Reference: Isaiah
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The son of Amoz, (not Amos,) one of the most distinguished of the Hebrew prophets. He began to prophesy at Jerusalem towards the close of the reign of Uzziah, about the year 759 B. C., and exercised the prophetical office some sixty years, under the three following monarchs, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, Isa 1:1. Compare 2Ki 15-20; 2Ch 26-32. The first twelve chapters of his prophecies refer to the kingdom of Judah; then Isa 13-23, directed against foreign nations, except Isa 22:1-23, against Jerusalem. In Isa 24-35, which would seem to belong to the time of Hezekiah, the prophet appears to look forward in prophetic vision to the times of the exile and of the Messiah. Isa 36-39 gives a historical account to Sennacherib's invasion, and of the advice given by Isaiah to Hezekiah. This account is parallel to that in 2Ki 18:13-20:19; and indeed Isa 37 is almost word for word with 2Ki 19. The remainder of the book of Isaiah, Isa 40-66, contains a series of oracles referring to the future times of temporal exile and deliverance, and expanding into glorious views of the spiritual deliverance to be wrought by the Messiah.
Isaiah seems to have lived and prophesied wholly at Jerusalem; and disappears from history after the accounts contained in Isa 39. A tradition among the Talmudist and fathers relates that he was sawn asunder during the reign of Manasseh, Heb 11:37; and this tradition is embodied in an apocrtphal book, called the "ascension of Isaiah;" but it seems to rest on no certain grounds.
Some commentators have proposed to divide the book of Isaiah chronologically into three parts, as if composed under the three kings, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. But this is of very doubtful propriety; since several of the chapters are evidently transposed and inserted out of their chronological order. But a very obvious and striking division of the book into two parts exists; the first part, including Isa 1-39, and the second, the remainder of the book, Isa 40-66.
The first part is made up of those prophecies and historical accounts which Isaiah wrote during the period of his active exertions, when he mingled in the public concerns of the rulers and the people, and acted as the messenger of God to the nation in reference to their internal and external existing relations. These are single prophecies, published at different times, and on different occasions; afterwards, indeed, brought together into one collection, but still marked as distinct and single, either by the superscriptions, or in some other obvious and known method.
The second part, on the contrary, is occupied wholly with the future. It was apparently written in the later years of the prophet, when, having left all active exertions in the theocracy to his younger associates in the prophetical office, he transferred his contemplations for the present to that which was to come. In this part therefore, which was not, like the first, occasioned by external circumstance, it is not so easy to distinguish in like manner between the different single prophecies. The whole is more like a single gush of prophecy. The prophet first consoles his people by announcing their deliverance from the approaching Babylonish exile, which he had himself predicted, Isa 39:6-7; he names the monarch whom Jehovah will send to punish the insolence of their oppressors, and lead back the people to their home. But he does not stop at this inferior deliverance. With the prospect of freedom from the Babylonish exile, he connects the prospect of deliverance from sin and error through the Messiah. Sometimes both objects seem closely interwoven with each other; sometimes one of them appears alone with particular clearness and prominency. Especially is the view of the prophet sometimes so exclusively directed upon the latter object, that, filled with the contemplation of the glory of the spiritual kingdom of God and of its exalted Founder, he loses sight for a time of the less distant future. In the description of this spiritual deliverance also, the relations of time are not observed. Sometimes the prophet beholds the Author of this deliverance in his humiliation and sorrows; and again, the remotest ages of the Messiah's kingdom present themselves to his enraptured vision-when man, so long estranged from God, will have again returned to him; when every thing opposed to God shall have been destroyed, and internal and external peace universally prevail; and when all the evil introduced by sin into the world, will be for ever done away. Elevated above all space and time, the prophet contemplates from the height on which the Holy Spirit has thus placed him, the whole development of the Messiah's kingdom, from its smallest beginnings to its glorious completion.
Isaiah is appropriately named "the evangelical prophet," and the fathers called his book "the Gospel according to St. Isaiah." In it the wonderful person and birth of "Emmanuel-God with us," his beneficent life, his atoning death, and his triumphant and everlasting kingdom, are minutely foretold, Isa 7:14-16; 9:6-7; 11:1-10; 32; 42; 49; 52:13-15; 53; 60:1-21; 61:1-3. The simplicity, purity, sweetness, and sublimity of Isaiah, and the fullness of his predictions respecting the Messiah, give him the preeminence among the Hebrew prophets and poets.
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During the fourteenth year of the reign of King Hezekiah, King Sennacherib of Assyria approached all of the walled cities of Judah and seized them. So Hezekiah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: "I have offended you. Withdraw from me, and I'll accept whatever tribute you impose." So the king of Assyria required Hezekiah to pay him 300 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold. read more. Hezekiah gave him all the silver that could be removed from the LORD's Temple and from the treasuries in the king's palace. At that time, Hezekiah removed the doors to the LORD's Temple and the doorposts that he had overlaid with gold, and gave the gold to the king of Assyria. Sometime later, the king of Assyria sent Tartan, Rab-saris, and Rab-shakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem, accompanied with a large army. When they called for the King, Hilkiah's son Eliakim, who managed the household, Shebnah the scribe, and Asaph's son Joah the recorder went out to them. Rab-shakeh told them, "Tell Hezekiah right now, "This is what the great king, the king of Assyria says: ""Why are you so confident? You're saying but they're only empty words "I have enough advice and resources to conduct warfare!'
This is the vision that Amoz's son Isaiah had about Judah and Jerusalem during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
"Therefore the LORD himself will give you a sign. Watch! The virgin is conceiving a child, and will give birth to a son, and his name will be called Immanuel. He'll eat cheese and honey, when he knows enough to reject what's wrong and choose what's right. read more. However, before the youth knows enough to reject what's wrong and choose what's right, the land whose two kings you dread will be devastated."
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the growth of his government and peace there will be no end. He will rule over his kingdom, sitting on the throne of David, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies will accomplish this.
"A shoot will come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch will bear fruit from his roots. The Spirit of the LORD will rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and power, the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the LORD. read more. His delight will be in the fear of the LORD. He won't judge by what his eyes see, nor decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he will judge the needy, and decide with equity for earth's poor. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and the wicked will be killed with the breath of his lips. Righteousness will be the sash around his loins, and faithfulness the belt around his waist." "The wolf will live with the lamb; the leopard will lie down with the young goat. The calf and the lion will graze together, and a little child will lead them. The cow and the bear will graze, and their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child will put his hand on vipers' dens. They will neither harm nor destroy on my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea." At that time, as to the root of Jesse, who will be standing as a banner for the nations, the nations will rally to him, and his resting place is glorious.
A message concerning the Valley of Vision. "What troubles you, now that you've all gone up to the rooftops, you who are full of commotion, you passionate city, you rollicking town? Your slain weren't killed by the sword, nor are they dead in battle. read more. All your leaders have fled together; she is captured without using bows. All of you who were caught were captured together, although they had fled while the enemy was still far away. Therefore I said: "Look away from me; and let me weep bitter tears; don't try to console me over the destruction of the daughter of my people." For to the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies belongs the day of tumult, trampling, and confusion in the Valley of Vision, and the pulling down of his Temple on its mountain. Elam takes up the quiver with chariots and cavalry, while Kir unsheathes the shield. And it will come about that your choicest valleys will be filled with chariots, and horsemen will take their positions at the gates. He has uncovered the defenses of Judah." At that time, you looked at the arsenal of the Palace of the Forest, and saw that there were many breaches in the City of David. So you stored up water from the Lower Pool, counted the houses of Jerusalem, tore down certain houses to strengthen the wall, and built a reservoir between the walls to store water from the Old Pool. But you did not look at the One who did it, nor did you see the One who planned it long ago. On that day the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies called for weeping and mourning, for shaving heads and wearing sackcloth. But look! There is joy and festivity, slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep, eating meat and drinking wine. "Let us eat and drink, you say, because we die tomorrow." "Nevertheless, the LORD of the Heavenly Armies has revealed himself to my hearing: ""Surely because of you this iniquity will not be forgiven you until you die,' says the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies." This is what the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies says: "Come, go to this steward, to Shebna who is in charge of the household, and ask him: "What are you doing here, and who are your relatives here that you could carve out a grave for yourself here cutting out a tomb at the choicest location, chiseling out a resting place for yourself out of solid rock? Look Out! The LORD is about to hurl you away violently, my strong fellow! He will fold you up completely, rolling you up tightly like a ball and throwing you into a large country. There you will die, and there your splendid chariots will lie. You're a disgrace to your master's house! I will depose you from your office, ousting you from your position. "At that time, I'll call for my servant, Hilkiah's son Eliakim, and I'll clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash around him. I'll transfer your authority to him, and he'll be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. "I'll place on his shoulder the key to the house of David what he opens, no one will shut, and what he shuts, no one will open. I'll set him like a peg into a secure place; he will become a throne of honor to his father's house.
"The days are surely coming when everything in your palace and all that your ancestors have stored up to this day will be carried off to Babylon. They will come in, and nothing will be left,' says the LORD. "Then some of your own sons, who will come from your loins, whom you will father, will be taken away to become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.'"
"Look! My servant will prosper, and he will be exalted and lifted up, and will be very high. Just as many were astonished at you so was he marred in his appearance, more than any human, and his form beyond that of human semblance read more. so will he startle many nations. Kings will shut their mouths at him; for what had not been told them they will see, and what they had not heard they will understand.
"Arise, shine! For your light has come; the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For look! Darkness will cover the earth and thick darkness is over the people, but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. read more. Nations will come to your light, and kings before your dawn. "Lift up your eyes and look around: They all gather together, they come to you; your sons will come from far away, and your daughters will be carried on the hip." Then you will look and be radiant; your heart will swell with joy, because the abundance of the seas will be diverted to you, and the riches of the nations will come to you. Throngs of camels will blanket you: the young camels of Midian and Ephu; all those from Shebu will come. They'll carry gold and frankincense, and proclaim the praise of the LORD. All Kedar's flocks will be gathered to you, the rams of Nebaioth will serve you. and they'll come up with acceptance upon my altar, and I'll glorify my glorious house." "Who are these that fly like clouds, and like doves to their windows? For the coastlands will look to me, with the ships of Tarshish in the lead, to bring my children from far away, their silver and gold with them, to the name of the LORD your God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he has glorified you. "Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you. Though in my anger I struck you down, in my favor I have shown you mercy. Your gates will always stand open by day or night, and they will not be shut, so that nations will bring you their wealth, with their kings led in procession. For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; those nations will be utterly ruined. "He has given you the glory of Lebanon, and it will come to you, the cypress, and the plane tree, and the pine, to adorn the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious. "All the descendants of those who oppressed you will come bending low before you, and all those who despised you will bow down at your feet. They'll call you "The City of the LORD,' "Zion of the Holy One of Israel.'" "Although you have been forsaken and despised, with no one traveling through, I will make you the everlasting pride, the joy of all generations. You'll suck the milk of nations, You'll suck the breasts of kings. Then you will realize that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. "Instead of bronze, I'll bring gold, and instead of iron, I'll bring silver; instead of wood, bronze, and instead of stones, iron. I'll appoint peace as your supervisor and righteousness as your taskmaster. Then violence will no longer be heard in your land, nor devastation or destruction within your borders; but you'll call your walls "Salvation', and your gates "Praise'. "The sun will no longer be your light by day, nor for brightness will the moon shine on you by night for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun won't set, nor will your moon withdraw itself for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning will end. Then your people will all be righteous; They'll possess the land forever. They are the shoot that the LORD planted, the works of his hands, so that I might be glorified.
"The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed and to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor, the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; read more. to provide for those who grieve in Zion to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, a mantle of praise instead of a spirit of despair." "Then people will call them "Oaks of Righteousness", "The Planting of the LORD", in order to display his splendor.
They were stoned to death, sawed in half, and killed with swords. They went around in sheepskins and goatskins. They were needy, oppressed, and mistreated.
Easton
(Heb Yesh'yahu, i.e., "the salvation of Jehovah"). (1.) The son of Amoz (Isa 1:1; 2:1), who was apparently a man of humble rank. His wife was called "the prophetess" (Isa 8:3), either because she was endowed with the prophetic gift, like Deborah (Jg 4:4) and Huldah (2Ki 22:14-20), or simply because she was the wife of "the prophet" (Isa 38:1). He had two sons, who bore symbolical names.
He exercised the functions of his office during the reigns of Uzziah (or Azariah), Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (1:1). Uzziah reigned fifty-two years (B.C. 810-759), and Isaiah must have begun his career a few years before Uzziah's death, probably B.C. 762. He lived till the fourteenth year of Hezekiah, and in all likelihood outlived that monarch (who died B.C. 698), and may have been contemporary for some years with Manasseh. Thus Isaiah may have prophesied for the long period of at least sixty-four years.
His first call to the prophetical office is not recorded. A second call came to him "in the year that King Uzziah died" (Isa 6:1). He exercised his ministry in a spirit of uncompromising firmness and boldness in regard to all that bore on the interests of religion. He conceals nothing and keeps nothing back from fear of man. He was also noted for his spirituality and for his deep-toned reverence toward "the holy One of Israel."
In early youth Isaiah must have been moved by the invasion of Israel by the Assyrian monarch Pul (q.v.), 2Ki 15:19; and again, twenty years later, when he had already entered on his office, by the invasion of Tiglath-pileser and his career of conquest. Ahaz, king of Judah, at this crisis refused to co-operate with the kings of Israel and Syria in opposition to the Assyrians, and was on that account attacked and defeated by Rezin of Damascus and Pekah of Samaria (2Ki 16:5; 2Ch 28:5-6). Ahaz, thus humbled, sided with Assyria, and sought the aid of Tiglath-pileser against Israel and Syria. The consequence was that Rezin and Pekah were conquered and many of the people carried captive to Assyria (2Ki 15:29; 16:9; 1Ch 5:26). Soon after this Shalmaneser determined wholly to subdue the kingdom of Israel. Samaria was taken and destroyed (B.C. 722). So long as Ahaz reigned, the kingdom of Judah was unmolested by the Assyrian power; but on his accession to the throne, Hezekiah (B.C. 726), who "rebelled against the king of Assyria" (2Ki 18:7), in which he was encouraged by Isaiah, who exhorted the people to place all their dependence on Jehovah (Isa 10:24; 37:6), entered into an alliance with the king of Egypt (Isa 30:2-4). This led the king of Assyria to threaten the king of Judah, and at length to invade the land. Sennacherib (B.C. 701) led a powerful army into Palestine. Hezekiah was reduced to despair, and submitted to the Assyrians (2Ki 18:14-16). But after a brief interval war broke out again, and again Sennacherib (q.v.) led an army into Palestine, one detachment of which threatened Jerusalem (Isa 36:2-22; 37:8). Isaiah on that occasion encouraged Hezekiah to resist the Assyrians (Isa 37:1-7), whereupon Sennacherib sent a threatening letter to Hezekiah, which he "spread before the Lord" (Isa 37:14). The judgement of God now fell on the Assyrian host. "Like Xerxes in Greece, Sennacherib never recovered from the shock of the disaster in Judah. He made no more expeditions against either Southern Palestine or Egypt." The remaining years of Hezekiah's reign were peaceful (2Ch 32:23,27-29). Isaiah probably lived to its close, and possibly into the reign of Manasseh, but the time and manner of his death are unknown. There is a tradition that he suffered martyrdom in the heathen reaction in the time of Manasseh (q.v.).
(2.) One of the heads of the singers in the time of David (1Ch 25:3,15, "Jeshaiah"). (3.) A Levite (1Ch 26:25). (4.) Ezr 8:7. (5.) Ne 11:7.
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Deborah, a woman, prophet, and wife of Lappidoth, was herself judging Israel during that time.
Later on, King Pul of Aram attacked the land, and Menahem paid Pul 1,000 silver talents so Pul would join forces with Menahem to secure his hold on the kingdom.
During the lifetime of King Pekah of Israel, King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria attacked. He captured the cities of Ijon, Abel Beth Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, and Hazor. He also captured Gilead, Galilee, and the entire territory of Naphtali, and carried its people off to Assyria.
Later, King Rezin of Aram and Remaliah's son Pekah, king of Israel, approached Jerusalem to attack it. They besieged Ahaz but could not conquer him.
so the king of Assyria listened to Ahaz. He attacked Damascus, captured it, sent its people away into exile to Kir, and executed Rezin.
So the LORD was with him, and Hezekiah prospered wherever he went, even when he rebelled against the king of Assyria, refusing to serve him.
So Hezekiah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: "I have offended you. Withdraw from me, and I'll accept whatever tribute you impose." So the king of Assyria required Hezekiah to pay him 300 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold. Hezekiah gave him all the silver that could be removed from the LORD's Temple and from the treasuries in the king's palace. read more. At that time, Hezekiah removed the doors to the LORD's Temple and the doorposts that he had overlaid with gold, and gave the gold to the king of Assyria.
So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to the prophet Huldah, the wife of Tikvah's son Shallum, the grandson of Harhas and supervisor of the royal wardrobe, who lived in the Second Quarter in Jerusalem. They spoke with her, and she told them, "This is what the LORD God of Israel says: "Tell the man who sent you to me: read more. "This is what the Lord says: "Look! I'm bringing disaster on this place and on its inhabitants everything written in the book that the king of Judah has read because they have abandoned me, burned incense to other gods, and they have provoked me to anger with everything that they've done. Therefore my anger is kindled against this place and it won't be quenched!'" Nevertheless, tell the king of Judah who sent you to ask the LORD about this, "This is what the LORD God of Israel says: "Now about what you've heard, because your heart was sensitive, and you humbled yourself in the LORD's presence when you heard what I had to say against this place and against its inhabitants that they would become a desolation and a curse and you have torn your clothes and cried out before me, be assured that I have truly heard you,' declares the LORD. "Therefore, look! I will gather you to your ancestors, and you will be placed in your grave in peace. Your eyes will never see all the evil that I will bring on this place.'"'"
from Jeduthun, these six of his descendants: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, mentored by their father Jeduthun, who played a lyre and prophesied, giving thanks and praise to the LORD;
and his brothers from Eliezer, including his son Rehabiah, his son Jeshaiah, his son Joram, his son Zichri, and his son Shelomoth.
Many brought gifts to the LORD in Jerusalem and brought presents to King Hezekiah of Judah. As a result, he was exalted in the opinion of all nations thereafter.
Hezekiah received immense wealth and honor. He built treasuries for himself to store silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields, and all sorts of valuable items, along with storage facilities for grain, wine, oil, stalls for all sorts of cattle, and sheepfolds for his flocks. read more. He also built cities for himself and stored up flocks and herds in abundance, because God had given him great riches.
From Elam's descendants: Athaliah's son Jeshaiah and 70 men with him.
This is the vision that Amoz's son Isaiah had about Judah and Jerusalem during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon his throne, high and exalted. The train of his robe filled the Temple.
After this, I was intimate with the prophetess and she conceived. Later, she bore a son, and then the LORD told me, "Call him "Maher-shalal-hash-baz,'
Therefore this is what the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies says: "My people, you who live in Zion, don't be afraid of the Assyrians, of the rod that beats you, who lift up their club against you as the Egyptians did.
They set out to go down to Egypt, without asking my advice; taking refuge in Pharaoh's protection, and seeking shelter in Egypt's shadow. But Pharaoh's protection will become your shame, and sheltering in Egypt's shadow your longing. read more. And it will turn out that his officials are at Zoan, and his envoys will reach Hanes.
Then the king of Assyria sent his field commander, along with a very large army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. When the field commander stopped at the aqueduct at the Upper Pool on the road to Laundryman's Field, Hilkiah's son Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the secretary, and Asaph's son Joah, the recorder, went out to him. read more. The field commander told them: "Tell Hezekiah, king of Judah, "This is what the mighty king, the king of Assyria, has to say: What is this "guarantee" that makes you yourself rely on it? Do you really think that guarantees alone can withstand strategy and military strength? On whom are you now depending, that you're rebelling against me? Take note: you're relying on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff, which pierces the palm of anyone who leans on it. This is what Pharaoh king of Egypt is like to everybody who depends on him! But if you all say to me, "We are depending on the LORD our God" - isn't he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, while he kept on telling Judah and Jerusalem, "You are to worship in front of this altar in Jerusalem'? Come now, all of you, make a bet with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you can furnish riders for them! How, then, can you repulse even one officer from the least of my master's officials, when you are depending for yourselves on Egypt for chariots and horsemen? One other thing: have I really marched against this country to destroy it apart from the LORD's direction? The LORD himself ordered me, "March against this country to destroy it.'" Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah replied to him, "Please speak with your servants with us in Aramaic, since we understand it. Don't speak to us in Hebrew where the people sitting on the wall can hear." But the field commander asked, "Was it only to all of you and to your master that my master sent me to speak these things? Wasn't it also to the men sitting on the wall who, like you, will have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?" Then the commander stood up and shouted out loud in Hebrew: "Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! This is what the king of Assyria says: "Don't let Hezekiah deceive you for he cannot save you! Don't let Hezekiah persuade you to rely on the LORD when he says, "The LORD will really deliver us!" and "This city will never be handed over to the king of Assyria!" Don't listen to Hezekiah, because this is what the king of Assyria says: "Make your peace with me and come out to me. Then everyone will eat from his own vine and from his own fig tree, and everyone will drink water from his own cistern, until I come and take you away to a land like your own land to a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.' Be careful not to let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, "The LORD will save us." Has any god of any nation ever delivered his country from the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sephar-vaim? Have they saved Samaria from me? Who among all the gods of these countries has delivered their land from me? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from me?'" But the people remained silent and didn't respond to him with so much as a single word, because the king had commanded, "Don't answer him." Then Hilkiah's son Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the secretary, and Asaph's son Joah, the recorder, approached Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and let him know what the field commander had said.
As soon as Hezekiah the king heard this, he tore his clothes, dressed himself in sackcloth, and went into the LORD's Temple. Then he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, all wearing sackcloth, to Amoz's son, the prophet Isaiah. read more. "Here is what Hezekiah says," they told him. "This day is a day of trouble, rebuke, and disgrace, as when children come to the point of birth and there is no energy to deliver them. Perhaps the LORD your God will hear the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, sent to mock the living God, and perhaps he will rebuke the words that the LORD your God has heard. So lift up a prayer for the remnant that still survives in this city." That's why King Hezekiah's officials came to Isaiah. "Here is what to tell your master," Isaiah told them. "This is what the LORD says: "Don't be afraid of the words you've heard those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have insulted me.
"Here is what to tell your master," Isaiah told them. "This is what the LORD says: "Don't be afraid of the words you've heard those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have insulted me. Watch this! I'm going to place an attitude within him, so that when he hears a certain report, he'll return to his own country. Then I'll have him cut down by the sword in his own land." read more. So the field commander returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, since he had heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish.
Hezekiah received the letters from the messengers, and read them. Then he went up to the LORD's Temple and spread the letters in front of the LORD.
During that time, Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. Then Amoz's son Isaiah the prophet came to him and told him, "This is what the LORD says: "Put your house in order, because you are going to die. You won't recover.'"
Fausets
Yeshayahu or Isaiahuw (?), Hebrew "the salvation of Jehovah," his favorite expression, which means the same as the name "Jesus", who is the grand subject of his prophecies, and in whom in the New Testament the name Jehovah merges, being never found in Scripture after the Old Testament. The Yahu (or Jahu) in Yeshayahu shows that Yahweh (or Jahveh) is the more correct form than Jehovah. Son of Amoz (not Amos), a younger contemporary of Jonah, Amos, and Hosea in Israel, and of Micah in Judah. His call to the full exercise of the prophetic office (Isa 6:1) was in the same year that king Uzziah died, probably before his death, 754 B.C., the time of the building of Rome, Judah's destined scourge, whose kingdom was to stretch on to the Messianic times which form the grand subject of Isaiah's prophecies. Whatever prophecies were delivered by Isaiah previously were oral, and not recorded because not designed for all ages.
(1) Isaiah 1-6, are all that were written for the church universal of the prophecies of the first 20 years of his ministry. New epochs in the relations of the church to the world were fittingly marked by revelations to and through prophets. God had given Judah abundant prosperity during Uzziah's reign of 52 years, that His goodness might lead the people to loving obedience, just as in northern Israel He had restored prosperity daring the brilliant reign of Jeroboam II with the same gracious design. Israel was only hardened in pride by prosperity, so was soon given over to ruin. Isaiah comes forward at this point to warn Judah of a like danger. Moreover, in the reigns of Ahaz and Hezekiah Israel and Judah came into conflict with the Asiatic empires. (See AHAZ; HEZEKIAH.) The prophets were now needed to interpret Jehovah's dealings, that the people might recognize His righteous judgments as well as His merciful longsuffering.
(2) Isaiah 7 - Isaiah 10:4 relate to Ahaz' reign.
(3) Isaiah 10:5 - Isaiah 12 to the first 15 years of Hezekiah's reign probably.
(4) As also Isaiah 13-23 as to foreign nations.
(5) Isaiah 24-27 on the last times of the world, and of Judah, the representative and future head of the churches.
(6) Isaiah 28-33 concern Ephraim's overthrow, Judah's impious folly, the danger of the league with Egypt, their straits and deliverance from Assyria; Isaiah 28 before the sixth year of Hezekiah, when Israel fell; the rest before his 14th year of reign.
(7) Isaiah 34-35, denounce God's judgments against His people's enemies of whom Edom is representative, and the blessed state that shall follow.
(8) The historical section (Isaiah 36-39) as to Sennacherib, Assyria, and Babylon, forms the fitting appendix to the prophecies concerning Assyria mainly, and the preface to the latter portion of the book, concerning the deliverance from Babylon. Isaiah's generation had before their eyes the historical fact of the Assyrian invasion, and the extraordinary deliverance from it, as recorded by Isaiah. The prophet further announced to Hezekiah that all his treasures which he had ostentatiously shown to the Babylonian ambassadors should be carried off to that very land, and his descendants be made eunuchs in the Babylonian king's palace, the world on which Judah rested instead of on God being made her scourger. Fittingly, then followed the cheering prophecy, "Comfort ye My people," etc. Ages should elapse before the realization of this comforting assurance of deliverance.
The history of the deliverance from Assyria, accomplished according to the previous prophecy, was the pledge that the far off deliverance from Babylon also, because foretold, would surely come to pass. Thus, the historical section, midway between the earlier and later parts of Isaiah's book, forms the connecting link spiritually and historically between the two; it closes the one epoch, and introduces the other, so combining all Isaiah's prophecies in one unity. The fulfillment of his past prophecies constituted the prophet's credentials to the unborn generation on which the Babylonian captivity should fall, that they might securely trust his word. foretelling the future deliverance by Cyrus. "It is incredible that the latter chapters, if not Isaiah's but of a later date, should have been tacked on to his existing prophecies with the interval of the four historical chapters: thrown in as a connecting link to complete the unity of his alleged writings as a whole" (Stanley Leathes).
The "comfort" applies mainly to ages subsequent to his own; this accords with the principle stated 1Pe 1:1-10,9; 2Pe 1:20-21. But it also applied to his own and all ages before Christ's consummated kingdom. For the law of prophetical suggestion carried him on to the greater deliverance from the spiritual Babylon and the God-opposed world power and Satan, by Cyrus' Antitype, Messiah, the Saviour of the present elect church gathered from Jews and Gentiles, and the Restorer of Israel and Head of the worldwide kingdom yet to come.
Even in the former part Babylon's downfall through Elamite and Persian assailants is twice foretold (Isaiah 13 and Isaiah 21). The mellowness of tone in the second part implies that it was the ripe fruit of his old age, some time after the beginning of Hezekiah's last 15 years. He is no longer the godly politician taking part in public life in vindication of the truth, but is far away in the spirit amidst the Babylonian exiles whom he cheers. More contemplative and ideal in this part, he soars aloft in glorious visions of the future, no longer tied down to the existing political circumstances of his people, as in the former part.
The threefold theme of this latter part is stated at the outset (Isa 40:2):
(1) Jerusalem's warfare is accomplished;
(2) her iniquity is pardoned;
(3) she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. The divisions are marked by the ending twice the "salvation" foretold is not for the unfaithful, but for the believing and waiting true Israelites; for, "there is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked."
(9) Isaiah 40 - Isaiah 48:22;
(10) Isaiah 49-57;
(11) Isaiah 58-66, which exchanges the previous refrain for the awful one that with moving pathos describes the apostates' final doom, "their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched, and they shall be an abhorring to all flesh!"
The first of the three concerns the outward deliverance from Babylon by Cyrus. The second, Messiah's advent prefigured by Cyrus. The third, the coming glory of God's kingdom on earth, along with judgments on the ungodly. The contemporary Micah (Mic 4:8-10) foretells the same exile in Babylon and the return from it, so that it is no objection to the genuineness of Isaiah 40-66, that herein Isaiah passes from Assyria to the restoration from Babylon much more than a century later.
Moses' general prophecy (Le 26:33; De 28:64) had assumed more definiteness in Ahijah's specification of the direction of the exile, "beyond the river," in Jeroboam's time 1Ki 14:15), and Am 5:27, "beyond Damascus"; and now the place is defined, Babylon. Moreover, Isaiah's reproof of the prevailing neglect of the temple worship, and his allusion to the slaying of children in the valleys (Isa 57:5), and mention of Hephzibah (Hezekiah's wife) in Isa 62:4, all accord with the times of Isaiah. The former part ends with the Babylonian exile (Isa 39:6); the latter part begins with the deliverance from it, to remove the deep gloom which the prophecy of the captivity caused to all who looked for redemption in Israel. Isaiah 40-66, has no heading of its own, which is accounted for best by its connection with the previous part, bringing it under the same heading, Isa 1:1.
The whole book falls into the sacred seven divisions:
(1) Isaiah 1-12;
(2) Isaiah 13-27, the burdens and their sequel;
(3) Isaiah 28-35;
(4) Isaiah 36-39; and
(5-7) the three divisions (a sacred ternary) of Isaiah 40-66. The former part itself also, before the historic, may be divided into seven; see above.
The return of the Lord's ransomed with everlasting joy in the last chapter of the former part (Isa 35:10) is the starting point of and the text expanded in the latter part; compare Isa 51:11. Josephus (Ant. 11:1, se
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The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor a ruler's staff from between his feet, until the one comes, who owns them both, and to him will belong the allegiance of nations.
But," he said, "You cannot see my face, because a man cannot see me and live."
Moses spoke with Aaron about what the LORD had said: "Among those who are near me, I'll show myself holy so that I'll be glorified before all people." So Aaron remained silent.
"I'll scatter you among the nations and draw the sword after you so that your land becomes desolate and your towns become ruins.
"He'll scatter you among the nations from one end of the earth to the other, and there you'll serve other gods made of wood and stone, which neither you nor your ancestors have known.
The LORD will attack Israel, and Israel will shake like a reed shakes in a river current! He will uproot Israel from this good land that he gave to their ancestors and he will scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, because they erected their Asherim and provoked the LORD to become angry!
In addition to this, Manasseh shed lots of innocent blood until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another besides his sin by which he caused Judah to sin by practicing what the LORD considered to be evil.
In addition to this, Manasseh shed lots of innocent blood until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another besides his sin by which he caused Judah to sin by practicing what the LORD considered to be evil.
Now the rest of Uzziah's accomplishments, from first to last, have been recorded by Amoz's son Isaiah the prophet.
Now the rest of Hezekiah's accomplishments and his faithful deeds are recorded in the vision of Amoz's son Isaiah the prophet, and in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.
Now the rest of Hezekiah's accomplishments and his faithful deeds are recorded in the vision of Amoz's son Isaiah the prophet, and in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.
This is the vision that Amoz's son Isaiah had about Judah and Jerusalem during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
This is the vision that Amoz's son Isaiah had about Judah and Jerusalem during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon his throne, high and exalted. The train of his robe filled the Temple.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
"A shoot will come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch will bear fruit from his roots.
"The wolf will live with the lamb; the leopard will lie down with the young goat. The calf and the lion will graze together, and a little child will lead them.
A message concerning the Valley of Vision. "What troubles you, now that you've all gone up to the rooftops,
"The path of the righteous is level; O Upright One, you make safe the way of justice. Yes, LORD, in the path of your judgments we wait; your name and your Law are the soul's desire. read more. My soul yearns for you in the night; my spirit within me searches for you. For when your judgments come upon the earth, the world's inhabitants learn righteousness.
and the LORD's ransomed ones will return and enter Zion with singing. Everlasting joy will rest upon their heads, gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and mourning will flee away."
and the LORD's ransomed ones will return and enter Zion with singing. Everlasting joy will rest upon their heads, gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and mourning will flee away."
"The days are surely coming when everything in your palace and all that your ancestors have stored up to this day will be carried off to Babylon. They will come in, and nothing will be left,' says the LORD.
"Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her heavy service has been completed, that her penalty has been paid, that she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins."
"Here is my servant, whom I support, my chosen one, in whom I delight. I've placed my Spirit upon him; and he'll deliver his justice throughout the world. He won't shout, or raise his voice, or make it heard in the street. read more. A crushed reed he will not break, and a fading candle he won't snuff out. He'll bring forth justice for the truth. And he won't grow faint or be crushed until he establishes justice on the mainland, and the coastlands take ownership of his Law."
And he won't grow faint or be crushed until he establishes justice on the mainland, and the coastlands take ownership of his Law." This is what God says the God who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and its produce, who gives breath to the people on it and life to those who walk in it: read more. "I've called you in righteousness. I'll take hold of your hand. I'll preserve you and appoint you as a covenant to the people, as a light for the nations, to open blind eyes and to bring out those who are bound from their cells, and those sitting in darkness from prison.
"But now listen, Jacob my servant and Israel whom I have chosen:
who says about Cyrus, "He's my shepherd, and he'll carry out everything that I please: He'll say of Jerusalem, "Let it be rebuilt,' and of my Temple, "Let its foundations be laid again.'"'"
This is what the LORD says to his anointed, Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him, as I strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him and gates that cannot keep closed:
"I have aroused him in righteousness, and I'll make all his pathways smooth. It is he who will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price nor reward, " says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.
"Our Redeemer the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is his name is the Holy One of Israel.
"Go out from Babylon, flee from the Chaldeans! With happy shouts, announce and proclaim this to the ends of the earth: Say, "The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob!'
He said to me: "You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will glorify myself.' "I said: "I've labored for nothing. I've exhausted my strength on futility and on emptiness.' Yet surely my recompense is with the LORD, and my reward is with my God. read more. "And now, says the LORD, who formed you from the womb as his servant to bring Jacob back to him so that Israel might be gathered to him and I am honored in the LORD's sight and my God has been my help he says: "It is too small a thing for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Israel and bring back those of Jacob I have preserved. I'll also make you as a light to the nations, to be my salvation to the ends of the earth. "This is what my Lord says the LORD your Redeemer, O Israel, and his Holy One to one despised by people, to those abhorred as a nation, to the servant of rulers: "Kings see and arise, and princes will bow down, because of the LORD who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, the one who has chosen you."
"This is what my Lord says the LORD your Redeemer, O Israel, and his Holy One to one despised by people, to those abhorred as a nation, to the servant of rulers: "Kings see and arise, and princes will bow down, because of the LORD who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, the one who has chosen you." "This what the LORD says: "I'll answer you in a time of favor, and on a day of salvation I'll help you. I have watched over you, and given you as a covenant for the people, to restore the land, to reassign the inheritances that have been devastated; read more. saying to captives, "Come out!' and to those who are in darkness, "Be free!' "They will feed on all the mountains, and their pasture will be on all the barren hills. They won't hunger or thirst, nor will the desert heat or sun beat upon them; for the one who has compassion on them will drive them and guide them alongside springs of water. I'll turn all my mountains into a road, and my highways will be raised up. "Watch! They'll come from far away some from the north and from the west, and others from the region of China." Shout with joy, you heavens, and rock with glee, you earth! Break out in song, you mountains! The LORD is comforting his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones. "But Zion said, "The LORD has abandoned me, and my God has forgotten me.' "Can a woman forget her nursing child, or have no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these mothers may forget; But as for me, I'll never forget you! Look! I've inscribed you on the palms of my hands, and your walls are forever before me. Your builders are working faster than your destroyers, and those who devastated you go away from you. Lift up your eyes and look around they have all gathered together and are coming to you. "As surely as I live," says the LORD, "you will clothe yourself with all of them like ornaments, and tie them on like a bride. Indeed, your ruins, your desolate places, and your devastated land will now be too crowded for your inhabitants, while those who swallowed you up will be far away. "The children who are grieving at present will yet say in your hearing, "This place is too crowded for me; make room for me, so I may have a place to live.' Then you'll ask in your heart, "Who bore these children for me, although I was childless and barren, and an exile and cast aside? Who brought these up? Look! For my part I was left all alone; but as for these, where have they come from?' "For this what the LORD says, "Watch! I'll lift up my hand to the nations and raise my banner to the nations. They will bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.' "Oh, yes! Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens will be your nursing mothers. They will bow to you with their faces to the ground, and lick the dust from your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in me will not be disappointed. "Can they seize plunder from warriors, or can the captives of tyrants be rescued? But this is what the LORD says: "He will seize even the warriors' plunder, and the captives of tyrants will be rescued. I myself will quarrel with those who have a quarrel with you, and I myself will save your children. "I'll make those who mistreat you eat their own flesh, and they will get drunk on their own blood, as with new wine. "Then all mankind will know that I am the LORD your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob."
"I'll make those who mistreat you eat their own flesh, and they will get drunk on their own blood, as with new wine. "Then all mankind will know that I am the LORD your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob."
"The scattered ones of the LORD will return, and they will enter Zion with singing. Everlasting joy will be upon their heads; they will attain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
"The scattered ones of the LORD will return, and they will enter Zion with singing. Everlasting joy will be upon their heads; they will attain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
so will he startle many nations. Kings will shut their mouths at him; for what had not been told them they will see, and what they had not heard they will understand.
For he grew up before him like a tender plant, and like a root out of a dry ground; he had no form and he had no majesty that we should look at him, and there is no attractiveness that we should desire him.
"Surely he has borne our sufferings and carried our sorrows; yet we considered him stricken, and struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, and he was crushed for our iniquities, and the punishment that made us whole was upon him, and by his bruises we are healed. read more. All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned, each of us, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Out of the suffering of his soul he will see light and find satisfaction. And through his knowledge his servant, the righteous one, will make many righteous, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong; because he poured out his life to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he carried the sins of many, and made intercession for their transgressions."
you who burn with lust among the oaks, under every spreading tree, who slaughter your children in the ravines, under the clefts of the rocks?
And you'll no longer be called "Deserted,' and your land will no longer be called "Desolate'; but people will call you "Hephzibah,' and your land "Beulah' for the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will be married."
"The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; but as for the serpent its food will be dust! They won't harm or destroy on my entire holy mountain," says the LORD.
They'll fight against you, but they won't prevail against you, because I am with you," declares the LORD, "to deliver you."
Flee from Babylon, and each of you, escape with your life! Don't be destroyed because of her guilt, for it's time for the LORD's vengeance. He is paying back what is due to her.
"Come out of her, my people, flee for your lives from the LORD's anger!
"You alone have I known from among all of the families of mankind; therefore I will hold you accountable for all your iniquities.'"
So I will cause you to be taken captive beyond Damascus," says the LORD, whose name is God of the Heavenly Armies.
"And you, watchtower of the flock, you stronghold of the daughter of Zion, it will happen even to you: The former dominion, even the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem, will come. Why are you crying so loud now? There's no king among you, is there? Perhaps your advisor has died? For pain has overtaken you like a woman in labor. read more. Be in pain! Be in labor, you daughter of Zion, like a woman about to give birth, because now you will depart from the city, living in the open fields. To Babylon you will go. There you will be delivered, there the LORD will rescue you from the power of your enemies."
the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written,
Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who are in prison with me and are prominent among the apostles. They belonged to the Messiah before I did.
For just as the body is one and yet has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, form a single body, so it is with the Messiah.
They were stoned to death, sawed in half, and killed with swords. They went around in sheepskins and goatskins. They were needy, oppressed, and mistreated.
From: Peter, an apostle of Jesus, the Messiah. To: The exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, the people chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through the sanctifying action of the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus, the Messiah, and to be sprinkled with his blood. May grace and peace be yours in abundance! read more. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah! Because of his great mercy he has granted us a new birth, resulting in an immortal hope through the resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah, from the dead and to an inheritance kept in heaven for you that can't be destroyed, corrupted, or changed. Through faith you are being protected by God's power for a salvation that is ready to be revealed at the end of this era. You greatly rejoice in this, even though you have to suffer various kinds of trials for a little while, so that your genuine faith, which is more valuable than gold that perishes when tested by fire, may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus, the Messiah, is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him. And even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Even the prophets, who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours, carefully researched and investigated this salvation.
Then I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire. Those who had conquered the beast, its image, and the number of its name were standing on the sea of glass holding God's harps in their hands. They sang the song of God's servant Moses and the song of the lamb: "Your deeds are both spectacular and amazing, Lord God Almighty. Your ways are just and true, King of the nations.
"I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give this testimony to you for the churches. I am the root and descendant of David, the bright morning star."
Hastings
Of the four prophets of the 8th cent. b.c., some of whose prophecies are preserved in the OT, Isaiah appeared third in the order of time
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Listen, you heavens, and let the earth pay attention, because the LORD has spoken: "I reared children and brought them to adulthood, but then they rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's feeding trough, but Israel doesn't know, and my people don't understand. read more. "Oh, you sinful nation! You people burdened down by iniquity! You offspring of those who keep practicing what is evil! You corrupt children! "They've abandoned the LORD; they've despised the Holy One of Israel; in their estrangement, they've walked away from me. "Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? Your whole head is sick, and your whole heart is faint. From the sole of your foot to the top of your head, there's no soundness evident only bruises, sores, and festering wounds that haven't been cleaned out, bandaged, or treated with oil." "Your country lies desolate; your cities have been incinerated. Before your very eyes, foreigners are devouring your land they've brought devastation on it, while the land is overthrown by foreigners. "The daughter of Zion is left abandoned, like a booth in a vineyard, like a hut in a cucumber field, or like a city under siege.
"The daughter of Zion is left abandoned, like a booth in a vineyard, like a hut in a cucumber field, or like a city under siege. If the Lord of the Heavenly Armies hadn't left us a few survivors, we would be like Sodom; we would be like Gomorrah. read more. "Listen to what the LORD says, you rulers of Sodom, and pay attention to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah! "How do your voluminous sacrifices benefit me?" the LORD is asking. "I've had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts. I don't enjoy the blood of bulls, lambs, or goats. "When you come to present yourselves in my presence, who has required you to trample on my courts? Stop bringing useless offerings! Incense is detestable to me, as are your New Moons, Sabbaths, and calling of convocations. I cannot stand iniquity within a solemn assembly. As for your New Moons and your appointed festivals, I abhor them. They've become a burden to me; I've grown weary of carrying that burden. When you spread out your hands in prayer, I'll hide my eyes from you. Even though you pray repeatedly, I won't listen. Your hands are full of blood, your fingers drenched with iniquity." "Wash yourselves, and make yourselves clean; remove your evil behavior from my presence; stop practicing what is evil. Learn to practice what is good; seek justice, alleviate oppression, defend orphans in court, and plead the widow's case. "Please come, and let's reason together," implores the LORD. "Even though your sins are like scarlet, they'll be white like snow. Though they're like crimson, they'll become like wool. If you're willing and obedient, you'll eat the best that the land produces; but if you refuse and rebel, you'll be devoured by the sword, because the LORD has spoken." "How the faithful city has become a whore, she who used to be filled with justice! Righteousness used to reside within her, but now only murderers live there. Your silver has become dross, your best wine is diluted with water. Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. All of them are lovers of bribes and are runners after gifts. They don't bring justice to orphans, and the widow's case never comes up for review in their court." Therefore this is what the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies, the one who is Israel's Mighty One, declares: "Now I'll get relief from his enemies and avenge myself on his foes. When I turn my attention to you, I'll refine your dross as in a furnace. I'll remove all your alloy. Let me restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you'll be called "The Righteous City' and "The Faithful City of Zion'.
Let me restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you'll be called "The Righteous City' and "The Faithful City of Zion'. "Zion will be redeemed by justice, and her repentant ones by righteousness. read more. Rebels and sinners will be broken together, and those who forsake the LORD will be consumed. They'll be ashamed of the oak trees that you desired; and you'll blush because of the gardens that you have chosen. You'll be like an oak whose leaf is withering, like an unwatered garden. Your strong one will be like tinder, and your work a spark; both of them will burn together, with no one to quench the flames that burn them."
For you have rejected your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled with practices learned from the East and they are fortune-tellers like the Philistines. They cut deals with foreigners.
"At that time, seven women will cling tightly to one man and will make him this offer: "We'll provide our own bread. We'll provide our own clothes. Just let us marry you so we won't be stigmatized anymore.'"
I will sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard: "The one I love had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He plowed its land and cleared it of stones. Then he planted it with the choicest vines, built a watchtower in the middle of it, and dug a wine vat in it; He expected it to produce good grapes, but it produced only wild ones." read more. "So now, you inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, won't you please, between me and my vineyard. What more could I do in my vineyard, that I haven't already done? When I expected it to produce good grapes, why did it yield wild ones? "Now, let me tell you, won't you please, what I'm going to do to my vineyard. "I'm going to take away its protective hedge, and it will be devoured; I'll break down its wall, and it will be trampled. I'll make it a wasteland, and it won't be pruned or cultivated. Instead, briers and thorns will grow up. I'll also issue commands to the clouds, that they drop no rain upon it." For the vineyard of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the garden in which he delights. He looked for justice, but saw only bloodshed; he searched for righteousness, but heard only an outcry! "How terrible it will be for you who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is no more room, and you have settled yourselves alone in the middle of the land!" The LORD of the Heavenly Armies has declared this so I could hear it: "Surely many houses will become desolate, great and beautiful houses, without occupants. For ten acres of vineyard will produce only one bath, and one omer of seed will produce only one ephah." "How terrible it will be for those who rise at dawn in order to grab a stiff drink, for those who stay up late at night as wine inflames them! They have the lyre and harp, the tambourine and flute, as well as wine at their festivals, but they don't respect what the LORD is doing, nor do they consider his actions. Therefore my people go into exile because they lack understanding; my honored men go hungry, and the crowd is parched with thirst. Therefore Sheol's appetite has grown; it has opened its mouth beyond limit. Jerusalem's nobility and her multitudes will go there, along with her brawlers and whoever is reveling within her. Humanity is brought low, and each one is humbled, while the eyes of the self-exalting are brought low. But the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is exalted in justice, and the Holy God proves himself to be righteously holy. Then the lambs will graze in their pasture; fatlings and foreigners will eat among the waste places of the rich." "How terrible it will be for those who parade iniquity with cords of falsehood, who draw sin along as with a cart rope; who say: "Let God be quick, let him speed up his work so we may see it! Let it happen! let the plan of the Holy One of Israel draw near, so we may recognize it!'" "How terrible it will be for those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute what is bitter for what is sweet and what is sweet for what is bitter!" "How terrible it will be for those who are wise in their own opinion, and clever in their own reckoning! "How terrible it will be for those who are heroes at drinking wine, and champions in mixing strong drink, who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of justice!" Therefore, as flames of fire devour straw, as dry grass collapses in flames, so their root will be rotten, and their blossom will blow away like dust, because they have rejected the instruction of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
The LORD will signal for nations far away, whistling for them to come from the ends of the earth. Look how quickly and how swiftly they come! No one is weary, no one stumbles, and no one slumbers or sleeps. No belt around their waists will come undone, nor will their sandal straps be broken. read more. Their arrows are sharp, all their bows ready for action. Their horses' hooves seem like flint, and their chariot wheels spin like a whirlwind. With a roar like a lion, they snarl, and like young lions, they growl; they seize their prey and then carry it off, with no one to rescue. They will roar over it at that time, like the sea waves roar. If one surveys the land, watch out! There's darkness and distress; even the daylight is darkened by its clouds.
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon his throne, high and exalted. The train of his robe filled the Temple.
Dull the mind of this people, deafen their ears, and blind their eyes. By doing so, they won't see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their minds, turn back, and be healed." Then I asked, "For how long, LORD?" He replied: "Until cities lie waste, without inhabitants, and houses without people; and the land becomes utterly desolate. read more. Until the LORD removes people far away, and there are many empty places in the middle of the land. Even though a tenth of its people remain in it, it will once again be burned, like a terebinth or an oak tree, the stump of which, though the tree has been felled, still contains holy seed."
During the reign of Jotham's son Ahaz, Uzziah's grandson, king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and Remaliah's son Pekah, king of Israel, approached Jerusalem and waged war against it, but they could not mount an attack against it.
During the reign of Jotham's son Ahaz, Uzziah's grandson, king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and Remaliah's son Pekah, king of Israel, approached Jerusalem and waged war against it, but they could not mount an attack against it.
So the LORD told Isaiah, "Go out to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool that proceeds along the highway to Launderer's Field.
So the LORD told Isaiah, "Go out to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool that proceeds along the highway to Launderer's Field. Tell him, "Be careful, be calm, don't be afraid, and don't lose heart because of these two smoldering stumps of torches, that is, because of the fierce anger of Rezin, from Aram, and Remaliah's son. read more. Aram, Ephraim, and Remaliah's son have plotted this evil against you: "Let's go attack Judah, let's terrorize it, and let's conquer it for ourselves. Then we'll install Tabeel's son as king!"' "But this is what the Lord GOD has to say: ""It won't take place. It won't ever happen. Because Aram's head is Damascus, and Rezin is its king, within sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered as a people. Furthermore, Ephraim's head is Samaria, and Remaliah's son is its king. If all of you don't keep on believing, you'll never remain loyal.'"
At that time, the LORD will hire a barber to come from beyond the Euphrates River that is, the king of Assyria and he will shave your heads, your leg hair, and your beards, too.
Then I will call Uriah the priest and Jeberechiah's son Zechariah as reliable witnesses to testify on my behalf." After this, I was intimate with the prophetess and she conceived. Later, she bore a son, and then the LORD told me, "Call him "Maher-shalal-hash-baz,'
After this, I was intimate with the prophetess and she conceived. Later, she bore a son, and then the LORD told me, "Call him "Maher-shalal-hash-baz,'
"Bind up the testimony, and seal up the teaching among my disciples.
Watch out! I and the children whom the LORD has given me are a sign and a wonder in Israel from the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, who resides on Mount Zion."
Watch out! I and the children whom the LORD has given me are a sign and a wonder in Israel from the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, who resides on Mount Zion."
But there will be no gloom for her who was in distress. Formerly, he brought contempt to the region of Zebulun and the region of Naphtali, but in the future he will have made glorious the way of the sea, the territory beyond the Jordan Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; for those living in a land of deep darkness, a light has shined upon them. read more. You have increased the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice in your presence as they rejoice at the harvest, as they are glad when they're dividing the spoils of war. Now as to the yoke that has been his burden, and the bar laid on his shoulder the rod of his oppressor you have broken it as on the day of Midian. For every boot of the tramping soldier in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be used for burning as fuel for a fire. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the growth of his government and peace there will be no end. He will rule over his kingdom, sitting on the throne of David, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies will accomplish this.
so you won't have to crouch among those in chains or fall among the slain? "Yet for all this, his anger has not turned away, and his hand is still stretched out, ready to strike."
A message about Damascus: "Look! Damascus will cease to be a city. Instead, it will become a pile of ruins. The cities of Oraru will be deserted they will be devoted to herds that will lay at rest, and terrorism will be no more. read more. The fortress will disappear from Ephraim, and royal authority from Damascus; the survivors from Aram will be like the glory of the Israelis," declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. "At that time, Jacob's glory will have become weakened, and his strong flesh will turn gaunt; it will be as if harvesters gather standing grain, reaping the ears by hand, or it will be as if grain is harvested in the valley of Rephaim. Nevertheless, gleanings will remain in Israel, as when an olive tree is beaten two or three ripe olives left in the topmost branches, four or five left among the branches of a fruit-filled tree," declares the LORD God of Israel. At that time, men will look upon their Maker, and their eyes will honor the Holy One of Israel. They will not look upon the altars, the products that their own fingers have made, and they will have no regard for Asherah poles or incense altars. "At that time, their fortified cities that they abandoned because of the Israelis will be like desolate places of the forests and hilltops there will be desolation. For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and have not remembered the Rock that is your strength. Therefore even though you plant delightful plants, sowing them with imported vine-seedlings, at the time that you plant them, carefully making them grow, the very morning you make your seed to sprout, your harvest will be ruined in a time of grief and unbearable pain."
"Oh, you stubborn children," declares the LORD, "who carry out plans but they are not mine, and who make alliances but not by my Spirit, piling sin upon sin. They set out to go down to Egypt, without asking my advice; taking refuge in Pharaoh's protection, and seeking shelter in Egypt's shadow. read more. But Pharaoh's protection will become your shame, and sheltering in Egypt's shadow your longing. And it will turn out that his officials are at Zoan, and his envoys will reach Hanes. There is only loathsome destruction through a people that cannot benefit them, who bring neither help nor profit, but only shame and disgrace." An oracle about the animals of the Negev: "Through a land of trouble, dryness, and distress, of lionesses and roaring lions, where there is no water, a land of vipers and darting snakes, he carries their riches on donkeys' backs, and their treasures on the humps of camels, to a nation that cannot benefit them,
For this is what the LORD GOD, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest you will be saved; in staying calm and trusting will be your strength. But you refused.
"How terrible it will be for those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the chariot, because there are so many, and in charioteers, because they are so strong but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or seek the LORD! Yet he is also wise and can bring disaster; he does not take back his words, but will rise up against the house of those who practice evil and against anyone who assists people who work iniquity. read more. The Egyptians are men, not God, and their horses are physical, not spirit. When the LORD stretches out his hand, anyone who assists will stumble, and the one who is helped will fall; and they will all perish together."
I replied, "Ah, LORD God! Look, I don't know how to speak, because I'm only a young man."
"Micah of Moresheth prophesied during the reign of Hezekiah king of Judah to all the people of Judah, "This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "Zion will be a plowed field, and Jerusalem a ruin. The Temple Mount will be a wooded hill."'
Smith
Isa'iah,
the prophet, son of Amoz. The Hebrew name signifies Salvation of Jahu (a shortened form of Jehovah), He prophesied concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah,
covering probably 758 to 698 B.C. He was married and had two sons. Rabbinical tradition says that Isaiah, when 90 years old, was sawn asunder in the trunk of a carob tree by order of Manasseh, to which it is supposed that reference is made in
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This is the vision that Amoz's son Isaiah had about Judah and Jerusalem during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
They were stoned to death, sawed in half, and killed with swords. They went around in sheepskins and goatskins. They were needy, oppressed, and mistreated.
Watsons
ISAIAH. Though fifth in the order of time, the writings of the Prophet Isaiah are placed first in order of the prophetical books, principally on account of the sublimity and importance of his predictions, and partly also because the book which bears his name is larger than all the twelve minor prophets put together. Concerning his family and descent, nothing certain has been recorded, except what he himself tells us, Isa 50:1, namely, that he was the son of Amos, and discharged the prophetic office "in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah," who successively flourished between A.M. 3194 and 3305. There is a current tradition that he was of the blood royal; and some writers have affirmed that his father Amoz or Amos was the son of Joash, and consequently brother of Uzziah, king of Judah. Jerom, on the authority of some rabbinical writers, says, that the prophet gave his daughter in marriage to Manasseh, king of Judah; but this opinion is scarcely credible, because Manasseh did not commence his reign until about sixty years after Isaiah had begun to discharge his prophetic functions. He must, indeed, have exercised the office of a prophet during a long period of time, if he lived to the reign of Manasseh; for the lowest computation, beginning from the year in which Uzziah died, when he is by some supposed to have received his first appointment to that office, brings it to sixty-one years. But the tradition of the Jews, which has been adopted by most Christian commentators, that he was put to death by Manasseh, is very uncertain; and Aben Ezra one of the most celebrated Jewish writers, is rather of opinion that he died before Hezekiah; which Bishop Lowth thinks most probable. It is, however, certain, that he lived at least to the fifteenth or sixteenth year of Hezekiah; which makes the least possible term of the duration of his prophetic office to be about forty-eight years. The name of Isaiah, as Vitringa has remarked after several preceding commentators, is in some measure descriptive of his high character, since it signifies the salvation of Jehovah; and was given with singular propriety to him, who foretold the advent of the Messiah, through whom "all flesh shall see the salvation of God," Isa 40:5; Lu 3:6; Ac 4:12. Isaiah was contemporary with the Prophets Amos, Hosea, Joel, and Micah.
Isaiah is uniformly spoken of in the Scriptures as a prophet of the highest dignity: Bishop Lowth calls him the prince of all the prophets, and pronounces the whole of his book to be poetical, with the exception of a few detached passages. It is remarkable, that his wife is styled a prophetess in Isa 8:3; whence the rabbinical writers have concluded that she possessed the spirit of prophecy: but it is very probable that the prophets' wives were called prophetesses, as the priests' wives were termed priestesses, only from the quality of their husbands. Although nothing farther is recorded in the Scriptures concerning the wife of Isaiah, we find two of his sons mentioned in his prophecy, who were types or figurative pledges; and their names and actions were intended to awaken a religious attention in the persons whom they were commissioned to address and to instruct. Thus, Shear-jashub signifies, "a remnant shall return," and showed that the captives who should be carried to Babylon should return thence after a certain time, Isa 7:3; and Maher-shalal-hash-baz, which denotes, "make speed (or run swiftly) to the spoil," implied that the kingdoms of Israel and Syria would in a short time be ravaged, Isa 8:1,3. Beside the volume of prophecies, which we are now to consider, it appears from 2Ch 26:22, that Isaiah wrote an account of "the acts of Uzziah," king of Judah: this has perished with some other writings of the prophets, which, as probably not written by inspiration, were never admitted into the canon of Scripture. There are also two apocryphal books ascribed to him, namely, The Ascension of Isaiah, and The Apocalypse of Isaiah; but these are evidently forgeries of a later date, and the Apocalypse has long since perished.
The scope of Isaiah's predictions is threefold, namely,
1. To detect, reprove, aggravate, and condemn, the sins of the Jewish people especially, and also the iniquities of the ten tribes of Israel, and the abominations of many Gentile nations and countries; denouncing the severest judgments against all sorts and degrees of persons, whether Jews or Gentiles.
2. To invite persons of every rank and condition, both Jews and Gentiles, to repentance and reformation, by numerous promises of pardon and mercy. It is worthy of remark, that no such promises are intermingled with the denunciations of divine vengeance against Babylon, although they occur in the threatenings against every other people.
3. To comfort all the truly pious, in the midst of all the calamities and judgments denounced against the wicked, with prophetic promises of the true Messiah, which seem almost to anticipate the Gospel history, so clearly do they foreshow the divine character of Christ.
Isaiah has, with singular propriety, been denominated the evangelical prophet, on account of the number and variety of his prophecies concerning the advent and character, the ministry and preaching, the sufferings and death, and the extensive permanent kingdom, of the Messiah. So explicit and determinate are his predictions, as well as so numerous, that he seems to speak rather of things past than of events yet future; and he may rather be called an evangelist than a prophet. No one, indeed, can be at a loss in applying them to the mission and character of Jesus Christ, and to the events which are cited in his history by the writers of the New Testament. This prophet, says Bishop Lowth, abounds in such transcendent excellencies, that he may be properly said to afford the most perfect model of prophetic poetry. He is at once elegant and sublime, forcible and ornamented; he unites energy with copiousness, and dignity with variety. In his sentiments there is uncommon elevation and majesty; in his imagery, the utmost propriety, elegance, dignity, and diversity; in his language, uncommon beauty and energy; and, notwithstanding the obscurity of his subjects, a surprising degree of clearness and simplicity. To these we may add, that there is such sweetness in the poetical composition of his sentences, whether it proceed from art or genius, that, if the Hebrew poetry at present is possessed of any remains of its native grace and harmony, we shall chiefly find them in the writings of Isaiah: so that the saying of Ezekiel may most justly be applied to this prophet:
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Now the rest of Uzziah's accomplishments, from first to last, have been recorded by Amoz's son Isaiah the prophet.
So the LORD told Isaiah, "Go out to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool that proceeds along the highway to Launderer's Field.
The LORD also told me, "Take a large tablet and write on it with a stylus pen, "For Maher-shalal-hash-baz'.
After this, I was intimate with the prophetess and she conceived. Later, she bore a son, and then the LORD told me, "Call him "Maher-shalal-hash-baz,'
After this, I was intimate with the prophetess and she conceived. Later, she bore a son, and then the LORD told me, "Call him "Maher-shalal-hash-baz,'
Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all humanity will see it at once; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
This is what the LORD says: "Where is your mother's certificate of divorce with which I sent her away? Or to which of my creditors did I sell you? Look! It's because of your sins that you were sold, and because of your transgressions that your mother was sent away.
"Son of Man, start singing this lamentation for the king of Tyre. Tell him, "This is what the Lord GOD says: "You served as my model, my example of complete wisdom and perfect beauty.
Everyone will see the salvation that God has provided.'"
There is no salvation by anyone else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved."