The Harvest Judgment
Isaiah 21 – 24
Isaiah 21 – 24
CHAPTER 21
1 The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south pass through, so it cometh from the desert, from a terrible land. 2 A grievous vision is declared unto me: the treacherous dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, Elam! besiege, Media! All the sighing thereof have I made to cease. 3 Therefore are my loins filled with pain; anguish hath taken hold upon me, as the anguish of a woman in travail: I am bowed down so as not to hear, I am dismayed so as not to see. 4 My heart panteth, horror affrighteth me: the night of my pleasure hath he turned into trembling unto me. 5 Prepare the table, appoint the watch; eat, drink: arise, ye princes, anoint the shield. 6 For thus hath the Lord said unto me: Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth. 7 And he saw chariots, horsemen by pairs, a chariot with asses, a chariot with camels; and he hearkened diligently with much heed. 8 And he cried as a lion, Lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights. 9 — And behold, there cometh a chariot of men; horsemen by pairs. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground. 10 O my threshing, and the corn of my floor! What I have heard of Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared unto you. 11 The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? 12 The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will inquire, inquire; return, come. 13 The burden against Arabia. In the forest of Arabia shall ye lodge, ye caravans of Dedanites. 14 Bring ye water to meet the thirsty! The inhabitants of the land of Tema come forth with their bread for him that fleeth. 15 For they flee from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war. 16 For thus hath the Lord said unto me: Within a year, according to the years of a hired servant, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail; 17 and the residue of the number of the archers, the mighty men of the sons of Kedar, shall be diminished: for Jehovah, the God of Israel, hath spoken.
1 The burden of the valley of vision. What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops? 2 Thou that wast full of stir, a town of tumult, a joyous city: thy slain men are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle. 3 All thy rulers have fled together, they are taken prisoners without the bow: all that are found of thee are made prisoners together; they were fleeing far off. 4 Therefore said I, Look away from me; let me weep bitterly: labour not to comfort me, because of the spoiling of the daughter of my people. 5 For it is a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity, from the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, in the valley of vision; a day of breaking down the wall, and of crying to the mountain: 6 — Elam beareth the quiver with chariots of men and horsemen; and Kir uncovereth the shield. 7 And it shall come to pass that thy choicest valleys shall be full of chariots, and the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate. 8 And he uncovereth the covering of Judah: and thou didst look in that day to the armour in the house of the forest; 9 and ye have seen the breaches of the city of David, that they are many; and ye have gathered together the waters of the lower pool; 10 and ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and have broken down the houses to fortify the wall; 11 and ye have made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool: but ye have not had regard unto the maker thereof, neither have ye looked unto him that fashioned it long ago. 12 And in that day did the Lord Jehovah of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth; 13 and behold joy and rejoicing, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: — Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die. 14 And it was revealed in mine ears by Jehovah of hosts: Assuredly this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts. 15 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah of hosts: Go, get thee in unto this steward, unto Shebna, who is over the house, and say, 16 What hast thou here? and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewn thee out a sepulchre here, as he that heweth out his sepulchre on high, cutting out in the rock a habitation for himself? 17 Behold, Jehovah will hurl thee with the force of a mighty man, and will cover thee entirely. 18 Rolling thee up completely, he will roll thee as a ball into a wide country: there shalt thou die, and there shall be the chariots of thy glory, O shame of thy lord’s house! 19 And I will drive thee from thine office, and from thy station will I pull thee down. 20 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkijah; 21 and I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand; and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. 22 And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; and he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. 23 And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a throne of glory to his father’s house: 24 and they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the issue, all the small vessels, as well the vessels of cups as all the vessels of flagons. 25 In that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in a sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall; and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off: for Jehovah hath spoken.
1 The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish! for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, none entering in. From the land of Chittim it is revealed to them. 2 Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle! The merchants of Sidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished thee. 3 And on great waters, the seed of Shihor, the harvest of the Nile, was her revenue; and she was the market of the nations. 4 Be thou ashamed, Sidon, for the sea hath spoken, the strength of the sea, saying, I have not travailed nor brought forth, neither have I nourished young men nor brought up virgins. 5 — When the report came into Egypt, they were sorely pained at the news of Tyre. 6 Pass over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the coast! 7 Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days? Her feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn. 8 Who hath purposed this against Tyre, the distributor of crowns, whose merchants were princes, whose dealers were the honourable of the earth? 9 Jehovah of hosts hath purposed it, to profane the pride of all glory, to bring to nought all the honourable of the earth. 10 Overflow thy land like the Nile, daughter of Tarshish: there is no more restraint. 11 He hath stretched out his hand over the sea, he shaketh the kingdoms. Jehovah hath given a commandment concerning Canaan, to destroy the strongholds thereof, 12 and hath said, Thou shalt no more exult, thou oppressed virgin, daughter of Sidon: get thee up, pass over to Chittim; even there shalt thou have no rest. 13 Behold the land of the Chaldeans: this people did not exist; the Assyrian founded it for the dwellers in the desert: they set up their towers, they destroyed the palaces thereof; he brought it to ruin. 14 Howl, ships of Tarshish! for your fortress is laid waste. 15 And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king. At the end of seventy years it shall be for Tyre as the harlot’s song. 16 Take a harp, go about the city, thou forgotten harlot! Make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered. 17 And it shall come to pass at the end of seventy years, that Jehovah will visit Tyre; and she will return to her hire, and will commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the earth upon the face of the ground. 18 And her merchandise and her hire shall be holy to Jehovah: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before Jehovah, to eat and be sufficed, and for excellent clothing.
1 Behold, Jehovah maketh the land empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad its inhabitants. 2 And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with him from whom usury is taken. 3 The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled; for Jehovah hath spoken this word. 4 The land mourneth, it fadeth away; the world languisheth, it fadeth away: the haughty people of the land do languish. 5 And the land is polluted under the inhabitants thereof; for they have violated the laws, changed the statute, broken the everlasting covenant. 6 Therefore doth the curse devour the earth, and they that dwell therein are held guilty; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are consumed, and few men are left. 7 The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all that were merry-hearted do sigh; 8 the mirth of tambours ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth. 9 They do not drink wine with a song; strong drink is bitter to them that drink it. 10 The city of solitude is broken down; every house is shut up, so that none entereth in. 11 There is a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone; 12 desolation remaineth in the city, and the gate is smitten, — a ruin. 13 For so will it be in the midst of the land among the peoples, as the shaking of an olive-tree, as the grape-gleanings when the vintage is done. 14 These shall lift up their voice, they shall shout for the majesty of Jehovah, they shall cry aloud from the sea. 15 Therefore glorify Jehovah in the east, the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel, in the isles of the west. 16 From the end of the earth have we heard songs: Glory to the righteous! And I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! The treacherous have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous have dealt very treacherously. 17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare are upon thee, inhabitant of the land. 18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the sound of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare; for the windows on high are open, and the foundations of the earth shake. 19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is completely dissolved, the earth is violently moved. 20 The earth reeleth to and fro like a drunkard, and is shaken like a night hut; and its transgression is heavy upon it; and it falleth and shall not rise again. 21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that Jehovah will punish the host of the high ones on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. 22 And they shall be brought together, as an assemblage of prisoners for the pit, and shall be shut up in prison, and after many days shall they be visited. 23 And the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed; for Jehovah of hosts shall reign on mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients in glory.