Isaiah 12-14 - Prayer Tents

Songs of Praise for Salvation

12In that day you will sing. “I will praise you, O Lord! You were angry with me, but not any more. Now you comfort me.H3117H559H3068H3034H599H639H7725H5162 2See, God has come to save me. I will trust in him and not be afraid. The Lord God is my strength and my song; he has given me victory.”H410H3444H982H6342H3050H3068H5797H2176H3444 3With joy you will drink deeply from the fountain of salvation!H8342H7579H4325H4599H3444 4In that wonderful day you will sing. “Thank the Lord! Praise his name! Tell the nations what he has done. Let them know how mighty he is!H3117H559H3034H3068H7121H8034H3045H5949H5971H2142H8034H7682 5Sing to the Lord, for he has done wonderful things. Make known his praise around the world.H2167H3068H6213H1348H3045H3045H776 6Let all the people of Jerusalem shout his praise with joy! For great is the Holy One of Israel who lives among you.”H6670H7442H3427H6726H1419H6918H3478H7130

A Message about Babylon

13Isaiah son of Amoz received this message concerning the destruction of Babylon.H4853H894H3470H1121H531H2372 2“Raise a signal flag on a bare hilltop. Call up an army against Babylon. Wave your hand to encourage them as they march into the palaces of the high and mighty.H5375H5251H8192H2022H7311H6963H5130H3027H935H6607H5081 3I, the Lord, have dedicated these soldiers for this task. Yes, I have called mighty warriors to express my anger, and they will rejoice when I am exalted.”H6680H6942H7121H1368H639H5947H1346 4Hear the noise on the mountains! Listen, as the vast armies march! It is the noise and shouting of many nations. The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has called this army together.H6963H1995H2022H1823H7227H5971H7588H6963H4467H1471H622H3068H6635H6485H6635H4421 5They come from distant countries, from beyond the farthest horizons. They are the Lord’s weapons to carry out his anger. With them he will destroy the whole land.H935H4801H776H7097H8064H3068H3627H2195H2254H776 6Scream in terror, for the day of the Lord has arrived—the time for the Almighty to destroy.H3213H3117H3068H7138H935H7701H7706 7Every arm is paralyzed with fear. Every heart melts,H3027H7503H582H3824H4549 8and people are terrified. Pangs of anguish grip them, like those of a woman in labor. They look helplessly at one another, their faces aflame with fear.H926H6735H2256H270H2342H3205H8539H376H7453H6440H3851 9For see, the day of the Lord is coming—the terrible day of his fury and fierce anger. The land will be made desolate, and all the sinners destroyed with it.H3117H3068H935H394H5678H2740H639H7760H776H8047H8045H2400 10The heavens will be black above them; the stars will give no light. The sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon will provide no light.H3556H8064H3685H1984H216H8121H2821H3318H3394H216H5050 11“I, the Lord, will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their sin. I will crush the arrogance of the proud and humble the pride of the mighty.H6485H8398H7451H7563H5771H1347H2086H7673H8213H1346H6184 12I will make people scarcer than gold—more rare than the fine gold of Ophir.H582H3365H6337H120H3800H211 13For I will shake the heavens. The earth will move from its place when the Lord of Heaven’s Armies displays his wrath in the day of his fierce anger.”H7264H8064H776H7493H4725H5678H3068H6635H3117H2740H639 14Everyone in Babylon will run about like a hunted gazelle, like sheep without a shepherd. They will try to find their own people and flee to their own land.H5080H6643H6629H6908H376H6437H5971H5127H376H776 15Anyone who is captured will be cut down—run through with a sword.H4672H1856H5595H5307H2719 16Their little children will be dashed to death before their eyes. Their homes will be sacked, and their wives will be raped.H5768H7376H5869H1004H8155H802H7901H7693 17“Look, I will stir up the Medes against Babylon. They cannot be tempted by silver or bribed with gold.H5782H4074H2803H3701H2091H2654 18The attacking armies will shoot down the young men with arrows. They will have no mercy on helpless babies and will show no compassion for children.”H7198H7376H5288H7376H7355H6529H990H5869H2347H1121 19Babylon, the most glorious of kingdoms, the flower of Chaldean pride, will be devastated like Sodom and Gomorrah when God destroyed them.H894H6643H4467H8597H3778H1347H430H4114H5467H6017 20Babylon will never be inhabited again. It will remain empty for generation after generation. Nomads will refuse to camp there, and shepherds will not bed down their sheep.H5331H3427H7931H1755H1755H6163H167H7462H7257 21Desert animals will move into the ruined city, and the houses will be haunted by howling creatures. Owls will live among the ruins, and wild goats will go there to dance.H6728H7257H1004H4390H255H1323H3284H7931H8163H7540 22Hyenas will howl in its fortresses, and jackals will make dens in its luxurious palaces. Babylon’s days are numbered; its time of destruction will soon arrive.H338H6030H490H8577H6027H1964H6256H7138H935H3117H4900

A Taunt for Babylon’s King

14But the Lord will have mercy on the descendants of Jacob. He will choose Israel as his special people once again. He will bring them back to settle once again in their own land. And people from many different nations will come and join them there and unite with the people of Israel.H3068H7355H3290H977H3478H3240H127H1616H3867H5596H1004H3290 2The nations of the world will help the Lord’s people to return, and those who come to live in their land will serve them. Those who captured Israel will themselves be captured, and Israel will rule over its enemies.H5971H3947H935H4725H1004H3478H5157H127H3068H5650H8198H7617H7617H7287H5065 3In that wonderful day when the Lord gives his people rest from sorrow and fear, from slavery and chains,H3117H3068H5117H6090H7267H7186H5656H5647 4you will taunt the king of Babylon. You will say, “The mighty man has been destroyed. Yes, your insolence is ended.H5375H4912H4428H894H559H5065H7673H4062H7673 5For the Lord has crushed your wicked power and broken your evil rule.H3068H7665H4294H7563H7626H4910 6You struck the people with endless blows of rage and held the nations in your angry grip with unrelenting tyranny.H5221H5971H5678H1115H5627H4347H7287H1471H639H4783H1097H2820 7But finally the earth is at rest and quiet. Now it can sing again!H776H5117H8252H6476H7440 8Even the trees of the forest—the cypress trees and the cedars of Lebanon—sing out this joyous song. ‘Since you have been cut down, no one will come now to cut us down!’H1265H8055H730H3844H7901H3772H5927 9“In the place of the dead there is excitement over your arrival. The spirits of world leaders and mighty kings long dead stand up to see you.H7585H7264H7125H935H5782H7496H6260H776H6965H3678H4428H1471 10With one voice they all cry out, ‘Now you are as weak as we are!H6030H559H2470H4911 11Your might and power were buried with you. The sound of the harp in your palace has ceased. Now maggots are your sheet, and worms your blanket.’H1347H3381H7585H1998H5035H7415H3331H8438H4374 12“How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star, son of the morning! You have been thrown down to the earth, you who destroyed the nations of the world.H5307H8064H1966H1121H7837H3213H1438H776H2522H1471 13For you said to yourself, ‘I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars. I will preside on the mountain of the gods far away in the north.H559H3824H5927H8064H7311H3678H4605H3556H410H3427H2022H4150H3411H6828 14I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High.’H5927H1116H5645H1819H5945 15Instead, you will be brought down to the place of the dead, down to its lowest depths.H3381H7585H3411H953 16Everyone there will stare at you and ask, ‘Can this be the one who shook the earth and made the kingdoms of the world tremble?H7200H7688H995H376H776H7264H7493H4467 17Is this the one who destroyed the world and made it into a wasteland? Is this the king who demolished the world’s greatest cities and had no mercy on his prisoners?’H7760H8398H4057H2040H5892H6605H1004H615 18“The kings of the nations lie in stately glory, each in his own tomb,H4428H1471H7901H3519H376H1004 19but you will be thrown out of your grave like a worthless branch. Like a corpse trampled underfoot, you will be dumped into a mass grave with those killed in battle. You will descend to the pit.H7993H6913H8581H5342H3830H2026H2944H2719H3381H68H953H6297H947 20You will not be given a proper burial, for you have destroyed your nation and slaughtered your people. The descendants of such an evil person will never again receive honor.H3161H6900H7843H776H2026H5971H2233H7489H5769H7121 21Kill this man’s children! Let them die because of their father’s sins! They must not rise and conquer the earth, filling the world with their cities.”H3559H4293H1121H5771H1H1077H6965H3423H776H4390H6440H8398H6145H5892 22This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says. “I, myself, have risen against Babylon! I will destroy its children and its children’s children,” says the Lord.H6965H5002H3068H6635H3772H894H8034H7605H5209H5220H5002H3068 23“I will make Babylon a desolate place of owls, filled with swamps and marshes. I will sweep the land with the broom of destruction. I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!”H7760H4180H7090H98H4325H2894H4292H8045H5002H3068H6635

A Message about Assyria

24The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has sworn this oath. “It will all happen as I have planned. It will be as I have decided.H3068H6635H7650H559H1819H3289H6965 25I will break the Assyrians when they are in Israel; I will trample them on my mountains. My people will no longer be their slaves nor bow down under their heavy loads.H7665H804H776H2022H947H5923H5493H5448H5493H7926 26I have a plan for the whole earth, a hand of judgment upon all the nations.H6098H3289H776H3027H5186H1471 27The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has spoken—who can change his plans? When his hand is raised, who can stop him?”H3068H6635H3289H6565H3027H5186H7725

A Message about Philistia

28This message came to me the year King Ahaz died.H8141H4428H271H4194H4853 29Do not rejoice, you Philistines, that the rod that struck you is broken—that the king who attacked you is dead. For from that snake a more poisonous snake will be born, a fiery serpent to destroy you!H8055H6429H7626H5221H7665H5175H8328H3318H6848H6529H8314H5774H8314 30I will feed the poor in my pasture; the needy will lie down in peace. But as for you, I will wipe you out with famine and destroy the few who remain.H1060H1800H7462H34H7257H983H4191H8328H7458H2026H7611 31Wail at the gates! Weep in the cities! Melt with fear, you Philistines! A powerful army comes like smoke from the north. Each soldier rushes forward eager to fight.H3213H8179H2199H5892H6429H4127H935H6828H6227H909H4151 32What should we tell the Philistine messengers? Tell them, “The Lord has built Jerusalem; its walls will give refuge to his oppressed people.”H6030H4397H1471H3068H3245H6726H6041H5971H2620