Isaiah 6-9

English Standard Version

Isaiah's Vision of the Lord

6 In the year that ^(A)King Uzziah died I ^(B)saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train^[a] of his robe filled the temple. ²Above him stood the seraphim. Each had ^(C)six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. ³And one called to another and said:

^(D)“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
^(E)the whole earth is full of his glory!”^[b]

⁴And ^(F)the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and ^(G)the house was filled with smoke. ⁵And I said: “Woe is me! ^(H)For I am lost; ^(I)for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the ^(J)King, the Lord of hosts!”

⁶Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷And he ^(K)touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

Isaiah's Commission from the Lord

⁸And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for ^(L)us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” ⁹And he said, “Go, and say to this people:

^(M)“‘Keep on hearing,^[c] but do not understand;
keep on seeing,^[d] but do not perceive.’
¹⁰^(N)Make the heart of this people ^(O)dull,^[e]
    and their ears heavy,
    and blind their eyes;
^(P)lest they see with their eyes,
    and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
    and turn and be healed.”
¹¹Then I said, ^(Q)“How long, O Lord?”
And he said:
“Until ^(R)cities lie waste
    without inhabitant,
and houses without people,
    and the land is a desolate waste,
¹²and the Lord removes people far away,
    and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
¹³^(S)And though a tenth remain in it,
    it will be burned^[f] again,
like a terebinth or an oak,
    whose stump ^(T)remains
    when it is felled.”
^(U)The holy seed^[g] is its stump.

Isaiah Sent to King Ahaz

7 In the days of ^(V)Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, ^(W)Rezin the king of Syria and ^(X)Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it. ²When the house of David was told, ^(Y)“Syria is in league with^[h] ^(Z)Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz^[i] and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.

³And the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz, you and ^(AA)Shear-jashub^[j] your son, at the end of ^(AB)the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer's Field. ⁴And say to him, ^(AC)‘Be careful, ^(AD)be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two ^(AE)smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and ^(AF)the son of Remaliah. ⁵Because Syria, with Ephraim and ^(AG)the son of Remaliah, has devised evil against you, saying, ⁶“Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it^[k] for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” ⁷thus says the Lord God:

^(AH)“‘It shall not stand,
    and it shall not come to pass.
⁸For the head of Syria is ^(AI)Damascus,
    and the head of Damascus is Rezin.
And within sixty-five years
    Ephraim will be shattered from being a people.
⁹And the head of Ephraim is Samaria,
    and the head of Samaria is ^(AJ)the son of Remaliah.
^(AK)If you^[l] are not firm in faith,
    you will not be firm at all.’”

The Sign of Immanuel

¹⁰Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: ¹¹“Ask ^(AL)a sign of the Lord your^[m] God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” ¹²But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” ¹³And he^[n] said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you ^(AM)weary my God also? ¹⁴Therefore the ^(AN)Lord himself will give you a sign. ^(AO)Behold, the ^(AP)virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name ^(AQ)Immanuel.^[o] ¹⁵He shall eat ^(AR)curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. ¹⁶^(AS)For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be ^(AT)deserted. ¹⁷^(AU)The Lord will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father's house such days as have not come since the day that ^(AV)Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!”

¹⁸In that day the Lord will ^(AW)whistle for the fly that is at the end of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. ¹⁹And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and ^(AX)in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures.^[p]

²⁰In that day ^(AY)the Lord will ^(AZ)shave with a razor that is ^(BA)hired beyond ^(BB)the River^[q]—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also.

²¹^(BC)In that day a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep, ²²and because of the abundance of milk that they give, he will eat curds, for everyone who is left in the land will eat ^(BD)curds and honey.

²³In that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekels^[r] of silver, will become ^(BE)briers and thorns. ²⁴^(BF)With bow and arrows a man will come there, for all the land will be briers and thorns. ²⁵^(BG)And as for all the hills that used to be hoed with a hoe, you will not come there for fear ^(BH)of briers and thorns, but they will become a place where cattle are let loose and where sheep tread.

The Coming Assyrian Invasion

8 Then the Lord said to me, “Take a large tablet ^(BI)and write on it in common characters,^[s] ‘Belonging to Maher-shalal-hash-baz.’^[t] ²And ^(BJ)I will get reliable witnesses, ^(BK)Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah, to attest for me.”

³And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said to me, ^(BL)“Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz; ⁴^(BM)for before the boy knows how to cry ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the ^(BN)wealth of ^(BO)Damascus and the spoil of ^(BP)Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”

⁵The Lord spoke to me again: ⁶“Because this people has refused the waters of ^(BQ)Shiloah that flow gently, and rejoice over ^(BR)Rezin and the son of Remaliah, ⁷therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them ^(BS)the waters of ^(BT)the River,^[u] mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it ^(BU)will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks, ⁸and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, ^(BV)reaching even to the neck, and its ^(BW)outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, ^(BX)O Immanuel.”

⁹Be broken,^[v] you peoples, and ^(BY)be shattered;^[w]
    give ear, all you far countries;
strap on your armor and be shattered;
    strap on your armor and be shattered.
¹⁰Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing;
    speak a word, ^(BZ)but it will not stand,
    for God ^(CA)is with us.^[x]

Fear God, Wait for the Lord

¹¹For the Lord spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and ^(CB)warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: ¹²“Do not call ^(CC)conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and ^(CD)do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. ¹³But the Lord of hosts, ^(CE)him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. ¹⁴And he will become a ^(CF)sanctuary and ^(CG)a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁵And many ^(CH)shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”

¹⁶Bind up ^(CI)the testimony; ^(CJ)seal the teaching^[y] among my disciples. ¹⁷I will ^(CK)wait for the Lord, who is ^(CL)hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. ¹⁸^(CM)Behold, I and ^(CN)the children whom the Lord has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. ¹⁹And when they say to you, “Inquire of the ^(CO)mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of ^(CP)the dead on behalf of the living? ²⁰^(CQ)To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no ^(CR)dawn. ²¹They will pass through the land,^[z] greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against^[aa] their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. ²²^(CS)And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into ^(CT)thick darkness.

For to Us a Child Is Born

9 ^[ab] But there will be no ^(CU)gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he ^(CV)brought into contempt the land of ^(CW)Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he ^(CX)has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.^[ac]

²^[ad] ^(CY)The people ^(CZ)who walked in darkness
    have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of ^(DA)deep darkness,
    on them has light shone.
³^(DB)You have multiplied the nation;
    you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
    as with ^(DC)joy at the harvest,
    as they ^(DD)are glad ^(DE)when they divide the spoil.
⁴^(DF)For the yoke of his burden,
    ^(DG)and the staff for his shoulder,
    the rod of his oppressor,
    you have broken as ^(DH)on the day of Midian.
⁵^(DI)For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
    and every garment rolled in blood
    will be burned as fuel for the fire.
⁶^(DJ)For to us a child is born,
    to us ^(DK)a son is given;
^(DL)and the government shall be ^(DM)upon^[ae] his shoulder,
    and his name shall be called^[af]
Wonderful ^(DN)Counselor, ^(DO)Mighty God,
    ^(DP)Everlasting ^(DQ)Father, Prince of ^(DR)Peace.
⁷Of the increase of his government and of peace
    ^(DS)there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
    to establish it and to uphold it
^(DT)with justice and with righteousness
    from this time forth and forevermore.
^(DU)The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Judgment on Arrogance and Oppression

⁸The Lord has sent a word against Jacob,
    and it will fall on Israel;
⁹and all the people will know,
    ^(DV)Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,
    who say in pride and in arrogance of heart:
¹⁰“The bricks have fallen,
    but we will build with dressed stones;
the sycamores have been cut down,
    but we will put cedars in their place.”
¹¹But the Lord raises the adversaries of Rezin against him,
    and stirs up his enemies.
¹²^(DW)The Syrians on the east and ^(DX)the Philistines on the west
    devour Israel with open mouth.
^(DY)For all this his anger has not turned away,
    and his hand is stretched out still.

¹³The people ^(DZ)did not turn to him who struck them,
    nor inquire of the Lord of hosts.
¹⁴So the Lord cut off from Israel ^(EA)head and tail,
    palm branch and reed in one day—
¹⁵^(EB)the elder and honored man is the head,
    and ^(EC)the prophet who teaches lies is the tail;
¹⁶for those who guide this people have been leading them astray,
    and those who are guided by them are swallowed up.
¹⁷Therefore the Lord does not ^(ED)rejoice over their young men,
    and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows;
for everyone is ^(EE)godless and an evildoer,
    and every mouth speaks ^(EF)folly.^[ag]
^(EG)For all this his anger has not turned away,
    and his hand is stretched out still.

¹⁸For wickedness burns like ^(EH)a fire;
    it consumes briers and thorns;
it kindles the thickets of the forest,
    and they roll upward in a column of smoke.
¹⁹Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts
    the land is scorched,
and ^(EI)the people are like fuel for the fire;
    ^(EJ)no one spares another.
²⁰^(EK)They slice meat on the right, but are still hungry,
    and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied;
^(EL)each devours the flesh of his own arm,
²¹Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim devours Manasseh;
    together they are ^(EM)against Judah.
^(EN)For all this his anger has not turned away,
    and his hand is stretched out still.

Footnotes

Isaiah 6:1 Or hem
Isaiah 6:3 Or may his glory fill the whole earth
Isaiah 6:9 Or Hear indeed
Isaiah 6:9 Or see indeed
Isaiah 6:10 Hebrew fat
Isaiah 6:13 Or purged
Isaiah 6:13 Or offspring
Isaiah 7:2 Hebrew Syria has rested upon
Isaiah 7:2 Hebrew his heart
Isaiah 7:3 Shear-jashub means A remnant shall return
Isaiah 7:6 Hebrew let us split it open
Isaiah 7:9 The Hebrew for you is plural in verses 9, 13, 14
Isaiah 7:11 The Hebrew for you and your is singular in verses 11, 16, 17
Isaiah 7:13 That is, Isaiah
Isaiah 7:14 Immanuel means God is with us
Isaiah 7:19 Or watering holes, or brambles
Isaiah 7:20 That is, the Euphrates
Isaiah 7:23 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
Isaiah 8:1 Hebrew with a man's stylus
Isaiah 8:1 Maher-shalal-hash-baz means The spoil speeds, the prey hastens
Isaiah 8:7 That is, the Euphrates
Isaiah 8:9 Or Be evil
Isaiah 8:9 Or dismayed
Isaiah 8:10 The Hebrew for God is with us is Immanuel
Isaiah 8:16 Or law; also verse 20
Isaiah 8:21 Hebrew it
Isaiah 8:21 Or speak contemptuously by
Isaiah 9:1 Ch 8:23 in Hebrew
Isaiah 9:1 Or of the Gentiles
Isaiah 9:2 Ch 9:1 in Hebrew
Isaiah 9:6 Or is upon
Isaiah 9:6 Or is called
Isaiah 9:17 Or speaks disgraceful things

2 John

English Standard Version

Greeting

¹^(A)The elder to the elect lady and her children, ^(B)whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all who ^(C)know ^(D)the truth, ²^(E)because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever:

³^(F)Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father's Son, in truth and love.

Walking in Truth and Love

⁴^(G)I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father. ⁵And now I ask you, dear lady—^(H)not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—^(I)that we love one another. ⁶And ^(J)this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just ^(K)as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. ⁷For ^(L)many deceivers ^(M)have gone out into the world, ^(N)those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. ⁸Watch yourselves, ^(O)so that you may not lose what we^[a] have worked for, but ^(P)may win a full reward. ⁹Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, ^(Q)does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching ^(R)has both the Father and the Son. ¹⁰If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, ^(S)do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, ¹¹for whoever greets him ^(T)takes part in his wicked works.

Final Greetings

¹²^(U)Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. ^(V)Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, ^(W)so that our joy may be complete.

¹³The children of your elect sister greet you.