The day of the Lord

You, Lord, have abandoned your people,
    the descendants of Jacob.
They are full of superstitions from the East;
    they practise divination like the Philistines
    and embrace pagan customs.
Their land is full of silver and gold;
    there is no end to their treasures.
Their land is full of horses;
    there is no end to the chariots.
Their land is full of idols;
    they bow down to the work of their hands,
    to what their fingers have made.
So people will be brought low
    and everyone humbled –
    do not forgive them.[a]

10 Go into the rocks, hide in the ground
    from the fearful presence of the Lord
    and the splendour of his majesty!
11 The eyes of the arrogant will be humbled
    and human pride brought low;
the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.

12 The Lord Almighty has a day in store
    for all the proud and lofty,
for all that is exalted
    (and they will be humbled),
13 for all the cedars of Lebanon, tall and lofty,
    and all the oaks of Bashan,
14 for all the towering mountains
    and all the high hills,
15 for every lofty tower
    and every fortified wall,
16 for every trading ship[b]
    and every stately vessel.
17 The arrogance of man will be brought low
    and human pride humbled;
the Lord alone will be exalted in that day,
18     and the idols will totally disappear.

19 People will flee to caves in the rocks
    and to holes in the ground
from the fearful presence of the Lord
    and the splendour of his majesty,
    when he rises to shake the earth.
20 In that day people will throw away
    to the moles and bats
their idols of silver and idols of gold,
    which they made to worship.
21 They will flee to caverns in the rocks
    and to the overhanging crags
from the fearful presence of the Lord
    and the splendour of his majesty,
    when he rises to shake the earth.

22 Stop trusting in mere humans,
    who have but a breath in their nostrils.
    Why hold them in esteem?

Judgment on Jerusalem and Judah

See now, the Lord,
    the Lord Almighty,
is about to take from Jerusalem and Judah
    both supply and support:
all supplies of food and all supplies of water,
    the hero and the warrior,
the judge and the prophet,
    the diviner and the elder,
the captain of fifty and the man of rank,
    the counsellor, skilled craftsman and clever enchanter.

‘I will make mere youths their officials;
    children will rule over them.’

People will oppress each other –
    man against man, neighbour against neighbour.
The young will rise up against the old,
    the nobody against the honoured.

A man will seize one of his brothers
    in his father’s house, and say,
‘You have a cloak, you be our leader;
    take charge of this heap of ruins!’
But in that day he will cry out,
    ‘I have no remedy.
I have no food or clothing in my house;
    do not make me the leader of the people.’

Jerusalem staggers,
    Judah is falling;
their words and deeds are against the Lord,
    defying his glorious presence.
The look on their faces testifies against them;
    they parade their sin like Sodom;
    they do not hide it.
Woe to them!
    They have brought disaster upon themselves.

10 Tell the righteous it will be well with them,
    for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds.
11 Woe to the wicked!
    Disaster is upon them!
They will be paid back
    for what their hands have done.

12 Youths oppress my people,
    women rule over them.
My people, your guides lead you astray;
    they turn you from the path.

13 The Lord takes his place in court;
    he rises to judge the people.
14 The Lord enters into judgment
    against the elders and leaders of his people:
‘It is you who have ruined my vineyard;
    the plunder from the poor is in your houses.
15 What do you mean by crushing my people
    and grinding the faces of the poor?’
declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.

16 The Lord says,
    ‘The women of Zion are haughty,
walking along with outstretched necks,
    flirting with their eyes,
strutting along with swaying hips,
    with ornaments jingling on their ankles.
17 Therefore the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the women of Zion;
    the Lord will make their scalps bald.’

18 In that day the Lord will snatch away their finery: the bangles and headbands and crescent necklaces, 19 the earrings and bracelets and veils, 20 the head-dresses and anklets and sashes, the perfume bottles and charms, 21 the signet rings and nose rings, 22 the fine robes and the capes and cloaks, the purses 23 and mirrors, and the linen garments and tiaras and shawls.

24 Instead of fragrance there will be a stench;
    instead of a sash, a rope;
instead of well-dressed hair, baldness;
    instead of fine clothing, sackcloth;
    instead of beauty, branding.
25 Your men will fall by the sword,
    your warriors in battle.
26 The gates of Zion will lament and mourn;
    destitute, she will sit on the ground.
In that day seven women
    will take hold of one man
and say, ‘We will eat our own food
    and provide our own clothes;
only let us be called by your name.
    Take away our disgrace!’

The Branch of the Lord

In that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel. Those who are left in Zion, who remain in Jerusalem, will be called holy, all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem. The Lord will wash away the filth of the women of Zion; he will cleanse the bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit[c] of judgment and a spirit[d] of fire. Then the Lord will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night; over everything the glory[e] will be a canopy. It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding-place from the storm and rain.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 2:9 Or not raise them up
  2. Isaiah 2:16 Hebrew every ship of Tarshish
  3. Isaiah 4:4 Or the Spirit
  4. Isaiah 4:4 Or the Spirit
  5. Isaiah 4:5 Or over all the glory there