Isaiah 4-8 - Prayer Tents

4In that day so few men will be left that seven women will fight for each man, saying, “Let us all marry you! We will provide our own food and clothing. Only let us take your name so we won’t be mocked as old maids.”H3117H7651H802H2388H259H376H559H398H3899H3847H8071H7121H8034H622H2781

A Promise of Restoration

2But in that day, the branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious; the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of all who survive in Israel.H3117H6780H3068H6643H3519H6529H776H1347H8597H6413H3478 3All who remain in Zion will be a holy people—those who survive the destruction of Jerusalem and are recorded among the living.H7604H6726H3498H3389H559H6918H3789H2416H3389 4The Lord will wash the filth from beautiful Zion and cleanse Jerusalem of its bloodstains with the hot breath of fiery judgment.H136H7364H6675H1323H6726H1740H1818H3389H7130H7307H4941H7307H1197 5Then the Lord will provide shade for Mount Zion and all who assemble there. He will provide a canopy of cloud during the day and smoke and flaming fire at night, covering the glorious land.H3068H1254H4349H2022H6726H4744H6051H6227H3119H5051H3852H784H3915H3519H2646 6It will be a shelter from daytime heat and a hiding place from storms and rain.H5521H6738H3119H2721H4268H4563H2230H4306

A Song about the Lord’s Vineyard

5Now I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a rich and fertile hill.H7891H3039H7892H1730H3754H3039H3754H1121H8081H71612He plowed the land, cleared its stones, and planted it with the best vines. In the middle he built a watchtower and carved a winepress in the nearby rocks. Then he waited for a harvest of sweet grapes, but the grapes that grew were bitter.H5823H5619H5193H8321H1129H4026H8432H2672H3342H6960H6213H6025H6213H8913Now, you people of Jerusalem and Judah, you judge between me and my vineyard.H3427H3389H376H3063H8199H37544What more could I have done for my vineyard that I have not already done? When I expected sweet grapes, why did my vineyard give me bitter grapes?H6213H3754H6213H4069H6960H6213H6025H6213H8915Now let me tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will tear down its hedges and let it be destroyed. I will break down its walls and let the animals trample it.H3045H6213H3754H5493H4881H1197H6555H1447H48236I will make it a wild place where the vines are not pruned and the ground is not hoed, a place overgrown with briers and thorns. I will command the clouds to drop no rain on it.H7896H1326H2168H5737H5927H8068H7898H6680H5645H4305H43067The nation of Israel is the vineyard of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. The people of Judah are his pleasant garden. He expected a crop of justice, but instead he found oppression. He expected to find righteousness, but instead he heard cries of violence.H3754H3068H6635H1004H3478H376H3063H8191H5194H6960H4941H4939H6666H6818

Judah’s Guilt and Judgment

8What sorrow for you who buy up house after house and field after field, until everyone is evicted and you live alone in the land.H1945H5060H1004H1004H7126H7704H7704H657H4725H3427H7130H7769But I have heard the Lord of Heaven’s Armies swear a solemn oath. “Many houses will stand deserted; even beautiful mansions will be empty.H241H3068H6635H3808H7227H1004H8047H1419H2896H342710Ten acres of vineyard will not produce even six gallons of wine. Ten baskets of seed will yield only one basket of grain.”H3588H6235H6776H3754H6213H259H1324H2233H2563H6213H37411What sorrow for those who get up early in the morning looking for a drink of alcohol and spend long evenings drinking wine to make themselves flaming drunk.H1945H7925H1242H7291H7941H309H5399H3196H181412They furnish wine and lovely music at their grand parties—lyre and harp, tambourine and flute—but they never think about the Lord or notice what he is doing.H3658H5035H8596H2485H3196H4960H5027H6467H3068H7200H4639H302713So my people will go into exile far away because they do not know me. Those who are great and honored will starve, and the common people will die of thirst.H5971H1540H1847H3519H4962H7458H1995H6704H677214The grave is licking its lips in anticipation, opening its mouth wide. The great and the lowly and all the drunken mob will be swallowed up.H7585H7337H5315H6473H6310H2706H1926H1995H7588H5938H338115Humanity will be destroyed, and people brought down; even the arrogant will lower their eyes in humiliation.H120H7817H376H8213H5869H1364H821316But the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will be exalted by his justice. The holiness of God will be displayed by his righteousness.H3068H6635H1361H4941H410H6918H6942H666617In that day lambs will find good pastures, and fattened sheep and young goats will feed among the ruins.H3532H7462H1699H2723H4220H1481H39818What sorrow for those who drag their sins behind them with ropes made of lies, who drag wickedness behind them like a cart!H1945H4900H5771H2256H7723H2403H5699H568819They even mock God and say, “Hurry up and do something! We want to see what you can do. Let the Holy One of Israel carry out his plan, for we want to know what it is.”H559H4116H2363H4639H7200H6098H6918H3478H7126H935H304520What sorrow for those who say that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark, that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter.H1945H559H7451H2896H2896H7451H7760H2822H216H216H2822H7760H4751H4966H4966H475121What sorrow for those who are wise in their own eyes and think themselves so clever.H1945H2450H5869H995H644022What sorrow for those who are heroes at drinking wine and boast about all the alcohol they can hold.H1945H1368H8354H3196H582H2428H4537H794123They take bribes to let the wicked go free, and they punish the innocent.H6663H7563H6118H7810H5493H6666H666224Therefore, just as fire licks up stubble and dry grass shrivels in the flame, so their roots will rot and their flowers wither. For they have rejected the law of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies; they have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.H784H398H7179H3956H3852H7503H2842H8328H4716H6525H5927H80H3988H8451H3068H6635H5006H565H6918H347825That is why the Lord’s anger burns against his people, and why he has raised his fist to crush them. The mountains tremble, and the corpses of his people litter the streets like garbage. But even then the Lord’s anger is not satisfied. His fist is still poised to strike!H639H3068H2734H5971H5186H3027H5221H2022H7264H5038H5478H7130H2351H639H7725H3027H518626He will send a signal to distant nations far away and whistle to those at the ends of the earth. They will come racing toward Jerusalem.H5375H5251H1471H7350H8319H7097H776H935H4120H703127They will not get tired or stumble. They will not stop for rest or sleep. Not a belt will be loose, not a sandal strap broken.H5889H3782H5123H3462H232H2504H6605H8288H5275H542328Their arrows will be sharp and their bows ready for battle. Sparks will fly from their horses’ hooves, and the wheels of their chariots will spin like a whirlwind.H2671H8150H7198H1869H5483H6541H2803H6862H1534H549229They will roar like lions, like the strongest of lions. Growling, they will pounce on their victims and carry them off, and no one will be there to rescue them.H7581H3833H7580H7580H3715H5098H270H2964H6403H533730They will roar over their victims on that day of destruction like the roaring of the sea. If someone looks across the land, only darkness and distress will be seen; even the light will be darkened by clouds.H3117H5098H5100H3220H5027H776H2822H6862H216H2821H6183

Isaiah’s Cleansing and Call

6It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple.H8141H4428H5818H4194H7200H853H136H3427H3678H7311H5375H7757H4392H853H1964 2Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew.H4605H5975H8314H259H8337H3671H8147H3680H6440H8147H3680H7272H8147H5774 3They were calling out to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory!”H7121H559H6918H6918H6918H3068H6635H776H4393H3519 4Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke.H520H5592H5128H6963H7121H1004H4390H6227 5Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”H559H188H1820H376H2931H8193H3427H8432H5971H2931H8193H5869H7200H4428H3068H6635 6Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs.H5774H259H8314H7531H3027H3947H4457H4196 7He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.”H5060H6310H559H5060H8193H5771H5493H2403H3722 8Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.”H8085H6963H136H559H7971H3212H559H7971 9And he said, “Yes, go, and say to this people, ‘Listen carefully, but do not understand. Watch closely, but learn nothing.’H559H3212H559H5971H8085H8085H995H7200H7200H3045 10Harden the hearts of these people. Plug their ears and shut their eyes. That way, they will not see with their eyes, nor hear with their ears, nor understand with their hearts and turn to me for healing.”H3820H5971H8080H241H3513H8173H5869H7200H5869H8085H241H995H3824H7725H7495 11Then I said, “Lord, how long will this go on?” And he replied, “Until their towns are empty, their houses are deserted, and the whole country is a wasteland;H559H136H559H5892H7582H3427H1004H120H127H8077H7582 12until the Lord has sent everyone away, and the entire land of Israel lies deserted.H3068H7368H120H7368H7227H5805H7130H776 13If even a tenth—a remnant—survive, it will be invaded again and burned. But as a terebinth or oak tree leaves a stump when it is cut down, so Israel’s stump will be a holy seed.”H6224H7725H1197H424H437H4678H7995H6944H2233H4678

A Message for Ahaz

7When Ahaz, son of Jotham and grandson of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah, the king of Israel, set out to attack Jerusalem. However, they were unable to carry out their plan.H3117H271H1121H3147H1121H5818H4428H3063H7526H4428H758H6492H1121H7425H4428H3478H5927H3389H4421H3201H38982The news had come to the royal court of Judah: “Syria is allied with Israel against us!” So the hearts of the king and his people trembled with fear, like trees shaking in a storm.H5046H1004H1732H559H758H5117H669H3824H5128H3824H5971H6086H3293H5128H6440H73073Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Take your son Shear-jashub and go out to meet King Ahaz. You will find him at the end of the aqueduct that feeds water into the upper pool, near the road leading to the field where cloth is washed.H559H3068H3470H3318H7125H271H7610H1121H7097H8585H5945H1295H4546H3526H77044Tell him to stop worrying. Tell him he doesn’need to fear the fierce anger of those two burned-out embers, King Rezin of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah.H559H8104H8252H3372H7401H3824H8147H2180H6226H181H2750H639H7526H758H1121H74255Yes, the kings of Syria and Israel are plotting against him, saying,H758H669H1121H7425H7451H3289H5596‘We will attack Judah and capture it for ourselves. Then we will install the son of Tabeel as Judah’s king.’H5927H3063H6973H1234H4427H4428H8432H1121H28707But this is what the Sovereign Lord says. “This invasion will never happen; it will never take place;H3541H559H136H3069H69658for Syria is no stronger than its capital, Damascus, and Damascus is no stronger than its king, Rezin. As for Israel, within sixty-five years it will be crushed and completely destroyed.H7218H758H1834H7218H1834H7526H8346H2568H8141H669H2865H59719Israel is no stronger than its capital, Samaria, and Samaria is no stronger than its king, Pekah son of Remaliah. Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm.”H7218H669H8111H7218H8111H7425H1121H539H539

The Sign of Immanuel

10Later, the Lord sent this message to King Ahaz:H3068H1696H3254H271H55911“Ask the Lord your God for a sign of confirmation, Ahaz. Make it as difficult as you want—as high as heaven or as deep as the place of the dead.”H7592H226H3068H430H7592H6009H1361H460512But the king refused. “No,” he said, “I will not test the Lord like that.”H271H559H7592H5254H853H306813Then Isaiah said, “Listen well, you royal family of David! Isn’t it enough to exhaust human patience? Must you exhaust the patience of my God as well?H559H8085H1004H1732H4592H3811H582H3811H43014All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).H136H5414H226H5959H2030H3205H1121H7121H8034H410H600515By the time this child is old enough to choose what is right and reject what is wrong, he will be eating yogurt and honey.H2529H1706H398H3045H3988H7451H977H289616For before the child is that old, the lands of the two kings you fear so much will both be deserted.H5288H3045H3988H7451H977H2896H127H6973H6440H5800H8147H442817“Then the Lord will bring things on you, your nation, and your family unlike anything since Israel broke away from Judah. He will bring the king of Assyria upon you!”H3068H935H5971H1H1004H3117H935H3117H669H5493H3063H4428H80418In that day the Lord will whistle for the army of southern Egypt and for the army of Assyria. They will swarm around you like flies and bees.H3117H3068H8319H2070H7097H2975H4714H1682H776H80419They will come in vast hordes and settle in the fertile areas and also in the desolate valleys, caves, and thorny places.H935H5117H1327H5158H5357H5553H5285H509720In that day the Lord will hire a “razor” from beyond the Euphrates River—the king of Assyria—and use it to shave off everything: your land, your crops, and your people.H3117H136H1548H8593H7917H5676H5104H4428H804H7218H8181H7272H5595H220621In that day a farmer will be fortunate to have a cow and two sheep or goats left.H3117H376H2421H1241H5697H8147H662922Nevertheless, there will be enough milk for everyone because so few people will be left in the land. They will eat their fill of yogurt and honey.H7230H2461H6213H398H2529H2529H1706H398H3498H7130H77623In that day the lush vineyards, now worth 1,000 pieces of silver, will become patches of briers and thorns.H3117H4725H505H1612H505H3701H8068H789824The entire land will become a vast expanse of briers and thorns, a hunting ground overrun by wildlife.H2671H7198H935H776H8068H789825No one will go to the fertile hillsides where the gardens once grew, for briers and thorns will cover them. Cattle, sheep, and goats will graze there.H2022H5737H4576H935H3374H8068H7898H4916H7794H4823H7716

The Coming Assyrian Invasion

8Then the Lord said to me, “Make a large signboard and clearly write this name on it: Maher-shalal-hash-baz.”H3068H559H3947H1419H1549H3789H582H2747H4122 2I asked Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah, both known as honest men, to witness my doing this.H5749H539H5707H5749H223H3548H2148H1121H3000 3Then I slept with my wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. And the Lord said, “Call him Maher-shalal-hash-baz.H7126H5031H2029H3205H1121H559H3068H7121H8034H4122 4For before this child is old enough to say ‘Papa’ or ‘Mama,’ the king of Assyria will carry away both the abundance of Damascus and the riches of Samaria.”H5288H3045H7121H1H517H2428H1834H7998H8111H5375H6440H4428H804 5Then the Lord spoke to me again and said,H3068H1696H3254H559 6“My care for the people of Judah is like the gently flowing waters of Shiloah, but they have rejected it. They are rejoicing over what will happen to King Rezin and King Pekah.H3282H5971H3988H4325H7975H1980H328H4885H7526H7425H1121 7Therefore, the Lord will overwhelm them with a mighty flood from the Euphrates River—the king of Assyria and all his glory. This flood will overflow all its channelsH136H5927H4325H5104H6099H7227H4428H804H3519H5927H650H1980H1415 8and sweep into Judah until it is chin deep. It will spread its wings, submerging your land from one end to the other, O Immanuel.H2498H3063H7857H5674H5060H6677H4298H3671H4393H7341H776H6005H410 9“Huddle together, you nations, and be terrified. Listen, all you distant lands. Prepare for battle, but you will be crushed! Yes, prepare for battle, but you will be crushed!H7489H5971H2865H238H3605H4801H776H247H2865H247H2865 10Call your councils of war, but they will be worthless. Develop your strategies, but they will not succeed. For God is with us!”H5779H6098H5779H6565H1696H1697H6965H410

A Call to Trust the Lord

11The Lord has given me a strong warning not to think like everyone else does. He said,H3068H559H2393H3027H3256H3212H1870H5971H559 12“Don’t call everything a conspiracy, like they do, and don’t live in dread of what frightens them.H559H7195H5971H559H7195H3372H4172H6206 13Make the Lord of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear. He is the one who should make you tremble.H6942H3068H6635H4172H6206 14He will keep you safe. But to Israel and Judah he will be a stone that makes people stumble, a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare.H4720H68H5063H6697H4383H8147H1004H3478H6341H4170H3427H3389 15Many will stumble and fall, never to rise again. They will be snared and captured.”H7227H3782H5307H7665H3369H3920 16Preserve the teaching of God; entrust his instructions to those who follow me.H6887H8584H2856H8451H3928 17I will wait for the Lord, who has turned away from the descendants of Jacob. I will put my hope in him.H2442H3068H5641H6440H1004H3290H6960 18I and the children the Lord has given me serve as signs and warnings to Israel from the Lord of Heaven’s Armies who dwells in his Temple on Mount Zion.H3206H3068H5414H226H4159H3478H3068H6635H7931H2022H6726 19Someone may say to you, “Let’s ask the mediums and those who consult the spirits of the dead. With their whisperings and mutterings, they will tell us what to do.” But shouldn’t people ask God for guidance? Should the living seek guidance from the dead?H559H1875H178H3049H6850H1897H5971H1875H430H2416H4191 20Look to God’s instructions and teachings! People who contradict his word are completely in the dark.H8451H8584H559H1697H7837 21They will go from one place to another, weary and hungry. And because they are hungry, they will rage and curse their king and their God. They will look up to heavenH5674H7185H7457H7456H7107H7043H4428H430H6437H4605 22and down at the earth, but wherever they look, there will be trouble and anguish and dark despair. They will be thrown out into the darkness.H5027H776H6869H2825H4588H6695H5080H653