Catholic Public Domain Version (CPDV)

1 Woe to Ariel, to Ariel the city against which David fought: year has been added to year, the solemnities have unfolded.

2 And I will surround Ariel with siege works, and it will be in sorrow and mourning, and it will be like Ariel to me.

3 And I will surround you like a sphere all around you, and I will raise up a rampart against you, and I will set up fortifications to blockade you.

4 You will be brought low. You will speak from the ground, and your eloquence will be heard from the dirt. And, from the ground, your voice will be like that of the python, and your eloquence will mumble from the dirt.

5 And the multitude of those who fan you will be like fine dust. And the multitude of those who have prevailed against you will be like embers fading away.

6 And this will happen suddenly and swiftly. It will be visited from the Lord of hosts with thunder and earthquakes, and with the great noise of a whirlwind and a storm, and with a flame of devouring fire.

7 And the multitude of all the nations that have struggled against Ariel will be like the dream of a vision by night, along with all who have battled, and besieged, and prevailed against it.

8 And it will be like one who is hungry and dreams of eating, but, when he has been awakened, his soul is empty. And it will be like one who is thirsty and dreams of drinking, but, after he has been awakened, he still languishes in thirst, and his soul is empty. So shall the multitude of all the nations be, who have struggled against Mount Zion.

9 Be stupefied and in wonder! Shake and quiver! Be inebriated, but not from wine! Stagger, but not from drunkenness!

10 For the Lord has mixed for you a spirit of deep sleep. He will close your eyes. He will cover your prophets and leaders, who see visions.

11 And the vision of all will be to you like the words of a sealed book, which, when they have given it to someone who knows how to read, they will say, “Read this,” but he will respond, “I cannot; for it has been sealed.”

12 But if the book is given to someone who does not know how to read, and it is said to him, “Read,” then he will respond, “I do not know how to read.”

13 And the Lord said: Since this people have drawn near to me only with their mouth, and their lips glorify me while their heart is far from me, and their fear of me is based on the commandments and doctrines of men,

14 for this reason, behold, I will proceed to accomplish a wonder for this people, a great and mystifying miracle. For wisdom will perish from their wise, and the understanding of their prudent will be concealed.

15 Woe to you who use the depths of the heart, so that you may hide your intentions from the Lord. Their works are done in darkness, and so they say: “Who sees us?” and “Who knows us?”

16 This intention of yours is perverse. It is as if the clay were to plan against the potter, or as if the work were to say to its maker: “You did not make me.” Or it is as if what has been formed were to say to the one who formed it, “You do not understand.”

17 In not more than a little while and a brief time, Lebanon will be turned into a fruitful field, and a fruitful field will be considered to be a forest.

18 And in that day, the deaf will hear the words of a book, and out of darkness and obscurity the eyes of the blind will see.

19 And the meek will increase their rejoicing in the Lord, and the poor among men will exult in the Holy One of Israel.

20 For the one who was prevailing has failed, the one who was mocking has been consumed, and all those who were standing guard over iniquity have been cut down.

21 For they caused men to sin by a word, and they supplanted him who argued against them at the gates, and they turned away from justice in vain.

22 Because of this, thus says the Lord, he who has redeemed Abraham, to the house of Jacob: From now on, Jacob will not be confounded; from now on his countenance will not blush with shame.

23 Instead, when he sees his children, they will be the work of my hands in his midst, sanctifying my name, and they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and they will preach the God of Israel.

24 And those who had gone astray in spirit will know understanding, and those who had murmured will learn the law.

1 “Woe to the sons of apostasy!” says the Lord. For you would take advice, but not from me. And you would begin to weave, but not by my spirit. Thus do you add sin upon sin!

2 You are walking so as to descend into Egypt, and you have not sought answers from my mouth, instead hoping for assistance from the strength of Pharaoh and placing trust in the shadow of Egypt.

3 And so, the strength of Pharaoh will be your confusion, and trust in the shadow of Egypt will be your disgrace.

4 For your leaders were at Tanis, and your messengers have traveled even as far as Hanes.

5 They have all been confounded because of a people who were not able to offer profit to them, who were not of assistance, nor of other usefulness, except to offer confusion and reproach.

6 The burden of the beasts in the south. In a land of tribulation and anguish, from which go forth the lioness and the lion, the viper and the flying king snake, they carry their riches upon the shoulders of beasts of burden, and their valuables upon the humps of camels, to a people who are not able to offer profit to them.

7 For Egypt will offer assistance, but without purpose or success. Therefore, concerning this, I cried out: “It is only arrogance! Remain calm.”

8 Now, therefore, enter and write for them upon a tablet, and note it diligently in a book, and this shall be a testimony in the last days, and even unto eternity.

9 For they are a people who provoke to wrath, and they are lying sons, sons unwilling to listen to the law of God.

10 They say to the seers, “Do not see,” and to those who behold: “Do not behold for us the things that are right. Speak to us of pleasing things. See errors for us.

11 Take me from the way. Avert me from the path. Let the Holy One of Israel cease from before our face.”

12 Because of this, thus says the Holy One of Israel: Since you have rejected this word, and you have hoped in calumny and rebellion, and since you have depended upon these things,

13 for this reason, this iniquity will be to you like a breach that has fallen, and like a gap in a high wall. For its destruction will happen suddenly, when it is not expected.

14 And it will be crushed, just as the earthen vessel of a potter is destroyed by a sharp blow. And not even a fragment of its earthenware will be found, which might carry a little fire from the hearth, or which might draw a little water from a hollow.

15 For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: If you return and are quiet, you shall be saved. Your strength will be found in silence and in hope. But you are not willing!

16 And you have said: “Never! Instead, we will flee by horseback.” For this reason, you will be put to flight. And you have said, “We will climb upon swift ones.” For this reason, those who pursue you will be even swifter.

17 A thousand men will flee in terror from the face of one, and you will flee in terror from the face of five, until you who have been left behind are like the mast of a ship at the top of a mountain, or like a sign on a hill.

18 Therefore, the Lord waits, so that he may take pity on you. And therefore, he will be exalted for sparing you. For the Lord is the God of judgment. Blessed are all those who wait for him.

19 For the people of Zion will live in Jerusalem. Bitterly, you will not weep. Mercifully, he will take pity on you. At the voice of your outcry, as soon as he hears, he will respond to you.

20 And the Lord will give you thick bread and accessible water. And he will not cause your teacher to fly away from you anymore. And your eyes will behold your instructor.

21 And your ears will listen to the word of one admonishing you behind your back: “This is the way! Walk in it! And do not turn aside, neither to the right, nor to the left.”

22 And you will defile the plates of your silver graven images and the vestment of your gold molten idols. And you will throw these things away like the uncleanness of a menstruating woman. You will say to it, “Go away!”

23 And wherever you sow seed upon the earth, rain will be given to the seed. And bread from the grain of the earth will be very plentiful and full. In that day, the lamb will pasture in the spacious land of your possession.

24 And your bulls, and the colts of the donkeys that work the ground, will eat a mix of grains like that winnowed on the threshing floor.

25 And there will be, on every lofty mountain, and on every elevated hill, rivers of running water, in the day of the slaughter of many, when the tower will fall.

26 And the light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, like the light of seven days, in the day when the Lord will bind the wound of his people, and when he will heal the stroke of their scourge.

27 Behold, the name of the Lord arrives from far away. His fury is burning and heavy to bear. His lips have been filled with indignation, and his tongue is like a devouring fire.

28 His Spirit is like a torrent, inundating, even as high as the middle of the neck, in order to reduce the nations to nothing, along with the bridle of error that was in the jaws of the people.

29 There will be a song for you, as in the night of a sanctified solemnity, and a joy of heart, as when one travels with music to arrive at the mountain of the Lord, to the Strong One of Israel.

30 And the Lord will cause the glory of his voice to be heard, and, with a threatening fury and a devouring flame of fire, he will reveal the terror of his arm. He will crush with the whirlwind and with hailstones.

31 For at the voice of the Lord, Assur will dread being struck with the staff.

32 And when the passage of the staff has been begun, the Lord will cause it to rest upon him, with timbrels and harps. And with special battles, he will fight against them.

33 For a burning place, deep and wide, has been prepared from yesterday, prepared by the King. Its nourishment is fire and much wood. The breath of the Lord, like a torrent of brimstone, kindles it.

1 Woe to those who descend into Egypt for assistance, hoping in horses, and putting their trust in four-horse chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are exceedingly strong. And they have not believed in the Holy One of Israel, and they have not sought the Lord.

2 Therefore, being wise, he has permitted harm, and he has not removed his words, and he will rise up against the house of the wicked and against those who assist the workers of iniquity.

3 Egypt is man, and not God. And their horses are flesh, and not spirit. And so, the Lord will reach down his hand, and the helper will fall, and the one who was being helped will fall, and they will all be consumed together.

4 For the Lord says this to me: In the same way that a lion roars, and a young lion is over his prey, and though a multitude of shepherds may meet him, he will not dread their voice, nor be afraid of their number, so will the Lord of hosts descend in order to battle upon mount Zion and upon its hill.

5 Like birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts protect Jerusalem, protecting and freeing, passing over and saving.

6 Be converted to the same depth that you have drawn away, O sons of Israel.

7 For in that day, a man will cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which your hands have made for you unto sin.

8 And Assur will fall by a sword not of man, and a sword not of man will devour him. And he will not flee from the face of the sword, and his young men will be subject to a penalty.

9 And his strength will pass away in terror, and his princes will flee in fear. The Lord has said it. His fire is in Zion, and his furnace is at Jerusalem.

1 Behold, the king will reign in justice, and the princes will rule in judgment.

2 And a man will be like someone hidden from the wind, who conceals himself from a storm, or like rivers of waters in a time of thirst, or like the shadow of a rock that juts out in a desert land.

3 The eyes of those who see will not be obscured, and the ears of those who hear will listen closely.

4 And the heart of the foolish will understand knowledge, and the tongue of those with impaired speech will speak quickly and plainly.

5 He who is foolish will no longer be called leader, nor will the deceitful be called greater.

6 For a foolish man speaks foolishness and his heart works iniquity in order to accomplish deception. And he speaks to the Lord deceitfully, so as to empty the soul of the hungry and to take away drink from the thirsty.

7 The tools of the deceitful are very wicked. For they have concocted plans to destroy the meek by lying words, though the poor speak judgment.

8 Yet truly, the prince will plan things that are worthy of a prince, and he will stand above the rulers.

9 You opulent women, rise up and listen to my voice! O confident daughters, play close attention to my eloquence!

10 For after a year and some days, you who are confident will be disturbed. For the vintage has been completed; the gathering will no longer occur.

11 Be stupefied, you opulent women! Be disturbed, O confident ones! Strip yourselves, and be confounded; gird yourselves at the waist.

12 Mourn over your breasts, over the delightful country, over the fruitful vineyard.

13 Thorn and brier will rise up, over the soil of my people. How much more over all the houses of gladness, over the city of exultation?

14 For the house has been forsaken. The multitude of the city has been abandoned. A darkness and a covering have been placed over its dens, even unto eternity. It will be the gladness of wild donkeys and the pasture of flocks,

15 until the Spirit is poured over us from on high. And the desert will be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field will be considered as a forest.

16 And judgment will live in solitude, and justice will be seated in a fruitful place.

17 And the work of justice will be peace. And the service of justice will be quiet and secure, forever.

18 And my people will be seated in the beauty of peacefulness, and in the tabernacles of faithfulness, and in the opulence of restfulness.

19 But hail will be in the descent of the forest, and the city will be brought exceedingly low.

20 Blessed are you who sow over any waters, sending the feet of the ox and the donkey there.

1 Woe to you who plunder! Will you yourselves not also be plundered? And woe to you who despise! Will you yourselves not also be despised? When you will have completed your plundering, you will be plundered. When, out of fatigue, you will have ceased acting with contempt, you will be treated with contempt.

2 O Lord, take pity on us. For we have waited for you. Be our arm in the morning and our salvation in the time of tribulation.

3 From the voice of the Angel, the people fled. And from your exultation, the nations were scattered.

4 And your spoils will be gathered together, just as the locusts are collected when the ditches have become filled with them.

5 The Lord has been magnified, because he has lived on high. He has filled Zion with judgment and justice.

6 And there will be faith in your times: the riches of salvation, wisdom and knowledge. For the fear of the Lord is his treasure.

7 Behold, outside, those who see will cry out. The Angels of peace will weep bitterly.

8 The roads have become desolate. Travelers have ceased along the paths. The covenant has been nullified. He has tossed aside cities. He has disregarded men.

9 The earth has mourned and languished. Lebanon has been confounded and desecrated. And Sharon has become like a desert. And Bashan and Carmel have been struck together.

10 “Now, I will rise up!” says the Lord. “Now I will be exalted! Now I will lift myself up!”

11 You will conceive heat. You will give birth to stubble. Your own spirit will devour you like fire.

12 And the people will be like the ashes from a fire. They will be consumed by fire like a bundle of thorns.

13 “You who are far away, listen to what I have done! And you who are near, acknowledge my strength!”

14 The sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling has taken hold of the hypocrites. Who among you is able to live with a devouring fire? Who among you will live with an everlasting flame?

15 The one who walks in justice and speaks the truth, who casts out avarice with oppression and shakes all bribes from his hands, who blocks his ears so that he may not listen to blood, and closes his eyes so that he may not see evil.

16 Such a one will live on high; the fortification of rocks will be his lofty place. Bread has been given to him; his waters are reliable.

17 His eyes will see the king in his elegance; they will discern the land from far away.

18 Your heart will meditate on fear. Where are the learned? Where are those who ponder the words of the law? Where are the teachers of little ones?

19 You will not look upon a shameless people, a people of exalted words. For you are not able to understand the dissertation of a tongue in which there is no wisdom.

20 Look with favor upon Zion, the city of our solemnity. Your eyes will behold Jerusalem: an opulent habitation, a tabernacle that can never be taken away. Its stakes will not be taken away forever, nor will any of its cords be broken.

21 For only in that place has our Lord been magnified. It is a place of rivers, very broad and open. No ship with oars will cross through it, nor will the great Greek ship pass through it.

22 For the Lord is our judge. The Lord is our lawgiver. The Lord is our king. He himself will save us.

23 Your ropes have become loose, and they will not prevail. Your mast will be such that you will not be able to unfurl a flag. Then the spoils of much plunder will be divided. The lame will seize the spoils.

24 He who is nearby will not say: “I am too weak.” The people who live in it will have their iniquity taken away from them.

1 O nations and peoples: draw near, and listen, and pay attention! Let the earth and its fullness hear, the entire world and all its offspring.

2 For the indignation of the Lord is over all the nations, and his fury is over all their armies. He has put them to death, and he has given them over to slaughter.

3 Their slain will be cast out, and from their carcasses a foul odor will rise up. The mountains will languish because of their blood.

4 And the entire army of the heavens will languish, and the heavens will be folded like a book. And their entire army will fall away, as a leaf falls from the vine or from the fig tree.

5 “For my sword in heaven has been inebriated. Behold, it will descend upon Idumea, and upon the people of my slaughter, unto judgment.”

6 The sword of the Lord has been filled with blood. It has been thickened by the blood of lambs and he-goats, by the innermost blood of rams. For the victim of the Lord is in Bozrah, and a great slaughter is in the land of Edom.

7 And the single-horned beasts will descend with them, and the bulls along with the mighty. Their land will be inebriated by blood, and their ground by the fat of their lazy ones.

8 For this is the day of the vengeance of the Lord, the year of retribution for the judgment of Zion.

9 And its torrents will be turned into tar, and its soil into sulfur. And its land will become burning tar.

10 Night and day, it will not be extinguished; its smoke will rise up without ceasing. From generation to generation it will remain desolate. No one will pass through it, forever and ever.

11 The pelican and the hedgehog will possess it. And the ibis and the raven will live in it. And a measuring line will be extended over it, so that it may be reduced to nothing, and a plumb line, unto desolation.

12 Its nobles will not be in that place. Instead, they will call upon the king, and all its leaders will be as nothing.

13 And thorns and nettles will rise up in its houses, and the thistle in its fortified places. And it will be the lair of serpents and the pasture of ostriches.

14 And demons and monsters will meet, and the hairy ones will cry out to one another. There, the ogress has lain down and found rest for herself.

15 In that place, the hedgehog has kept its den, and has raised its young, and has dug around them, and has kept them warm in its shadow. In that place, the birds of prey have joined together, one to another.

16 Search and read diligently in the book of the Lord. Not one of them was lacking; not one has sought for the other. For what has proceeded from my mouth, he has commanded, and his very Spirit has gathered them.

17 And he has cast lots over them. And his hand has distributed this to them by measure. They will possess it, even unto eternity. From generation to generation, they will dwell in it.

1 The desolate and impassable land will rejoice, and the place of solitude will exult, and it will flourish like the lily.

2 It will spring up and blossom, and it will exult with rejoicing and praising. The glory of Lebanon has been given to it, with the beauty of Carmel and Sharon. These will see the glory of the Lord and the beauty of our God.

3 Strengthen the lax hands, and confirm the weak knees!

4 Say to the fainthearted: “Take courage and fear not! Behold, your God will bring the vindication of retribution. God himself will arrive to save you.”

5 Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be cleared.

6 Then the disabled will leap like a buck, and the tongue of the mute will be untied. For the waters have burst forth in the desert, and torrents in solitary places.

7 And the land that was dry will have a pond, and the thirsty land will have fountains of water. In the hollows where the serpents lived before, there will rise up the greenery of reed and bulrush.

8 And there shall be a path and a road in that place. And it will be called the Holy Way. The defiled will not pass through it. For this will be an upright path for you, so much so that the foolish will not wander along it.

9 There will be no lions in that place, and harmful wild animals will neither climb up to it, nor be found there. Only those who have been freed will walk in that place.

10 And the redeemed of the Lord will be converted, and they will return to Zion with praising. And everlasting joy will be upon their heads. They will obtain gladness and rejoicing. For pain and sorrow will flee away.

1 And it happened that, in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, Sennacherib, the king of the Assyrians, went up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and he seized them.

2 And the king of the Assyrians sent Rabshakeh from Lachish into Jerusalem, to king Hezekiah, with a great force, and he stood near the aqueduct of the upper pool, at the road to the fuller’s field.

3 And those who went to him were Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, who was over the house, and Shebna, the scribe, and Joah, son of Asaph, the historian.

4 And Rabshakeh said to them: “Tell Hezekiah: Thus says the great king, the king of the Assyrians: What is this faith in which you believe?

5 And by what counsel or strength would you prepare to rebel? In whom do you have faith, so much so that you would withdraw from me?

6 Behold, you are trusting in Egypt, in that broken staff of a reed. But if a man were to lean against it, it would enter his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to all who trust in him.

7 But if you answer me by saying: ‘We trust in the Lord our God.’ Is it not his high places and altars that Hezekiah has taken away? And he has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar.’

8 And now, hand yourselves over to my lord, the king of the Assyrians, and I will give you two thousand horses, and you will not be able to find riders for them on your own.

9 So how will you withstand the face of the ruler of even one place, of even the least of my lord’s subordinates? But if you trust in Egypt, in four-horse chariots and in horsemen:

10 do I intend to go up against this land to destroy it without the Lord? But the Lord said to me, ‘Go up against this land, and destroy it.’ “

11 And Eliakim, and Shebna, and Joah said to Rabshakeh: “Speak to your servants in the Syrian language. For we understand it. Do not speak to us in the Jewish language, in the hearing of the people, who are upon the wall.”

12 And Rabshakeh said to them: “Has my lord sent me to your lord and to you in order to speak all these words, and not even more so to the men who are sitting on the wall, so that they may eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?”

13 Then Rabshakeh stood up, and he cried out with a loud voice in the Jewish language, and he said: “Listen to the words of the great king, the king of the Assyrians.

14 Thus says the king: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. For he will not be able to rescue you.

15 And do not let Hezekiah cause you to trust in the Lord, saying: ‘The Lord will rescue and free us. This city will not be given into the hands of the king of the Assyrians.’

16 Do not listen to Hezekiah. For the king of the Assyrians says this: Act with me to your own benefit, and come out to me. And let each one eat from his own vine, and each one from his own fig tree. And let each one drink water from his own well,

17 until I arrive and take you away to a land which is like your own: a land of grain and of wine, a land of bread and of vineyards.

18 But you should not let Hezekiah disturb you, saying, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ Have any of the gods of each of the nations delivered their land from the hand of the king of the Assyrians?

19 Where is the god of Hamath and of Arpad? Where is the god of Sepharvaim? Have they freed Samaria from my hand?

20 Who is there, among all the gods of these lands, who has rescued his land from my hand, so that the Lord would rescue Jerusalem from my hand?”

21 And they remained silent and did not answer a word to him. For the king had commanded them, saying, “You shall not respond to him.”

22 And Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, who was over the house, and Shebna, the scribe, and Joah, son of Asaph, the historian, entered to Hezekiah with their garments rent, and they reported to him the words of Rabshakeh.

1 And it happened that, when king Hezekiah had heard this, he rent his garments, and he wrapped himself in sackcloth, and he entered the house of the Lord.

2 And he sent Eliakim, who was over the house, and Shebna, the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah, the son of Amoz, the prophet.

3 And they said to him: “Thus says Hezekiah: This day is a day of tribulation, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy. For the sons have arrived at the time for birth, but there is not enough strength to bring them forth.

4 Perhaps, somehow, the Lord your God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of the Assyrians, his lord, has sent to blaspheme the living God, and will rebuke the words that the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, lift up your prayers on behalf of the remnant which has been left behind.”

5 And so the servants of king Hezekiah went to Isaiah.

6 And Isaiah said to them: “You shall say this to your lord: Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid to face the words that you have heard, by which the servants of the king of the Assyrians blasphemed me.

7 Behold, I will send a spirit to him, and he will hear a message, and he will return to his own land. And I will cause him to fall by the sword, in his own land.”

8 Then Rabshakeh returned, and he found the king of the Assyrians fighting against Libnah. For he had heard that he had set out from Lachish.

9 And he heard from Tirhakah, the king of Ethiopia: “He has gone forth so that he may fight against you.” And when he had heard this, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying:

10 “You shall say this to Hezekiah, the king of Judah, saying: Do not let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you by saying: ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of the Assyrians.’

11 Behold, you have heard about all that the kings of the Assyrians have done to all the lands that they have conquered, and so, how can you be delivered?

12 Have the gods of the nations rescued those whom my fathers have conquered: Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the sons of Eden who were at Telassar?

13 Where is the king of Hamath and the king of Arpad, or the king of the city of Sepharvaim, or of Hena and Ivvah?”

14 And Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers, and he read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord, and Hezekiah spread it out in the sight of the Lord.

15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, saying:

16 “O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel who sits upon the Cherubim: you alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.

17 O Lord, incline your ear and listen. O Lord, open your eyes and see. And hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to blaspheme the living God.

18 For truly, O Lord, the kings of the Assyrians have laid waste to countries and territories.

19 And they have cast their gods into the fire. For these were not gods, but the works of men’s hands, of wood and of stone. And they broke them into pieces.

20 And now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand. And let all the kingdoms of the earth acknowledge that you alone are Lord.”

21 And Isaiah, the son of Amoz, sent to Hezekiah, saying: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Because of what you have prayed to me about Sennacherib, the king of the Assyrians,

22 this is the word that the Lord has spoken over him: The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and mocked you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you.

23 Whom have you insulted? And whom have you blasphemed? And against whom have you lifted up your voice and raised up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel!

24 By the hand of your servants, you have reproached the Lord. And you have said: ‘With a multitude of my four-horse chariots, I have ascended the heights of the mountains adjoining Lebanon. And I will cut down its lofty cedars and its choice pine trees. And I will reach the top of its summit, to the forest of its Carmel.

25 I dug deep, and I drank water, and I dried up all the river banks with the sole of my foot.’

26 Have you not heard what I have done to it in past times? In ancient times, I formed it. And now I have brought it forth. And it has been made so that the hills and the fortified cities would fight together, unto its destruction.

27 Their inhabitants had unsteady hands. They trembled and were confused. They became like the plants of the field, and the grass of the pastures, and like the weeds on the rooftops, which wither before they are mature.

28 I know your habitation, and your arrival, and your departure, and your madness against me.

29 When you became angry against me, your arrogance rose up to my ears. Therefore, I will place a ring in your nose, and a bit between your lips. And I will turn you back on the road by which you arrived.

30 But this shall be a sign for you: Eat, in this year, whatever springs up on its own. And in the second year, eat fruits. But in the third year, sow and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.

31 And what will be saved from the house of Judah, and what is left behind, will form deep roots, and will bear high fruits.

32 For from Jerusalem, a remnant shall go forth, and salvation from mount Zion. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.

33 For this reason, thus says the Lord about the king of the Assyrians: He will not enter this city, nor shoot an arrow into it, nor overtake it with a shield, nor dig a rampart all around it.

34 He will return on the road by which he arrived. And into this city, he will not enter, says the Lord.

35 And I will protect this city, so that I may save it for my own sake, and for the sake of David, my servant.”

36 Then the Angel of the Lord went forth and struck down, in the camp of the Assyrians, one hundred eighty-five thousand. And they arose in the morning, and behold, all these were dead bodies.

37 And Sennacherib, the king of the Assyrians, departed and went away. And he returned and lived at Nineveh.

38 And it happened that, as he was adoring his god in the temple of Nisroch, his sons, Adramelech and Sharezer, struck him with the sword. And they fled into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon, his son, reigned in his place.

1 In those days Hezekiah became ill and was near death. And so, Isaiah, the son of Amoz, the prophet, entered to him, and he said to him: “Thus says the Lord: Put your house in order, for you shall die, and you shall not live.”

2 And Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and he prayed to the Lord.

3 And he said: “I beg you, Lord, I beseech you, to remember how I walked before you in truth and with a whole heart, and that I have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept with a great weeping.

4 And the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying:

5 “Go and say to Hezekiah: Thus says the Lord, the God of David, your father: I have heard your prayer, and I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your days.

6 And I will rescue you and this city from the hand of the king of the Assyrians, and I will protect it.

7 And this will be a sign for you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this word, which he has spoken:

8 Behold, I will cause the shadow of the lines, which has now descended on the sundial of Ahaz, to move in reverse for ten lines.” And so, the sun moved backward by ten lines, through the degrees by which it had descended.

9 The writing of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, after he had fallen ill and had recovered from his sickness:

10 “I said: In the middle of my days, I will go to the gates of Hell. So I sought the remainder of my years.

11 I said: I will not see the Lord God in the land of the living. I will no longer behold man, nor the habitation of rest.

12 My longevity has been taken away; it has been folded up and taken from me, like the tent of a shepherd. My life has been cut off, as if by a weaver. While I was still beginning, he cut me off. From morning until evening, you have marked out my limits.

13 I hoped, even until morning. Like a lion, so has he crushed all my bones. From morning until evening, you have marked my limits.

14 I will cry out, like a young swallow. I will meditate, like a dove. My eyes have been weakened by gazing upward. O Lord, I suffer violence! Answer in my favor.

15 What can I say, or what would he answer me, since he himself has done this? I will acknowledge to you all my years, in the bitterness of my soul.

16 O Lord, if such is life, and if the life of my spirit is of such a kind, may you correct me and may you cause me to live.

17 Behold, in peace my bitterness is most bitter. But you have rescued my soul, so that it would not perish. You have cast all my sins behind your back.

18 For Hell will not confess to you, and death will not praise you. Those who descend into the pit will not hope for your truth.

19 The living, the living, these will give praise to you, as I also do this day! The father will make the truth known to the sons.

20 O Lord, save me! And we will sing our psalms, all the days of our life, in the house of the Lord.”

21 Now Isaiah had ordered them to take a paste of figs, and to spread it like plaster over the wound, so that he would be healed.

22 And Hezekiah said, “What will be the sign that I may go up to the house of the Lord?”