1 Come near, ye
nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear,
and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come
forth of it.
2 For the indignation of the LORD is upon all nations, and his
fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them,
he hath delivered them to the slaughter.
3 Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall
come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted
with their blood.
4 And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens
shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall
fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling
fig from the fig tree.
5 For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come
down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment.
6 The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat
with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the
fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in
Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.
7 And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks
with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and
their dust made fat with fatness.
8 For it is the day of the LORD's vengeance, and the year of
recompences for the controversy of Zion.
9 And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the
dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become
burning pitch.
10 It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof
shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall
lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.
11 But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl
also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out
upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness.
12 They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none
shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing.
13 And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles
in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of
dragons, and a court for owls.
14 The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild
beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow;
the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself
a place of rest.
15 There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch,
and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be
gathered, every one with her mate.
16 Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of
these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it
hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.
17 And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided
it unto them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation
to generation shall they dwell therein.
Chapter 35
1 The wilderness
and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert
shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.
2 It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and
singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency
of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD,
and the excellency of our God.
3 Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.
4 Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not:
behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence;
he will come and save you.
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of
the deaf shall be unstopped.
6 Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of
the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out,
and streams in the desert.
7 And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty
land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each
lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
8 And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be
called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over
it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools,
shall not err therein.
9 No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up
thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall
walk there:
10 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion
with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall
obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Chapter 36
1 Now it came to
pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib
king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah,
and took them.
2 And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem
unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit
of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field.
3 Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, which was
over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph's son,
the recorder.
4 And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus
saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is
this wherein thou trustest?
5 I say, sayest thou, (but they are but vain words) I have counsel
and strength for war: now on whom dost thou trust, that thou
rebellest against me?
6 Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt;
whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce
it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him.
7 But if thou say to me, We trust in the LORD our God: is it
not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken
away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before
this altar?
8 Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the
king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if
thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.
9 How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the
least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for
chariots and for horsemen?
10 And am I now come up without the LORD against this land to
destroy it? the LORD said unto me, Go up against this land,
and destroy it.
11 Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak,
I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we
understand it: and speak not to us in the Jews' language, in
the ears of the people that are on the wall.
12 But Rabshakeh said, Hath my master sent me to thy master
and to thee to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the
men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung,
and drink their own piss with you?
13 Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the
Jews' language, and said, Hear ye the words of the great king,
the king of Assyria.
14 Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he
shall not be able to deliver you.
15 Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying,
The LORD will surely deliver us: this city shall not be delivered
into the hand of the king of Assyria.
16 Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria,
Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me:
and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree,
and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern;
17 Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land,
a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards.
18 Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, The LORD will
deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his
land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? where are the gods
of Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?
20 Who are they among all the gods of these lands, that have
delivered their land out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver
Jerusalem out of my hand?
21 But they held their peace, and answered him not a word: for
the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not.
22 Then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, that was over the
household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph,
the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told
him the words of Rabshakeh. |