (to them). So, they will have twice as much (as they had) in their land. And they will always be very happy.

8 (This is) because I, the LORD, love justice. I do not like people that take things for themselves. (I am speaking about the things) that they offer on my altar. And I will give a gift to them, because I will always be kind to them. I will make a covenant with them that will never end.

9 And every country will know their seed. People from every country will know their children. Everybody that sees them will agree to this. They are the seed that the LORD has blessed.‘seed’ is a special word for God’s people here.

The third Song of the Messiah

10 I have great pleasure in the LORD. My spirit is very happy in my God. He has put the clothes on to me that make me safe. He has dressed me in the clothes of righteousness. (I am) like a man at his marriage, with a special hat like a priest’s. And (I am) like a woman at her marriage whose valuable stones make her beautiful.

11 So the Lord, (who is) LORD, will cause righteousness and praise to appear to every country. It will be like the ground that causes the young plant to come up. And (it will be like) a garden that causes seeds to grow.

62

1 I will not be quiet, on behalf of Zion. On behalf of Jerusalem, I will not stay quiet. (I will be like this) until her righteousness shines out like the dawn. She will be so safe that it burns like the brightest torch.

2 Then, the people in every country will see your righteousness and every king (will see) your glory. And they will call you by a new name. The mouth of the LORD will give it to you.

3 And you will be like a beautiful crown in the LORD’s hand. In the hand of your God (you will be like) what a king wears on his head.

4 They will not call you ‘Alone’ again. The name of your country will not be ‘Empty, Sandy Place’. But they will call you ‘Hephzibah’ and they will call your country ‘Beulah’.

5 As a young man marries a young woman, so your sons will marry you. As a man at his marriage is happy with his new wife, so your God will be happy with you.Verse 5 ‘your sons’ here means the people that live in Jerusalem.

6 I have put people on your walls, Jerusalem, to keep them safe. They will not be quiet, during all the day and during all the night. Those (people) that remember the LORD do not rest.

7 And do not let (the LORD) rest, until he has built Jerusalem again. He will make (Jerusalem the place) that all the people in the world praise. (Do not let him rest) until he does that.

8 The LORD has promised (these things). (He will do them) with his right hand and with his strong arm.· ‘I will never give your grain to your enemies for food again.· And never again will foreigners drink the new wine that you have worked carefully to make.’Some Christians believe that ‘right hand’ is a name for God’s Holy Spirit in Isaiah’s book.And some Christians believe that, in Isaiah’s book, ‘strong arm’ is a name for Jesus, the Messiah.

9 ‘But the people who pick it will eat it. Then they will praise the LORD. And those (people) who pick the grapes will drink (the wine). They will do it in the yards that are round about my temple.’

10 Pass through, pass through the gates. Prepare the way for the people. Build up, build up the road on higher ground. Remove the stones. Lift up a sign for the people (from foreign countries).

11 Look! The LORD has said this to the parts of the earth that are far away. ‘Say to the Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem), “Look! The (Messiah that will) make you safe is coming! Look! His gifts are with him! He is bringing with him what he will give back (to you).” ’

12 Their name will the Holy People. (They are the people) whom the LORD has redeemed. And people will call you (by these names): ‘(Whom somebody) Looked For’ (and) ‘The City that Nobody Keeps Away From’. The 4th Song of the Messiah and Isaiah’s Prayer (chapters 63-64)

63

The fourth Song of the Messiah

1 Someone is coming from Edom and from Bozrah. A bright colour makes his clothes (red). It is someone that is wearing beautiful clothes. He marches on his way and he is very strong. (He says), ‘I am speaking (to you). I am righteous. I am strong enough to save you.’

2 Why are your clothes red? They are like (the clothes) of somebody that has worked in a winepress.

3 ‘I have worked in the winepress alone. From (all) the countries, nobody was with me. I walked on them because I was angry. And I put them under my feet because I was angry. Their blood went all over my clothes and I made all my clothes (red).

4 (I did this) because I was thinking about (a certain) day. (On that day) I would punish people. Also, the year when I would redeem people had come.’Verse 4 ‘I was thinking about’. In the Hebrew Bible this is ‘it was in my heart’. The Jews believed that people thought in their hearts.

5 ‘I had looked, but there was nobody to help (me). And I was not happy, because nobody helped (me). So my own arm did the work to save them. And I was so angry that it helped me.

6 I walked on (all) the countries, because I was angry. I was so angry that I caused them (to seem) like drunks. Then, I poured their blood on to the ground.’ Isaiah’s Prayer

7 I will tell (people) that the LORD is kind. (I will talk about) how people praise the LORD. (This is) because of all that the LORD has done on our behalf. He has done many good things on behalf of the house of Israel. (He did this) because of his great love on their behalf. And (he did this) (because) he was very kind (to them).‘The house of Israel’ means the Jewish people.

8 And he said, ‘Surely, they are my people. (They are) sons who will always follow me.’ So he became the person that saved them.

9 When they were in trouble, he was in their trouble with them. And the angel, that was there with him, saved them. And in his love and in his mercy he redeemed them. Also, he lifted them up and he carried them. (He did this) as he had done it in past years.

10 But they did not obey him and they made his Holy Spirit angry. So, he turned against them and he became their enemy. He fought against them.

11 Then he remembered past years. (He remembered) Moses and his people. (They said,) ‘(We need) the Person that brought them up out of the sea, with the leaders of his people. (We need the Person) that put his Holy Spirit on him.

12 His arm shone while he went at Moses’ right hand. (We need that Person.) (We need the Person) who caused the waters (of the River Jordan) to become separate. (Because of that,) he caused his name always to be famous.’

13 ‘(We need the Person) who led them through the deep (places in the sea). As a horse (runs) in flat country, so they did not fall.Verses 8-13 ‘He’ and ‘him’ and ‘the Person’ in these verses mean the LORD God.

14 The (Holy) Spirit of the LORD gave them rest, like cows and sheep that go down to their fields. This is how he was the guide of your people. And you made for yourself a famous name!’

15 Look down from your holy and beautiful house in heaven and see (us). You want (to do what you have promised to us). And you are strong. And you love (us) and you want to be kind to us. But you are not doing anything on our behalf!

16 But you are our father, even if Abraham does not know us. (You are our father) even if Israel does not recognise us. You, LORD, are our father. Your name is our Redeemer, from days long ago.

17 LORD, we do not know why you let us go away from your ways. (You let us make) our hearts so hard, so that we do not love you. (We do not know why you let us do that.) Come back to us, on behalf of your servants. (We are) the families that belong to you!To have hard hearts means that they cannot love anyone.

18 Your holy people will have (their own land) only for a short time. Our enemies will walk all over your holy place.

19 For a long time, we are like people that you have not ruled. (People) did not call us by your name!

64

1 Oh, I wanted you to break open the skies and I wanted you to come down! Then the mountains would have moved in front of you.

2 (It would have been) like a fire that burns up bits of wood. And (it would have been) like a fire that boils water. (These things would have happened) when you came down. And you would have caused your enemies to know your name. The countries would have moved away in front of you.

3 (You did things) that made us afraid. (And it would have happened) while you did those things. They were things that we did not think would happen. (It would have happened) while you came down. And the mountains would have moved in front of you.

4 And, for a long time, nobody has heard of, or thought about, a God like you. Nobody has seen (a God like you). He does things on behalf of those (people) that wait for him.

5 You help the people that are happy. (You help them) to do what is right. They (are the people that) remember your ways. But you are angry because, for a long time, we have sinned against your rules. So, we do not know if (anyone) can save us.

6 We have all become like someone who is not clean. And all the good things that we do are like very dirty bits of cloth. We all become dry, like a leaf. And, like a wind, our sins sweep us away.

7 And nobody shouts your name or tries to pray to you. (This is) because you have hidden your face from us. And you have caused us slowly to become weak, because our sins are so strong.

8 But LORD, you are still our father. We are like the clay. And you are like the person that makes the pots. Your hand made all of us.

9 Do not be too angry with us, LORD. And do not always remember our sins. But help us again, because we are your people.

10 Your holy cities will become empty, sandy places. Zion will be an empty, sandy place and Jerusalem will be full of dirt.

11 Our ancestors praised you in our holy and beautiful temple. (But soon,) fire will burn it. (An enemy will) destroy everything that is valuable to us.

12 After all this, LORD, we hope that you will not still do nothing. We hope that you will not continue to be quiet. We hope that you will not continue to punish us. The New Jerusalem (chapters 65-66)

65

1 ‘I spoke to people who did not ask for me. People who did not look for me found me. I said, “Here I (am), here I (am)!” (I said it) to a country that was not called by my name.

2 All day long I hold my hands out to people who will not listen (to me). They continue to walk (live) in ways that are not good. They still do what their thoughts (want them to do).’Verse 2 ‘hold my hands out’ This is what the Jews did when they asked someone to do something.

3 ‘They are people that continue to make me angry. (They do it) in front of me! They offer gifts in (their) gardens (to false gods). They burn them on stones.

4 They sit among the graves and they watch all night in secret places. They eat meat from pigs. And (they eat) dishes of soup (that they made) from unclean meat.

5 They are people that say, “Keep away from me, and do not come near me. I am too holy for you!” These people are like smoke in my nose! (They are like smoke) from a fire that burns all day.

6 Look! The words are (in a book) in front of me. I will not stay quiet, but I will punish them completely. I will pay them back completely, like someone who puts things into their hands.

7 (I will pay back) both your sins and the sins of your ancestors’, says the LORD. ‘(I will do this) because they burned gifts (to false gods) on the mountains. And they said bad things about me on the hills. And, firstly, I will measure to them the right punishment for what they have done.’Verses 6 and 7 ‘pay back’ This means ‘give to them what their sin has brought to them’. It is another way to say ‘punish them’.

8 This is what the LORD says. ‘Sometimes people find juice in a group of grapes. Then men say, “Do not destroy it, because there is something good in it.” I will do something like this on behalf of my servants. I will not kill them all.

9 I will cause there still to be seed in Jacob’s family. There will be people in Judah to live on my mountains. The people that I have chosen will live on them. And my servants will live there.’‘seed’ is a special word for God’s people here.

10 ‘And Sharon will become a field for groups (of sheep). Also, groups (of cows) will rest in the Valley of Achor. (They will be places) for my people who are looking for me.

11 (This will happen) to you (people) who go away from the LORD. And (it will happen to you people) that forget my holy mountain. Also, (it will happen to people) who put food on a table for (the false god called) Luck. And (it will happen to people) who fill dishes of wine for Fate.’holy mountain’ here means Zion, the mountain in Jerusalem where they built God’s house.

12 ‘Your “luck” will be that a sword (will kill you). And you will all bend down for death. I spoke (to you), but you did not answer. I spoke, but you did not listen. You did bad things in front of me, where I could see them. And you chose (to do things) that did not make me happy.’

13 So the LORD (who is) Master says this. ‘Look! My servants will eat (food), but you will be hungry. Look! My servants will (have something to) drink, but you will have nothing to drink. Look! My servants will be very happy, but you will be ashamed.

14 Look! My servants will sing because they feel so happy. But you will cry because there is so much pain in your minds. You will weep because your spirits are so sad.

15 And you will leave your name as a curse to the people that I have chosen. And the LORD (who is) Master will kill (all of) you. But he will give to his servants another name.

16 Whoever asks for a blessing in the country will do it by the God of Truth. Whoever makes a promise in the country will do it by the God of Truth. (This is because God) will forget troubles in past years. Really, (something) will hide them from my eyes.’

17 ‘Listen, because I will create new heavens and a new earth. And (people) will not remember how things were. They will not even (be ideas that) come to their minds.

18 But rather, be happy! And always, (yes), always be very happy about what I will create! (Do this), for these reasons:· The Jerusalem that I will create will be a pleasure (to me).· The people that live there will make (me) very happy.

19 Then, I will be very happy with Jerusalem and I will have great pleasure in my people. Nobody will hear the sound of (people) crying (in Jerusalem). People will not weep there again.

20 Never again will there be (in Jerusalem) a baby that only lives for a few days. (Nor will there be) an old man that does not live a long life. But a man that dies 100 (years old), people will call a young man. And a man may not live to be 100 (years old). But then people will think that someone has said a curse about him.

21 People (in Jerusalem) will build houses and they will live in them. They will plant vineyards and they will eat the fruit from them.

22 They will not build houses for other people to live in. They will not plant things for other people to eat (the fruit). (This is) because the days of my people will be as many as the days of a tree. The people that I have chosen will enjoy things. (They will enjoy) what their hands have made for a long time.

23 They will not work without result. Neither will they have children that will have bad times. (This is) because they are the seed. (They are the seed) that the LORD will bless. (He will bless) them and their descendants with them.

24 Before they pray (to me), I will answer (them). While they are still speaking, I will hear (them).

25 The wolf and the young sheep will eat together. And the lion will eat dry grass like the cow. But the food of the snake will be dirt. They will neither hurt nor kill (anything) on all my holy mountain’, says the LORD.Verse 23 The word for ‘seed’ usually means ‘children’. But here it is a special word for God’s people.Verse 25 ‘holy mountain’ here may mean Zion, the mountain in Jerusalem where they built God’s house.

66

1 This is what the LORD is saying. ‘Heaven is my high seat. And the earth is the place where I will put my feet. I do not know where you could build a house for me. You could not make a place where I will rest.’The word for ‘high seat’ is the chair that a king would sit on.

2 ‘My hand has made all these things. That is how they happened’, says the LORD. ‘I think that this kind of person is valuable. He will be humble and he will have a lowly spirit. And he will be afraid when he hears my word.

3 Some people kill a male cow for me. Some people kill a man. Some people offer me a young sheep. Some people break a dog’s neck. Some people offer grain. Some people offer pig’s blood. Some people (burn) incense to remember (me). Some people worship false gods. Some people have chosen their own ways. Their spirits have pleasure in bad things.

4 So I will choose to punish them a lot. And I will send to them the things that will make them very afraid. (This is) because nobody answered when I spoke. And when I spoke, nobody listened. They did bad things (even while) I watched them! And they chose (to do) things that did not make me happy.’In verse 3, some people do good things, and some people do bad things. Kill a male cow for me (good) ~ Kill a man (bad) Offer me a young sheep (good) ~ Break a dog’s neck (bad) Offer grain (good) ~ Offer pig’s blood (bad) Burn incense to remember me (good) ~ Worship false gods (bad)

5 Listen to the LORD’s message, you people that were afraid of his words. ‘Your (bad) brothers did not like you. They do not let you belong (to the people of Judah). They do this because of my name. They said (to you), “Give praise to the LORD. Then we will see that you are happy.” But (your brothers) will be ashamed.’The word ‘brothers’ here might really mean other Jews.

6 ‘A voice (comes like) a loud noise from the city! A voice (comes) from the temple. The voice (is) the LORD’s (voice). He is giving to his enemies all that they should have.’

7 ‘Before she has labour, she has a baby. Before the pains come to her, a son is born!

8 Nobody has ever heard of such a thing. Nobody has ever seen things like this. A country cannot be born in one day. Nor can a country have birth in a moment. But as soon as Zion has labour, her children are born!Zion is not the name of a woman here. It is the name of a hill in Jerusalem. People often use it to mean all Jerusalem. The idea about a woman who has a baby is like a picture here.

9 When I bring (someone) to the moment of birth, then the baby is born.’ This is what the LORD is saying. ‘I do not close up the mother’s body before the baby is born’, says your God.

10 ‘Be happy with (the people in) Jerusalem and be very happy for Jerusalem. (Do this), everybody that loves Jerusalem. Be very happy with Jerusalem, everybody that cries for Jerusalem.

11 (Jerusalem) will be like a mother to you. And she will give to you all that you need. Her breasts will cause you to feel happier. You will drink a lot (of her milk). And you will be very happy with the glory that pours (like a stream of water) from her.’

12 (This will happen) because the LORD says, ‘Look! I will give peace to (Jerusalem) like a river. And (I will cause) the valuable things from every country to pour in like a stream (of water). Jerusalem will be like a mother to you and she will carry you by her side. And you will (be like a baby that) sits on its (mother’s) knees.

13 I will cause you to feel happier as a mother causes her child to feel happier. (You felt sad because an enemy destroyed Jerusalem.) I will cause you to feel happier about Jerusalem (now).’

14 And when you see (this), you will feel very happy! And your bones will grow easily, like grass. The LORD will cause his servants to know that his hand (is good). But he will show his enemies that he is very angry.Verses 11-14 The words that we have translated ‘cause you to feel happier’ in these verses mean ‘to make people strong again, so that they can live with their troubles’.

15 Look! The LORD will come with fire and his chariots will be like a strong wind. He will come down (from heaven) because he is very angry. He will speak against them with words of fire.

16 And so the LORD will be the judge of all people with fire and with his sword. Then the LORD will kill many people.

17 ‘Some people are servants of their gods. And some people make themselves very clean for their gods. They go into the gardens. They follow the people who eat the meat from pigs and rats and other dirty things. They will all come to their deaths together’, says the LORD.

18 ‘And I will come and I will bring together the people from all countries. And I will bring together the people who speak all languages. (I will do this because) of what they have done and (because of) their thoughts. And they will come and they will see my glory.

19 And I will put a sign among them. And I will send some of those people that run away (from me) to other countries. (They will go to):· Tarshish (in Spain)· the people in Libya· the people in Lydia, who are famous because they shoot arrows (so well)· Tubal· Greece· far away islands that have not heard of my name and have not seen my glory.These people will tell other countries about my glory.

20 And they will bring all your brothers to my holy mountain in Jerusalem. (They will bring them) from all the countries to offer (them) to the LORD. (They will come) on horses, in chariots and in trucks. (They will come) on mules (animals like small horses) and on camels’, says the LORD. ‘They will bring them as the Jews bring grain. (This is what) they offer to the LORD in the temple. (The grain is in) the special dishes that they use to worship me.

21 And I will choose some of them to be priests. And I will choose some of them to be servants of God (like my servants) from Levi’s family’, says the LORD.Verse 20 The word ‘brothers’ here really means other Jews.

22 ‘The new heavens and the new earth that I will make will always be there’, says the LORD. ‘Also, your name and (the names of) your seed will stay there.’‘seed’ is a special word for God’s people here.

23 ‘Everybody will come and they will bend down on their knees in front of me’, says the LORD. ‘(They will come) from one New Moon to the next (New Moon) and from one Sabbath to another.

24 And they will go out (of the New Jerusalem). And they will look at the dead bodies of the people that did not obey me. Their worm will not die and their fire will not go out. And everybody will see how dirty that they are.’