Solomon's Wisdom

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​Those Who Fear God Will Do Well


10 Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out of the holy place and were praised in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity. 11 Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. 12 Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him. 13 But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God.


Man Cannot Know God’s Ways

14 There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity. 15 And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun. 16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on earth, how neither day nor night do one’s eyes see sleep, 17 then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, he cannot find it out.

Death Comes to All

9 But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him. 2 It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil, to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. 3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 4 But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun.

Enjoy Life with the One You Love

7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8 Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. 9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.

Wisdom Better Than Folly

11 Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. 12 For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them. 13 I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 14 There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. 15 But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man’s wisdom is despised and his words are not heard. 17 The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. 10 Dead flies make the perfumer’s ointment give off a stench; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor. 2  A wise man’s heart inclines him to the right, but a fool’s heart to the left. 3  Even when the fool walks on the road, he lacks sense, and he says to everyone that he is a fool. 4  If the anger of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your place, for calmness will lay great offenses to rest. 5 There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, as it were an error proceeding from the ruler: 6 folly is set in many high places, and the rich sit in a low place. 7 I have seen slaves on horses, and princes walking on the ground like slaves. 8  He who digs a pit will fall into it, and a serpent will bite him who breaks through a wall. 9  He who quarries stones is hurt by them, and he who splits logs is endangered by them. 10 

If the iron is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge, he must use more strength, but wisdom helps one to succeed. 11  If the serpent bites before it is charmed, there is no advantage to the charmer. 12  The words of a wise man’s mouth win him favor, but the lips of a fool consume him. 13 

The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness, and the end of his talk is evil madness. 14  A fool multiplies words, though no man knows what is to be, and who can tell him what will be after him? 15  The toil of a fool wearies him, for he does not know the way to the city. 

Cast Your Bread upon the Waters

11 Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. 2  Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth. 3  If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth, and if a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie. 4  He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.

5 As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.

6 In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good. 7 Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun. 8 So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity. 9 Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes.

But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. 10 Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity. Remember Your Creator in Your Youth 12 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; 2 before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, 3 in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, 4 and the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low— 5 they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets— 6 before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, 7 and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. 8 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.

Fear God and Keep His Commandments

9 Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. 10 The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth. 11 The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. 12 My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. 13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

SONG OF SOLOMON

Introduction According to the most common interpretation, the Song of Solomon is a collection of love poems between a man and a woman, celebrating the sexual relationship God intended for marriage. God established marriage, including the physical union of a husband and wife (Gen. 2:18–25), and Israelite wisdom literature treasures this aspect of marriage as the appropriate expression of human sexuality (Prov. 5:15–20). The Song of Solomon has also been understood as an illustration of the mutual love of Christ and his church. It is possible that Solomon (tenth century b.c.) is the author (1:1). However, this verse could mean that the Song was dedicated to Solomon or was written about him, and therefore many scholars regard the book as anonymous. 1 The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s. The Bride Confesses Her Love She 2  Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is better than wine; 3  your anointing oils are fragrant; your name is oil poured out; therefore virgins love you. 4  Draw me after you; let us run. The king has brought me into his chambers. Others We will exult and rejoice in you; we will extol your love more than wine; rightly do they love you. She 5  I am very dark, but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon. 6  Do not gaze at me because I am dark, because the sun has looked upon me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me; they made me keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not kept! 7 Tell me, you whom my soul loves, where you pasture your flock, where you make it lie down at noon; for why should I be like one who veils herself beside the flocks of your companions? Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other He 8  If you do not know, O most beautiful among women, follow in the tracks of the flock, and pasture your young goats beside the shepherds’ tents. 9  I compare you, my love, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots. 10  Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels. Others 11  We will make for you ornaments of gold, studded with silver. She 12  While the king was on his couch, my nard gave forth its fragrance. 13  My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh that lies between my breasts. 14  My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms in the vineyards of Engedi. He 15  Behold, you are beautiful, my love; behold, you are beautiful; your eyes are doves. She 16  Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, truly delightful. Our couch is green; 17  the beams of our house are cedar; our rafters are pine. 2 I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys. He 2  As a lily among brambles, so is my love among the young women. She 3  As an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the young men. With great delight I sat in his shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. 4  He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. 5  Sustain me with raisins; refresh me with apples, for I am sick with love. 6  His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me! 7  I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the does of the field, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases. The Bride Adores Her Beloved 8  The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes, leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills. 9  My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, there he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, looking through the lattice. 10  My beloved speaks and says to me: “Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away, 11  for behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. 12  The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. 13  The fig tree ripens its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away. 14  O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the crannies of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely. 15  Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom.” 16  My beloved is mine, and I am his; he grazes among the lilies. 17  Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle or a young stag on cleft mountains. The Bride’s Dream 3 On my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but found him not. 2  I will rise now and go about the city, in the streets and in the squares; I will seek him whom my soul loves. I sought him, but found him not. 3  The watchmen found me as they went about in the city. “Have you seen him whom my soul loves?” 4  Scarcely had I passed them when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him, and would not let him go until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her who conceived me. 5  I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the does of the field, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases. Solomon Arrives for the Wedding 6  What is that coming up from the wilderness like columns of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all the fragrant powders of a merchant? 7  Behold, it is the litter of Solomon! Around it are sixty mighty men, some of the mighty men of Israel, 8  all of them wearing swords and expert in war, each with his sword at his thigh, against terror by night. 9  King Solomon made himself a carriage from the wood of Lebanon. 10  He made its posts of silver, its back of gold, its seat of purple; its interior was inlaid with love by the daughters of Jerusalem. 11  Go out, O daughters of Zion, and look upon King Solomon, with the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, on the day of the gladness of his heart. Solomon Admires His Bride’s Beauty He 4 Behold, you are beautiful, my love, behold, you are beautiful! Your eyes are doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats leaping down the slopes of Gilead. 2  Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes that have come up from the washing, all of which bear twins, and not one among them has lost its young. 3  Your lips are like a scarlet thread, and your mouth is lovely. Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate behind your veil. 4  Your neck is like the tower of David, built in rows of stone; on it hang a thousand shields, all of them shields of warriors. 5  Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle, that graze among the lilies. 6  Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, I will go away to the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense. 7  You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you. 8  Come with me from Lebanon, my bride; come with me from Lebanon. Depart from the peak of Amana, from the peak of Senir and Hermon, from the dens of lions, from the mountains of leopards. 9  You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride; you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace. 10  How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your oils than any spice! 11  Your lips drip nectar, my bride; honey and milk are under your tongue; the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon. 12  A garden locked is my sister, my bride, a spring locked, a fountain sealed. 13  Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates with all choicest fruits, henna with nard, 14  nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes, with all choice spices— 15  a garden fountain, a well of living water, and flowing streams from Lebanon. 16  Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind! Blow upon my garden, let its spices flow. Together in the Garden of Love She Let my beloved come to his garden, and eat its choicest fruits. He 5 I came to my garden, my sister, my bride, I gathered my myrrh with my spice, I ate my honeycomb with my honey, I drank my wine with my milk. Others Eat, friends, drink, and be drunk with love! The Bride Searches for Her Beloved She 2  I slept, but my heart was awake. A sound! My beloved is knocking. “Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my perfect one, for my head is wet with dew, my locks with the drops of the night.” 3  I had put off my garment; how could I put it on? I had bathed my feet; how could I soil them? 4  My beloved put his hand to the latch, and my heart was thrilled within me. 5  I arose to open to my beloved, and my hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with liquid myrrh, on the handles of the bolt. 6  I opened to my beloved, but my beloved had turned and gone. My soul failed me when he spoke. I sought him, but found him not; I called him, but he gave no answer. 7  The watchmen found me as they went about in the city; they beat me, they bruised me, they took away my veil, those watchmen of the walls. 8  I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell him I am sick with love. Others 9  What is your beloved more than another beloved, O most beautiful among women? What is your beloved more than another beloved, that you thus adjure us? The Bride Praises Her Beloved She 10  My beloved is radiant and ruddy, distinguished among ten thousand. 11  His head is the finest gold; his locks are wavy, black as a raven. 12  His eyes are like doves beside streams of water, bathed in milk, sitting beside a full pool. 13  His cheeks are like beds of spices, mounds of sweet-smelling herbs. His lips are lilies, dripping liquid myrrh. 14  His arms are rods of gold, set with jewels. His body is polished ivory, bedecked with sapphires. 15  His legs are alabaster columns, set on bases of gold. His appearance is like Lebanon, choice as the cedars. 16  His mouth is most sweet, and he is altogether desirable. This is my beloved and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. Others 6 Where has your beloved gone, O most beautiful among women? Where has your beloved turned, that we may seek him with you? Together in the Garden of Love She 2  My beloved has gone down to his garden to the beds of spices, to graze in the gardens and to gather lilies. 3  I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine; he grazes among the lilies. Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other He 4  You are beautiful as Tirzah, my love, lovely as Jerusalem, awesome as an army with banners. 5  Turn away your eyes from me, for they overwhelm me— Your hair is like a flock of goats leaping down the slopes of Gilead. 6  Your teeth are like a flock of ewes that have come up from the washing; all of them bear twins; not one among them has lost its young. 7  Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate behind your veil. 8  There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, and virgins without number. 9  My dove, my perfect one, is the only one, the only one of her mother, pure to her who bore her. The young women saw her and called her blessed; the queens and concubines also, and they praised her. 10  “Who is this who looks down like the dawn, beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun, awesome as an army with banners?” She 11  I went down to the nut orchard to look at the blossoms of the valley, to see whether the vines had budded, whether the pomegranates were in bloom. 12  Before I was aware, my desire set me among the chariots of my kinsman, a prince. Others 13  Return, return, O Shulammite, return, return, that we may look upon you. He Why should you look upon the Shulammite, as upon a dance before two armies? 7 How beautiful are your feet in sandals, O noble daughter! Your rounded thighs are like jewels, the work of a master hand. 2  Your navel is a rounded bowl that never lacks mixed wine. Your belly is a heap of wheat, encircled with lilies. 3  Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle. 4  Your neck is like an ivory tower. Your eyes are pools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bath-rabbim. Your nose is like a tower of Lebanon, which looks toward Damascus. 5  Your head crowns you like Carmel, and your flowing locks are like purple; a king is held captive in the tresses. 6  How beautiful and pleasant you are, O loved one, with all your delights! 7  Your stature is like a palm tree, and your breasts are like its clusters. 8  I say I will climb the palm tree and lay hold of its fruit. Oh may your breasts be like clusters of the vine, and the scent of your breath like apples, 9  and your mouth like the best wine. She It goes down smoothly for my beloved, gliding over lips and teeth. 10  I am my beloved’s, and his desire is for me. The Bride Gives Her Love 11  Come, my beloved, let us go out into the fields and lodge in the villages; 12  let us go out early to the vineyards and see whether the vines have budded, whether the grape blossoms have opened and the pomegranates are in bloom. There I will give you my love. 13  The mandrakes give forth fragrance, and beside our doors are all choice fruits, new as well as old, which I have laid up for you, O my beloved. Longing for Her Beloved 8 Oh that you were like a brother to me who nursed at my mother’s breasts! If I found you outside, I would kiss you, and none would despise me. 2  I would lead you and bring you into the house of my mother— she who used to teach me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, the juice of my pomegranate. 3  His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me! 4  I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases. 5  Who is that coming up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved? Under the apple tree I awakened you. There your mother was in labor with you; there she who bore you was in labor. 6  Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord. 7  Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, he would be utterly despised. Final Advice Others 8  We have a little sister, and she has no breasts. What shall we do for our sister on the day when she is spoken for? 9  If she is a wall, we will build on her a battlement of silver, but if she is a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar. She 10  I was a wall, and my breasts were like towers; then I was in his eyes as one who finds peace. 11  Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; he let out the vineyard to keepers; each one was to bring for its fruit a thousand pieces of silver. 12  My vineyard, my very own, is before me; you, O Solomon, may have the thousand, and the keepers of the fruit two hundred. He 13  O you who dwell in the gardens, with companions listening for your voice; let me hear it. She 14  Make haste, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices.

ISAIAH Introduction

Isaiah lived during the decline of Israel in the shadow of Assyria. He spoke the word of God to a people who were “deaf and blind” (see 6:10), who refused to listen to his warnings of looming disaster.

He warned that the sin of the people of Judah would bring God’s judgment, yet he also declared that God is sovereign and would use Cyrus the Persian to return them from exile. The book speaks of a “servant,” a “man of sorrows,” who would be “pierced for our transgressions,” accomplishing God’s purposes of salvation (52:13–53:12).

The final chapters give a beautiful description of a new creation in which God will rule as King, judging the wicked and establishing eternal peace. Isaiah prophesied about 740–700 b.c. (possibly till the 680s). 1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. The Wickedness of Judah 2  Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. 3  The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” 4  Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged. 5  Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. 6  From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and raw wounds; they are not pressed out or bound up or softened with oil. 7  Your country lies desolate; your cities are burned with fire; in your very presence foreigners devour your land; it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners. 8  And the daughter of Zion is left like a booth in a vineyard, like a lodge in a cucumber field, like a besieged city. 9  If the Lord of hosts had not left us a few survivors, we should have been like Sodom, and become like Gomorrah. 10  Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Give ear to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah! 11  “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. 12  “When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts? 13  Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations— I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. 14  Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. 15  When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. 16  Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, 17  learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. 18  “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. 19  If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; 20  but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

The Unfaithful City

21  How the faithful city has become a whore, she who was full of justice! Righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers. 22  Your silver has become dross, your best wine mixed with water. 23  Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not bring justice to the fatherless, and the widow’s cause does not come to them. 24  Therefore the Lord declares, the Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: “Ah, I will get relief from my enemies and avenge myself on my foes. 25  I will turn my hand against you and will smelt away your dross as with lye and remove all your alloy. 26  And I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.” 27  Zion shall be redeemed by justice, and those in her who repent, by righteousness. 28  But rebels and sinners shall be broken together, and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed. 29  For they shall be ashamed of the oaks that you desired; and you shall blush for the gardens that you have chosen. 30  For you shall be like an oak whose leaf withers, and like a garden without water. 31  And the strong shall become tinder, and his work a spark, and both of them shall burn together, with none to quench them. The Mountain of the Lord 2 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 2  It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, 3  and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 4  He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. 5  O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord. The Day of the Lord 6  For you have rejected your people, the house of Jacob, because they are full of things from the east and of fortune-tellers like the Philistines, and they strike hands with the children of foreigners. 7  Their land is filled with silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures; their land is filled with horses, and there is no end to their chariots. 8  Their land is filled with idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their own fingers have made. 9  So man is humbled, and each one is brought low— do not forgive them! 10  Enter into the rock and hide in the dust from before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendor of his majesty. 11  The haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. 12  For the Lord of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low; 13  against all the cedars of Lebanon, lofty and lifted up; and against all the oaks of Bashan; 14  against all the lofty mountains, and against all the uplifted hills; 15  against every high tower, and against every fortified wall; 16  against all the ships of Tarshish, and against all the beautiful craft. 17  And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled, and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. 18  And the idols shall utterly pass away. 19  And people shall enter the caves of the rocks and the holes of the ground, from before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth. 20  In that day mankind will cast away their idols of silver and their idols of gold, which they made for themselves to worship, to the moles and to the bats, 21  to enter the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs, from before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth. 22  Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?

Judgment on Judah and Jerusalem

3 For behold, the Lord God of hosts is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah support and supply, all support of bread, and all support of water; 2  the mighty man and the soldier, the judge and the prophet, the diviner and the elder, 3  the captain of fifty and the man of rank, the counselor and the skillful magician and the expert in charms. 4  And I will make boys their princes, and infants shall rule over them. 5  And the people will oppress one another, every one his fellow and every one his neighbor; the youth will be insolent to the elder, and the despised to the honorable. 6  For a man will take hold of his brother in the house of his father, saying: “You have a cloak; you shall be our leader, and this heap of ruins shall be under your rule”; 7  in that day he will speak out, saying: “I will not be a healer; in my house there is neither bread nor cloak; you shall not make me leader of the people.” 8  For Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah has fallen, because their speech and their deeds are against the Lord, defying his glorious presence. 9  For the look on their faces bears witness against them; they proclaim their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! For they have brought evil on themselves. 10  Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds. 11  Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him. 12  My people—infants are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, your guides mislead you and they have swallowed up the course of your paths. 13  The Lord has taken his place to contend; he stands to judge peoples. 14  The Lord will enter into judgment with the elders and princes of his people: “It is you who have devoured the vineyard, the spoil of the poor is in your houses. 15  What do you mean by crushing my people, by grinding the face of the poor?” declares the Lord God of hosts. 16  The Lord said: Because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with outstretched necks, glancing wantonly with their eyes, mincing along as they go, tinkling with their feet, 17  therefore the Lord will strike with a scab the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will lay bare their secret parts. 18 In that day the Lord will take away the finery of the anklets, the headbands, and the crescents; 19 the pendants, the bracelets, and the scarves; 20 the headdresses, the armlets, the sashes, the perfume boxes, and the amulets; 21 the signet rings and nose rings; 22 the festal robes, the mantles, the cloaks, and the handbags; 23 the mirrors, the linen garments, the turbans, and the veils. 24  Instead of perfume there will be rottenness; and instead of a belt, a rope; and instead of well-set hair, baldness; and instead of a rich robe, a skirt of sackcloth; and branding instead of beauty. 25  Your men shall fall by the sword and your mighty men in battle. 26  And her gates shall lament and mourn; empty, she shall sit on the ground. 4 And seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away our reproach.” The Branch of the Lord Glorified 2 In that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel. 3 And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem, 4 when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning. 5 Then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a canopy. 6 There will be a booth for shade by day from the heat, and for a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.

The Vineyard of the Lord Destroyed 5 Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. 2  He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. 3  And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. 4  What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? 5  And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. 6  I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. 7  For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!

Woe to the Wicked 8  Woe to those who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is no more room, and you are made to dwell alone in the midst of the land. 9  The Lord of hosts has sworn in my hearing: “Surely many houses shall be desolate, large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant. 10  For ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield but an ephah.” 11  Woe to those who rise early in the morning, that they may run after strong drink, who tarry late into the evening as wine inflames them! 12  They have lyre and harp, tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts, but they do not regard the deeds of the Lord, or see the work of his hands. 13  Therefore my people go into exile for lack of knowledge; their honored men go hungry, and their multitude is parched with thirst. 14  Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite and opened its mouth beyond measure, and the nobility of Jerusalem and her multitude will go down, her revelers and he who exults in her. 15  Man is humbled, and each one is brought low, and the eyes of the haughty are brought low. 16  But the Lord of hosts is exalted in justice, and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness. 17  Then shall the lambs graze as in their pasture, and nomads shall eat among the ruins of the rich. 18  Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, who draw sin as with cart ropes, 19  who say: “Let him be quick, let him speed his work that we may see it; let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near, and let it come, that we may know it!” 20  Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! 21  Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight! 22  Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink, 23  who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right! 24  Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, and as dry grass sinks down in the flame, so their root will be as rottenness, and their blossom go up like dust; for they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts, and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. 25  Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against his people, and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them, and the mountains quaked; and their corpses were as refuse in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still. 26  He will raise a signal for nations far away, and whistle for them from the ends of the earth; and behold, quickly, speedily they come! 27  None is weary, none stumbles, none slumbers or sleeps, not a waistband is loose, not a sandal strap broken; 28  their arrows are sharp, all their bows bent, their horses’ hoofs seem like flint, and their wheels like the whirlwind.

29  Their roaring is like a lion, like young lions they roar; they growl and seize their prey; they carry it off, and none can rescue. 30  They will growl over it on that day, like the growling of the sea. And if one looks to the land, behold, darkness and distress; and the light is darkened by its clouds. Isaiah’s Vision of the Lord 6 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” 4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; 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 King, the Lord of hosts!” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he 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 8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” 9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “ ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ 10  Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” 11  Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said: “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste, 12  and the Lord removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. 13  And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled.”

The holy seed is its stump. Isaiah Sent to King Ahaz 7 In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and 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. 2 When the house of David was told, “Syria is in league with Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind. 3 And the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-jashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer’s Field. 4 And say to him, ‘Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remaliah. 5 Because Syria, with Ephraim and 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 for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” 7 thus says the Lord God: “ ‘It shall not stand, and it shall not come to pass. 8  For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin. And within sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered from being a people. 9  And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.’ ”

The Sign of Immanuel

10 Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: 11 “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” 12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” 13 And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. 15 He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16 For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. 17 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 Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!” 18 In that day the Lord will 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. 19 And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures. 20 In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is hired beyond the River—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also. 21 In that day a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep, 22 and because of the abundance of milk that they give, he will eat curds, for everyone who is left in the land will eat curds and honey. 23 In that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekels of silver, will become briers and thorns. 24 With bow and arrows a man will come there, for all the land will be briers and thorns. 25 And as for all the hills that used to be hoed with a hoe, you will not come there for fear of briers and thorns, but they will become a place where cattle are let loose and where sheep tread.