The Stream of Consciousness

The LORD will spell out his message for them again, one line at a time, one line at a time, a little here, and a little there: Until cities lie waste, without inhabitants, and houses without people; and the land becomes utterly desolate…

“This is another message to Isaiah from the Lord concerning Judah and Jerusalem:

In the last days Jerusalem and the Temple of the Lord will become the world’s greatest attraction, and people from many lands will flow there to worship the Lord.

“Come,” everyone will say, “let us go up the mountain of the Lord, to the Temple of the God of Israel; there he will teach us his laws, and we will obey them.” For in those days the world will be ruled from Jerusalem. The Lord will settle international disputes; all the nations will convert their weapons of war into implements of peace. Then at the last all wars will stop and all military training will end. O Israel, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord and be obedient to his laws!

The Lord has rejected you because you welcome foreigners from the East who practice magic and communicate with evil spirits, as the Philistines do.

Israel has vast treasures of silver and gold, and great numbers of horses and chariots and idols—the land is full of them! They are man-made, and yet you worship them! Small and great, all bow before them; God will not forgive you for this sin.

Crawl into the caves in the rocks and hide in terror from his glorious majesty, for the day is coming when your proud looks will be brought low; the Lord alone will be exalted. On that day the Lord Almighty will move against the proud and haughty and bring them to the dust. All the tall cedars of Lebanon and all the mighty oaks of Bashan shall bend low, and all the high mountains and hills, and every high tower and wall, and all the proud ocean ships and trim harbor craft—all shall be crushed before the Lord that day. All the glory of mankind will bow low; the pride of men will lie in the dust, and the Lord alone will be exalted. And all idols will be utterly abolished and destroyed.

When the Lord stands up from his throne to shake up the earth, his enemies will crawl with fear into the holes in the rocks and into the caves because of the glory of his majesty. Then at last they will abandon their gold and silver idols to the moles and bats and crawl into the caverns to hide among the jagged rocks at the tops of the cliffs, to try to get away from the terror of the Lord and the glory of his majesty when he rises to terrify the earth. Puny man! Frail as his breath! Don’t ever put your trust in him!

The Lord will cut off Jerusalem’s and Judah’s food and water supplies and kill her leaders; he will destroy her armies, judges, prophets, elders, army officers, businessmen, lawyers, magicians, and politicians. Israel’s kings will be like babies, ruling childishly. And the worst sort of anarchy will prevail—everyone stepping on someone else, neighbors fighting neighbors, youths revolting against authority, criminals sneering at honorable men.

In those days a man will say to his brother, “You have some extra clothing, so you be our king and take care of this mess.”

“No!” he will reply. “I cannot be of any help! I have no extra food or clothes. Don’t get me involved!”

Israel’s civil government will be in utter ruin because the Jews have spoken out against their Lord and will not worship him; they offend his glory. The very look on their faces gives them away and shows their guilt. And they boast that their sin is equal to the sin of Sodom; they are not even ashamed. What a catastrophe! They have doomed themselves.

But all is well for the godly man. Tell him, “What a reward you are going to get!” But say to the wicked, “Your doom is sure. You too shall get your just deserts. Your well-earned punishment is on the way.”

O my people! Can’t you see what fools your rulers are? Weak as women! Foolish as little children playing king. True leaders? No, misleaders! Leading you down the garden path to destruction.

The Lord stands up! He is the great Prosecuting Attorney presenting his case against his people! First to feel his wrath will be the elders and the princes, for they have defrauded the poor. They have filled their barns with grain extorted from the helpless peasants.

“How dare you grind my people in the dust like that?” the Lord Almighty will demand of them.

Next he will judge the haughty Jewish women, who mince along, noses in the air, tinkling bracelets on their ankles, with wanton eyes that rove among the crowds to catch the glances of the men. The Lord will send a plague of scabs to ornament their heads! He will expose their nakedness for all to see. No longer shall they tinkle with self-assurance as they walk. For the Lord will strip away their artful beauty and their ornaments, their necklaces and bracelets and veils of shimmering gauze. Gone shall be their scarves and ankle chains, headbands, earrings, and perfumes; their rings, jewels, party clothes, negligees, capes, ornate combs, and purses; their mirrors, lovely lingerie, beautiful dresses, and veils. Instead of smelling of sweet perfume, they’ll stink; for sashes they’ll use ropes; their well-set hair will all fall out; they’ll wear sacks instead of robes.

All their beauty will be gone; all that will be left to them is shame and disgrace. Their husbands shall die in battle; the women, ravaged, shall sit crying on the ground.

At that time so few men will be left alive that seven women will fight over each of them and say, “Let us all marry you! We will furnish our own food and clothing; only let us be called by your name so that we won’t be mocked as old maids.”

Those whose names are written down to escape the destruction of Jerusalem will be washed and rinsed of all their moral filth by the horrors and the fire. They will be God’s holy people. And the land will produce for them its lushest bounty and its richest fruit. Then the Lord will provide shade on all Jerusalem—over every home and all its public grounds—a canopy of smoke and cloud throughout the day, and clouds of fire at night, covering the Glorious Land, protecting it from daytime heat and from rains and storms.

Now I will sing a song about his vineyard to the one I love. My Beloved has a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He plowed it and took out all the rocks and planted his vineyard with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower and cut a winepress in the rocks. Then he waited for the harvest, but the grapes that grew were wild and sour and not at all the sweet ones he expected.

Now, men of Jerusalem and Judah, you have heard the case! You be the judges! What more could I have done? Why did my vineyard give me wild grapes instead of sweet? I will tear down the fences and let my vineyard go to pasture to be trampled by cattle and sheep. I won’t prune it or hoe it, but let it be overgrown with briars and thorns. I will command the clouds not to rain on it anymore.

I have given you the story of God’s people. They are the vineyard that I spoke about. Israel and Judah are his pleasant acreage! He expected them to yield a crop of justice, but found bloodshed instead. He expected righteousness, but the cries of deep oppression met his ears. You buy up property so others have no place to live. Your homes are built on great estates so you can be alone in the midst of the earth! But the Lord Almighty has sworn your awful fate— with my own ears I heard him say, “Many a beautiful home will lie deserted, their owners killed or gone. An acre of vineyard will not produce a gallon of juice! Ten bushels of seed will yield a one-bushel crop!”

Woe to you who get up early in the morning to go on long drinking bouts that last till late at night—woe to you drunken bums. You furnish lovely music at your grand parties; the orchestras are superb! But for the Lord you have no thought or care. Therefore I will send you into exile far away because you neither know nor care that I have done so much for you. Your great and honored men will starve, and the common people will die of thirst.

Hell is licking its chops in anticipation of this delicious morsel, Jerusalem. Her great and small shall be swallowed up, and all her drunken throngs. In that day the haughty shall be brought down to the dust; the proud shall be humbled; but the Lord Almighty is exalted above all, for he alone is holy, just, and good. In those days flocks will feed among the ruins. Lambs and calves and kids will pasture there!

Woe to those who drag their sins behind them like a bullock on a rope. They even mock the Holy One of Israel and dare the Lord to punish them. “Hurry up and punish us, O Lord,” they say. “We want to see what you can do!” They say that what is right is wrong and what is wrong is right; that black is white and white is black; bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter.

Woe to those who are wise and shrewd in their own eyes! Woe to those who are “heroes” when it comes to drinking and boast about the liquor they can hold. They take bribes to pervert justice, letting the wicked go free and putting innocent men in jail. Therefore God will deal with them and burn them. They will disappear like straw on fire. Their roots will rot and their flowers wither, for they have thrown away the laws of God and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. That is why the anger of the Lord is hot against his people; that is why he has reached out his hand to smash them. The hills will tremble, and the rotting bodies of his people will be thrown as refuse in the streets. But even so, his anger is not ended; his hand is heavy on them still.

He will send a signal to the nations far away, whistling to those at the ends of the earth, and they will come racing toward Jerusalem. They never weary, never stumble, never stop; their belts are tight, their bootstraps strong; they run without stopping for rest or for sleep. Their arrows are sharp; their bows are bent; sparks fly from their horses’ hoofs, and the wheels of their chariots spin like the wind. They roar like lions and pounce upon the prey. They seize my people and carry them off into captivity with none to rescue them. They growl over their victims like the roaring of the sea. Over all Israel lies a pall of darkness and sorrow, and the heavens are black.”

-Isaiah 2-5, TLB

They are not his children, the defect is their own: For the ruthless will vanish, the mockers will disappear, and all who look for evil will be cut down...

“Woe to the city of Samaria, surrounded by her rich valley—Samaria, the pride and delight of the drunkards of Israel! Woe to her fading beauty, the crowning glory of a nation of men lying drunk in the streets! For the Lord will send a mighty army (the Assyrians) against you; like a mighty hailstorm he will burst upon you and dash you to the ground. The proud city of Samaria—yes, the joy and delight of the drunkards of Israel—will be hurled to the ground and trampled beneath the enemies’ feet. Once glorious, her fading beauty surrounded by a fertile valley will suddenly be gone, greedily snatched away as an early fig is hungrily snatched and gobbled up!

Then at last the Lord Almighty himself will be their crowning glory, the diadem of beauty to his people who are left. He will give a longing for justice to your judges and great courage to your soldiers who are battling to the last before your gates. But Jerusalem is now led by drunks! Her priests and prophets reel and stagger, making stupid errors and mistakes. Their tables are covered with vomit; filth is everywhere.

“Who does Isaiah think he is,” the people say, “to speak to us like this! Are we little children, barely old enough to talk? He tells us everything over and over again, a line at a time and in such simple words!”

But they won’t listen; the only language they can understand is punishment! So God will punish them by sending against them foreigners who speak strange gibberish! Only then will they listen to him! They could have rest in their own land if they would obey him, if they were kind and good. He told them that, but they wouldn’t listen to him. So the Lord will spell it out for them again, repeating it over and over in simple words whenever he can; yet over this simple, straightforward message they will stumble and fall and be broken, trapped and captured.

Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffing rulers in Jerusalem:

You have struck a bargain with death, you say, and sold yourselves to the devil in exchange for his protection against the Assyrians. “They can never touch us,” you say, “for we are under the care of one who will deceive and fool them.”

But the Lord God says, “See, I am placing a Foundation Stone in Zion—a firm, tested, precious Cornerstone that is safe to build on. He who believes need never run away again. I will take the line and plummet of justice to check the foundation wall you built; it looks so fine, but it is so weak a storm of hail will knock it down! The enemy will come like a flood and sweep it away, and you will be drowned. I will cancel your agreement of compromise with death and the devil, so when the terrible enemy floods in, you will be trampled into the ground. Again and again that flood will come and carry you off, until at last the unmixed horror of the truth of my warnings will finally dawn on you.”

The bed you have made is far too short to lie on; the blankets are too narrow to cover you. The Lord will come suddenly and in anger, as at Mount Perazim and Gibeon, to do a strange, unusual thing—to destroy his own people! So scoff no more, lest your punishment be made even greater, for the Lord God has plainly told me that he is determined to crush you.

Listen to me, listen as I plead: Does a farmer always plow and never sow? Is he forever harrowing the soil and never planting it? Does he not finally plant his many kinds of grain, each in its own section of his land? He knows just what to do, for God has made him see and understand. He doesn’t thresh all grains the same. A sledge is never used on dill, but it is beaten with a stick. A threshing wheel is never rolled on cummin, but it is beaten softly with a flail. Bread grain is easily crushed, so he doesn’t keep on pounding it. The Lord Almighty is a wonderful teacher and gives the farmer wisdom.

Woe to Jerusalem, the city of David. Year after year you make your many offerings, but I will send heavy judgment upon you, and there will be weeping and sorrow. For Jerusalem shall become as her name “Ariel” means—an altar covered with blood. I will be your enemy. I will surround Jerusalem and lay siege against it, and build forts around it to destroy it. Your voice will whisper like a ghost from the earth where you lie buried.

But suddenly your ruthless enemies will be driven away like chaff before the wind. In an instant, I, the Lord of Hosts, will come upon them with thunder, earthquake, whirlwind, and fire. And all the nations fighting Jerusalem will vanish like a dream! As a hungry man dreams of eating but is still hungry, and as a thirsty man dreams of drinking but is still faint from thirst when he wakes up, so your enemies will dream of victorious conquest, but all to no avail.

You are amazed, incredulous? You don’t believe it? Then go ahead and be blind if you must! You are stupid—and not from drinking, either! Stagger, and not from wine! For the Lord has poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep. He has closed the eyes of your prophets and seers, so all of these future events are a sealed book to them. When you give it to one who can read, he says, “I can’t, for it’s sealed.” When you give it to another, he says, “Sorry, I can’t read.”

And so the Lord says, “Since these people say they are mine but they do not obey me, and since their worship amounts to mere words learned by rote, therefore I will take awesome vengeance on these hypocrites and make their wisest counselors as fools.”

Woe to those who try to hide their plans from God, who try to keep him in the dark concerning what they do! “God can’t see us,” they say to themselves. “He doesn’t know what is going on!” How stupid can they be! Isn’t he, the Potter, greater than you, the jars he makes? Will you say to him, “He didn’t make us”? Does a machine call its inventor dumb?

Soon—and it will not be very long—the wilderness of Lebanon will be a fruitful field again, a lush and fertile forest. In that day the deaf will hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the blind will see my plans. The meek will be filled with fresh joy from the Lord, and the poor shall exult in the Holy One of Israel. Bullies will vanish and scoffers will cease, and all those plotting evil will be killed—the violent man who fights at the drop of a hat, the man who waits in hiding to beat up the judge who sentenced him, and the men who use any excuse to be unfair.

That is why the Lord who redeemed Abraham says: “My people will no longer pale with fear or be ashamed. For when they see the surging birthrate and the expanding economy, then they will fear and rejoice in my name; they will praise the Holy One of Israel and stand in awe of him. Those in error will believe the truth, and complainers will be willing to be taught!

Woe to my rebellious children, says the Lord; you ask advice from everyone but me and decide to do what I don’t want you to do. You yoke yourselves with unbelievers, thus piling up your sins. For without consulting me you have gone down to Egypt to find aid and have put your trust in Pharaoh for his protection. But in trusting Pharaoh, you will be disappointed, humiliated and disgraced, for he can’t deliver on his promises to save you. For though his power extends to Zoan and Hanes, yet it will all turn out to your shame— he won’t help one little bit!

See them moving slowly across the terrible desert to Egypt—donkeys and camels laden down with treasure to pay for Egypt’s aid. On through the badlands they go, where lions and swift venomous snakes live—and Egypt will give you nothing in return! For Egypt’s promises are worthless! “The Reluctant Dragon,” I call her!

Now go and write down this word of mine concerning Egypt, so that it will stand until the end of time, forever and forever, as an indictment of Israel’s unbelief. For if you don’t write it, they will claim I never warned them. “Oh no,” they’ll say, “you never told us that!”

For they are stubborn rebels. They tell my prophets, “Shut up—we don’t want any more of your reports!” Or they say, “Don’t tell us the truth; tell us nice things; tell us lies. Forget all this gloom; we’ve heard more than enough about your ‘Holy One of Israel’ and all he says.”

This is the reply of the Holy One of Israel:

Because you despise what I tell you and trust instead in frauds and lies and won’t repent, therefore calamity will come upon you suddenly, as upon a bulging wall that bursts and falls; in one moment it comes crashing down. God will smash you like a broken dish; he will not act sparingly. Not a piece will be left large enough to use for carrying coals from the hearth, or a little water from the well. For the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, says: Only in returning to me and waiting for me will you be saved; in quietness and confidence is your strength; but you’ll have none of this.

“No,” you say. “We will get our help from Egypt; they will give us swift horses for riding to battle.” But the only swiftness you are going to see is the swiftness of your enemies chasing you! One of them will chase a thousand of you! Five of them will scatter you until not two of you are left together. You will be like lonely trees on the distant mountaintops. Yet the Lord still waits for you to come to him so he can show you his love; he will conquer you to bless you, just as he said. For the Lord is faithful to his promises. Blessed are all those who wait for him to help them.

O my people in Jerusalem, you shall weep no more, for he will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. He will answer you. Though he give you the bread of adversity and water of affliction, yet he will be with you to teach you—with your own eyes you will see your Teacher. And if you leave God’s paths and go astray, you will hear a voice behind you say, “No, this is the way; walk here.” And you will destroy all your silver idols and gold images and cast them out like filthy things you hate to touch. “Ugh!” you’ll say to them. “Be gone!”

Then God will bless you with rain at planting time and with wonderful harvests and with ample pastures for your cows. The oxen and young donkeys that till the ground will eat grain, its chaff blown away by the wind. In that day when God steps in to destroy your enemies, he will give you streams of water flowing down each mountain and every hill. The moon will be as bright as the sun, and the sunlight brighter than seven days! So it will be when the Lord begins to heal his people and to cure the wounds he gave them.

See, the Lord comes from afar, aflame with wrath, surrounded by thick rising smoke. His lips are filled with fury; his words consume like fire. His wrath pours out like floods upon them all, to sweep them all away. He will sift out the proud nations and bridle them and lead them off to their doom.

But the people of God will sing a song of solemn joy, like songs in the night when holy feasts are held; his people will have gladness of heart, as when a flutist leads a pilgrim band to Jerusalem to the mountain of the Lord, the Rock of Israel. And the Lord shall cause his majestic voice to be heard and shall crush down his mighty arm upon his enemies with angry indignation and devouring flames, with tornados, terrible storms, and huge hailstones. The voice of the Lord shall punish the Assyrians, who had been his rod of punishment. And when the Lord smites them, his people will rejoice with music and song. The funeral pyre has long been ready, prepared for Molech, the Assyrian god; it is piled high with wood. The breath of the Lord, like fire from a volcano, will set it all on fire.

Woe to those who run to Egypt for help, trusting their mighty cavalry and chariots instead of looking to the Holy One of Israel and consulting him. In his wisdom, he will send great evil on his people and will not change his mind. He will rise against them for the evil they have done and crush their allies too. For these Egyptians are mere men, not God! Their horses are puny flesh, not mighty spirits! When the Lord clenches his fist against them, they will stumble and fall among those they are trying to help. All will fail together.

But the Lord has told me this: When a lion, even a young one, kills a sheep, he pays no attention to the shepherd’s shouts and noise. He goes right on and eats. In such manner the Lord will come and fight upon Mount Zion. He will not be frightened away! He, the Lord Almighty, will hover over Jerusalem as birds hover round their nests, and he will defend the city and deliver it.

Therefore, O my people, though you are such wicked rebels, come, return to God. I know the glorious day will come when every one of you will throw away his gold idols and silver images—which in your sinfulness you have made.

The Assyrians will be destroyed, but not by swords of men. The “sword of God” will smite them. They will panic and flee, and the strong young Assyrians will be taken away as slaves. Even their generals will quake with terror and flee when they see the battle flags of Israel, says the Lord. For the flame of God burns brightly in Jerusalem.”

-Isaiah 28-31, TLB

Whoever has ears, let them hear: Righteousness is what exalts a nation, but sin is something disgraceful to national groups...

“Look! The Lord is overturning the land of Judah and making it a vast wasteland of destruction. See how he is emptying out all its people and scattering them over the face of the earth. Priests and people, servants and masters, slave girls and mistresses, buyers and sellers, lenders and borrowers, bankers and debtors—none will be spared. The land will be completely emptied and looted. The Lord has spoken. The land suffers for the sins of its people. The earth languishes, the crops wither, the skies refuse their rain. The land is defiled by crime; the people have twisted the laws of God and broken his everlasting commands. Therefore the curse of God is upon them; they are left desolate, destroyed by the drought. Few will be left alive.

All the joys of life will go: the grape harvest will fail, the wine will be gone, the merrymakers will sigh and mourn. The melodious chords of the harp and timbrel are heard no more; the happy days are ended. No more are the joys of wine and song; strong drink turns bitter in the mouth.

The city lies in chaos; every home and shop is locked up tight to keep out looters. Mobs form in the streets, crying for wine; joy has reached its lowest ebb; gladness has been banished from the land. The city is left in ruins; its gates are battered down. Throughout the land the story is the same—only a remnant is left.

But all who are left will shout and sing for joy; those in the west will praise the majesty of God, and those in the east will respond with praise. Hear them singing to the Lord from the ends of the earth, singing glory to the Righteous One!

But my heart is heavy with grief, for evil still prevails and treachery is everywhere. Terror and the captivity of hell are still your lot, O men of the world. When you flee in terror, you will fall into a pit, and if you escape from the pit, you will step into a trap, for destruction falls from the heavens upon you; the world is shaken beneath you. The earth has broken down in utter collapse; everything is lost, abandoned, and confused. The world staggers like a drunkard; it shakes like a tent in a storm. It falls and will not rise again, for the sins of the earth are very great.

On that day the Lord will punish the fallen angels in the heavens and the proud rulers of the nations on earth. They will be rounded up like prisoners and imprisoned in a dungeon until they are tried and condemned. Then the Lord of heaven’s armies will mount his throne in Zion and rule gloriously in Jerusalem, in the sight of all the elders of his people. Such glory there will be that all the brightness of the sun and moon will seem to fade away.

O Lord, I will honor and praise your name, for you are my God; you do such wonderful things! You planned them long ago, and now you have accomplished them, just as you said! You turn mighty cities into heaps of ruins. The strongest forts are turned to rubble. Beautiful palaces in distant lands disappear and will never be rebuilt. Therefore strong nations will shake with fear before you; ruthless nations will obey and glorify your name.

But to the poor, O Lord, you are a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, a shelter from merciless men who are like a driving rain that melts down an earthen wall. As a hot, dry land is cooled by clouds, you will cool the pride of ruthless nations. Here on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, the Lord Almighty will spread a wondrous feast for everyone around the world— a delicious feast of good food, with clear, well-aged wine and choice beef. At that time he will remove the cloud of gloom, the pall of death that hangs over the earth; he will swallow up death forever. The Lord God will wipe away all tears and take away forever all insults and mockery against his land and people. The Lord has spoken—he will surely do it!

In that day the people will proclaim, “This is our God in whom we trust, for whom we waited. Now at last he is here.” What a day of rejoicing! For the Lord’s good hand will rest upon Jerusalem, and Moab will be crushed as straw beneath his feet and left to rot. God will push them down just as a swimmer pushes down the water with his hands. He will end their pride and all their evil works. The high walls of Moab will be demolished and brought to dust.

Listen to them singing! In that day the whole land of Judah will sing this song:

“Our city is strong! We are surrounded by the walls of his salvation!” Open the gates to everyone, for all may enter in who love the Lord. He will keep in perfect peace all those who trust in him, whose thoughts turn often to the Lord! Trust in the Lord God always, for in the Lord Jehovah is your everlasting strength. He humbles the proud and brings the haughty city to the dust; its walls come crashing down. He presents it to the poor and needy for their use.

But for good men the path is not uphill and rough! God does not give them a rough and treacherous path, but smooths the road before them. O Lord, we love to do your will! Our hearts’ desire is to glorify your name. All night long I search for you; earnestly I seek for God; for only when you come in judgment on the earth to punish it will people turn away from wickedness and do what is right.

Your kindness to the wicked doesn’t make them good; they keep on doing wrong and take no notice of your majesty. They do not listen when you threaten; they will not look to see your upraised fist. Show them how much you love your people. Perhaps then they will be ashamed! Yes, let them be burned up by the fire reserved for your enemies.

Lord, grant us peace; for all we have and are has come from you. O Lord our God, once we worshiped other gods; but now we worship you alone. Those we served before are dead and gone; never again will they return. You came against them and destroyed them, and they are long forgotten. O praise the Lord! He has made our nation very great. He has widened the boundaries of our land!

Lord, in their distress they sought for you. When your punishment was on them, they poured forth a whispered prayer. How we missed your presence, Lord! We suffered as a woman giving birth who cries and writhes in pain. We too have writhed in agony, but all to no avail. No deliverance has come from all our efforts. Yet we have this assurance: Those who belong to God shall live again. Their bodies shall rise again! Those who dwell in the dust shall awake and sing for joy! For God’s light of life will fall like dew upon them!

Go home, my people, and lock the doors! Hide for a little while until the Lord’s wrath against your enemies has passed. Look! The Lord is coming from the heavens to punish the people of the earth for their sins. The earth will no longer hide the murderers. The guilty will be found.

In that day the Lord will take his terrible, swift sword and punish leviathan, the swiftly moving serpent, the coiling, writhing serpent, the dragon of the sea.

In that day of Israel’s freedom let this anthem be their song:

Israel is my vineyard; I, the Lord, will tend the fruitful vines; every day I’ll water them, and day and night I’ll watch to keep all enemies away. My anger against Israel is gone. If I find thorns and briars bothering her, I will burn them up, unless these enemies of mine surrender and beg for peace and my protection. The time will come when Israel will take root and bud and blossom and fill the whole earth with her fruit!

Has God punished Israel as much as he has punished her enemies? No, for he has devastated her enemies, while he has punished Israel but a little, exiling her far from her own land as though blown away in a storm from the east. And why did God do it? It was to purge away her sins, to rid her of all her idol altars and her idols. They will never be worshiped again. Her walled cities will be silent and empty, houses abandoned, streets grown up with grass, cows grazing through the city munching on twigs and branches.

My people are like the dead branches of a tree, broken off and used to burn beneath the pots. They are a foolish nation, a witless, stupid people, for they turn away from God. Therefore, he who made them will not have pity on them or show them his mercy. Yet the time will come when the Lord will gather them together one by one like hand-picked grain, selecting them here and there from his great threshing floor that reaches all the way from the Euphrates River to the Egyptian boundary. In that day the great trumpet will be blown, and many about to perish among their enemies, Assyria and Egypt, will be rescued and brought back to Jerusalem to worship the Lord in his holy mountain.”

-Isaiah 24-27, TLB

You have refined us as when refining silver: Remember your word to your servant, in which you have made me hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life...

“This is Jehovah’s message to Cyrus, God’s anointed, whom he has chosen to conquer many lands. God shall empower his right hand, and he shall crush the strength of mighty kings. God shall open the gates of Babylon to him; the gates shall not be shut against him anymore. I will go before you, Cyrus, and level the mountains and smash down the city gates of brass and iron bars. And I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness, secret riches; and you will know that I am doing this—I, the Lord, the God of Israel, the one who calls you by your name.

And why have I named you for this work? For the sake of Jacob, my servant—Israel, my chosen. I called you by name when you didn’t know me. I am Jehovah; there is no other God. I will strengthen you and send you out to victory even though you don’t know me, and all the world from east to west will know there is no other God. I am Jehovah and there is no one else. I alone am God. I form the light and make the dark. I send good times and bad. I, Jehovah, am he who does these things. Open up, O heavens. Let the skies pour out their righteousness. Let salvation and righteousness sprout up together from the earth. I, Jehovah, created them.

Woe to the man who fights with his Creator. Does the pot argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with him who forms it, saying, “Stop, you’re doing it wrong!” or the pot exclaim, “How clumsy can you be!”? Woe to the baby just being born who squalls to his father and mother, “Why have you produced me? Can’t you do anything right at all?”

Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, Israel’s Creator, says: “What right have you to question what I do? Who are you to command me concerning the work of my hands? I have made the earth and created man upon it. With my hands I have stretched out the heavens and commanded all the vast myriads of stars. I have raised up Cyrus to fulfill my righteous purpose, and I will direct all his paths. He shall restore my city and free my captive people—and not for a reward!”

Jehovah says: “The Egyptians, Ethiopians, and Sabeans shall be subject to you. They shall come to you with all their merchandise, and it shall all be yours. They shall follow you as prisoners in chains and fall down on their knees before you and say, “The only God there is, is your God!”

Truly, O God of Israel, Savior, you work in strange, mysterious ways. All who worship idols shall be disappointed and ashamed. But Israel shall be saved by Jehovah with eternal salvation; they shall never be disappointed in their God through all eternity. For Jehovah created the heavens and earth and put everything in place, and he made the world to be lived in, not to be an empty chaos. I am Jehovah, he says, and there is no other! I publicly proclaim bold promises; I do not whisper obscurities in some dark corner so that no one can know what I mean. And I didn’t tell Israel to ask me for what I didn’t plan to give! No, for I, Jehovah, speak only truth and righteousness.

Gather together and come, you nations that escape from Cyrus’s hand. What fools they are who carry around the wooden idols and pray to gods that cannot save! Consult together, argue your case and state your proofs that idol worship pays! Who but God has said that these things concerning Cyrus would come true? What idol ever told you they would happen? For there is no other God but me—a just God and a Savior—no, not one! Let all the world look to me for salvation! For I am God; there is no other. I have sworn by myself, and I will never go back on my word, for it is true—that every knee in all the world shall bow to me, and every tongue shall swear allegiance to my name.

“In Jehovah is all my righteousness and strength,” the people shall declare. And all who were angry with him shall come to him and be ashamed. In Jehovah all the generations of Israel shall be justified, triumphant.

The idols of Babylon, Bel and Nebo, are being hauled away on ox carts! But look! The beasts are stumbling! The cart is turning over! The gods are falling out onto the ground! Is that the best that they can do? If they cannot even save themselves from such a fall, how can they save their worshipers from Cyrus?

“Listen to me, all Israel who are left; I have created you and cared for you since you were born. I will be your God through all your lifetime, yes, even when your hair is white with age. I made you and I will care for you. I will carry you along and be your Savior.

“With what in all of heaven and earth do I compare? Whom can you find who equals me? Will you compare me with an idol made lavishly with silver and with gold? They hire a goldsmith to take your wealth and make a god from it! Then they fall down and worship it! They carry it around on their shoulders, and when they set it down, it stays there, for it cannot move! And when someone prays to it, there is no answer, for it cannot get him out of his trouble.

“Don’t forget this, O guilty ones. And don’t forget the many times I clearly told you what was going to happen in the future. For I am God—I only—and there is no other like me who can tell you what is going to happen. All I say will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish.

I will call that swift bird of prey from the east—that man Cyrus from far away. And he will come and do my bidding. I have said I would do it and I will. Listen to me, you stubborn, evil men! For I am offering you my deliverance; not in the distant future, but right now! I am ready to save you, and I will restore Jerusalem and Israel, who is my glory.

“O Babylon, the unconquered, come sit in the dust; for your days of glory, pomp, and honor are ended. O daughter of Chaldea, never again will you be the lovely princess, tender and delicate. Take heavy millstones and grind the corn; remove your veil; strip off your robe; expose yourself to public view. You shall be in nakedness and shame. I will take vengeance upon you and will not repent.”

So speaks our Redeemer, who will save Israel from Babylon’s mighty power; the Lord Almighty is his name, the Holy One of Israel.

Sit in darkness and silence, O Babylon; never again will you be called “The Queen of Kingdoms.” For I was angry with my people Israel and began to punish them a little by letting them fall into your hands, O Babylon. But you showed them no mercy. You have made even the old folks carry heavy burdens. You thought your reign would never end, Queen Kingdom of the world. You didn’t care a whit about my people or think about the fate of those who do them harm.

O pleasure-mad kingdom, living at ease, bragging as the greatest in the world—listen to the sentence of my court upon your sins. You say, “I alone am God! I’ll never be a widow; I’ll never lose my children.” Well, those two things shall come upon you in one moment, in full measure in one day: widowhood and the loss of your children, despite all your witchcraft and magic.

You felt secure in all your wickedness. “No one sees me,” you said. Your “wisdom” and “knowledge” have caused you to turn away from me and claim that you yourself are Jehovah. That is why disaster shall overtake you suddenly—so suddenly that you won’t know where it comes from. And there will be no atonement then to cleanse away your sins.

Call out the demon hordes you’ve worshiped all these years. Call on them to help you strike deep terror into many hearts again. You have advisors by the ton—your astrologers and stargazers, who try to tell you what the future holds. But they are as useless as dried grass burning in the fire. They cannot even deliver themselves! You’ll get no help from them at all. Theirs is no fire to sit beside to make you warm! And all your friends of childhood days shall slip away and disappear, unable to help.”

-Isaiah 45-47, TLB

“Be collected together, all YOU people, and hear. Who among them has told these things? Jehovah himself has loved him. He will do what is his delight upon Babylon, and his own arm will be upon the Chal·de'ans. I—I myself have spoken. Moreover, I have called him. I have brought him in, and there will be a making of his way successful.

It will without fail come true: Jehovah is despoiling Babylon, and he will certainly destroy out of her the great voice…

This is the vision God showed Isaiah (son of Amoz) concerning Babylon’s doom.

See the flags waving as their enemy attacks. Shout to them, O Israel, and wave them on as they march against Babylon to destroy the palaces of the rich and mighty. I, the Lord, have set apart these armies for this task; I have called those rejoicing in their strength to do this work, to satisfy my anger. Hear the tumult on the mountains! Listen as the armies march! It is the tumult and the shout of many nations. The Lord Almighty has brought them here, from countries far away. They are his weapons against you, O Babylon. They carry his anger with them and will destroy your whole land.

Scream in terror, for the Lord’s time has come, the time for the Almighty to crush you. Your arms lie paralyzed with fear; the strongest hearts melt and are afraid. Fear grips you with terrible pangs, like those of a woman in labor. You look at one another, helpless, as the flames of the burning city reflect upon your pallid faces. For see, the day of the Lord is coming, the terrible day of his wrath and fierce anger. The land shall be destroyed and all the sinners with it. The heavens will be black above them. No light will shine from stars or sun or moon.

And I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sin; I will crush the arrogance of the proud man and the haughtiness of the rich. Few will live when I have finished up my work.

Men will be as scarce as gold—of greater value than the gold of Ophir. For I will shake the heavens in my wrath and fierce anger, and the earth will move from its place in the skies.

The armies of Babylon will run until exhausted, fleeing back to their own land like deer chased by dogs, wandering like sheep deserted by their shepherd. Those who don’t run will be butchered. Their little children will be dashed to death against the pavement right before their eyes; their homes will be sacked and their wives raped by the attacking hordes. For I will stir up the Medes against Babylon, and no amount of silver or gold will buy them off. The attacking armies will have no mercy on the young people of Babylon or the babies or the children.

And so Babylon, the most glorious of kingdoms, the flower of Chaldean culture, will be as utterly destroyed as Sodom and Gomorrah were when God sent fire from heaven; Babylon will never rise again. Generation after generation will come and go, but the land will never again be lived in. The nomads will not even camp there. The shepherds won’t let their sheep stay overnight. The wild animals of the desert will make it their home. The houses will be haunted by howling creatures. Ostriches will live there, and the demons will come there to dance. Hyenas and jackals will den within the palaces. Babylon’s days are numbered; her time of doom will soon be here.

But the Lord will have mercy on the Israelis; they are still his special ones. He will bring them back to settle once again in the land of Israel. And many nationalities will come and join them there and be their loyal allies. The nations of the world will help them to return, and those coming to live in their land will serve them. Those enslaving Israel will be enslaved—Israel shall rule her enemies!

In that wonderful day when the Lord gives his people rest from sorrow and fear, from slavery and chains, you will jeer at the king of Babylon and say, “You bully, you! At last you have what was coming to you! For the Lord has crushed your wicked power and broken your evil rule.” You persecuted my people with unceasing blows of rage and held the nations in your angry grip. You were unrestrained in tyranny. But at last the whole earth is at rest and is quiet! All the world begins to sing! Even the trees of the woods—the fir trees and cedars of Lebanon—sing out this joyous song: “Your power is broken; no one will bother us now; at last we have peace.”

The denizens of hell crowd to meet you as you enter their domain. World leaders and earth’s mightiest kings, long dead, are there to see you. With one voice they all cry out, “Now you are as weak as we are!” Your might and power are gone; they are buried with you. All the pleasant music in your palace has ceased; now maggots are your sheet, worms your blanket!

How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground—mighty though you were against the nations of the world. For you said to yourself, “I will ascend to heaven and rule the angels. I will take the highest throne. I will preside on the Mount of Assembly far away in the north. I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High.” But instead, you will be brought down to the pit of hell, down to its lowest depths. Everyone there will stare at you and ask, “Can this be the one who shook the earth and the kingdoms of the world? Can this be the one who destroyed the world and made it into a shambles, who demolished its greatest cities and had no mercy on his prisoners?”

The kings of the nations lie in stately glory in their graves, but your body is thrown out like a broken branch; it lies in an open grave, covered with the dead bodies of those slain in battle. It lies as a carcass in the road, trampled and mangled by horses’ hoofs. No monument will be given you, for you have destroyed your nation and slain your people. Your son will not succeed you as the king. Slay the children of this sinner. Do not let them rise and conquer the land nor rebuild the cities of the world.

I, myself, have risen against him, says the Lord of heaven’s armies, and will cut off his children and his children’s children from ever sitting on his throne. I will make Babylon into a desolate land of porcupines, full of swamps and marshes. I will sweep the land with the broom of destruction, says the Lord of the armies of heaven. He has taken an oath to do it! For this is his purpose and plan. I have decided to break the Assyrian army when they are in Israel and to crush them on my mountains; my people shall no longer be their slaves. This is my plan for the whole earth—I will do it by my mighty power that reaches everywhere around the world. The Lord, the God of battle, has spoken—who can change his plans? When his hand moves, who can stop him?

This is the message that came to me the year King Ahaz died:

Don’t rejoice, Philistines, that the king who smote you is dead. That rod is broken, yes; but his son will be a greater scourge to you than his father ever was! From the snake will be born an adder, a fiery serpent to destroy you! I will shepherd the poor of my people; they shall graze in my pasture! The needy shall lie down in peace. But as for you—I will wipe you out with famine and the sword. Weep, Philistine cities—you are doomed. All your nation is doomed. For a perfectly trained army is coming down from the north against you. What then shall we tell the reporters? Tell them that the Lord has founded Jerusalem and is determined that the poor of his people will find a refuge within her walls.”

-Isaiah 13-14, TLB

The house of wicked people will be annihilated: Valuable things will be of no benefit on the day of fury, but righteousness itself will deliver from death...

“The good men perish; the godly die before their time, and no one seems to care or wonder why. No one seems to realize that God is taking them away from evil days ahead. For the godly who die shall rest in peace.

But you—come here, you witches sons, you offspring of adulterers and harlots! Who is it you mock, making faces and sticking out your tongues? You children of sinners and liars! You worship your idols with great zeal beneath the shade of every tree and slay your children as human sacrifices down in the valleys, under overhanging rocks. Your gods are the smooth stones in the valleys. You worship them, and they, not I, are your inheritance. Does all this make me happy? You have committed adultery on the tops of the mountains, for you worship idols there, deserting me. Behind closed doors you set your idols up and worship someone other than me. This is adultery, for you are giving these idols your love instead of loving me. You have taken pleasant incense and perfume to Molech as your gift. You have traveled far, even to hell itself, to find new gods to love. You grew weary in your search, but you never gave up. You strengthened yourself and went on. Why were you more afraid of them than of me? How is it that you gave not even a second thought to me? Is it because I’ve been too gentle that you have no fear of me?

And then there is your “righteousness” and your “good works”—none of which will save you. Let’s see if the whole collection of your idols can help you when you cry to them to save you! They are so weak that the wind can carry them off! A breath can puff them away. But he who trusts in me shall possess the land and inherit my holy mountain. I will say, Rebuild the road! Clear away the rocks and stones. Prepare a glorious highway for my people’s return from captivity.

The high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, the Holy One, says this: I live in that high and holy place where those with contrite, humble spirits dwell; and I refresh the humble and give new courage to those with repentant hearts. For I will not fight against you forever, nor always show my wrath; if I did, all mankind would perish—the very souls that I have made. I was angry and smote these greedy men. But they went right on sinning, doing everything their evil hearts desired. I have seen what they do, but I will heal them anyway! I will lead them and comfort them, helping them to mourn and to confess their sins. Peace, peace to them, both near and far, for I will heal them all. But those who still reject me are like the restless sea, which is never still, but always churns up mire and dirt. There is no peace, says my God, for them!

Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast; tell my people of their sins! Yet they act so pious! They come to the Temple every day and are so delighted to hear the reading of my laws—just as though they would obey them—just as though they don’t despise the commandments of their God! How anxious they are to worship correctly; oh, how they love the Temple services!

“We have fasted before you,” they say. “Why aren’t you impressed? Why don’t you see our sacrifices? Why don’t you hear our prayers? We have done much penance, and you don’t even notice it!” I’ll tell you why! Because you are living in evil pleasure even while you are fasting, and you keep right on oppressing your workers. Look, what good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarreling? This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me. Is this what I want—this doing of penance and bowing like reeds in the wind, putting on sackcloth and covering yourselves with ashes? Is this what you call fasting?

No, the kind of fast I want is that you stop oppressing those who work for you and treat them fairly and give them what they earn. I want you to share your food with the hungry and bring right into your own homes those who are helpless, poor, and destitute. Clothe those who are cold, and don’t hide from relatives who need your help.

If you do these things, God will shed his own glorious light upon you. He will heal you; your godliness will lead you forward, goodness will be a shield before you, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind. Then, when you call, the Lord will answer. “Yes, I am here,” he will quickly reply. All you need to do is to stop oppressing the weak and stop making false accusations and spreading vicious rumors!

Feed the hungry! Help those in trouble! Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you shall be as bright as day. And the Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy you with all good things, and keep you healthy too; and you will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring. Your sons will rebuild the long-deserted ruins of your cities, and you will be known as “The People Who Rebuild Their Walls and Cities.”

If you keep the Sabbath holy, not having your own fun and business on that day, but enjoying the Sabbath, speaking of it with delight as the Lord’s holy day, and honoring the Lord in what you do, not following your own desires and pleasure nor talking idly—then the Lord will be your delight, and I will see to it that you ride high and get your full share of the blessings I promised to Jacob, your father. The Lord has spoken.

Listen now! The Lord isn’t too weak to save you. And he isn’t getting deaf! He can hear you when you call! But the trouble is that your sins have cut you off from God. Because of sin he has turned his face away from you and will not listen anymore. For your hands are those of murderers and your fingers are filthy with sin. You lie and grumble and oppose the good. No one cares about being fair and true. Your lawsuits are based on lies; you spend your time plotting evil deeds and doing them. You spend your time and energy in spinning evil plans that end up in deadly actions. You cheat and shortchange everyone. Everything you do is filled with sin; violence is your trademark. Your feet run to do evil and rush to murder; your thoughts are only of sinning, and wherever you go you leave behind a trail of misery and death. You don’t know what true peace is, nor what it means to be just and good; you continually do wrong and those who follow you won’t experience any peace either.

It is because of all this evil that you aren’t finding God’s blessings; that’s why he doesn’t punish those who injure you. No wonder you are in darkness when you expected light. No wonder you are walking in the gloom. No wonder you grope like blind men and stumble along in broad daylight, yes, even at brightest noontime, as though it were the darkest night! No wonder you are like corpses when compared with vigorous young men! You roar like hungry bears; you moan with mournful cries like doves. You look for God to keep you, but he doesn’t. He has turned away. For your sins keep piling up before the righteous God and testify against you.

Yes, we know what sinners we are. We know our disobedience; we have denied the Lord our God. We know what rebels we are and how unfair we are, for we carefully plan our lies. Our courts oppose the righteous man; fairness is unknown. Truth falls dead in the streets, and justice is outlawed.

Yes, truth is gone, and anyone who tries a better life is soon attacked. The Lord saw all the evil and was displeased to find no steps taken against sin. He saw no one was helping you and wondered that no one intervened. Therefore he himself stepped in to save you through his mighty power and justice. He put on righteousness as armor and the helmet of salvation on his head. He clothed himself with robes of vengeance and of godly fury. He will repay his enemies for their evil deeds—fury for his foes in distant lands. Then at last they will reverence and glorify the name of God from west to east. For he will come like a flood tide driven by Jehovah’s breath. He will come as a Redeemer to those in Zion who have turned away from sin.

“As for me, this is my promise to them,” says the Lord: “My Holy Spirit shall not leave them, and they shall want the good and hate the wrong—they and their children and their children’s children forever.”

-Isaiah 57-59, TLB

“There is no peace,” Jehovah has said, “for the wicked ones.”

Abundant peace belongs to those loving your law: As regards the wicked, they will be cut off from the very earth...

“Woe to you who lie awake at night, plotting wickedness; you rise at dawn to carry out your schemes; because you can, you do. You want a certain piece of land or someone else’s house (though it is all he has); you take it by fraud and threats and violence.

But the Lord God says, “I will reward your evil with evil; nothing can stop me; never again will you be proud and haughty after I am through with you. Then your enemies will taunt you and mock your dirge of despair: ‘We are finished, ruined. God has confiscated our land and sent us far away; he has given what is ours to others.’” Others will set your boundaries then. “The People of the Lord” will live where they are sent.

“Don’t say such things,” the people say. “Don’t harp on things like that. It’s disgraceful, that sort of talk. Such evils surely will not come our way.”

Is that the right reply for you to make, O House of Jacob? Do you think the Spirit of the Lord likes to talk to you so roughly? No! His threats are for your good, to get you on the path again.

Yet to this very hour my people rise against me. For you steal the shirts right off the backs of those who trusted you, who walk in peace.

You have driven out the widows from their homes and stripped their children of every God-given right. Up! Begone! This is no more your land and home, for you have filled it with sin, and it will vomit you out.

“I’ll preach to you the joys of wine and drink”—that is the kind of drunken, lying prophet that you like!

“The time will come, O Israel, when I will gather you—all that are left—and bring you together again like sheep in a fold, like a flock in a pasture—a noisy, happy crowd. The Messiah will lead you out of exile and bring you through the gates of your cities of captivity, back to your own land. Your King will go before you—the Lord leads on.”

Listen, you leaders of Israel—you are supposed to know right from wrong, yet you are the very ones who hate good and love evil; you skin my people and strip them to the bone.

You devour them, flog them, break their bones, and chop them up like meat for the cooking pot—and then you plead with the Lord for his help in times of trouble! Do you really expect him to listen? He will look the other way! You false prophets! You who lead his people astray! You who cry “Peace” to those who give you food and threaten those who will not pay!

This is God’s message to you: “The night will close about you and cut off all your visions; darkness will cover you with never a word from God. The sun will go down upon you, and your day will end. Then at last you will cover your faces in shame and admit that your messages were not from God.”

But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, fearlessly announcing God’s punishment on Israel for her sins.

Listen to me, you leaders of Israel who hate justice and love unfairness and fill Jerusalem with murder and sin of every kind—you leaders who take bribes; you priests and prophets who won’t preach and prophesy until you’re paid. (And yet you fawn upon the Lord and say, “All is well—the Lord is here among us. No harm can come to us.”) It is because of you that Jerusalem will be plowed like a field and become a heap of rubble; the mountaintop where the Temple stands will be overgrown with brush.

But in the last days Mount Zion will be the most renowned of all the mountains of the world, praised by all nations; people from all over the world will make pilgrimages there.

“Come,” they will say to one another, “let us visit the mountain of the Lord, and see the Temple of the God of Israel; he will tell us what to do, and we will do it.” For in those days the whole world will be ruled by the Lord from Jerusalem! He will issue his laws and announce his decrees from there.

He will arbitrate among the nations and dictate to strong nations far away. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nations shall no longer fight each other, for all war will end. There will be universal peace, and all the military academies and training camps will be closed down.

Everyone will live quietly in his own home in peace and prosperity, for there will be nothing to fear. The Lord himself has promised this. (Therefore we will follow the Lord our God forever and ever, even though all the nations around us worship idols!)

In that coming day, the Lord says that he will bring back his punished people—sick and lame and dispossessed—and make them strong again in their own land, a mighty nation, and the Lord himself shall be their King from Mount Zion forever. O Jerusalem—the Watchtower of God’s people—your royal might and power will come back to you again, just as before.

But for now, you scream in terror. Where is your king to lead you? He is dead! Where are your wise men? All are gone! Pain has gripped you like a woman in labor. Writhe and groan in your terrible pain, O people of Zion, for you must leave this city and live in the fields; you will be sent far away into exile in Babylon. But there I will rescue you and free you from the grip of your enemies.

True, many nations have gathered together against you, calling for your blood, eager to destroy you. But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord nor understand his plan, for the time will come when the Lord will gather together the enemies of his people like sheaves upon the threshing floor, helpless before Israel.

Rise, thresh, O daughter of Zion; I will give you horns of iron and hoofs of brass; you will trample to pieces many people, and you will give their wealth as offerings to the Lord, the Lord of all the earth.

Mobilize! The enemy lays siege to Jerusalem! With a rod they shall strike the Judge of Israel on the face.

“O Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are but a small Judean village, yet you will be the birthplace of my King who is alive from everlasting ages past!” God will abandon his people to their enemies until she who is to give birth has her son; then at last his fellow countrymen—the exile remnants of Israel—will rejoin their brethren in their own land.

And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God, and his people shall remain there undisturbed, for he will be greatly honored all around the world. He will be our Peace. And when the Assyrian invades our land and marches across our hills, he will appoint seven shepherds to watch over us, eight princes to lead us. They will rule Assyria with drawn swords and enter the gates of the land of Nimrod. He will deliver us from the Assyrians when they invade our land.

Then the nation of Israel will refresh the world like a gentle dew or the welcome showers of rain, and Israel will be as strong as a lion. The nations will be like helpless sheep before her! She will stand up to her foes; all her enemies will be wiped out.

“At that same time,” says the Lord, “I will destroy all the weapons you depend on, tear down your walls, and demolish the defenses of your cities. I will put an end to all witchcraft—there will be no more fortune-tellers to consult— and destroy all your idols. Never again will you worship what you have made, for I will abolish the heathen shrines from among you, and destroy the cities where your idol temples stand.

“I will pour out my vengeance upon the nations who refuse to obey me.”

Listen to what the Lord is saying to his people: “Stand up and state your case against me. Let the mountains and hills be called to witness your complaint.

“And now, O mountains, listen to the Lord’s complaint! For he has a case against his people Israel! He will prosecute them to the full. O my people, what have I done that makes you turn away from me? Tell me why your patience is exhausted! Answer me! For I brought you out of Egypt and cut your chains of slavery. I gave you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to help you.

“Don’t you remember, O my people, how Balak, king of Moab, tried to destroy you through the curse of Balaam, son of Beor, but I made him bless you instead? That is the kindness I showed you again and again. Have you no memory at all of what happened at Acacia and Gilgal and how I blessed you there?”

“How can we make up to you for what we’ve done?” you ask. “Shall we bow before the Lord with offerings of yearling calves?”

Oh no! For if you offered him thousands of rams and ten thousands of rivers of olive oil—would that please him? Would he be satisfied? If you sacrificed your oldest child, would that make him glad? Then would he forgive your sins? Of course not!

No, he has told you what he wants, and this is all it is: to be fair, just, merciful, and to walk humbly with your God. The Lord’s voice calls out to all Jerusalem—listen to the Lord if you are wise! “The armies of destruction are coming; the Lord is sending them.

For your sins are very great—is there to be no end of getting rich by cheating? The homes of the wicked are full of ungodly treasures and lying scales. Shall I say ‘Good!’ to all your merchants with their bags of false, deceitful weights? How could God be just while saying that? Your rich men are wealthy through extortion and violence; your citizens are so used to lying that their tongues can’t tell the truth!

“Therefore I will wound you! I will make your hearts miserable for all your sins. You will eat but never have enough; hunger pangs and emptiness will still remain. And though you try and try to save your money, it will come to nothing at the end, and what little you succeed in storing up I’ll give to those who conquer you! You will plant crops but not harvest them; you will press out the oil from the olives and not get enough to anoint yourself! You will trample the grapes but get no juice to make your wine.

“The only commands you keep are those of Omri; the only example you follow is that of Ahab! Therefore, I will make an awesome example of you—I will destroy you. I will make you the laughingstock of the world; all who see you will snicker and sneer!”

-Micah 2-7, TLB

-Psalms 83, TLB

Bank up, you people, bank up! Clear the way. Remove any obstacle from the way of my people: Expectation postponed is making the heart sick, but the thing desired is a tree of life when it does come...

“In the first year of Bel·shaz’zar the king of Babylon, Daniel himself beheld a dream and visions of his head upon his bed. At that time he wrote down the dream itself. The complete account of the matters he told. Daniel was speaking up and saying:

“I happened to be beholding in my visions during the night, and, see there! the four winds of the heavens were stirring up the vast sea. And four huge beasts were coming up out of the sea, each one being different from the others.

“The first one was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I kept on beholding until its wings were plucked out, and it was lifted up from the earth and was made to stand up on two feet just like a man, and there was given to it the heart of a man.

“And, see there! another beast, a second one, it being like a bear. And on one side it was raised up, and there were three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and this is what they were saying to it, ‘Get up, eat much flesh.’

“After this I kept on beholding, and, see there! another [beast], one like a leopard, but it had four wings of a flying creature on its back. And the beast had four heads, and there was given to it rulership indeed.

“After this I kept on beholding in the visions of the night, and, see there! a fourth beast, fearsome and terrible and unusually strong. And it had teeth of iron, big ones. It was devouring and crushing, and what was left it was treading down with its feet. And it was something different from all the [other] beasts that were prior to it, and it had ten horns. I kept on considering the horns, and, look! another horn, a small one, came up in among them, and there were three of the first horns that were plucked up from before it. And, look! there were eyes like the eyes of a man in this horn, and there was a mouth speaking grandiose things.

“I kept on beholding until there were thrones placed and the Ancient of Days sat down. His clothing was white just like snow, and the hair of his head was like clean wool. His throne was flames of fire; its wheels were a burning fire. There was a stream of fire flowing and going out from before him. There were a thousand thousands that kept ministering to him, and ten thousand times ten thousand that kept standing right before him. The Court took its seat, and there were books that were opened.

“I kept on beholding at that time because of the sound of the grandiose words that the horn was speaking; I kept on beholding until the beast was killed and its body was destroyed and it was given to the burning fire. But as for the rest of the beasts, their rulerships were taken away, and there was a lengthening in life given to them for a time and a season.

“I kept on beholding in the visions of the night, and, see there! with the clouds of the heavens someone like a son of man happened to be coming; and to the Ancient of Days he gained access, and they brought him up close even before that One. And to him there were given rulership and dignity and kingdom, that the peoples, national groups and languages should all serve even him. His rulership is an indefinitely lasting rulership that will not pass away, and his kingdom one that will not be brought to ruin.

“As for me, Daniel, my spirit was distressed within on account of it, and the very visions of my head began to frighten me. I went up close to one of those who were standing, that I might request from him reliable information on all this. And he said to me, as he went on to make known to me the very interpretation of the matters,

“‘As for these huge beasts, because they are four, there are four kings that will stand up from the earth. But the holy ones of the Supreme One will receive the kingdom, and they will take possession of the kingdom for time indefinite, even for time indefinite upon times indefinite.’

“Then it was that I desired to make certain concerning the fourth beast, which proved to be different from all the others, extraordinarily fearsome, the teeth of which were of iron and the claws of which were of copper, which was devouring [and] crushing, and which was treading down even what was left with its feet; and concerning the ten horns that were on its head, and the other [horn] that came up and before which three fell, even that horn that had eyes and a mouth speaking grandiose things and the appearance of which was bigger than that of its fellows.

“I kept on beholding when that very horn made war upon the holy ones, and it was prevailing against them, until the Ancient of Days came and judgment itself was given in favor of the holy ones of the Supreme One, and the definite time arrived that the holy ones took possession of the kingdom itself.

“This is what he said, ‘As for the fourth beast, there is a fourth kingdom that will come to be on the earth, that will be different from all the [other] kingdoms; and it will devour all the earth and will trample it down and crush it. And as for the ten horns, out of that kingdom there are ten kings that will rise up; and still another one will rise up after them, and he himself will be different from the first ones, and three kings he will humiliate. And he will speak even words against the Most High, and he will harass continually the holy ones themselves of the Supreme One. And he will intend to change times and law, and they will be given into his hand for a time, and times and half a time. And the Court itself proceeded to sit, and his own rulership they finally took away, in order to annihilate [him] and to destroy [him] totally.

“‘And the kingdom and the rulership and the grandeur of the kingdoms under all the heavens were given to the people who are the holy ones of the Supreme One. Their kingdom is an indefinitely lasting kingdom, and all the rulerships will serve and obey even them.’

“Up to this point is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my own thoughts kept frightening me a great deal, so that my very complexion changed in me; but the matter itself I kept in my own heart.”

“And during that time Mi’cha·el will stand up, the great prince who is standing in behalf of the sons of your people. And there will certainly occur a time of distress such as has not been made to occur since there came to be a nation until that time. And during that time your people will escape, every one who is found written down in the book. And there will be many of those asleep in the ground of dust who will wake up, these to indefinitely lasting life and those to reproaches [and] to indefinitely lasting abhorrence.

“And the ones having insight will shine like the brightness of the expanse; and those who are bringing the many to righteousness, like the stars to time indefinite, even forever. “And as for you, O Daniel, make secret the words and seal up the book, until the time of [the] end. Many will rove about, and the [true] knowledge will become abundant.”

And I saw, I Daniel, and, look! there were two others standing, one on the bank here of the stream and the other on the bank there of the stream. Then one said to the man clothed with the linen, who was up above the waters of the stream: “How long will it be to the end of the wonderful things?” And I began to hear the man clothed with the linen, who was up above the waters of the stream, as he proceeded to raise his right [hand] and his left [hand] to the heavens and to swear by the One who is alive for time indefinite: “It will be for an appointed time, appointed times and a half. And as soon as there will have been a finishing of the dashing of the power of the holy people to pieces, all these things will come to their finish.”

Now as for me, I heard, but I could not understand; so that I said: “O my lord, what will be the final part of these things?”

And he went on to say: “Go, Daniel, because the words are made secret and sealed up until the time of [the] end. Many will cleanse themselves and whiten themselves and will be refined. And the wicked ones will certainly act wickedly, and no wicked ones at all will understand; but the ones having insight will understand.

“And from the time that the constant [feature] has been removed and there has been a placing of the disgusting thing that is causing desolation, there will be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. “Happy is the one who is keeping in expectation and who arrives at the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days! “And as for you yourself, go toward the end; and you will rest, but you will stand up for your lot at the end of the days.”

-Daniel 7 & 12, NWT

“Jehovah—out of Zion he will roar, and out of Jerusalem he will give forth his voice; and the pasture grounds of the shepherds must go to mourning, and the summit of Carʹmel must dry up.”

You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess: Jerusalem, this will happen because you followed the sinful example of kings Omri and Ahab. Now I will destroy you and your property. Then the people of every nation will make fun and insult you…

“In the thirty-first year of A’sa the king of Judah, Om’ri became king over Israel for twelve years. In Tir’zah he reigned six years. And he proceeded to buy the mountain of Sa·mar’i·a from She’mer for two talents of silver, and began to build [on] the mountain and call the name of the city that he built by the name of She’mer the master of the mountain, Sa·mar’i·a. And Om’ri kept doing what was bad in the eyes of Jehovah and came to do worse than all who were prior to him. And he went walking in all the way of Jer·o·bo’am the son of Ne’bat and in his sin with which he caused Israel to sin by offending Jehovah the God of Israel with their vain idols. As for the rest of the affairs of Om’ri, what he did and his mightiness with which he acted, are they not written in the book of the affairs of the days of the kings of Israel? Finally Om’ri lay down with his forefathers and was buried in Sa·mar’i·a; and A’hab his son began to reign in place of him.

And as for A’hab the son of Om’ri, he became king over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of A’sa the king of Judah; and A’hab the son of Om’ri continued to reign over Israel in Sa·mar’i·a twenty-two years. And A’hab the son of Om’ri proceeded to do worse in the eyes of Jehovah than all those who were prior to him. And it came about that, [as if it were] the most trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jer·o·bo’am the son of Ne’bat, he now took as wife Jez’e·bel the daughter of Eth·ba’al the king of the Si·do’ni·ans and began to go and serve Ba’al and to bow down to him. Further, he set up an altar to Ba’al at the house of Ba’al that he built in Sa·mar’i·a. And A’hab went on to make the sacred pole; and A’hab came to do more to offend Jehovah the God of Israel than all the kings of Israel that happened to be prior to him.

In his days Hi’el the Beth’el·ite built Jer’i·cho. At the forfeit of A·bi’ram his firstborn he laid the foundation of it, and at the forfeit of Se’gub his youngest he put up its doors, according to Jehovah’s word that he spoke by means of Joshua the son of Nun.  

And E·li’jah the Tish’bite from the inhabitants of Gil’e·ad proceeded to say to A’hab: “As Jehovah the God of Israel before whom I do stand is living, there will occur during these years neither dew nor rain, except at the order of my word!”

The word of Jehovah now came to him, saying: “Go away from here, and you must turn your way eastward and conceal yourself at the torrent valley of Che’rith that is east of the Jordan. And it must occur that from the torrent valley you should drink, and the ravens I shall certainly command to supply you food there.” Immediately he went and did according to the word of Jehovah, and so went and took up dwelling by the torrent valley of Che’rith that is east of the Jordan. And the ravens themselves were bringing him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and from the torrent valley he kept drinking. But it came about at the end of some days that the torrent valley became dry, because there had occurred no downpour upon the earth.

The word of Jehovah now came to him, saying: “Rise up, go to Zar’e·phath, which belongs to Si’don, and you must dwell there. Look! I shall certainly command there a woman, a widow, to supply you food.” Accordingly he rose up and went to Zar’e·phath and came into the entrance of the city; and, look! a woman, a widow, was there gathering up pieces of wood. So he called to her and said: “Please, get me a sip of water in a vessel that I may drink.” When she began to go and get it, he went on to call to her and say: “Please, get me a bit of bread in your hand.” At this she said: “As Jehovah your God is living, I have no round cake, but a handful of flour in the large jar and a little oil in the small jar; and here I am gathering up a few pieces of wood, and I must go in and make something for myself and my son, and we shall have to eat it and die.”

Then E·li’jah said to her: “Do not be afraid. Go in, do according to your word. Only from what is there make me a small round cake first, and you must bring it out to me, and for yourself and your son you can make something afterward. For this is what Jehovah the God of Israel has said, ‘The large jar of flour itself will not get exhausted, and the small jar of oil itself will not fail until the day of Jehovah’s giving a downpour upon the surface of the ground.’” So she went and did according to E·li’jah’s word; and she continued to eat, she together with him and her household, for days. The large jar of flour itself did not get exhausted, and the small jar of oil itself did not fail, according to Jehovah’s word that he had spoken by means of E·li’jah.

And it came about after these things that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick, and his sickness came to be so severe that there was no breath left in him. At this she said to E·li’jah: “What do I have to do with you, O man of the [true] God? You have come to me to bring my error to mind and to put my son to death.” But he said to her: “Give me your son.” Then he took him from her bosom and carried him up to the roof chamber, where he was dwelling, and laid him upon his own couch. And he began calling to Jehovah and saying: “O Jehovah my God, is it also upon the widow with whom I am residing as an alien that you must bring injury by putting her son to death?” And he proceeded to stretch himself upon the child three times and call to Jehovah and say: “O Jehovah my God, please, cause the soul of this child to come back within him.” Finally Jehovah listened to E·li’jah’s voice, so that the soul of the child came back within him and he came to life. E·li’jah now took the child and brought him down from the roof chamber into the house and gave him to his mother; and E·li’jah then said: “See, your son is alive.” Upon that the woman said to E·li’jah: “Now, indeed, I do know that you are a man of God and that Jehovah’s word in your mouth is true.”  

And it came about [after] many days that Jehovah’s own word came to E·li’jah in the third year, saying: “Go, show yourself to A’hab, as I am determined to give rain upon the surface of the ground.” Accordingly E·li’jah went to show himself to A’hab, while the famine was severe in Sa·mar’i·a.

Meantime, A’hab called O·ba·di’ah, who was over the household. (Now O·ba·di’ah himself had proved to be one greatly fearing Jehovah. Hence it came about that when Jez’e·bel cut off Jehovah’s prophets, O·ba·di’ah proceeded to take a hundred prophets and keep them hid by fifties in a cave, and he supplied them bread and water.) And A’hab went on to say to O·ba·di’ah: “Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the torrent valleys. Perhaps we may find green grass, that we may preserve the horses and mules alive and may not have [any more] of the beasts cut off.” So they divided between themselves the land through which to pass. A’hab himself went alone by one way, and O·ba·di’ah himself went alone by another way.

As O·ba·di’ah continued on the way, why, there was E·li’jah to meet him. At once he recognized him and fell upon his face and said: “Is this you, my lord E·li’jah?” At this he said to him: “It is I. Go, say to your lord, ‘Here is E·li’jah.’” But he said: “What sin have I committed that you should be putting your servant into the hand of A’hab to put me to death? As Jehovah your God is living, there is not a nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent to look for you. After they had said, ‘He is not [here],’ he made the kingdom and the nation swear that they could not find you. And now you are saying, ‘Go, say to your lord: “Here is E·li’jah.”’ And it is bound to occur that, when I myself go from you, then the spirit of Jehovah itself will carry you away to where I shall not know; and I shall have come to tell A’hab, and he will not find you, and he will be bound to kill me, as your servant himself has feared Jehovah from his youth. Has not my lord been told what I did when Jez’e·bel killed the prophets of Jehovah, how I kept some of the prophets of Jehovah hid, a hundred men by fifties in a cave, and kept supplying them bread and water? And now you are saying, ‘Go, say to your lord: “Here is E·li’jah.”’ And he will be bound to kill me.” However, E·li’jah said: “As Jehovah of armies before whom I do stand is living, today I shall show myself to him.”

Accordingly O·ba·di’ah went off to meet A’hab and told him; and so A’hab went to meet E·li’jah.

And it came about that, as soon as A’hab saw E·li’jah, A’hab immediately said to him: “Is this you, the bringer of ostracism upon Israel?”

To this he said: “I have not brought ostracism upon Israel, but you and the house of your father have, because YOU men have left the commandments of Jehovah, and you went following the Ba’als. And now send, collect together all Israel to me at Mount Car’mel and also the four hundred and fifty prophets of Ba’al and the four hundred prophets of the sacred pole, who are eating at the table of Jez’e·bel.” And A’hab proceeded to send among all the sons of Israel and collect the prophets together at Mount Car’mel.

Then E·li’jah approached all the people and said: “How long will YOU be limping upon two different opinions? If Jehovah is the [true] God, go following him; but if Ba’al is, go following him.” And the people did not say a word in answer to him. And E·li’jah went on to say to the people: “I myself have been left as a prophet of Jehovah, I alone, while the prophets of Ba’al are four hundred and fifty men. Now let them give us two young bulls, and let them choose for themselves one young bull and cut it in pieces and put it upon the wood, but they should not put fire to it. And I myself shall dress the other young bull, and I must place it upon the wood, but I shall not put fire to it. And YOU must call upon the name of YOUR god, and I, for my part, shall call upon the name of Jehovah; and it must occur that the [true] God that answers by fire is the [true] God.” To this all the people answered and said: “The thing is good.”

E·li’jah now said to the prophets of Ba’al: “Choose for yourselves one young bull and dress it first, because YOU are the majority; and call upon the name of YOUR god, but YOU must not put fire to it.” Accordingly they took the young bull that he gave them. Then they dressed it, and they kept calling upon the name of Ba’al from morning till noon, saying: “O Ba’al, answer us!” But there was no voice, and there was no one answering. And they kept limping around the altar that they had made. And it came about at noon that E·li’jah began to mock them and say: “Call at the top of YOUR voice, for he is a god; for he must be concerned with a matter, and he has excrement and has to go to the privy. Or maybe he is asleep and ought to wake up!” And they began calling at the top of their voice and cutting themselves according to their custom with daggers and with lances, until they caused blood to flow out upon them. And it came about that, as soon as noon was past and they continued behaving as prophets until the going up of the grain offering, there was no voice, and there was no one answering, and there was no paying of attention.

At length E·li’jah said to all the people: “Approach me.” So all the people approached him. Then he proceeded to mend the altar of Jehovah that was torn down. So E·li’jah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom Jehovah’s word had come, saying: “Israel is what your name will become.” And he went on to build the stones into an altar in the name of Jehovah and to make a trench, of about the area sowed with two seah measures of seed, all around the altar. After that he put the pieces of wood in order and cut the young bull in pieces and placed it upon the pieces of wood. He now said: “FILL four large jars with water and pour it upon the burnt offering and upon the pieces of wood.” Then he said: “Do it again.” So they did it again. But he said: “Do it a third time.” So they did it a third time. Thus the water went all around the altar, and the trench also he filled with water.

And it came about at the time that the grain offering goes up that E·li’jah the prophet began to approach and say: “O Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that you are God in Israel and I am your servant and it is by your word that I have done all these things. Answer me, O Jehovah, answer me, that this people may know that you, Jehovah, are the [true] God and you yourself have turned their heart back.”

At that the fire of Jehovah came falling and went eating up the burnt offering and the pieces of wood and the stones and the dust, and the water that was in the trench it licked up. When all the people saw it, they immediately fell upon their faces and said: “Jehovah is the [true] God! Jehovah is the [true] God!” Then E·li’jah said to them: “Seize the prophets of Ba’al! Do not let a single one of them escape!” At once they seized them, and E·li’jah then brought them down to the torrent valley of Ki’shon and slaughtered them there.

E·li’jah now said to A’hab: “Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of the turmoil of a downpour.” And A’hab proceeded to go up to eat and drink. As for E·li’jah, he went up to the top of Car’mel and began crouching to the earth and keeping his face put between his knees. Then he said to his attendant: “Go up, please. Look in the direction of the sea.” So he went up and looked and then said: “There is nothing at all.” And he went on to say, “Go back,” for seven times. And it came about at the seventh time that he got to say: “Look! There is a small cloud like a man’s palm ascending out of the sea.” He now said: “Go up, say to A’hab, ‘Hitch up! And go down that the downpour may not detain you!’” And it came about in the meantime that the heavens themselves darkened up with clouds and wind and a great downpour began to occur. And A’hab kept riding and made his way to Jez’re·el. And the very hand of Jehovah proved to be upon E·li’jah, so that he girded up his hips and went running ahead of A’hab all the way to Jez’re·el.  

Then A’hab told Jez’e·bel all that E·li’jah had done and all about how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. At that Jez’e·bel sent a messenger to E·li’jah, saying: “So may the gods do, and so may they add to it, if at this time tomorrow I shall not make your soul like the soul of each one of them!” And he became afraid. Consequently he rose up and began to go for his soul and came to Be’er-she’ba, which belongs to Judah. Then he left his attendant behind there. And he himself went into the wilderness a day’s journey, and at length came and sat down under a certain broom tree. And he began to ask that his soul might die and to say: “It is enough! Now, O Jehovah, take my soul away, for I am no better than my forefathers.”

Finally he lay down and fell asleep under the broom tree. But, look! now an angel was touching him. Then he said to him: “Rise up, eat.” When he looked, why, there at his head was a round cake upon heated stones and a jug of water. And he began to eat and drink, after which he lay down again. Later the angel of Jehovah came back a second time and touched him and said: “Rise up, eat, for the journey is too much for you.” So he rose up and ate and drank, and he kept going in the power of that nourishment for forty days and forty nights as far as the mountain of the [true] God, Ho’reb.

There he finally entered into a cave, that he might spend the night there; and, look! there was Jehovah’s word for him, and it went on to say to him: “What is your business here, E·li’jah?” To this he said: “I have been absolutely jealous for Jehovah the God of armies; for the sons of Israel have left your covenant, your altars they have torn down, and your prophets they have killed with the sword, so that I only am left; and they begin looking for my soul to take it away.” But it said: “Go out, and you must stand on the mountain before Jehovah.” And, look! Jehovah was passing by, and a great and strong wind was rending mountains and breaking crags before Jehovah. (Jehovah was not in the wind.) And after the wind there was a quaking. (Jehovah was not in the quaking.) And after the quaking there was a fire. (Jehovah was not in the fire.) And after the fire there was a calm, low voice. And it came about that as soon as E·li’jah heard it, he immediately wrapped his face in his official garment and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave; and, look! there was a voice for him, and it proceeded to say to him: “What is your business here, E·li’jah?” To this he said: “I have been absolutely jealous for Jehovah the God of armies; for the sons of Israel have left your covenant, your altars they have torn down, and your prophets they have killed with the sword, so that I only am left; and they begin looking for my soul to take it away.”

Jehovah now said to him: “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; and you must come in and anoint Haz’a·el as king over Syria. And Je’hu the grandson of Nimʹshi you should anoint as king over Israel; and E·li’sha the son of Sha’phat from A’bel-me·ho’lah you should anoint as prophet in place of you. And it must occur that the one escaping from Haz’a·el’s sword, Je’hu will put to death; and the one escaping from Je’hu’s sword, E·li’sha will put to death. And I have let seven thousand remain in Israel, all the knees that have not bent down to Ba’al, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” Accordingly he went from there and found E·li’sha the son of Sha’phat while he was plowing with twelve spans before him, and he with the twelfth. So E·li’jah crossed over to him and threw his official garment upon him. At that he left the bulls and went running after E·li’jah and said: “Let me, please, kiss my father and my mother. Then I will go following you.” At this he said to him: “Go, return; for what have I done to you?” So he returned from following him and then took a span of the bulls and sacrificed them, and with the implements of the bulls he boiled their flesh and then gave it to the people, and they proceeded to eat. After that he rose up and went following E·li’jah and began to minister to him.  

As for Ben-ha’dad the king of Syria, he collected all his military forces together and also thirty-two kings with him and horses and chariots, and he proceeded to go up and lay siege to Sa·mar’i·a and fight against it. Then he sent messengers to A’hab the king of Israel at the city. And he went on to say to him: “This is what Ben-ha’dad has said, ‘Your silver and your gold are mine, and your wives and your sons, the best looking, are mine.’” To this the king of Israel answered and said: “According to your word, my lord the king, yours I am with all that belongs to me.”

Later the messengers came back and said: “This is what Ben-ha’dad has said, ‘I sent to you, saying: “Your silver and your gold and your wives and your sons you will give me. But about this time tomorrow I shall send my servants to you, and they must carefully search your house and the houses of your servants; and it must occur that everything desirable to your eyes they will put in their hand, and they must take it away.”’”

At that the king of Israel called all the older men of the land and said: “Take note, please, and see that it is calamity that this one is seeking; for he sent to me for my wives and my sons and my silver and my gold, and I did not hold them back from him.” Then all the older men and all the people said to him: “Do not obey, and you should not consent.” So he said to the messengers of Ben-ha’dad: “Say to my lord the king, ‘All that you sent to your servant at first I shall do; but this thing I am not able to do.’” With that the messengers went off and brought word back to him.

Ben-ha’dad now sent to him and said: “So may the gods do to me, and so may they add to it, if the dust of Sa·mar’i·a will be sufficient for handfuls for all the people that follow me!” In turn the king of Israel answered and said: “YOU men, speak [to him], ‘Do not let one girding on boast about himself like one unfastening.’” And it came about that as soon as he heard this word, while he himself and the kings were drinking in the booths, he immediately said to his servants: “Get set!” And they began to get set against the city.

And, look! a certain prophet approached A’hab the king of Israel and then said: “This is what Jehovah has said, ‘Have you seen all this great crowd? Here I am giving it into your hand today, and you will certainly know that I am Jehovah.’” Then Aʹhab said: “By whom?” to which he said: “This is what Jehovah has said, ‘By the young men of the princes of the jurisdictional districts.’” Finally he said: “Who will open the battle engagement?” to which he said: “You!”

And he proceeded to take the count of the young men of the princes of the jurisdictional districts, and they came to be two hundred and thirty-two; and after them he took the count of all the people, all the sons of Israel, seven thousand. And they began to go out at noon while Ben-ha’dad was drinking himself drunk in the booths, he together with the kings, the thirty-two kings that were helping him. When the young men of the princes of the jurisdictional districts came out first, Ben-ha’dad at once sent out; and they came telling him, saying: “There are men that have come out from Sa·mar’i·a.” At that he said: “Whether it is for peace that they have come out, YOU should seize them alive; or whether it is for battle that they have come out, alive is how YOU should seize them.” And these were the ones that came out from the city, the young men of the princes of the jurisdictional districts and the military forces that were behind them. And they began to strike down each one his man; and the Syrians took to flight, and Israel went in pursuit of them, but Ben-ha’dad the king of Syria got to escape upon a horse together with the horsemen. But the king of Israel went out and kept striking down the horses and the chariots, and he struck down the Syrians with a great slaughter.

Later the prophet approached the king of Israel and said to him: “Go, strengthen yourself and take note and see what you are going to do; for at the return of the year the king of Syria is coming up against you.”

As for the servants of the king of Syria, they said to him: “Their God is a God of mountains. That is why they proved stronger than we were. So, on the other hand, let us fight against them on the level land [and see] whether we shall not prove stronger than they are. And do this thing: Remove the kings each one from his place and put in governors instead of them. As for you, you should number a military force for yourself equal to the military force that fell from your side, with horse for horse and chariot for chariot; and let us fight against them on the level land [and see] whether we shall not prove stronger than they are.” Accordingly he listened to their voice and did just that way.

And it came about at the return of the year that Ben-ha’dad proceeded to muster the Syrians and to go up to A’phek for battle against Israel. As for the sons of Israel, they were mustered and supplied and began to go out to meet them; and the sons of Israel went into camp in front of them like two tiny flocks of goats, while the Syrians, for their part, filled the earth. Then the man of the [true] God approached and said to the king of Israel, yes, he went on to say: “This is what Jehovah has said, ‘For the reason that the Syrians have said: “Jehovah is a God of mountains, and he is not a God of low plains,” I shall have to give all this great crowd into your hand, and YOU men will certainly know that I am Jehovah.’”

And they continued encamped for seven days, these in front of those. And it came about on the seventh day that the engagement in battle began; and the sons of Israel went striking down the Syrians, a hundred thousand men on foot in one day. And those that were left went fleeing to A’phek, to the city; and the wall came falling down upon twenty-seven thousand men that were left. As for Ben-ha’dad, he fled and finally came into the city into the innermost chamber.

So his servants said to him: “Here, now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are kings of loving-kindness. Please, let us carry sackcloth upon our loins and ropes upon our heads, and let us go out to the king of Israel. Perhaps he will preserve your soul alive.” Accordingly they girded sackcloth about their loins, with ropes upon their heads, and came in to the king of Israel and said: “Your servant Ben-ha’dad has said, ‘Please, let my soul live.’” To this he said: “Is he still alive? He is my brother.” So the men themselves took it as an omen and quickly took it as a decision of his own accord, and they went on to say: “Ben-ha’dad is your brother.” At that he said: “Come, fetch him.” Then Ben-ha’dad went out to him; and he at once had him get up into the chariot.

[Ben-ha’dad] now said to him: “The cities that my father took from your father I shall return; and streets you will assign to yourself in Damascus the same as my father assigned in Sa·mar’i·a.” “And as for me, in a covenant I shall send you away. ”With that he concluded a covenant with him and sent him away.

And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his friend by the word of Jehovah: “Strike me, please.” But the man refused to strike him. Therefore he said to him: “For the reason that you did not listen to the voice of Jehovah, here you are going away from me, and a lion will certainly strike you down.” After that he went away from beside him, and the lion got to find him and strike him down. And he went on to find another man and to say: “Strike me, please.” So the man struck him, striking and wounding.

Then the prophet went and stood still for the king by the road, and he kept himself disguised with a bandage over his eyes. And it came about that as the king was passing by, he cried out to the king and proceeded to say: “Your servant himself went out into the thick of the battle; and, look! a man was leaving the line, and he came bringing a man to me and then said, ‘Guard this man. If he should in any way be missing, your soul will also have to take the place of his soul, or else a talent of silver you will weigh out.’ And it came about that as your servant was active here and there, why, he himself was gone.” At this the king of Israel said to him: “Thus your own judgment is. You yourself have decided.” Upon that he hurriedly removed the bandage from over his eyes, and the king of Israel got to recognize him, that he was from the prophets. He now said to him: “This is what Jehovah has said, ‘For the reason that you have let go out of your hand the man devoted to me for destruction, your soul must take the place of his soul, and your people the place of his people.’” At that the king of Israel went on his way toward his house, sullen and dejected, and came to Sa·marʹi·a.”

- 1 Kings 16:23-34 & 17-20, NWT