23 Lift ye ² up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles. ³ I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones, for mine anger is not upon them that rejoice in my highness. ⁴ The noise of the multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people, a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together; the Lord of Hosts mustereth the host of the battle. ⁵ They come from a far country, from the end of heaven — yea, the Lord and the weapons of his indignation — to destroy the whole land.

⁶ Howl ye, for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. ⁷ Therefore shall all hands be faint, every man’s heart shall melt, ⁸ and they shall be afraid. Pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them, they shall be amazed one at another, their faces shall be as flames. ⁹ Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. ¹⁰ For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. ¹¹ And I will punish the world for evil, and the wicked for their iniquity. I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay down the haughtiness of the terrible. ¹² I will make a man more precious than fine gold, even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. ¹³ Therefore, I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of Hosts and in the day of his fierce anger. ¹⁴ And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up; they shall every man turn to his own people and flee everyone into his own land. ¹⁵ Everyone that is proud shall be thrust through, yea, and everyone that is joined to the wicked shall fall by the sword. ¹⁶ Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes, their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished. ¹⁷ Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver and gold, nor they shall not delight in it. ¹⁸ Their bows shall also dash the young men to pieces, and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eyes shall not spare children.

¹⁹ And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. ²⁰ It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation, neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there, neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. ²¹ But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there, and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures, and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. ²² And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces. And her time is near to come, and her day shall not be prolonged, for I will destroy her speedily; yea, for I will be merciful unto my people, but the wicked shall perish.

24 For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land, and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. ² And the people shall take them and bring them to their place, yea, from far unto the ends of the earth, and they shall return to their lands of promise. And the house of Israel shall possess them, and the land of the Lord shall be for servants and handmaids; and they shall take them captives unto whom they were captives, and they shall rule over their oppressors. ³ And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve.

⁴ And it shall come to pass in that day, that thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased, the golden city ceased! ⁵ The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, the scepters of the rulers. ⁶ He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth. ⁷ The whole earth is at rest and is quiet; they break forth into singing. ⁸ Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and also the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us. ⁹ Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming. It stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. ¹⁰ All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? Art thou become like unto us? ¹¹ Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, the noise of thy viols is not heard, the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.

¹² How art thou fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! Art thou cut down to the ground, which did weaken the nations? ¹³ For thou hast said in thy heart, I will ascend into Heaven; I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north; ¹⁴ I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High. ¹⁵ Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. ¹⁶ They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and shall consider thee, and shall say, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms, ¹⁷ and made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof, and opened not the house of his prisoners?

¹⁸ All the kings of the nations, yea, all of them lie in glory, every one of them in his own house. ¹⁹ But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and the remnant of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit, as a carcass trodden under feet. ²⁰ Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial because thou hast destroyed thy land and slain thy people; the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned. ²¹ Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquities of their fathers, that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities. ²² For I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of Hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the Lord. ²³ I will also make it a possession for the bittern and pools of water; and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the Lord of Hosts.

²⁴ The Lord of Hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand, ²⁵ that I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him underfoot. Then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. ²⁶ This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all nations. ²⁷ For the Lord of Hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul? And his hand stretched out, and who shall turn it back?

In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden

²⁸ Rejoice not ²⁹ thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken; for out of the serpent’s root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent. ³⁰ And the first born of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety. And I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant. ³¹ Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou whole Palestina art dissolved, for there shall come from the north a smoke, and none shall be alone in his appointed times. ³² What shall then answer the messengers of the nations? That the Lord hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it.