Isaiah

The man who deceives his fellowman begins by deceiving himself,
and he firmly believes his own contentions.
- Vilfredo Pareto

This page discusses the composition of the Book of Isaiah, its historical background, his life, character and historical prophecies. There is an introductory page on Meet the Prophets.

What is known about Isaiah is in the Book of Isaiah and in 2 Kings 18:13-20:21. He was born in Jerusalem about 760 BCE. His ministry started the year King Uzziah died.

¹In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple. (Isa. 6:1)

He believed he was chosen for his ministry from the time he was conceived. How he could know this, I will leave to your imagination.

⁵And now the LORD says, who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD, and my God has become my strength (Isa. 49:5)

His ministry lasted about 41 years from 742 to 701 BCE, during the reigns of four kings of Judah: Uzziah, Jotham, and Ahaz to the last year of Hezekiah.

¹The 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. (Isa. 1:1)

The first thirty nine chapters are primarily concerned with the Assyrians to the end of Hezekiah's reign, 687. His life parallels 2 Kings 15-20 and 2 Chron. 26-32. The parallel to Isaiah 36-39 is found in 2 Kings 18:13-20:21.

The Book of Isaiah was added to by one or more other authors. Chapters 24-27 feature apocalyptic visions of a later time. Chapters 40-55 cover from the Babylonian Exile 586 BCE, to the rise of Cyrus 550 BCE. Chapters 56-66 follow with a mixed bag in the next generation. The book is not entirely in chronological order. To keep it simple, I'll stick with "Isaiah" as in the Book of Isaiah.

The tone is set in the first chapter. It was about this time when Tiglath-Pileser III (744-727 BCE) became king of Assyria, entering in a period of aggression. Isaiah saw the good times coming to an end and the evil times to come.

The people of Israel have forsaken Yahweh.

⁴Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, sons who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the LORD, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged. (Isa. 1:4)

They have worshipped other gods.

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 fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of he-goats. (Isa. 1:11)

Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings; learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.

¹⁶Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil,¹⁷learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow. (Isa. 1:16-17)

If you are willing and obedient, goodness will follow in the land.

¹⁹If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;(Isa. 1:19)

If you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword.

²⁰but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken." (Isa. 1:20)

Ahaz and the Syrio-Israelite invasion of Judah in 734

The rise of Assyria overshadowed Isaiah's time. On two occasions, his erroneous prophecies go on record.

There was a conflict with Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the king of Israel about breaking free of Assyria. They wanted King Ahaz of Judah to join them. Isaiah advised Ahaz he need not fear Syria and Israel by staying neutral.

³And the LORD said to Isaiah, "Go forth to meet Ahaz, you and Shearjashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Fuller's Field,
⁴and say to him, 'Take heed, 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 [Pekah] the son of Remaliah. (Isa. 7:3-4)

Their evil plans to conquer Judah and bring it into a new empire with a new king will not come to pass.

⁵Because 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,"
⁷thus says the Lord GOD: It shall not stand, and it shall not come to pass. (Isa. 7:5-7)

A woman would bear a son in the house of David, whose name would be Immanuel.

¹³And he said, "Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also?
¹⁴Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (Isa. 7:13-14)

Before the child is grown, the land of the two kings-Syria and Israel-will be deserted.

¹⁶For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted. (Isa. 7:16)

Yahweh will deliver the king of Assyria to you.

¹⁷The 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." (Isa. 7:17)

Instead, Rezin and Pekah attacked Judah and slaughtered, 20,000 in one day.

¹Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD, like his father David,
⁵Therefore the LORD his God gave him into the hand of the king of Syria who defeated him and took captive a great number of his people and brought them to Damascus. He was also given into the hand of the king of Israel, who defeated him with great slaughter.
⁶For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew a hundred and twenty thousand in Judah in one day, all of them men of valor, because they had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers. (2 Chron. 28:1, 5-6)

They could not conquer Ahaz, but the damage was done. Nor is there any record of a child named Immanuel.

⁵Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to wage war on Jerusalem, and they besieged Ahaz but could not conquer him. (2 Kings 16:5)

That was enough to convince Ahaz to go to Tiglath-pileser of Assyria with his treasure chest asking for protection. In 732 BCE, the Assyrians went to Damascus and killed Rezin.

⁷So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, "I am your servant and your son. Come up, and rescue me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are attacking me."
⁸Ahaz also took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent a present to the king of Assyria.
⁹And the king of Assyria hearkened to him; the king of Assyria marched up against Damascus, and took it, carrying its people captive to Kir, and he killed Rezin. (2 Kings 16:7-9)

Then Tiglath-pileser went to Israel and took all but the capital of Samaria. Pekah was killed by one of his own later.

²⁹In the days of Pekah king of Israel Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Jan-oah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and he carried the people captive to Assyria.
³⁰Then Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and struck him down, and slew him, and reigned in his stead, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah. (2 Kings 15:29-30)

Tiglath-pileser was followed by Shalmaneser who took Samaria in Ahaz's twelfth year. The year was 722.

¹In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah Hoshea the son of Elah began to reign in Samaria over Israel, and he reigned nine years.
²And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him.
³Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his vassal, and paid him tribute.
⁴But the king of Assyria found treachery in Hoshea; for he had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year; therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison.
⁵Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land and came to Samaria, and for three years he besieged it.
⁶In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria captured Samaria, and he carried the Israelites away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. (2 Kings 17:1-6)

Hezekiah and the Assyrians

In chapters 36-38 about 689 BCE, Sennacherib king of Assyrian had taken all of Judah but Jerusalem. He sent an emissary to King Hezekiah to surrender.

¹⁰"Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: 'Do not let your God on whom you rely deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. (Isa. 37:10)

Isaiah advised Hezekiah Assyria would not attack. Well Assyria did not attack, leaving the impression in Isaiah that Yahweh protected him as Isaiah said he would.

³³"Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city, or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with a shield, or cast up a siege mound against it. (Isa. 37:33)

But according to 2 Kings that it was Hezekiah's doing. He emptied the entire treasury in exchange for an agreement not to attack.

¹⁴And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, "I have done wrong; withdraw from me; whatever you impose on me I will bear." And the king of Assyria required of Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.
¹⁵And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasuries of the king's house.
¹⁶At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the doorposts which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria. (2 Kings 18:14-16)

Anachronisms

Though the first 39 chapters are purported to be written exclusively by Isaiah in the 700s, long before the exile 586, there are verses that had to be written after the exile, as exemplified by these verses.

⁸For Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah has fallen; because their speech and their deeds are against the LORD, defying his glorious presence. (Isa. 3:8)

¹³Therefore my people go into exile for want of knowledge; their honored men are dying of hunger, and their multitude is parched with thirst. (5:13)

So we can't take seriously that Isaiah foresaw the Babylonian exile hundreds of years in advance.

⁵Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of the LORD of hosts:
⁶Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left, says the LORD.
⁷And some of your own sons, who are born to you, shall be taken away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon." (Isa. 39:5-7)

We see evidence of long time spans in the following two verses.

In chapters 40-55, Yahweh is coming right away.

¹⁰fear not, for I am with you, be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand. (Isa. 41:10)

That optimism was probably precipitated by Cyrus's permission to rebuild the temple.

²⁸who says of Cyrus, 'He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfil all my purpose'; saying of Jerusalem. 'She shall be built,' and of the temple, 'Your foundation shall be laid.'" (Isa. 44:28)

¹Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and ungird the loins of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed: (Isa. 45:1)

Then in chapters 56-66, Isaiah shows frustration that Yahweh is not coming.

¹¹We all growl like bears, we moan and moan like doves; we look for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us. (Isa. 59:11)

The closeness of the next set tells us Jewish monotheism was introduced when the Hebrews were under Persian rule.

Cyrus king of Persia sanctions temple reconstruction, 538 BCE. It must have been a time when the Hebrews felt Yahweh had redeemed them through Cyrus.

²⁶who confirms the word of his servant, and performs the counsel of his messengers; who says of Jerusalem, 'She shall be inhabited,' and of the cities of Judah, 'They shall be built, and I will raise up their ruins';²⁷who says to the deep, 'Be dry, I will dry up your rivers';²⁸who says of Cyrus, 'He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose'; saying of Jerusalem. 'She shall be built,' and of the temple, 'Your foundation shall be laid.'"(Isa. 44:26-28)

In the next chapter we see mention of Cyrus, and Isaiah proclaiming a monotheistic God. Until this time, the Hebrews were henotheists-believing in the worship of one god without denying the existence of other gods.

Yahweh anointed Cyrus.

I am the Lord, there is none else.

⁶That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.
⁷I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things. (Isa. 45:6-7)

I am God, there is none else.

²²Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.
²³I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. (Isa. 45:22-23)

Prophet verses Prophet

How does one know which is the true prophet of Yahweh when they all make the same claim?

1. The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, they are confused with wine, they err in vision, and they stumble in giving judgment. For their table are full of vomit, no place is without filthiness.

⁷These also reel with wine and stagger with strong drink; the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, they are confused with wine, they stagger with strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in giving judgment.⁸For all tables are full of vomit, no place is without filthiness. (Isa. 28:7-8)

2. Prophets are lying sons who will not hear Yahweh.

⁹For they are a rebellious people, lying sons, sons who will not hear the instruction of the LORD;¹⁰who say to the seers, "See not"; and to the prophets, "Prophesy not to us what is right; speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusions, (Isa. 30:9-10)

False Prophecies

I've limited this collection to historical prophecies. They are best described as wishful thinking.

1. All nations shall flow into the house of Yahweh.

²It 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 raised above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, (Isa. 2:2)

2. There will be universal peace.

³and 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.⁴He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide 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 any more. (Isa. 2:3-4)

3. A remnant of Israel will return to their land.

²⁰In that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean upon him that smote them, but will lean upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
²¹A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.
²²For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness. (Isa. 10:20-22)

4. Wolf dwell with lamb, leopard like with the kid, calf and lion together, cow and bear together, lion eat straw like an ox.

⁶The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.⁷The cow and the bear shall feed; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. (Isa. 11:6-7)

5. Babylon will be overthrown and never inhabited for all generations.

¹⁹And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendor and pride of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them.²⁰It will never be inhabited or dwelt in for all generations; no Arab will pitch his tent there, no shepherds will make their flocks lie down there. (Isa. 13:19-20)

6. Damascus would be deserted forever.

¹An oracle concerning Damascus. Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city, and will become a heap of ruins.²Her cities will be deserted for ever; they will be for flocks, which will lie down, and none will make them afraid. (Isa. 17:1-2)

7. Yahweh will give the Egyptians over to a fierce king-only if you insist on counting 400 years later to Alexander the Great, 330 BCE.

⁴and I will give over the Egyptians into the hand of a hard master; and a fierce king will rule over them, says the Lord, the LORD of hosts. (Isa. 19:4)

8. The Nile would dry up and be no more.

⁵And the waters of the Nile will be dried up, and the river will be parched and dry;⁶and its canals will become foul, and the branches of Egypt's Nile will diminish and dry up, reeds and rushes will rot away.⁷There will be bare places by the Nile, on the brink of the Nile, and all that is sown by the Nile will dry up, be driven away, and be no more. (Isa. 19:5-7)

9. Judah would become a terror to the Egyptians.

¹⁷And the land of Judah will become a terror to the Egyptians; every one to whom it is mentioned will fear because of the purpose which the LORD of hosts has purposed against them. (Isa. 19:17)

10. Egyptians would be speaking the language of Canaan.

¹⁸In that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt which speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the LORD of hosts. One of these will be called the City of the Sun. (Isa. 19:18)

11. A highway from Egypt to Assyria would culminate with both nations worshipping together

²³In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. (Isa. 19:23)

12. The Assyrians will lead the Egyptians away with their buttocks uncovered.

⁴so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians captives and the Ethiopians exiles, both the young and the old, naked and barefoot, with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. (Isa. 20:4)

13. In the days to come, Israel shall blossom and fill the whole world with fruit.

⁶In days to come Jacob shall take root, Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots, and fill the whole world with fruit. (Isa. 27:6)

15. Yahweh laid a cornerstone to assure Judah's permanence.

¹⁶Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. (Isa. 28:16)

16. Yahweh will do marvelous things by making wise men perish. Yahweh hates wisdom.

¹⁴therefore, behold, I will again do marvelous things with this people, wonderful and marvelous; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hid." (Isa. 29:14)

17. Israel will enjoy quiet habitation, never to be plucked up.

²⁰Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts! Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a quiet habitation, an immovable tent, whose stakes will never be plucked up, nor will any of its cords be broken. (Isa. 33:20)

18. The uncircumcised and unclean shall come into Jerusalem no more.

¹Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean. (Isa. 52:1)

19. Nations that do not submit to Judaism will perish.

¹²For the nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; those nations shall be utterly laid waste. (Isa. 60:12)

20. The book ends with Yahweh executing judgment against foreign nations resulting in the whole world worshipping one god.

¹⁵"For behold, the LORD will come in fire, and his chariots like the stormwind, to render his anger in fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.¹⁶For by fire will the LORD execute judgment, and by his sword, upon all flesh; and those slain by the LORD shall be many. (Isa. 66:15-16)

¹⁸"For I know their works and their thoughts, and I am coming to gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and shall see my glory, (Isa. 66:18)

²²"For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before me, says the LORD; so shall your descendants and your name remain.²³From new moon to new moon, and from sabbath to sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before me, says the LORD. (Isa. 66:22-23)

Character

For the rest of this page we focus on Isaiah's character and how it is embedded in his prophecies.

Zealousness

This set gives us a sense of Isaiah's zealousness. It's hard to comprehend a man walking around naked and barefoot for three years.

1. His soul moans.

¹¹Therefore my soul moans like a lyre for Moab, and my heart for Kirheres. (Isa. 16:11)

2. He walked naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and portent against Egypt and Ethiopia. It was not that either country was a threat to Judah; he just didn't like their religious practices.

²at that time the LORD had spoken by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, "Go, and loose the sackcloth from your loins and take off your shoes from your feet," and he had done so, walking naked and barefoot-
³the LORD said, "As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Ethiopia, (Isa. 20:2-3)

3. He complained of pains in his loins like the pains of a woman in travail.

³Therefore my loins are filled with anguish; pangs have seized me, like the pangs of a woman in travail; I am bowed down so that I cannot hear, I am dismayed so that I cannot see. (Isa. 21:3)

4. He wept bitter tears for which no labor could comfort him for the destruction of his people.

⁴Therefore I said: "Look away from me, let me weep bitter tears; do not labor to comfort me for the destruction of the daughter of my people." (Isa. 22:4)

5. In his frenzy, he called upon the ships of Tarshish to wail. Did he mean the ships literally?

¹The oracle concerning Tyre. Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for Tyre is laid waste, without house or haven! From the land of Cyprus it is revealed to them. (Isa. 23:1)

6. He wailed often.

⁶Wail, for the day of the LORD is near; as destruction from the Almighty it will come! (Isa. 13:6)

⁷Therefore let Moab wail, let every one wail for Moab. Mourn, utterly stricken, for the raisin-cakes of Kirhareseth. (Isa. 16:7)

³¹Wail, O gate; cry, O city; melt in fear, O Philistia, all of you! For smoke comes out of the north, and there is no straggler in his ranks." (Isa. 14:31)

⁶Pass over to Tarshish, wail, O inhabitants of the coast! (Isa. 23:6)

¹⁴behold, my servants shall sing for gladness of heart, but you shall cry out for pain of heart, and shall wail for anguish of spirit. (Isa. 65:14)

Vindictiveness

He writes in a form of speech called ventriloquism, as if Yahweh is talking through him. This writer is projecting his hatred for those who don't conform to his beliefs. He expends a lot of energy conjuring the worst possible scenarios; then again, maybe it comes easy to him.

Yahweh has no compassion for the fatherless and widows who do not worship him.

¹⁷Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men, and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows; for every one is godless and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly. For all this his anger is not turned away and his hand is stretched out still. (Isa. 9:17)

The people are like fuel for the fire.

¹⁹Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts the land is burned, and the people are like fuel for the fire; no man spares his brother. (Isa. 9:19)

Each devours his neighbor's flesh.

²⁰They snatch on the right, but are still hungry, and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied; each devours his neighbor's flesh, (Isa. 9:20)

Yahweh sent a pagan nation to destroy his people because they weren't loyal to him?

⁵Ah, Assyria, the rod of my anger, the staff of my fury!⁶Against a godless nation I send him, and against the people of my wrath I command him, to take spoil and seize plunder, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. (Isa. 10:5-6)

Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness.

²²For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness. (Isa. 10:22)

My anger will be directed to their destruction.

²⁵For in a very little while my indignation will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction. (Isa. 10:25)

The destruction from the Almighty will come.

⁶Wail, for the day of the LORD is near; as destruction from the Almighty it will come! (Isa. 13:6)

I will sweep it with the broom of destruction.

²³And I will make it a possession of the hedgehog, and pools of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction, says the LORD of hosts." (Isa. 14:23)

Yahweh will waste the earth and make it desolate. This apocalyptic harangue continues from chapters 24 through 27.

Yahweh will waste the earth and make it desolate.

¹Behold, the LORD will lay waste the earth and make it desolate, and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants. (24:1)

He will cast down to the earth with violence.

²Behold, the Lord has one who is mighty and strong; like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest, like a storm of mighty, overflowing waters, he will cast down to the earth with violence. (Isa. 24:2)

Earth's inhabitants will be burned to death.

³The earth shall be utterly laid waste and utterly despoiled; for the LORD has spoken this word.⁴The earth mourns and withers, the world languishes and withers; the heavens languish together with the earth.⁵The earth lies polluted under its inhabitants; for they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant.⁶Therefore a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched, and few men are left. (Isa. 24:3-6)

The gladness of the earth is banished.

¹¹There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine; all joy has reached its eventide; the gladness of the earth is banished. (Isa. 24:11)

Terror and the pit and the snare are upon you.

¹⁷Terror, and the pit, and the snare are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth! (Isa. 24:17)

Yahweh made the city a heap; the palace of aliens is a city no more, never to be rebuilt.

²For thou hast made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin; the palace of aliens is a city no more, it will never be rebuilt. (Isa. 25:2)

They are dead for good because I visited them with destruction.

¹⁴They are dead, they will not live; they are shades, they will not arise; to that end thou hast visited them with destruction and wiped out all remembrance of them. (Isa. 26:14)

When Yahweh comes to punish earth's inhabitants for their iniquity, there will be enough blood to cover earth.

²¹For behold, the LORD is coming forth out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, and the earth will disclose the blood shed upon her, and will no more cover her slain. (Isa. 26:21)

Yahweh will no show no mercy towards those without knowledge of him.

¹¹When its boughs are dry, they are broken; women come and make a fire of them. For this is a people without discernment; therefore he who made them will not have compassion on them, he that formed them will show them no favor. (Isa. 27:11)

I have heard a decree of destruction from Yahweh.

²²Now therefore do not scoff, lest your bonds be made strong; for I have heard a decree of destruction from the Lord GOD of hosts upon the whole land (Isa. 28:22)

Yahweh shall come with wrath and fierce anger to make earth a desolation and destroy sinners.

⁹Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the earth a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it. (Isa. 13:9)

The people will be as if burned to lime, like thorns cut down.

¹²And the peoples will be as if burned to lime, like thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire." (Isa. 33:12)

Who among us can dwell with the devouring fire?

¹⁴The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling has seized the godless: "Who among us can dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?" (Isa. 33:14)

Their slain shall be cast out; the stench of their corpses shall rise; the mountains shall flow with their blood.

³Their slain shall be cast out, and the stench of their corpses shall rise; the mountains shall flow with their blood. (Isa. 34:3)

The streams of Edom shall be turned to pitch, their soil into brimstone and their land shall become burning pitch.

⁸For the LORD has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.⁹And the streams of Edom shall be turned into pitch, and her soil into brimstone; her land shall become burning pitch.¹⁰Night and day it shall not be quenched; its smoke shall go up for ever. From generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever. (Isa. 34:8-10)

I will make their oppressors eat their own flesh and they shall be drunk with their own blood.

²⁶I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh, and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine. Then all flesh shall know that I am the LORD your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob." (Isa. 49:26)

The heavens will vanish like smoke and earth will wear out like a garmet

⁶Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die like gnats; but my salvation will be for ever, and my deliverance will never be ended. (Isa. 51:6)

When devastation, destruction, famine and sword befall you, who will comfort you?

¹⁹These two things have befallen you- who will condole with you?- devastation and destruction, famine and sword; who will comfort you? (Isa. 51:19)

Women and children

Your leaders are so bad that children are their oppressors and women rule over them.

¹²My people-children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, your leaders mislead you, and confuse the course of your paths. (Isa. 3:12)

In that day, Yahweh shall take away their ornaments and make them dress plain in shame.

¹⁸In that day the Lord will take away the finery of the anklets, the headbands, and the crescents;
¹⁹the pendants, the bracelets, and the scarfs;
²⁰the headdresses, the armlets, the sashes, the perfume boxes, and the amulets;
²¹the signet rings and nose rings;
²²the festal robes, the mantles, the cloaks, and the handbags;
²³the garments of gauze, the linen garments, the turbans, and the veils.²⁴Instead of perfume there will be rottenness; and instead of a girdle, a rope; and instead of well-set hair, baldness; and instead of a rich robe, a girding of sackcloth; instead of beauty, shame. (Isa. 3:18-24)

Yahweh has no compassion on the fatherless and widows of godless evildoers.

Women should make themselves bare and beat their breasts.

⁹Rise up, you women who are at ease, hear my voice; you complacent daughters, give ear to my speech.¹⁰In little more than a year you will shudder, you complacent women; for the vintage will fail, the fruit harvest will not come.¹¹Tremble, you women who are at ease, shudder, you complacent ones; strip, and make yourselves bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins.¹²Beat upon your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine, (Isa. 32:9-12)

Their infants will be dashed to pieces, houses plundered and wives ravished.

¹⁶Their infants will be dashed in pieces before their eyes; their houses will be plundered and their wives ravished. (Isa. 13:16)

Slaughter sons for the guilt of their fathers.

²¹Prepare slaughter for his sons because of the guilt of their fathers, lest they rise and possess the earth, and fill the face of the world with cities." (Isa. 14:21)

A child shall die a hundred years old.

²⁰No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the child shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed. (Isa. 65:20)

Deaf and blind

The deaf shall hear and the blind shall see.

¹⁸In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. (Isa. 29:18)

Wine and drink

They will drink wine until the tables are full of vomit.

Yahweh confused them so they stagger as a drunken man staggers in his vomit. -But Yahweh couldn't straighten them about who is the only god.

¹⁴The LORD has mingled within her a spirit of confusion; and they have made Egypt stagger in all her doings as a drunken man staggers in his vomit. (Isa. 19:14)

Drink yourselves blind.

⁹Stupefy yourselves and be in a stupor, blind yourselves and be blind! Be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not with strong drink! (Isa. 29:9)

Dung

The men sitting on the wall are doomed to eat their own dung and drink their own urine.

¹²But the Rabshakeh said, "Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?" (Isa. 36:12)

Moab shall be trodden as straw is trodden down in a dung-put.

¹⁰For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain, and Moab shall be trodden down in his place, as straw is trodden down in a dung-pit.
¹¹And he will spread out his hands in the midst of it as a swimmer spreads his hands out to swim; but the LORD will lay low his pride together with the skill of his hands. (Isa. 25:10-11)

End

References

Skeptics Annotated Bible

The Encyclopedia of Biblical Errancy

The Interpreter's dictionary of the Bible

Ken's Guide to the Bible

Asimov's Guide to the Bible