Skip to content
mannafest.faith
Read
The Prophet Isaiah, Gustave Doré, 1866

The Prophet Isaiah, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

Old Testament · Book 23 of 66

Isaiah

Isaiah records the visions of the prophet Isaiah in Judah under four kings, from Uzziah to Hezekiah. He warns of judgment, promises comfort to the exiles, and foretells the Servant who suffers for the sins of others.

Start Reading
The Prophet Isaiah, Gustave Doré, 1866

The Prophet Isaiah, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

What is Isaiah about?

Isaiah is the vision the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz saw about Judah and Jerusalem in the years Assyria threatened them. It opens with the LORD's charge against a rebellious people and the prophet's call in the temple, where he answers “Here am I. Send me!” (6:8). Oracles follow against the nations, then Assyria's siege of Jerusalem and the city's rescue. The second half speaks comfort to exiles in Babylon, brings the servant who suffers for others, and ends with new heavens and a new earth. The book was given so that Judah would trust the Holy One of Israel and not the nations.

All 66 chapters

Every chapter of the book, in one grid. Each cell opens that chapter.

1The LORD's charge2The mountain3Jerusalem stripped4The Branch5The vineyard song6The throne vision7Immanuel8The sign children9A child is born10Assyria the rod11The shoot of Jesse12Songs of salvation13Babylon's doom14The day star15Moab's lament16Moab's pride17Damascus falls18The land of Cush19Egypt struck20Isaiah stripped21Babylon has fallen22The valley of vision23Tyre's end24The earth laid waste25Death swallowed up26The strong city27Leviathan slain28The cornerstone29Ariel besieged30Help from Egypt31Horses are flesh32A king in justice33The LORD our king34Edom judged35The desert blooms36The Rabshakeh37The angel strikes38Hezekiah healed39Envoys from Babylon40Comfort my people41The idols tried42Here is My Servant43You are My witnesses44Idols of wood45Cyrus anointed46Bel bows down47Babylon's throne48Refined for His name49Light for nations50The servant's back51Awake, O arm52Beautiful feet53Pierced for us54Sing, barren woman55Come to the waters56A house of prayer57Peace far and near58The true fast59The redeemer comes60Arise, shine61The anointed one62Watchmen on walls63The winepress64Rend the heavens65New heavens66Heaven My throne
  • The vineyard and the visionIsaiah 1 to 12
  • The nations weighedIsaiah 13 to 27
  • The king and the cityIsaiah 28 to 39
  • Comfort and the servantIsaiah 40 to 48
  • The servant's workIsaiah 49 to 57
  • The new heavensIsaiah 58 to 66

The colour is the movement of the book the chapter stands in, and every cell opens that chapter's Study level.

Who wrote it, where, when, for whom, and why?

The book calls itself the vision of Isaiah son of Amoz (1:1). Isaiah speaks in the first person at his call in chapter 6 and when his son is born (8:1 to 4), and the book speaks of him in the third person when he meets Ahaz and Hezekiah (7:3, 37:2, 38:1). Chronicles says Isaiah wrote the acts of Uzziah and of Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 26:22, 32:32). The New Testament quotes both halves of the book as the words of Isaiah (Matthew 3:3, John 12:38 to 41, Romans 10:16 and 20).

This is the vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

Isaiah 1:1, Berean Standard Bible.

Isaiah lives and speaks in Jerusalem. He meets Ahaz at the aqueduct of the upper pool (7:3), and the field commander of Assyria stands at the same place (36:2). The oracles of chapters 13 to 23 look out from the city to the nations around it, and the later chapters speak to a people in Babylon told to leave it (48:20).

The heading sets the prophet in the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah (1:1). He is called in the year Uzziah died, Rezin and Pekah march on Jerusalem in the days of Ahaz (7:1), and Sennacherib comes up in Hezekiah's fourteenth year (36:1). The second half names Cyrus (44:28, 45:1).

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted; and the train of His robe filled the temple.

Isaiah 6:1, Berean Standard Bible.

The book is spoken to Judah and Jerusalem (1:1) and to the house of David (7:13), to the exiles who will be carried to Babylon (39:6 and 7, 40:1 and 2), and through them to the ends of the earth (45:22, 49:6).

The book gives its reasons in the LORD's words: the children He raised have rebelled against Him (1:2), a remnant will return (10:21), and those who wait on the LORD will renew their strength (40:31). It ends with all nations and tongues gathered to see His glory (66:18).

Isaiah stands in the century of Assyria's rise. Ahaz sends to Tiglath-pileser for help against Rezin and Pekah (2 Kings 16:7), Samaria falls to Assyria in Hezekiah's sixth year (2 Kings 18:10), and Sargon's commander takes Ashdod (20:1). Egypt and Cush offer help against Assyria (30:2, 31:1), and Babylon sends envoys to Hezekiah (39:1).

Sources. Isaiah 1:1, 1:2, 6, 7:1, 7:3, 7:13, 8:1 to 4, 10:21, 13 to 23, 20:1, 30:2, 31:1, 36:1, 36:2, 37:2, 38:1, 39:1, 39:6 and 7, 40:1 and 2, 40:31, 44:28, 45:1, 45:22, 48:20, 49:6, 66:18; 2 Kings 16:7, 18:10; 2 Chronicles 26:22, 32:32; Matthew 3:3; John 12:38 to 41; Romans 10:16 and 20. Every verse is read in the Berean Standard Bible.

How is Isaiah arranged, and what is it for?

The six movements the book falls into, then what it teaches and what it was given to do.

  1. The vineyard and the visionIsaiah 1 to 12, 252 verses, the first half

    The LORD's charge against Judah, the prophet's call in the temple, and the child promised to David's house.

  2. The nations weighedIsaiah 13 to 27, 258 verses, the first half

    Oracles against the nations from Babylon to Tyre, then the judgment of the whole earth and a feast on Zion.

  3. The king and the cityIsaiah 28 to 39, 256 verses, the hinge

    Woes on the leaders who trust Egypt, Sennacherib at the gates, Hezekiah healed, and the envoys from Babylon.

  4. Comfort and the servantIsaiah 40 to 48, 216 verses, the second half

    Comfort for exiles, the idols put on trial, the servant introduced, Cyrus named, and Babylon brought down.

  5. The servant's workIsaiah 49 to 57, 150 verses, the second half

    The servant's call to the nations, his suffering and death for others, and the free invitation that follows.

  6. The new heavensIsaiah 58 to 66, 160 verses, the second half

    The true fast, the redeemer who comes to Zion, the anointed one, and new heavens and a new earth.

The theme

The Holy One of Israel judges His people and then saves them. The prophet who sees the LORD in the temple is sent to say that the land will be laid waste until a stump remains, and that a holy seed is in the stump (6:13). Salvation comes through a child on David's throne, a servant who suffers for others, and new heavens and a new earth.

The purpose

Isaiah was given so that Judah would trust the LORD and not Egypt or Assyria, and so that a people carried into exile would know that their God had foretold it and would bring them home. It speaks past Judah to the nations, so that salvation reaches the ends of the earth (49:6).

The two halves of Isaiah on one line, with the hinge and the four servant songs

  • The first half, Isaiah 1 to 35
  • The hinge, Isaiah 36 to 39
  • The second half, Isaiah 40 to 66
  1. 1, The vineyard and the vision
  2. 2, The vineyard and the vision
  3. 3, The vineyard and the vision
  4. 4, The vineyard and the vision
  5. 5, The vineyard and the vision
  6. 6, The vineyard and the vision
  7. 7, The vineyard and the vision
  8. 8, The vineyard and the vision
  9. 9, The vineyard and the vision
  10. 10, The vineyard and the vision
  11. 11, The vineyard and the vision
  12. 12, The vineyard and the vision
  13. 13, The nations weighed
  14. 14, The nations weighed
  15. 15, The nations weighed
  16. 16, The nations weighed
  17. 17, The nations weighed
  18. 18, The nations weighed
  19. 19, The nations weighed
  20. 20, The nations weighed
  21. 21, The nations weighed
  22. 22, The nations weighed
  23. 23, The nations weighed
  24. 24, The nations weighed
  25. 25, The nations weighed
  26. 26, The nations weighed
  27. 27, The nations weighed
  28. 28, The king and the city
  29. 29, The king and the city
  30. 30, The king and the city
  31. 31, The king and the city
  32. 32, The king and the city
  33. 33, The king and the city
  34. 34, The king and the city
  35. 35, The king and the city
  36. 36, The king and the city, the hinge
  37. 37, The king and the city, the hinge
  38. 38, The king and the city, the hinge
  39. 39, The king and the city, the hinge
  40. 40, Comfort and the servant
  41. 41, Comfort and the servant
  42. 42, Comfort and the servant, a servant song
  43. 43, Comfort and the servant
  44. 44, Comfort and the servant
  45. 45, Comfort and the servant
  46. 46, Comfort and the servant
  47. 47, Comfort and the servant
  48. 48, Comfort and the servant
  49. 49, The servant's work, a servant song
  50. 50, The servant's work, a servant song
  51. 51, The servant's work
  52. 52, The servant's work, a servant song
  53. 53, The servant's work, a servant song
  54. 54, The servant's work
  55. 55, The servant's work
  56. 56, The servant's work
  57. 57, The servant's work
  58. 58, The new heavens
  59. 59, The new heavens
  60. 60, The new heavens
  61. 61, The new heavens
  62. 62, The new heavens
  63. 63, The new heavens
  64. 64, The new heavens
  65. 65, The new heavens
  66. 66, The new heavens
  1. Servant song 1, chapter 42
  2. Servant song 2, chapter 49
  3. Servant song 3, chapter 50
  4. Servant song 4, chapters 52 and 53
Read from left to right, or row by row on a phone. Each cell is one chapter, coloured by its movement. Chapters 36 to 39, outlined, tell the history of Sennacherib's siege and the envoys from Babylon, and they stand between the half spoken to Judah under Assyria and the half spoken to exiles in Babylon. A dot marks a chapter that holds a servant song; all four stand in the second half. Readers who hold one prophet, three prophets, or one book read as a whole all read this same shape, and their readings stand under Where do readers disagree. Sources: Isaiah 1:1, 36:1, 39:6 and 7, 40:1, 42:1 to 9, 49:1 to 13, 50:4 to 11, 52:13 to 53:12; in the Berean Standard Bible.

The vineyard and the vision, Isaiah 1 to 12

What the text says in these chapters, and the pages they open on.

The book opens with the LORD calling heaven and earth to hear His case against Judah, a people who honour Him with offerings while their hands are full of blood (1:15). Then come the nations streaming to the mountain of the LORD and the song of a vineyard that yielded wild grapes. In the year King Uzziah dies Isaiah sees the Lord on His throne, is cleansed by a coal from the altar and is sent to a people who will not hear. When Ahaz will not trust the LORD against Damascus and Ephraim, he is given the sign of Immanuel. A child is promised to David's throne, and a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse.

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying: “Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us?” And I said: “Here am I. Send me!”
Isaiah 6:8, Berean Standard Bible. The prophet answers the call he has just heard, and the book's message is given him in the verses after.
  • Isaiah 1heaven and earth called to hear the charge against JudahShow summary, 3 pages

    Isaiah's vision opens against Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Jehovah summons heavens and earth as witnesses: the ox knows its owner, but Israel does not know its God. The nation is sick from head to foot, its land desolate and cities burned; only a remnant keeps it from becoming Sodom and Gomorrah. Jehovah rejects its sacrifices, feasts, and blood-stained prayers, demanding instead justice for the oppressed, the fatherless, and the widow. He extends the summons "Come now, and let us reason together": scarlet sins made white as snow. The faithful city has become a harlot, her princes companions of thieves; Jehovah will purge her dross, restore her judges, and redeem Zion with justice, while transgressors burn with none to quench.

    On this chapter (3)

    Read Isaiah 1 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 2the nations stream to the mountain of the LORD's houseShow summary, 3 pages

    The word Isaiah sees concerning Judah and Jerusalem begins with the latter days: the mountain of Jehovah's house established above all hills, all nations flowing to it, the law going forth from Zion, and swords beaten into plowshares as war ceases. From that vision the chapter pivots to indictment: the house of Jacob is filled with diviners from the east, with silver, horses, chariots, and idols the people worship. A day of Jehovah comes against everything proud and lofty: cedars of Lebanon, oaks of Bashan, high towers, ships of Tarshish. Men flee into caves and clefts of the rocks before the terror of Jehovah, casting their idols to the moles and bats, and the chapter closes with the charge to cease trusting in man, whose breath is in his nostrils.

    On this chapter (3)

    Read Isaiah 2 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 3the city's leaders removed and its proud women brought lowShow summary, 2 pages

    Jehovah of hosts strips Jerusalem and Judah of every stay and staff (bread and water, the mighty man, judge, prophet, elder, and counselor) and gives children as their princes. Society collapses into mutual oppression; a man seizes his brother to make him ruler because he owns a cloak, and the brother refuses. Jerusalem is ruined because tongue and deeds are set against Jehovah; the people declare their sin like Sodom. Jehovah enters into judgment with the elders and princes who have eaten up the vineyard and ground the face of the poor. The chapter then turns to the haughty daughters of Zion, cataloguing the finery to be taken away (anklets, crescents, nose-jewels, hand-mirrors), replaced by rottenness, rope, baldness, and sackcloth, while the men fall by the sword and the city sits desolate on the ground.

    On this chapter (2)

    Read Isaiah 3 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 4seven women and one man, then the Branch and the cloud of gloryShow summary, 3 pages

    Seven women take hold of one man in that day, asking only to bear his name and remove their reproach: the aftermath of chapter 3's slaughter. Then the tone reverses: the branch of Jehovah becomes beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land excellent for the escaped of Israel. Those left in Zion and Jerusalem are called holy, everyone written among the living, once the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and purged Jerusalem's blood by a spirit of justice and a spirit of burning. Over the whole site of Mount Zion and her assemblies Jehovah creates a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night, a covering over the glory: a pavilion for shade from heat and a refuge from storm and rain.

    On this chapter (3)

    Read Isaiah 4 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 5the song of the vineyard and six woes on JudahShow summary, 2 pages

    A song for the beloved concerning his vineyard opens the chapter: planted on a fruitful hill, digged, cleared of stones, given a tower and winepress, yet it yields wild grapes, so its hedge is removed and it is laid waste. Verse 7 names the vineyard as the house of Israel and Judah: Jehovah looked for justice (mishpat) but found oppression (mispach), for righteousness (tsedaqah) but heard a cry (tse'aqah). Six woes follow: against land-grabbers who join house to house, drunkards who ignore Jehovah's work, those who drag sin with cart ropes, those who call evil good and good evil, the wise in their own eyes, and heroes at drinking wine who take bribes. Sheol enlarges itself; Jehovah's anger is not turned away, and he whistles for a distant nation whose army comes swiftly, roaring like lions, bringing darkness and distress.

    On this chapter (2)

    Read Isaiah 5 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 6the Lord on His throne, the burning coal and the callShow summary, 3 pages

    In the year King Uzziah dies, Isaiah sees the Lord on a throne, high and lifted up, his train filling the temple. Six-winged seraphim cry "Holy, holy, holy, is Jehovah of hosts," the thresholds shake, and the house fills with smoke. Isaiah cries "Woe is me" as a man of unclean lips; a seraph touches his mouth with a live coal from the altar, declaring his iniquity taken away. Hearing "Whom shall I send?", Isaiah answers "Here am I; send me." His commission is a hardening word (hear but understand not, see but perceive not), the text Jesus applies to parable-hearing crowds (Matthew 13:14-15; cf. John 12:40; Acts 28:26-27). To "how long?" the answer is: until the cities lie waste; yet a tenth remains, and as a felled terebinth keeps its stock, the holy seed is the stump.

    On this chapter (3)

    Read Isaiah 6 verse by verse

    Study
Show the other 6 chapters, Isaiah 7 to 12
  • Isaiah 7Ahaz at the upper pool and the sign of ImmanuelShow summary, 4 pages

    Rezin of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah march against Jerusalem in the days of Ahaz, and the house of David trembles like trees shaken by wind. Jehovah sends Isaiah, with his son Shear-jashub, to meet Ahaz at the conduit of the upper pool: the two invaders are only "two smoldering stubs of firewood", and their plan to install the son of Tabeel will not stand: "If you do not stand firm in your faith, then you will not stand at all." Ahaz refuses to ask a sign, so Jehovah gives one: the virgin conceives and bears a son named Immanuel (7:14, quoted of Christ in Matthew 1:23). Before the child knows to refuse evil and choose good, both threatening kings' lands lie forsaken; then Assyria comes, flies, bees, a hired razor, and a land of briers and thorns.

    On this chapter (4)

    Read Isaiah 7 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 8the prophet's son named, and the stone of stumblingShow summary, 3 pages

    Jehovah tells Isaiah to write "Maher-shalal-hash-baz" on a great tablet before witnesses Uriah and Zechariah; the prophetess bears a son given that name, and before he can say "Father", Assyria carries off the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria. Because the people refuse the gentle waters of Shiloah, the River (the king of Assyria), overflows into Judah up to the neck, in "your entire land, O Immanuel!" Nations may conspire, but "God is with us." Isaiah is told to fear Jehovah alone, who is a sanctuary yet a stone of stumbling to both houses of Israel (8:14, applied to Christ in Romans 9:33 and 1 Peter 2:8). The testimony is bound among disciples; Isaiah and his children stand as signs, and those who consult mediums instead of the law are driven into darkness.

    On this chapter (3)

    Read Isaiah 8 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 9light in Galilee and the child on David's throneShow summary, 2 pages

    Light breaks on the land that was in anguish: Zebulun, Naphtali, and Galilee of the nations see a great light (9:1-2, quoted in Matthew 4:15-16). Joy multiplies as at harvest; the oppressor's yoke is broken as in the day of Midian, and warriors' boots and blood-rolled garments become fuel for fire. A child is born, a son is given, named Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace; his government and peace increase without end on the throne of David (9:6-7, taken up in Luke 1:32-33), the zeal of Jehovah of hosts performs it. The chapter then turns to judgment on Ephraim and Samaria, who boast of rebuilding with hewn stone: adversaries devour, leaders mislead, wickedness burns like fire, and tribe consumes tribe, each stanza closing with "his hand is stretched out still."

    On this chapter (2)

    Read Isaiah 9 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 10Assyria the rod of anger, and a remnant returningShow summary, 3 pages

    Woe falls first on those who decree unrighteous decrees and rob the widow and fatherless, then on Assyria itself: "the rod of mine anger," sent against a profane nation but intending in its heart to destroy. The Assyrian king boasts through his list of conquered cities that Jerusalem will fare as Samaria did, so Jehovah asks whether the axe boasts against him who hews with it, and promises a wasting leanness that burns Assyria's forest until a child can count the remaining trees. A remnant of Jacob ("a remnant shall return," the phrase behind Shear-jashub's name), will lean on Jehovah rather than its smiter. Zion is told not to fear; the burden departs as at Midian and the Red Sea. The chapter closes with Assyria's march itinerary from Aiath through Michmash and Nob, where Jehovah lops the boughs and fells the lofty.

    On this chapter (3)

    • Assyria

      The empire that took Samaria and besieged Jerusalem.

    • The remnant

      The survivors God keeps, from the prophets to Paul.

    • Isaiah 10:21

      The verse on its own page, with the commentators on it by era.

    Read Isaiah 10 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 11the shoot from Jesse and the wolf with the lambShow summary, 2 pages

    A shoot comes forth from the stock of Jesse, and the Spirit of Jehovah rests on him, wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and the fear of Jehovah. He judges the poor with righteousness, not by sight or hearing, slays the wicked with the breath of his lips, and wears righteousness and faithfulness as his girdle. Predators and prey lie down together (wolf with lamb, leopard with kid, lion eating straw, a child at the adder's den) for the earth is full of the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters cover the sea. The root of Jesse stands as an ensign to the peoples (11:1-10, quoted in Romans 15:12), and Jehovah gathers the remnant a second time from Assyria, Egypt, and the coastlands; Ephraim's envy departs, Judah's adversaries are cut off, and a highway rises as in the exodus from Egypt.

    On this chapter (2)

    Read Isaiah 11 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 12two songs of thanks for the day of salvationShow summary, 2 pages

    Zion answers the preceding prophecies with two short songs for "that day." The first is singular: "O LORD, I will praise You. Although You were angry with me, Your anger has turned away, and You have comforted me." God is salvation; the singer trusts and is not afraid, for "the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and He also has become my salvation." A promise bridges the songs: with joy shall you draw water out of the wells of salvation. The second song is plural and outward-facing, give thanks, call upon his name, declare his doings among the peoples, make mention that his name is exalted, sing to Jehovah who has done excellent things, let this be known in all the earth. The chapter, and the whole Immanuel section, closes with a cry to the inhabitant of Zion: great among you is the Holy One of Israel.

    On this chapter (2)

    Read Isaiah 12 verse by verse

    Study

The call of Isaiah 6 in six stations

  1. 1. The visionIsaiah 6:1 to 2

    The Lord on a throne, His robe filling the temple, the seraphim above Him.

  2. 2. The cryIsaiah 6:3 to 5

    The seraphim call to one another that the LORD is holy, and the prophet cries out that he is ruined.

  3. 3. The coalIsaiah 6:6 to 7

    A seraph touches his mouth with a coal from the altar, and his guilt is taken away.

  4. 4. The question

    The Lord asks whom He will send and who will go for Him.

  5. 5. The answer

    Isaiah offers himself to be sent, in the same verse as the question.

  6. 6. The commissionIsaiah 6:9 to 13

    Speak to a people who will not understand, until the land is laid waste and a stump remains.

Read in order. The question and the answer stand in one verse, the turn of this movement. The prophet is sent only after he has seen the Lord, confessed his lips unclean, been cleansed at the altar and offered himself, and what he is sent to say is hard: a people who will not understand, until a stump is left in the land. Sources: Isaiah 6, all thirteen verses, in the Berean Standard Bible.

Characters (3)

Who the text names. A name with a page carries its door.

  • Isaiah

    The son of Amoz, who sees the vision and is sent to Judah.

  • Ahaz

    The king who will not ask for a sign and is given Immanuel (7:12 to 14).

  • Immanuel

    The child whose name means God with us (7:14, 8:8).

Places (3)

Where the chapters stand.

  • Jerusalem and Zion

    The city the vision concerns, judged and then restored.

  • Ephraim

    The northern kingdom allied with Damascus against Judah (7:2).

  • Assyria

    The rod of the LORD's anger, which will itself be punished (10:5, 10:12).

Themes (3)

What these chapters raise, each on its own page.

Where the New Testament uses these chapters (4)each marked as a quotation, an allusion or a later reading, with the evidence
  • Explicit quotationEver hearing, never understanding, Isaiah 6:9 to 10 at Matthew 13:14 to 15; John 12:40; Acts 28:26 to 27. Jesus says the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled in those who hear the parables, and John and Paul quote the same words. Held by Jesus as Matthew records him, John, and Paul.
  • Explicit quotationThe virgin with child, Isaiah 7:14 at Matthew 1:23. Matthew quotes the verse of the birth of Jesus and gives the meaning of Immanuel, God with us. Held by Matthew.
  • Explicit quotationA great light in Galilee, Isaiah 9:1 to 2 at Matthew 4:15 to 16. Matthew quotes the verses when Jesus settles in Capernaum, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. Held by Matthew.
  • Explicit quotationThe root of Jesse, Isaiah 11:10 at Romans 15:12. Paul introduces the verse with the words Isaiah says, and reads it of the Gentiles hoping in Christ. Held by Paul.

The nations weighed, Isaiah 13 to 27

What the text says in these chapters, and the pages they open on.

The prophet turns to the nations around Judah, one oracle after another: Babylon and its king brought down to the pit, then Assyria, Philistia, Moab, Damascus, Cush, Egypt, the desert by the sea, Dumah, Arabia, Jerusalem itself and Tyre. Egypt is struck and then healed, with an altar to the LORD in its land (19:19). From chapter 24 the judgment widens to the whole earth. The LORD reigns on Mount Zion, prepares a feast for all peoples on His mountain and swallows up death forever. The dead will live again (26:19), and the vineyard of chapter 5 is sung again as one the LORD guards.

He will swallow up death forever. The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from every face and remove the disgrace of His people from the whole earth. For the LORD has spoken.
Isaiah 25:8, Berean Standard Bible. After the judgment of the whole earth, the LORD swallows up death itself on his mountain.
  • Isaiah 13the Medes stirred up against BabylonShow summary, 3 pages

    The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz sees, opens the oracles against the nations. Jehovah of hosts musters a host for battle (consecrated ones summoned from a far country, the weapons of his indignation) and the chapter announces the day of Jehovah: hands feeble, hearts melting, pangs like a woman in travail. The judgment darkens the cosmos itself: stars, constellations, sun, and moon withhold their light, the heavens tremble, and the earth is shaken from its place. Jehovah stirs up the Medes, who regard neither silver nor gold, against the city; infants are dashed and houses rifled. Babylon, the glory of kingdoms and beauty of the Chaldeans' pride, becomes as Sodom and Gomorrah, never again inhabited, home only to wild beasts, ostriches, wolves, and jackals.

    On this chapter (3)

    Read Isaiah 13 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 14the taunt over the king of Babylon, then Assyria and PhilistiaShow summary, 5 pages

    Jehovah's compassion on Jacob frames the chapter: Israel is restored to its land and rules its former oppressors. Then follows a taunt-song against the king of Babylon: the whole earth rests, the fir trees and cedars of Lebanon rejoice, and Sheol stirs its dead kings to greet him. The song peaks in the fall of the 'day-star, son of the morning' (Hebrew helel), whose five 'I will' boasts (culminating in 'I will make myself like the Most High'), end in the uttermost parts of the pit, denied even burial. Jehovah of hosts swears to break the Assyrian in his land, a purpose stretched over all nations. A closing burden, dated to the year king Ahaz died, warns Philistia not to rejoice, for Jehovah has founded Zion as refuge for the afflicted.

    On this chapter (5)

    Read Isaiah 14 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 15a night of ruin on the towns of MoabShow summary, 2 pages

    Moab's burden falls in a single night: Ar and Kir are laid waste and brought to nought. The chapter is a lament tour of Moabite towns (Bayith, Dibon, Nebo, Medeba, Heshbon, Elealeh, Jahaz), where every head is shaved bald, every beard cut off, and sackcloth fills streets and housetops. Even Moab's armed men cry aloud, their souls trembling. Fugitives flee south to Zoar by the weeping ascent of Luhith and the way of Horonaim, carrying their stored abundance over the brook of the willows. The waters of Nimrim go desolate, the grass withers, and the cry rings around Moab's borders to Eglaim and Beer-elim. The speaker's own heart cries out for Moab, yet the waters of Dimon run with blood, and a lion awaits even the escaped remnant.

    On this chapter (2)

    Read Isaiah 15 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 16Moab's refugees, Moab's pride, and a throne of loving devotionShow summary, 2 pages

    Lambs are to be sent from Selah to the mount of the daughter of Zion, as Moab's daughters scatter like wandering birds at the fords of the Arnon. The chapter pleads that Judah hide Moab's outcasts from the destroyer, then rises to its center: a throne established in lovingkindness in the tent of David, occupied by one judging in truth, seeking justice, and swift to do righteousness (16:5). Against this stands Moab's pride and empty boastings. Lament follows: wailing for the raisin-cakes of Kir-hareseth, the broken vine of Sibmah whose shoots reached Jazer and the sea, and vineyards where no treader treads and the vintage shout is silenced, the speaker's heart sounds like a harp for Moab. Moab's prayers at his high place fail, and Jehovah fixes the term: within three years, Moab's glory is brought into contempt.

    On this chapter (2)

    Read Isaiah 16 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 17Damascus a heap of ruins, and Ephraim with itShow summary, 2 pages

    Damascus is taken away from being a city and becomes a ruinous heap, but this burden binds Syria and northern Israel together: the fortress ceases from Ephraim as the kingdom ceases from Damascus, and the glory of Jacob is made thin. Harvest images carry the judgment: a reaper in the valley of Rephaim, an olive tree shaken until only two or three berries remain in the top boughs. In that day men look to their Maker, the Holy One of Israel, and away from altars, Asherim, and sun-images their own fingers made, for Israel has forgotten the God of its salvation and planted pleasant plants whose harvest flees in the day of grief. The chapter closes with roaring nations rushing like mighty waters, rebuked and chased like chaff: terror at eventide, gone before morning.

    On this chapter (2)

    • The remnant

      The survivors God keeps, from the prophets to Paul.

    • Isaiah 17:7

      The verse on its own page, with the commentators on it by era.

    Read Isaiah 17 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 18envoys from Cush in papyrus boatsShow summary, 2 pages

    Beyond the rivers of Ethiopia lies the land of the rustling of wings, which sends ambassadors over the sea in vessels of papyrus. Swift messengers go to a nation tall and smooth, terrible from its beginning, whose land the rivers divide. All inhabitants of the world are told to watch for the ensign lifted on the mountains and listen for the trumpet. Jehovah himself declares his posture: he is still, beholding from his dwelling-place like clear heat in sunshine, like a dew-cloud in harvest heat. Before the harvest, when the blossom becomes a ripening grape, he cuts off the sprigs with pruning-hooks, leaving the branches to ravenous birds that summer on them and beasts that winter on them. The chapter ends with that same tall, smooth people bringing a present to Jehovah of hosts at Mount Zion.

    On this chapter (2)

    • The mountain

      The mountain of the LORD's house.

    • Isaiah 18:7

      The verse on its own page, with the commentators on it by era.

    Read Isaiah 18 verse by verse

    Study
Show the other 9 chapters, Isaiah 19 to 27
  • Isaiah 19Egypt struck and healed, with an altar to the LORD in itShow summary, 2 pages

    Egypt receives its burden as Jehovah rides on a swift cloud into the land: idols tremble, Egyptian fights Egyptian, and a cruel lord takes the throne. The Nile itself fails (rivers foul, reeds wither, fishers lament, flax workers are confounded) while the princes of Zoan and Memphis, Pharaoh's vaunted counselors, prove fools under a spirit of perverseness Jehovah has mingled in her midst. Then six "in that day" oracles reverse the picture: Judah becomes a terror to Egypt, five Egyptian cities speak the language of Canaan, an altar to Jehovah stands in Egypt's midst, a saviour delivers those who cry to him, and Jehovah smites in order to heal. A highway joins Egypt to Assyria, and Israel stands third with both: "Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance."

    On this chapter (2)

    • Egypt

      Egypt through the Bible.

    • Isaiah 19:25

      The verse on its own page, with the commentators on it by era.

    Read Isaiah 19 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 20Isaiah barefoot for three years as a sign against Egypt and CushShow summary, 3 pages

    Isaiah 20 says the LORD told Isaiah to take off his sackcloth and sandals, and he went naked and barefoot for three years. It says this was a sign against Egypt and Cush, whose captives the king of Assyria would lead away the same way.

    • The chapter is dated by Sargon's chief commander taking Ashdod, the one place Sargon is named in the Bible.
    • The sign is acted in the prophet's own body before it is explained in words.
    • Those in Judah who hoped in Cush and boasted in Egypt will be ashamed, and the coastland will ask how it can escape.

    On this chapter (3)

    • Egypt

      Egypt through the Bible.

    • Assyria

      The empire that took Samaria and besieged Jerusalem.

    • Isaiah 20:3

      The verse on its own page, with the commentators on it by era.

    Read Isaiah 20 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 21the watchman's cry that Babylon has fallen, then Dumah and ArabiaShow summary, 3 pages

    Three burdens fill this chapter. The first, "the wilderness of the sea," comes like whirlwinds from the South: Elam and Media are summoned to besiege, and the vision so grieves the prophet that pangs seize him like a woman in travail while the doomed city feasts ("they prepare the table... they eat, they drink." A watchman is posted, sees horsemen in pairs, and cries the verdict: "Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the graven images of her gods are broken"), wording Revelation 14:8 and 18:2 take up for end-time Babylon. The burden of Dumah follows, a voice from Seir asking "Watchman, what of the night?" and receiving morning and night together. The burden upon Arabia closes it: Dedanite caravans hide, Tema brings bread to fugitives, and within a year Kedar's glory fails.

    On this chapter (3)

    • Babylon

      The city from Isaiah 13 to Revelation 18.

    • The watchman

      The prophet set as a watchman.

    • Isaiah 21:9

      The verse on its own page, with the commentators on it by era.

    Read Isaiah 21 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 22Jerusalem feasting under siege, Shebna removed, the key of DavidShow summary, 2 pages

    Jerusalem itself ("the valley of vision") receives a burden alongside the foreign nations. The city crowds its housetops in tumult while its rulers flee and are bound without a battle; Elam bears the quiver and Kir uncovers the shield at the gates. Judah's response is purely practical: weapons from the house of the forest, counted houses broken down to fortify the wall, a reservoir between the two walls, but no look toward "him that had done this." When Jehovah calls for weeping, the city feasts instead: "let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we shall die," an iniquity not forgiven till death. The chapter then turns personal: Shebna the treasurer, hewing himself a grand tomb, will be hurled away like a ball, and Eliakim the son of Hilkiah receives his robe, his government, and the key of the house of David (opening what none shut), language Revelation 3:7 applies to Christ. Yet even this fastened nail will one day give way.

    On this chapter (2)

    Read Isaiah 22 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 23the ships of Tarshish mourn over TyreShow summary, 2 pages

    Tyre's burden closes the cycle of oracles against the nations. Ships of Tarshish are told to howl (their harbor is laid waste, the news reaching them from Kittim) and Sidon is shamed as the sea disowns her children. Tyre, "the bestower of crowns, whose traders are princes," grew rich on the Nile's harvest carried over great waters, but the oracle names the planner behind her fall: "The LORD of Hosts planned it, to defile all its glorious beauty, to disgrace all the renowned of the earth." The land of the Chaldeans stands as evidence that he shakes kingdoms. Tyre is then forgotten seventy years, "the span of a king’s life", after which she returns like the forgotten harlot of the song, plying her trade with all kingdoms, yet with a twist: her merchandise and hire become "set apart to the LORD", feeding and clothing those who dwell before him.

    On this chapter (2)

    Read Isaiah 23 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 24the whole earth judged, and the LORD reigning on ZionShow summary, 2 pages

    Judgment now widens from single nations to the whole earth: Jehovah empties it, wastes it, turns it upside down, and scatters its inhabitants, leveling every social pair, priest with people, master with servant, buyer with seller, creditor with debtor. The cause is stated: the earth is polluted because its dwellers "have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant," so the curse devours and few men are left. Wine, tabret, and harp fall silent; the waste city is shut up; survivors are as gleanings after an olive-tree is shaken, though some lift songs of "Glory to the righteous" from the sea and the isles. Fear, pit, and snare chase the fleeing; the windows on high open and the earth staggers like a drunkard, falling not to rise. In that day Jehovah punishes "the host of the high ones on high" and the kings of the earth, imprisoning them in the pit to be visited after many days, while sun and moon are shamed because Jehovah of hosts reigns in mount Zion and Jerusalem.

    On this chapter (2)

    Read Isaiah 24 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 25a feast on the mountain and death swallowed upShow summary, 3 pages

    Praise opens the chapter: the prophet exalts Jehovah for counsels of old performed in faithfulness (a fortified city made a heap, never to be rebuilt) so that strong and terrible nations fear him. Jehovah is a stronghold to the poor and needy, a refuge from the storm and shade from the heat. On "this mountain" Jehovah of hosts makes for all peoples a feast of fat things and well-refined wines, destroys the veil spread over all nations, and swallows up death for ever, wiping tears from all faces, the line Paul quotes of the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:54. The waiting people answer, "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him." The chapter closes with Moab trodden down like straw and its high fortress brought to the dust.

    On this chapter (3)

    Read Isaiah 25 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 26the song of the strong city and the dead who will liveShow summary, 2 pages

    In that day a song rises in the land of Judah: "We have a strong city", salvation appointed for walls, gates opened to the righteous nation that keeps faith. Jehovah keeps in perfect peace the mind stayed on him (an everlasting rock) while the lofty city is laid low for the feet of the poor to tread. The singers confess desiring him in the night, since his judgments teach the world's inhabitants righteousness; other lords have ruled them, but those dead will not rise. Israel's labor has brought forth only wind: "We have given no salvation to the earth", yet verse 19 answers: "Your dead will live; their bodies will rise", dust-dwellers waking to sing. A closing summons sends the people into their chambers for a little moment while Jehovah comes forth to punish the earth, which discloses her blood.

    On this chapter (2)

    Read Isaiah 26 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 27Leviathan slain and the vineyard sung againShow summary, 2 pages

    Leviathan (the swift serpent, the crooked serpent, the monster in the sea), falls to Jehovah's hard, great, and strong sword "in that day." A second vineyard song answers chapter 5: Jehovah himself keeps and waters the vineyard night and day, declares "wrath is not in me," and invites even briers and thorns to make peace with him. In days to come Jacob takes root and Israel blossoms, filling the face of the world with fruit. Israel's exile is measured contention, not the slaughter dealt its smiters; Jacob's iniquity is forgiven when the altar stones are beaten to chalkstones and the Asherim rise no more. The fortified city sits deserted, pasture for calves. The chapter closes with Israel gathered one by one from the River to the brook of Egypt, a great trumpet calling the perishing from Assyria and the outcasts from Egypt to worship at Jerusalem.

    On this chapter (2)

    Read Isaiah 27 verse by verse

    Study

The oracles against the nations, in the order the text gives them

  1. 1Babylon13:1 to 14:23
  2. 2Assyria14:24 to 27
  3. 3Philistia14:28 to 32
  4. 4Moab15:1 to 16:14
  5. 5Damascus17:1 to 14
  6. 6Cush18:1 to 7
  7. 7Egypt19:1 to 20:6
  8. 8The desert by the sea21:1 to 10
  9. 9Dumah21:11 to 12
  10. 10Arabia21:13 to 17
  11. 11The valley of vision22:1 to 25
  12. 12Tyre23:1 to 18
Read left to right. Twelve oracles stand between 13:1 and 23:18. The round opens with Babylon, the empire that will carry Judah away, closes with Tyre, the city of trade, and passes through Jerusalem itself, called the valley of vision (22:1), the one cell outlined in a dashed line. Chapters 24 to 27 then widen the judgment to the whole earth. Sources: Isaiah 13:1 to 23:18, in the Berean Standard Bible.

Characters (2)

Who the text names. A name with a page carries its door.

  • The king of Babylon

    The day star brought down to the pit in the taunt of chapter 14.

  • Shebna and Eliakim

    The steward removed and the servant given the key of David (22:15 to 22).

Places (3)

Where the chapters stand.

  • Babylon

    The empire named at 39:6 that will carry Judah away.

  • Moab

    The neighbour whose towns are lamented in chapters 15 and 16.

  • Egypt

    Struck and then healed, with an altar to the LORD in its land (19:19 to 25).

Themes (3)

What these chapters raise, each on its own page.

Where the New Testament uses these chapters (4)each marked as a quotation, an allusion or a later reading, with the evidence
  • Probable allusionThe key of David, Isaiah 22:22 at Revelation 3:7. The risen Christ holds the key of David, and what He opens no one can shut, the words said of Eliakim. Held by John.
  • Explicit quotationLet us eat and drink, Isaiah 22:13 at 1 Corinthians 15:32. Paul quotes the saying of Jerusalem's feasters, for tomorrow we die, if the dead are not raised. Held by Paul.
  • Explicit quotationDeath swallowed up, Isaiah 25:8 at 1 Corinthians 15:54; Revelation 21:4. Paul calls it the saying that is written, fulfilled at the resurrection, and Revelation takes up the tears wiped away. Held by Paul, and John.
  • Later Christian readingThe fall from heaven, Isaiah 14:12 at Luke 10:18. Jesus says He saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. The verse does not quote Isaiah, and the reading of 14:12 as Satan's fall comes later, argued under Where do readers disagree. Held by Origen in his On First Principles.

The king and the city, Isaiah 28 to 39

What the text says in these chapters, and the pages they open on.

Six woes fall on Ephraim's drunken leaders and on Jerusalem's rulers, who make a covenant with death and send to Egypt for horses instead of asking the LORD. Against them the LORD lays a tested stone in Zion (28:16) and promises a king who will reign in righteousness. Then the book tells a history. Sennacherib takes the fortified cities of Judah, and his field commander mocks Hezekiah at the walls. Hezekiah spreads the Assyrian letter before the LORD, and in one night the angel of the LORD strikes the camp. Hezekiah is healed, then shows his treasures to the envoys of Babylon, and Isaiah tells him that all of it will be carried there.

Then the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies!
Isaiah 37:36, Berean Standard Bible. The Assyrian army is struck in one night, and the city the prophet said would stand is spared.
  • Isaiah 28the drunken leaders of Ephraim and the stone laid in ZionShow summary, 2 pages

    Ephraim's "crown of pride," the drunkards' fading flower, opens the chapter: the Lord's mighty one (a tempest of hail), casts it down like a first-ripe fig eaten from the hand. Judgment then turns to Jerusalem, where priest and prophet reel with strong drink and mock the message as "precept upon precept, line upon line"; Jehovah answers that he will speak to this people by men of strange lips, words Paul applies to tongues in 1 Corinthians 14:21. Against the rulers' "covenant with death," Jehovah lays in Zion a tried, precious corner-stone of sure foundation, "he that believeth shall not be in haste", the messianic stone the NT quotes in Romans 9:33 and 1 Peter 2:6. Justice becomes the line, hail sweeps away the refuge of lies, and a farming parable closes: God, wonderful in counsel, threshes each crop with the fitting instrument.

    On this chapter (2)

    • The stone

      The tested cornerstone laid in Zion.

    • Isaiah 28:16

      The verse on its own page, with the commentators on it by era.

    Read Isaiah 28 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 29Ariel besieged, and a people who honour with their lipsShow summary, 2 pages

    Ariel, "the city where David encamped," receives a double word: Jehovah himself lays siege until Jerusalem whispers from the dust, then in an instant scatters the multitude of her foes like chaff, leaving the attacking nations a hungry man's dream. The people are drunken but not with wine; all vision has become a sealed book handed to learned and unlearned alike. Because this people honors God with lips while the heart is far removed (the verse Jesus applies to the Pharisees in Matthew 15:8-9), Jehovah will do a marvelous work, and the wisdom of the wise shall perish, quoted in 1 Corinthians 1:19. Woe lands on counsel-hiders who invert potter and clay. Then reversal: Lebanon becomes a fruitful field, the deaf hear the words of the book, the blind see, the meek rejoice, the terrible one comes to nought, and Jacob's erring children reach understanding.

    On this chapter (2)

    Read Isaiah 29 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 30envoys to Egypt, and the LORD who waits to be graciousShow summary, 2 pages

    Woe opens against the rebellious children who go down to Egypt without asking at Jehovah's mouth (princes at Zoan, ambassadors at Hanes, treasures carried through the South's lions and serpents) for "Egypt’s help is futile and empty", named "Rahab Who Sits Still". The refusal is inscribed on a tablet as a lasting witness against a people demanding smooth things, who hear "By repentance and rest you would be saved … but you were not willing", choose horses, and flee a thousand at the threat of one. Yet Jehovah waits to be gracious: Zion weeps no more, teachers are no longer hidden, a voice behind says "This is the way", idols are defiled, rain and fat harvests come, and moonlight shines like sunlight when he binds up his people's hurt. The close is theophany: Jehovah's name comes burning, his voice dismays the Assyrian (struck to the sound of tabrets) and Topheth stands prepared for the king.

    On this chapter (2)

    • Egypt

      Egypt through the Bible.

    • Isaiah 30:15

      The verse on its own page, with the commentators on it by era.

    Read Isaiah 30 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 31the Egyptians are men and their horses fleshShow summary, 3 pages

    Woe falls on those who go down to Egypt for help, relying on horses and chariots instead of looking to the Holy One of Israel (v. 1). The Egyptians are men and not God, their horses flesh and not spirit; when Jehovah stretches out his hand, helper and helped stumble and fall together (v. 3). Two images then govern the chapter: Jehovah of hosts comes down to fight on Mount Zion like a lion undismayed by a crowd of shepherds, and protects Jerusalem like birds hovering; he will pass over and preserve it (vv. 4–5). Israel is called to turn back to the one deeply revolted against, and in that day each man casts away his idols of silver and gold (vv. 6–7). The Assyrian falls by a sword not of man, his princes dismayed, for Jehovah's fire is in Zion and his furnace in Jerusalem (vv. 8–9).

    On this chapter (3)

    • Egypt

      Egypt through the Bible.

    • Assyria

      The empire that took Samaria and besieged Jerusalem.

    • Isaiah 31:3

      The verse on its own page, with the commentators on it by era.

    Read Isaiah 31 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 32a king reigning in righteousness and the Spirit poured outShow summary, 2 pages

    A king reigning in righteousness with princes ruling in justice opens the chapter; a man becomes a hiding-place from the wind, streams in a dry place, the shade of a great rock in a weary land (vv. 1–2). Perception is restored (seeing eyes, hearing ears, understanding hearts) and moral labels are re-sorted: the fool is no longer called noble nor the churl bountiful, each exposed by his own devices (vv. 3–8). The women at ease are summoned to tremble: within a year the vintage fails, thorns and briers overrun the land, and palace and populous city stand deserted (vv. 9–14), until the Spirit is poured out from on high. Then the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, justice dwells there, the work of righteousness is peace and quietness forever, and the people rest in safe dwellings (vv. 15–20).

    On this chapter (2)

    Read Isaiah 32 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 33the destroyer destroyed, and the LORD our kingShow summary, 2 pages

    The chapter opens with a woe against the destroyer not yet destroyed, the treacherous dealer not yet betrayed (v. 1). A prayer follows (be our arm every morning) and Jehovah answers: now will I arise, now will I be exalted (vv. 2, 10). The crisis is concrete: ambassadors of peace weep bitterly, highways lie waste, the covenant is broken, and Lebanon, Sharon, Bashan, and Carmel wither (vv. 7–9). Sinners in Zion ask who can dwell with the devouring fire; the answer is the one who walks righteously, despises the gain of oppressions, and shakes his hands from bribes (vv. 14–16). Promise closes the chapter: your eyes shall see the king in his beauty, Jerusalem a quiet tent never removed, and the triple confession: Jehovah is judge, lawgiver, and king; he will save us (vv. 17–24).

    On this chapter (2)

    Read Isaiah 33 verse by verse

    Study
Show the other 6 chapters, Isaiah 34 to 39
  • Isaiah 34the nations and Edom under the LORD's swordShow summary, 2 pages

    Jehovah summons all nations and the earth itself to hear a verdict of judgment: his indignation stands against all the nations and their host, the slain are cast out, mountains melt with blood, and the heavens are rolled together as a scroll while their host fades away (vv. 1–4). His sword, drunk in heaven, descends on Edom (a sacrifice in Bozrah, in the language of lambs, goats, and rams), for Jehovah has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion (vv. 5–8). Edom's streams turn to pitch, its dust to brimstone, and its smoke goes up forever; pelican, porcupine, owl, raven, jackals, and the night-monster inherit palaces measured by the line of confusion (vv. 9–15). The book of Jehovah certifies the census: not one creature is missing, and they possess the land from generation to generation (vv. 16–17).

    On this chapter (2)

    Read Isaiah 34 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 35the desert in bloom and the highway of holinessShow summary, 2 pages

    Wilderness and dry land are glad as the desert blossoms like the rose, receiving the glory of Lebanon and the excellency of Carmel and Sharon (vv. 1–2). Weak hands are strengthened, feeble knees confirmed, and the fearful of heart are told, Be strong, fear not: God comes with vengeance and recompense; he will come and save you (vv. 3–4). Then the eyes of the blind open, the ears of the deaf unstop, the lame man leaps as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sings (the signs Jesus cites to John's disciples in Matthew 11:5) while waters break out in the wilderness (vv. 5–7). A highway called The way of holiness runs through it; the unclean do not pass, no lion is found, and the ransomed of Jehovah return to Zion with singing, everlasting joy on their heads, as sorrow and sighing flee away (vv. 8–10).

    On this chapter (2)

    Read Isaiah 35 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 36Sennacherib's field commander at the walls of JerusalemShow summary, 3 pages

    Sennacherib king of Assyria takes the fortified cities of Judah in Hezekiah's fourteenth year and sends the Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem with a great army; he stands by the conduit of the upper pool (vv. 1–2). Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah go out to hear a calculated speech: Egypt is a bruised reed that pierces the hand leaning on it, Hezekiah's reforms removed Jehovah's own high places and altars, Judah could not man two thousand horses, and Jehovah himself (the Rabshakeh claims), sent Assyria against the land (vv. 3–10). When the officials ask him to speak Aramaic to spare the listeners on the wall, he answers in Hebrew for all to hear, offering surrender terms and naming the gods of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, and Samaria that failed to deliver (vv. 11–20). The people keep silent at Hezekiah's command, and the three return with clothes rent to report (vv. 21–22).

    On this chapter (3)

    Read Isaiah 36 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 37Hezekiah's prayer and the angel in the Assyrian campShow summary, 3 pages

    Hezekiah tears his clothes at the Assyrian threats, sends Eliakim, Shebna, and the elder priests in sackcloth to Isaiah, and receives the answer: Jehovah will put a spirit in Sennacherib and send him home to fall by the sword. Sennacherib, warring at Libnah and hearing that Tirhakah of Ethiopia marches out, sends a boasting letter naming Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, Hamath, and Arpad, gods that saved no one. Hezekiah spreads the letter before Jehovah and prays that the God enthroned above the cherubim, maker of heaven and earth, save Judah so all kingdoms may know him alone. Jehovah answers through Isaiah: the virgin daughter of Zion scorns the blasphemer; a hook in his nose turns him back; a remnant takes root; the city stands for David's sake. The angel of Jehovah strikes 185,000 in the Assyrian camp; Sennacherib returns to Nineveh, where his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer kill him.

    On this chapter (3)

    Read Isaiah 37 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 38Hezekiah healed, the shadow turned back, and his songShow summary, 2 pages

    Sick to the point of death, Hezekiah hears Isaiah's word: set your house in order. He turns his face to the wall, prays, and weeps, and Jehovah answers through Isaiah: fifteen years added, the city delivered from the king of Assyria, and a sign, the shadow on the dial of Ahaz returns backward ten steps. The chapter then preserves Hezekiah's own writing after recovery: he laments going to the gates of Sheol in the noontide of his days, his life rolled up like a weaver's cloth; he chatters like a swallow and moans like a dove; then he confesses that God has cast all his sins behind his back, for Sheol cannot praise: 'The living, only the living, can thank You'. Two closing notes record the cake of figs laid on the boil and Hezekiah's question about a sign for going up to the house of Jehovah.

    On this chapter (2)

    Read Isaiah 38 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 39Hezekiah shows his treasures to the envoys of BabylonShow summary, 3 pages

    Merodach-baladan, king of Babylon, sends letters and a present after hearing that Hezekiah was sick and has recovered. Hezekiah gladly shows the envoys everything, the silver, gold, spices, precious oil, the armory, all his treasures; nothing in his house or dominion is withheld. Isaiah then questions the king: what said these men, whence came they, what have they seen? Hezekiah answers that they came from Babylon and saw all. Isaiah delivers the word of Jehovah of hosts: days are coming when everything in the house, stored up by the fathers until this day, will be carried to Babylon, nothing left, and sons issuing from Hezekiah will serve as eunuchs in the Babylonian palace. Hezekiah calls the word good, noting there will be peace and truth in his days. The chapter closes the Assyrian narrative and turns the book's horizon toward Babylon.

    On this chapter (3)

    Read Isaiah 39 verse by verse

    Study

Sennacherib's campaign against Jerusalem, in five steps

  1. 1. LachishIsaiah 36:1 to 2

    The fortified cities of Judah taken, and the field commander sent from Lachish.

  2. 2. The RabshakehIsaiah 36:4 to 20

    At the upper pool he mocks trust in Egypt and in the LORD, in the people's own language.

  3. 3. The letterIsaiah 37:9 to 14

    Sennacherib writes that no god has saved a nation from the kings of Assyria.

  4. 4. The prayerIsaiah 37:15 to 20

    Hezekiah spreads the letter before the LORD and asks Him to save, so all kingdoms may know.

  5. 5. The angelIsaiah 37:36 to 38

    The angel of the LORD strikes the camp, and Sennacherib goes home to Nineveh.

Read in order. The Assyrian king takes the walled towns of Judah and sends his field commander from Lachish; the city is threatened twice, once by speech and once by letter, and the turn comes after Hezekiah's prayer. The Assyrian record of the same campaign is set beside the text under Where do readers disagree. Sources: Isaiah 36:1 to 37:38; 2 Kings 18:13 to 19:37; in the Berean Standard Bible.

Characters (3)

Who the text names. A name with a page carries its door.

  • Hezekiah

    The king who prays over Sennacherib's letter and is healed (37:15, 38:5).

  • Sennacherib

    The king of Assyria who besieges Jerusalem and goes home (36:1, 37:37).

  • The Rabshakeh

    The Assyrian field commander who speaks at the upper pool (36:2).

Places (3)

Where the chapters stand.

  • Jerusalem and Zion

    The city the vision concerns, judged and then restored.

  • Lachish

    The fortress from which the field commander is sent (36:2).

  • Egypt

    The ally the leaders trust instead of the LORD (30:2, 31:1).

Themes (3)

What these chapters raise, each on its own page.

  • Assyria

    The empire that took Samaria and besieged Jerusalem.

  • The stone

    The tested cornerstone laid in Zion (28:16).

  • Hezekiah's sundial

    The shadow that went back ten steps (38:8).

Where the New Testament uses these chapters (3)each marked as a quotation, an allusion or a later reading, with the evidence
  • Explicit quotationThe stone laid in Zion, Isaiah 28:16 at Romans 9:33; 1 Peter 2:6. Paul and Peter both introduce the verse as written, and read the stone as Christ. Held by Paul, and Peter.
  • Explicit quotationLips and heart, Isaiah 29:13 at Mark 7:6 to 7. Jesus says Isaiah prophesied correctly about those who honour God with their lips. Held by Jesus, as Mark records him.
  • Probable allusionThe blind see and the lame walk, Isaiah 35:5 to 6 at Matthew 11:5. Jesus answers John's disciples with the signs the chapter names: the blind receive sight and the lame walk. Held by Jesus, as Matthew records him.

Comfort and the servant, Isaiah 40 to 48

What the text says in these chapters, and the pages they open on.

The second half opens with comfort for a people whose warfare is ended and whose sin is pardoned (40:2). A voice calls for a highway in the wilderness, and the everlasting God is set against the nations, which are a drop in a bucket to Him. The LORD calls the idols to court and they cannot say what is to come. He introduces His servant, whom He upholds and puts His Spirit on, and calls Israel His witness. He names Cyrus as His shepherd and anointed, who will say of Jerusalem that it shall be rebuilt. Babylon is brought down to the dust, and Jacob is told to leave it.

“Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God.
Isaiah 40:1, Berean Standard Bible. The first words of the second half, spoken to a people the last chapter sent to Babylon.
  • Isaiah 40comfort, the voice in the wilderness, and the everlasting GodShow summary, 4 pages

    "Comfort, comfort My people" opens the book's second movement: Jerusalem's warfare is accomplished, her iniquity pardoned. A voice cries, "Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness", valleys exalted, mountains made low, the glory of Jehovah revealed to all flesh (40:3-5), the text all four Gospels apply to John the Baptist as forerunner of Jesus. All flesh is grass, but the word of God stands forever; Zion is told to herald "Here is your God!" who comes as a mighty one yet feeds his flock like a shepherd. A sustained argument from creation follows: he measures the waters in his hand and weighs mountains in scales; the nations are a drop of a bucket; idols are cast metal and chosen wood; he sits above the circle of the earth and calls the stars by name. Jacob's complaint is answered: they that wait for Jehovah renew their strength, mounting up with wings as eagles.

    On this chapter (4)

    Read Isaiah 40 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 41the coastlands and their idols summoned to courtShow summary, 2 pages

    Jehovah summons the coastlands to a courtroom scene: who raised up the conqueror from the east who gives nations as dust to his sword? "I, the LORD … the first and the last … I am He." The frightened nations fasten their idols with nails, but Israel ("My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, descendant of Abraham My friend"), hears "Do not fear, for I am with you". Worm Jacob becomes a sharp threshing instrument; rivers open on bare heights, and cedar, acacia, and myrtle are planted in the desert so that all may see the hand of Jehovah has done it. The trial resumes: the idol-gods are challenged to declare things to come (to do good or do evil, anything) and cannot; "you are nothing and your work is of no value." Jehovah alone announced beforehand the one raised from the north and gives Jerusalem one who brings good tidings, while the idols' works are wind and confusion.

    On this chapter (2)

    Read Isaiah 41 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 42the first servant song and a new song to the LORDShow summary, 3 pages

    "Behold, my servant, whom I uphold" opens the first Servant Song (42:1-4): Spirit-endowed, he brings forth justice to the Gentiles without lifting his voice in the street, neither breaking a bruised reed nor quenching a dimly burning wick, the messianic passage Matthew 12:18-21 quotes of Jesus. Jehovah, creator of the heavens, gives this servant as a covenant of the people and a light of the Gentiles, to open blind eyes and free prisoners, and will not give his glory to graven images. A new song rises from the sea, the isles, Kedar, and Sela as Jehovah goes forth like a man of war, crying out like a travailing woman, leading the blind by paths they know not. Then the chapter turns: Israel is the blind servant and deaf messenger, a people robbed and plundered, given to spoilers by Jehovah himself for sin, set on fire yet laying it not to heart.

    On this chapter (3)

    Read Isaiah 42 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 43Israel redeemed through water and fire as the LORD's witnessShow summary, 2 pages

    Jehovah addresses Jacob-Israel as the one he created, formed, and redeemed, calling the nation by name and pledging presence through waters, rivers, and fire; Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba are named as Israel's ransom. He promises to gather offspring from east, west, north, and south, then convenes a courtroom scene: the nations assemble with their witnesses while Israel stands as Jehovah's witnesses that "before me there was no God formed" and "besides me there is no saviour." He announces Babylon's fall, with the Chaldeans as fugitives, and recalls the exodus (a way in the sea, chariot and horse extinguished), before declaring a "new thing": a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The chapter closes with indictment: Israel brought no offerings but burdened Jehovah with sins, yet he blots out transgressions for his own sake, while sanctuary princes face profaning.

    On this chapter (2)

    Read Isaiah 43 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 44the Spirit poured out, the carpenter's idol, and Cyrus namedShow summary, 2 pages

    Jacob, here also called Jeshurun, hears Jehovah's reassurance: Spirit poured on the seed like water on thirsty ground, so that individuals will subscribe their hands to Jehovah's name. The King of Israel declares, "I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God," challenging any rival to foretell what is coming. An extended satire then follows the idol from workshop to shrine: the smith labors till faint, the carpenter measures with line and compass, a man plants a cedar, burns half for bread and roast, and worships the residue, never asking, "Is there not a lie in my right hand?" Jehovah blots out transgressions like a cloud, summons heavens, earth, mountains, and forest to sing, frustrates diviners while confirming his servants' word, and names Cyrus "my shepherd," who will order Jerusalem rebuilt and the temple's foundation laid.

    On this chapter (2)

    • Persia

      The empire whose king Cyrus sent the exiles home.

    • Isaiah 44:6

      The verse on its own page, with the commentators on it by era.

    Read Isaiah 44 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 45Cyrus the LORD's anointed, and every knee to bowShow summary, 3 pages

    Cyrus is named Jehovah's "anointed," whose right hand Jehovah holds to subdue nations, break doors of brass, and receive treasures of darkness, all for Jacob's sake, though Cyrus has not known him. The refrain "I am the LORD, and there is no other" structures the chapter: he forms light and creates darkness, makes peace and creates calamity. A double woe falls on the potsherd that strives with its Maker, the clay questioning the potter. Cyrus will build the city and free the exiles without price; Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Sabeans will come over in chains confessing "God is indeed with you, and there is no other; there is no other God." Jehovah, who formed the earth to be inhabited, invites all the ends of the earth to look to him and be saved, swearing by himself that every knee shall bow and every tongue swear, the oath of verse 23 that the New Testament quotes in Romans 14:11 and Philippians 2:10-11.

    On this chapter (3)

    Read Isaiah 45 verse by verse

    Study
Show the other 3 chapters, Isaiah 46 to 48
  • Isaiah 46Bel and Nebo carried off, and Israel carried by GodShow summary, 2 pages

    Bel bows and Nebo stoops: Babylon's gods are loaded as burdens onto weary beasts and carried into captivity, unable to deliver even themselves. Against this image Jehovah sets the reverse: he has carried the house of Jacob from birth and will carry Israel to old age and gray hairs: "I have made, and I will bear." The idol-manufacture scene repeats in miniature: gold lavished from the bag, silver weighed, a goldsmith hired, the finished god borne on shoulders and set in its place, where it cannot move or answer. Jehovah's counter-claim is predictive sovereignty: "declaring the end from the beginning," his counsel standing, summoning a "ravenous bird from the east," the man of his counsel from a far country. The chapter closes with righteousness brought near and salvation placed in Zion for Israel.

    On this chapter (2)

    • Babylon

      The city from Isaiah 13 to Revelation 18.

    • Isaiah 46:4

      The verse on its own page, with the commentators on it by era.

    Read Isaiah 46 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 47the virgin daughter of Babylon brought down to the dustShow summary, 2 pages

    Babylon, addressed as "virgin daughter" throned no longer, receives a sustained taunt-song: come down into the dust, take the millstones, strip the veil, wade the rivers, slave labor and public shame replacing the title "mistress of kingdoms." Jehovah explains the charge: he gave his people into her hand in his wrath, but she showed no mercy, laying a heavy yoke on the aged. Her self-deifying boast, "I am, and there is none else besides me," echoes Jehovah's own refrain from chapter 45, and it draws the sentence: loss of children and widowhood in one day, in a moment. Her sorceries, enchantments, astrologers, star-gazers, and monthly prognosticators are summoned to save her and cannot; they burn as stubble (a fire not for warming) and her lifelong trading partners wander off, leaving none to save.

    On this chapter (2)

    • Babylon

      The city from Isaiah 13 to Revelation 18.

    • Isaiah 47:4

      The verse on its own page, with the commentators on it by era.

    Read Isaiah 47 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 48Jacob refined in the furnace and told to leave BabylonShow summary, 2 pages

    The house of Jacob is summoned to hear a rebuke: they swear by Jehovah's name and claim the holy city, "but not in truth or righteousness". Jehovah declared the "former things" in advance precisely because Israel is obstinate (neck an iron sinew, brow brass) so no idol could claim the credit; now he announces "new things," created now and hidden until this moment. For his own name's sake he defers anger, having refined Israel in the furnace of affliction, not as silver. "I am the first, and I am the last" grounds the claim; the one Jehovah loves will perform his pleasure on Babylon. In verse 16 the speaker says, "the Lord GOD has sent me, accompanied by His Spirit." After the lament "If only you had paid attention to My commandments" (peace like a river), comes the command: go forth from Babylon, with the wilderness rock-water recalled, ending, "There is no peace … for the wicked."

    On this chapter (2)

    Read Isaiah 48 verse by verse

    Study

The trial of the idols, in three panels

  1. 1. The courtIsaiah 41:21 to 29

    The LORD calls the idols to court to tell what is to come, and they cannot answer.

  2. 2. The carpenterIsaiah 44:9 to 20

    A man burns half a log for his fire and bows down to the other half.

  3. 3. The loadIsaiah 46:1 to 7

    Bel and Nebo are loaded on weary animals, while the LORD carries His people.

One argument made three ways. The idols cannot tell what is to come, they are made by the hands that worship them, and they must be carried, while the LORD foretells, makes and carries His people (46:3 and 4). Sources: Isaiah 41:21 to 29, 44:9 to 20, 46:1 to 7; in the Berean Standard Bible.

Characters (3)

Who the text names. A name with a page carries its door.

  • Cyrus

    Named the LORD's shepherd and anointed, who will say Jerusalem shall be rebuilt (44:28, 45:1).

  • The servant

    The LORD's chosen, upheld and given the Spirit, gentle with the bruised reed.

  • Jacob and Israel

    Called the LORD's servant and His witnesses (41:8, 43:10).

Places (2)

Where the chapters stand.

  • Babylon

    The empire named at 39:6 that will carry Judah away.

  • The wilderness

    Where a highway is prepared for the LORD (40:3).

Themes (3)

What these chapters raise, each on its own page.

Where the New Testament uses these chapters (4)each marked as a quotation, an allusion or a later reading, with the evidence
  • Explicit quotationA voice in the wilderness, Isaiah 40:3 at Mark 1:2 to 3. Mark says it is written in Isaiah the prophet, and reads the voice as John the Baptist. Held by Mark.
  • Explicit quotationAll flesh is grass, Isaiah 40:6 to 8 at 1 Peter 1:24 to 25. Peter quotes the grass that withers and the word that stands, and calls it the gospel preached to his readers. Held by Peter.
  • Explicit quotationHere is My Servant, Isaiah 42:1 to 4 at Matthew 12:18 to 21. Matthew quotes the first servant song as fulfilled when Jesus heals and warns the crowds not to make Him known. Held by Matthew.
  • Explicit quotationEvery knee will bow, Isaiah 45:23 at Romans 14:11. Paul introduces the oath with it is written, and applies it to the judgment seat of God. Held by Paul.

The servant's work, Isaiah 49 to 57

What the text says in these chapters, and the pages they open on.

The servant now speaks. The LORD called him from the womb and made him a light for the nations, so that salvation reaches the ends of the earth (49:6). He gives his back to those who strike him and trusts the Lord GOD to help him. Zion is told to wake, and a messenger brings good news on the mountains. Then the fourth song: the servant, marred beyond human likeness, is despised, pierced for the transgressions of others and cut off, and the LORD lays on him the iniquity of all. He sees his offspring and is lifted high. Everyone who thirsts is invited to come and buy without money (55:1).

But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.
Isaiah 53:5, Berean Standard Bible. The centre of the fourth servant song: the servant suffers what the speakers deserved.
  • Isaiah 49the second servant song and Zion not forgottenShow summary, 3 pages

    The Servant himself speaks in the opening song (vv. 1-13), addressing the isles and far peoples: Jehovah calls him from the womb, makes his mouth like a sharp sword, and names him "my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified." Though he protests that he has labored in vain, Jehovah enlarges the commission, beyond restoring Jacob, the Servant is given "for a light to the Gentiles," salvation to the end of the earth, the verse Paul and Barnabas cite in Acts 13:47. Kings and princes will arise and worship. Zion then complains that Jehovah has forsaken her, and the answer piles image on image: a nursing mother who cannot forget, Zion graven on Jehovah's palms, children crowding a land too narrow, kings as nursing fathers, prey wrested from the terrible, until all flesh knows Jehovah as Savior and Redeemer.

    On this chapter (3)

    Read Isaiah 49 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 50the third servant song: the back given to the smitersShow summary, 2 pages

    Jehovah opens with two questions: where is the mother's bill of divorcement, and is his hand shortened that it cannot redeem? Israel was sold for its own iniquities, not by divine failure; the God who dries up the sea and clothes the heavens with blackness retains full power to deliver. At verse 4 the third Servant Song begins: the Servant speaks with a taught tongue to sustain the weary, his ear opened morning by morning, and he is not rebellious, he gives his back to the smiters and his cheeks to them that pluck off the hair, hiding not his face from shame and spitting. Setting his face like a flint, he declares his justifier near while adversaries wear out like a moth-eaten garment. The close divides hearers: those who fear Jehovah trust him in darkness; those who kindle their own fire lie down in sorrow.

    On this chapter (2)

    Read Isaiah 50 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 51look to Abraham, awake, O arm of the LORDShow summary, 2 pages

    Repeated summonses structure the chapter: three "hearken" calls to those who follow righteousness (look to the rock whence you were hewn, to Abraham and Sarah), with promises that Jehovah comforts Zion, making her wilderness like Eden, that law and justice go forth as a light of the peoples, and that while the heavens vanish like smoke, his salvation stands to all generations. Then come the "awake" cries: first to the arm of Jehovah, recalling the cutting of Rahab, the piercing of the monster, and the drying of the sea, so that the ransomed return to Zion with singing and everlasting joy; then to Jerusalem, who has drunk the cup of Jehovah's wrath, the cup of staggering, her sons fainted in the streets. Jehovah, who pleads his people's cause, takes that cup from her hand and puts it into the hand of them that afflict her.

    On this chapter (2)

    Read Isaiah 51 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 52Zion wakes, good news on the mountains, the servant exaltedShow summary, 3 pages

    Zion is commanded twice to awake, put on strength and beautiful garments, and rise from the dust: sold for nought (oppressed in Egypt, then by Assyria without cause), she will be redeemed without money, and the people will know the name now blasphemed continually. The messenger's feet upon the mountains publish peace and salvation, "Your God reigns!" words Paul applies to gospel preachers in Romans 10:15; watchmen sing, waste places of Jerusalem break forth into joy, and Jehovah bares his holy arm before all nations. A departure command follows: touch no unclean thing, bear the vessels of Jehovah cleanly, with Jehovah going before and behind, no flight in haste. Verses 13-15 open the fourth Servant Song: the Servant deals wisely and is exalted, though his visage is marred more than any man; he sprinkles many nations, and kings shut their mouths at him.

    On this chapter (3)

    Read Isaiah 52 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 53the fourth servant song: despised, pierced, and raisedShow summary, 6 pages

    Isaiah 53 says a servant is turned away by everybody and killed for wrongs that were not his own. It then says that after the death he sees, he is satisfied, and he divides the spoil.

    • The song starts back at 52:13, so the chapter opens in the middle of it.
    • Verses 4 to 6 turn on the words our and we. The guilt is the speakers' and the punishment is his.
    • Verse 10 uses the word for the guilt offering, the ram Leviticus 5:14-19 brings for a trespass against what is holy. Where the law names a loss, repayment with a fifth added stands beside it.
    • Verse 9 says his grave was assigned with the wicked and his death was with a rich man. The burial of Jesus is the reading Christians have laid on it.
    • The New Testament quotes this chapter of Jesus at John 12, Acts 8 and 1 Peter 2.

    On this chapter (6)

    Read Isaiah 53 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 54the barren woman's tent enlarged and a covenant of peaceShow summary, 2 pages

    Barren and once-forsaken, Zion is told to sing and enlarge her tent, for her children will outnumber the married wife's and her seed will possess nations and repopulate desolate cities. Her Maker is her husband (Jehovah of hosts, the Holy One of Israel, her Redeemer) who forsook her for a small moment but gathers her with everlasting lovingkindness. The oath parallels the waters of Noah: as those waters will not again cover the earth, so his wrath is sworn away; mountains may depart, but his covenant of peace will not be removed. The storm-tossed city is rebuilt in jewels (foundations of sapphires, pinnacles of rubies, gates of carbuncles), her children all taught of Jehovah, established in righteousness far from oppression and terror. Because Jehovah created the smith who forges every weapon, no weapon formed against her prospers, and every accusing tongue is condemned: this is the heritage of the servants of Jehovah.

    On this chapter (2)

    Read Isaiah 54 verse by verse

    Study
Show the other 3 chapters, Isaiah 55 to 57
  • Isaiah 55come to the waters, seek the LORD while He may be foundShow summary, 2 pages

    An open invitation launches the chapter: Jehovah calls everyone who thirsts to come to the waters and buy wine and milk "without money and without price" (vv. 1-2). He promises an everlasting covenant, "My loving devotion promised to David" (55:3; a promise Paul applies to the risen Jesus in Acts 13:34), with David given as witness, leader, and commander to the peoples (vv. 3-5). The call turns urgent: seek Jehovah while he may be found; the wicked who returns finds abundant pardon (vv. 6-7). Jehovah's thoughts and ways stand higher than human ones as the heavens above the earth (vv. 8-9), and his word, like rain and snow watering the earth, does not return void but accomplishes its purpose (vv. 10-11). The chapter closes with a joyful exodus: mountains sing, trees clap their hands, and myrtle replaces brier as an everlasting sign (vv. 12-13).

    On this chapter (2)

    Read Isaiah 55 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 56foreigners and eunuchs joined to the LORD's houseShow summary, 2 pages

    Justice and sabbath-keeping frame the opening oracle: Jehovah's salvation is near, and blessing rests on the one who keeps the sabbath and refrains from evil (vv. 1-2). Two excluded classes are welcomed in: the foreigner joined to Jehovah and the eunuch who calls himself "a dry tree." Covenant-keeping eunuchs receive in God's house "a name better than of sons and of daughters," and foreigners who minister to Jehovah are brought to his holy mountain, "for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples" (v. 7), the line Jesus quotes when cleansing the temple (Mark 11:17). Jehovah, who gathers Israel's outcasts, promises to gather still others (v. 8). The chapter pivots to indictment: Israel's watchmen are blind, "dumb dogs" that cannot bark, greedy shepherds bent on gain and strong drink (vv. 9-12).

    On this chapter (2)

    • Sabbath rest

      The seventh day from creation to the rest that remains.

    • Isaiah 56:7

      The verse on its own page, with the commentators on it by era.

    Read Isaiah 56 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 57idolatry exposed, and peace for the contriteShow summary, 2 pages

    The righteous man perishes and no one lays it to heart; he enters into peace, taken away from the evil to come (vv. 1-2). Jehovah then summons the "sons of a sorceress" for indictment: idolatry under every green tree, children slain in the valleys, drink-offerings poured to smooth stones, beds of adultery set on high mountains, envoys sent with oil "even to Sheol" (vv. 3-10). Wind will carry off their gathered idols, but whoever takes refuge in Jehovah inherits the holy mountain (v. 13). The high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy, dwells also with the contrite and humble to revive them (v. 15); he has seen the backslider's ways and will heal him, declaring "Peace, peace to those far and near" (v. 19), while the wicked are like the troubled sea, no peace (vv. 20-21).

    On this chapter (2)

    Read Isaiah 57 verse by verse

    Study

The four servant songs, with the speaker of each

  1. Song 1, Isaiah 42:1 to 9

    The LORD speaks of His servant.

    Chosen, given the Spirit, and gentle with the bruised reed, he brings justice to the nations.

  2. Song 2, Isaiah 49:1 to 13

    The servant speaks, and the LORD answers him.

    Called from the womb, he is sent to bring Jacob back and to be a light for the nations.

  3. Song 3, Isaiah 50:4 to 11

    The servant speaks.

    Taught morning by morning, he gives his back to those who strike him and trusts the Lord GOD.

  4. Song 4, Isaiah 52:13 to 53:12

    The LORD speaks, then a company says we.

    Despised and pierced for others, he is cut off, and then he sees his offspring and is lifted high.

The LORD introduces the servant in the first song, the servant speaks for himself in the second and third, and in the fourth the LORD's voice gives way to a company that says we, confessing that the servant suffered for them. The first song stands in the movement before this one. Sources: Isaiah 42:1 to 9, 49:1 to 13, 50:4 to 11, 52:13 to 53:12; in the Berean Standard Bible.

Characters (2)

Who the text names. A name with a page carries its door.

  • The servant

    Called from the womb, struck, pierced and raised up (49:1, 50:6, 53:5).

  • Zion

    The mother who thinks herself forgotten and the barren woman told to sing (49:14, 54:1).

Places (2)

Where the chapters stand.

  • Jerusalem and Zion

    The city the vision concerns, judged and then restored.

  • The islands

    The distant peoples the servant speaks to (49:1).

Themes (3)

What these chapters raise, each on its own page.

Where the New Testament uses these chapters (5)each marked as a quotation, an allusion or a later reading, with the evidence
  • Explicit quotationA light for the Gentiles, Isaiah 49:6 at Acts 13:47. Paul and Barnabas quote the verse as the Lord's command to them when they turn to the Gentiles. Held by Paul and Barnabas, as Luke records them.
  • Explicit quotationBeautiful feet, Isaiah 52:7 at Romans 10:15. Paul quotes the feet of those who bring good news, and in the next verse quotes 53:1 by Isaiah's name. Held by Paul.
  • Explicit quotationThe sheep led to the slaughter, Isaiah 53:7 to 8 at Acts 8:32 to 35. The Ethiopian reads the passage and asks who the prophet means, and Philip tells him the good news about Jesus. Held by Luke.
  • Explicit quotationBy His stripes, Isaiah 53:4 to 12 at Matthew 8:17; Luke 22:37; 1 Peter 2:22 to 25. Matthew quotes 53:4 of the healings, Jesus says 53:12 must be fulfilled in Him, and Peter quotes 53:9 and 53:5 of the cross. Held by Matthew, Jesus as Luke records Him, and Peter.
  • Explicit quotationRejoice, O barren woman, Isaiah 54:1 at Galatians 4:27. Paul quotes the verse as written and reads the barren woman as the Jerusalem above. Held by Paul.

The new heavens, Isaiah 58 to 66

What the text says in these chapters, and the pages they open on.

The last movement asks what worship the LORD wants: a fast that looses the bonds of wickedness and feeds the hungry, and a Sabbath kept as a delight. The people's sins have separated them from God, and the LORD Himself puts on righteousness and comes to Zion as Redeemer. Zion is told to arise and shine, and the nations come to her light. One anointed by the Spirit brings good news to the poor and proclaims the year of the LORD's favour. The people pray for God to rend the heavens. He answers with new heavens and a new earth (65:17), where the wolf and the lamb feed together.

For behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.
Isaiah 65:17, Berean Standard Bible. The LORD promises a new creation, the promise Revelation 21 takes up at the end of the Bible.
  • Isaiah 58the fast the LORD chooses and the Sabbath a delightShow summary, 3 pages

    Fasting is the chapter's battleground. Jehovah commands the prophet to lift his voice like a trumpet and declare Jacob's sins: the people seek God daily and ask why their fasts go unseen, yet on fast days they pursue their own pleasure, exact labor, and strike with the fist (vv. 1-4). Jehovah redefines the fast he chooses: loosing the bonds of wickedness, breaking every yoke, sharing bread with the hungry, housing the outcast poor, clothing the naked (vv. 6-7). Then light breaks forth like the morning, Jehovah answers "Here I am," the people become a watered garden and an unfailing spring, ancient ruins are rebuilt, and they are named "The repairer of the breach" (vv. 8-12). A sabbath promise closes the chapter: those who call the sabbath a delight will ride the high places of the earth and feed on Jacob's heritage (vv. 13-14).

    On this chapter (3)

    • Fasting

      The fast the LORD chooses.

    • Sabbath rest

      The seventh day from creation to the rest that remains.

    • Isaiah 58:6

      The verse on its own page, with the commentators on it by era.

    Read Isaiah 58 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 59sins that separate, and the Redeemer who comes to ZionShow summary, 2 pages

    Iniquity, not any weakness in Jehovah, blocks salvation: his hand is not shortened nor his ear heavy, but sins have separated the people from their God (vv. 1-2). The indictment piles up images (hands defiled with blood, adders' eggs, spiders' webs, feet running to shed innocent blood) and Paul quotes verses 7-8 in Romans 3:15-17 as evidence of universal sin. The voice shifts to confession: the people grope for the wall like the blind while truth falls in the street (vv. 9-15). Jehovah sees there is no justice and no intercessor, so his own arm brings salvation; he puts on righteousness as a breastplate and a helmet of salvation (vv. 16-18). "A Redeemer will come to Zion" (v. 20) (quoted in Romans 11:26-27 of Israel's future salvation), sealed by a covenant of Spirit and word that never departs (v. 21).

    On this chapter (2)

    Read Isaiah 59 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 60nations come to Zion's lightShow summary, 2 pages

    Zion is commanded to arise and shine, for her light has come and Jehovah's glory has risen upon her while gross darkness covers the peoples (vv. 1-2). Nations stream to her light and kings to her rising: camels of Midian and Ephah, gold and frankincense from Sheba, flocks of Kedar and rams of Nebaioth for the altar, ships of Tarshish bringing her sons home with silver and gold (vv. 3-9). Foreigners rebuild her walls, her gates stay open day and night to receive the wealth of nations, and the nation refusing to serve her perishes (vv. 10-12). Former oppressors bow, naming her "The city of Jehovah, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel" (v. 14). Violence ends; her walls are called Salvation and her gates Praise, and Jehovah himself replaces sun and moon as her everlasting light, imagery Revelation 21:23-26 takes up for the New Jerusalem (vv. 15-22).

    On this chapter (2)

    Read Isaiah 60 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 61good news to the poor and the year of the LORD's favourShow summary, 2 pages

    The chapter opens with a Spirit-anointed speaker: "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor", sent to bind the broken-hearted, proclaim liberty to captives, and announce the year of Jehovah's favor (61:1-2), the text Jesus reads in the Nazareth synagogue and declares fulfilled (Luke 4:18-21). The mission works reversal in Zion: a garland for ashes, oil of joy for mourning. The people rebuild ancient wastes while strangers tend their flocks; they are named "the priests of the LORD" and eat the wealth of the nations. Instead of shame they receive a double portion, and Jehovah, who loves justice, makes an everlasting covenant with them. A rejoicing voice closes the chapter, clothed in garments of salvation, as righteousness springs up before all nations like growth in a garden.

    On this chapter (2)

    • The Jubilee

      The year of liberty and the year of the LORD's favour.

    • Isaiah 61:1

      The verse on its own page, with the commentators on it by era.

    Read Isaiah 61 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 62Zion given a new name and watchmen set on her wallsShow summary, 3 pages

    Zion's vindication drives this chapter: the speaker will not hold his peace until her righteousness goes forth as brightness. Nations and kings will see her glory, and she receives a new name from Jehovah's own mouth, no longer Forsaken and Desolate but Hephzi-bah ("my delight is in her") and Beulah ("married"), for as a bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so God rejoices over her. Watchmen posted on Jerusalem's walls are charged to give Jehovah no rest until he makes the city a praise in the earth. Jehovah swears by his right hand that enemies will no more eat her grain or drink her new wine. Commands follow (go through the gates, cast up the highway, lift up an ensign) and a proclamation to the daughter of Zion: her salvation comes, and she will be called "Sought out, a city not forsaken."

    On this chapter (3)

    Read Isaiah 62 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 63the warrior from Edom and a prayer for mercyShow summary, 2 pages

    A question opens the chapter: "Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah with crimson-stained garments?" The answer comes from a solitary warrior, glorious in apparel and mighty to save, who has trodden the winepress alone (none of the peoples with him), his garments stained with the lifeblood of those he trampled in wrath, for the day of vengeance and the year of his redeemed had come; his own arm brought salvation when none helped. The scene then turns to remembrance: the prophet recounts Jehovah's lovingkindnesses to the house of Israel, the angel of his presence who saved and carried them, their rebellion that grieved his holy Spirit, and the days of Moses when the waters were divided. The chapter closes in lament ("You, O LORD, are our Father; our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name") while adversaries tread down the sanctuary.

    On this chapter (2)

    Read Isaiah 63 verse by verse

    Study
Show the other 3 chapters, Isaiah 64 to 66
  • Isaiah 64a cry for God to rend the heavens and come downShow summary, 2 pages

    Continuing the lament begun in chapter 63, the community pleads for a theophany: "If only You would rend the heavens and come down," that mountains might quake as when fire kindles brushwood and the nations tremble. No eye has seen a God besides him, who works for the one who waits for him. Confession follows: all have become as one unclean, "all our righteous acts are like filthy rags"; the people fade like a leaf, iniquities carry them off like wind, and none stirs himself to take hold of God. Yet the plea rests on relationship: "we are the clay, and You are the potter". The evidence of ruin closes the prayer: the holy cities a wilderness, Zion a desolation, the holy and beautiful house burned with fire, ending with the question whether Jehovah will still hold his peace.

    On this chapter (2)

    Read Isaiah 64 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 65an answer to the prayer, and new heavens and a new earthShow summary, 3 pages

    Jehovah answers the preceding lament: he was found by those who did not seek him, while all day he spread out his hands to a rebellious people who sacrifice in gardens, sit among graves, eat swine's flesh, and say "I am holier than you!" Recompense stands written before him, yet he spares a remnant as new wine found in the cluster, a seed out of Jacob to inherit his mountains, with Sharon and the valley of Achor for those who sought him; those who spread a table for Fortune and Destiny are destined to the sword. A series of contrasts divides servants from forsakers: eating, drinking, and singing against hunger, thirst, and wailing. The chapter climaxes in new creation ("I will create new heavens and a new earth"), Jerusalem a rejoicing, long life, houses built and inhabited, prayer answered before it is spoken, and the wolf and lamb feeding together on the holy mountain.

    On this chapter (3)

    Read Isaiah 65 verse by verse

    Study
  • Isaiah 66the humble and contrite, and all flesh gathered to worshipShow summary, 3 pages

    Heaven as Jehovah's throne and earth as his footstool opens the final chapter, what house can be built for him? He looks instead to the poor and contrite one who trembles at his word, while self-chosen sacrifices are equated with abominations. A voice of recompense sounds from the temple; Zion travails and brings forth a nation in one day, and all who love Jerusalem are called to rejoice with her, comforted "as one whom his mother comforteth." Jehovah then comes with fire and whirlwind chariots to execute judgment by fire and sword upon all flesh. Survivors are sent to Tarshish, Pul, Lud, Tubal, and Javan to declare his glory; all nations gather to the holy mountain, some taken for priests and Levites. As the new heavens and new earth remain, all flesh worships from new moon to new moon, while the corpses of the transgressors lie under undying worm and unquenched fire.

    On this chapter (3)

    Read Isaiah 66 verse by verse

    Study

The new heavens in Isaiah 65 and in Revelation 21, read side by side

Read from

For behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and take delight in My people. The sounds of weeping and crying will no longer be heard in her. No longer will a nursing infant live but a few days, or an old man fail to live out his years. For the youth will die at a hundred years, and he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. No longer will they build houses for others to inhabit, nor plant for others to eat. For as is the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, and My chosen ones will fully enjoy the work of their hands. They will not labor in vain or bear children doomed to disaster; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD—they and their descendants with them. Even before they call, I will answer, and while they are still speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but the food of the serpent will be dust. They will neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mountain,” says the LORD.

Isaiah 65:17-25, Berean Standard Bible.

Read from

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. ‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,’ and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away.”

Revelation 21:1-4, Berean Standard Bible.

Read from the store, the promise on the left and its taking up on the right. Both name new heavens and a new earth, both say the former things are gone, and both end weeping. Isaiah still speaks of a long life ending at a hundred years (65:20), where Revelation says there will be no more death; how to read the two together is set out under Where do readers disagree. Sources: Isaiah 65:17 to 25; Revelation 21:1 to 4; in the Berean Standard Bible, read from the store.

Characters (2)

Who the text names. A name with a page carries its door.

  • The anointed one

    The speaker on whom the Spirit rests, sent with good news (61:1).

  • The warrior from Edom

    The one who treads the winepress alone (63:1 to 3).

Places (2)

Where the chapters stand.

Themes (3)

What these chapters raise, each on its own page.

Where the New Testament uses these chapters (6)each marked as a quotation, an allusion or a later reading, with the evidence
  • Explicit quotationThe year of the Lord's favour, Isaiah 61:1 to 2 at Luke 4:18 to 19. Jesus reads the passage from the scroll of Isaiah at Nazareth and says it is fulfilled that day. Held by Luke.
  • Explicit quotationA house of prayer, Isaiah 56:7 at Mark 11:17. Jesus asks whether it is not written, as He clears the temple. Held by Jesus, as Mark records Him.
  • Explicit quotationThe Deliverer from Zion, Isaiah 59:20 at Romans 11:26. Paul quotes the verse as written when he says all Israel will be saved. Held by Paul.
  • Explicit quotationFound by those who did not seek, Isaiah 65:1 to 2 at Romans 10:20 to 21. Paul says Isaiah boldly speaks these words, of the Gentiles and of Israel. Held by Paul.
  • Explicit quotationHeaven is My throne, Isaiah 66:1 to 2 at Acts 7:49 to 50. Stephen quotes the verses as what the prophet says, in his defence before the council. Held by Stephen, as Luke records him.
  • Probable allusionA new heaven and a new earth, Isaiah 65:17; 66:22 at 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1. Peter looks for a new heaven and a new earth according to God's promise, and John sees them. Held by Peter, and John.

Where do readers disagree?

One list: the readings with their holders, and what the evidence does not settle.

  • One Isaiah or three, and what does the New Testament's use of the whole book settle?

    One Isaiah, according to Jesus→
    • One prophet, Isaiah son of Amoz. Held by Oswald T. Allis, The Unity of Isaiah (1950), and John N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 1 to 39 (1986).
    • Three prophets across three centuries. Held by Bernhard Duhm, Das Buch Jesaia (1892).
    • One book, read as a whole. Held by Brevard S. Childs, Isaiah, Old Testament Library (2001).

    What the evidence does not settle: Whether naming Isaiah as the speaker of a passage, as the Gospels and Paul do, settles its authorship or names the scroll it stands in; and whether a prophet of Hezekiah's day could name Cyrus, which turns on what a reader holds of prediction.

    The argument in full

    One prophet, Isaiah son of Amoz. The heading names one prophet for the whole vision (1:1), the Great Isaiah Scroll from Qumran copies the sixty-six chapters as one book, and the New Testament names Isaiah as the speaker of both halves, at John 12:38 to 41 in one breath.

    Three prophets across three centuries. Chapters 40 to 55 speak to exiles in Babylon and name Cyrus (44:28, 45:1), and chapters 56 to 66 speak to a people back in the land, so the book is read as the work of the eighth-century prophet, a prophet of the exile and a prophet after it.

    One book, read as a whole. Whoever wrote its parts, the book is read as one work whose second half answers the first, as the call of chapter 6 is answered by the voices of chapter 40.

    This page reads the book as the vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, as its heading and the New Testament name it, and sets the other readings beside that one with their holders.

  • Who is the servant of chapters 42 to 53?

    The servant songs→
    • Israel, the people. Held by Rashi in his Commentary on Isaiah, on 52:13.
    • One man, the Messiah. Held by John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Isaiah (1551).
    • Israel, narrowed to one. Held by Franz Delitzsch in his Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah.

    What the evidence does not settle: How the servant called Israel at 49:3 can also be sent to Israel at 49:5, and whether the songs were ever meant to be read apart from the chapters around them.

    The argument in full

    Israel, the people. The book names the servant Israel and Jacob (41:8, 44:1, 49:3), and the songs are read as the nation's suffering among the nations and its vindication.

    One man, the Messiah. The servant is sent to bring Jacob back to the LORD (49:5 and 6), so he is read as one person distinct from the nation, who suffers for the sins of others (53:8).

    Israel, narrowed to one. The servant is read as a pyramid: its base the whole nation, its middle the faithful remnant, and its top the one person who does what the nation could not.

  • What does 7:14's virgin (almah) mean, and how does Matthew read it?

    The virgin birth→
    • A virgin, and the birth of Jesus. Held by Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706), and Edward J. Young, Studies in Isaiah (1954).
    • A young woman of Ahaz's day. Held by Rashi in his Commentary on Isaiah, on 7:14, who reads her as the prophet's wife.

    What the evidence does not settle: Whether almah alone carries virginity, since the word is used of an unmarried girl (Genesis 24:43) and never plainly of a married woman, and how a sign given to Ahaz reaches seven centuries past him.

    The argument in full

    A virgin, and the birth of Jesus. Matthew reads the verse with the Greek Old Testament, whose word is virgin (Matthew 1:23), and the child called God with us returns at 8:8 and is given the throne of David at 9:6 and 7.

    A young woman of Ahaz's day. Almah is the word for a young woman of age to marry, the sign is set within the years before the child knows to refuse evil (7:16), and 8:3 and 4 tell of the prophet's son born as a sign.

  • Is 14:12 about Babylon's king or about Satan?

    I saw Satan fall→
    • The king of Babylon. Held by John Calvin in his Commentary on Isaiah, on 14:12, who sets aside the reading of Satan.
    • Satan's fall, behind the king. Held by Origen in his On First Principles, book 1, and Tertullian in his Against Marcion, book 5.

    What the evidence does not settle: Whether a taunt over a king can also speak of a power behind him, as Ezekiel 28 is read of the king of Tyre, when the chapter names no one but the king of Babylon.

    The argument in full

    The king of Babylon. The chapter names its subject as a taunt against the king of Babylon (14:4), and the one who fell is called the man who made the earth tremble (14:16).

    Satan's fall, behind the king. The words of 14:13, heaven, the stars of God and the mount of assembly, are read as larger than any king, and the Latin word for the day star, lucifer, became a name of Satan.

  • Did the angel strike Sennacherib's camp, and what does the Assyrian annal say?

    Assyria→
    • The angel of the LORD, as the text says. Held by Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706), on 37:36.
    • A pestilence in the camp. Held by Flavius Josephus in his Antiquities of the Jews, book 10, who calls it a pestilence sent by God.
    • The city shut in, and tribute paid. Held in Sennacherib's Annals, on the clay prisms of his reign, which say Hezekiah was shut up in Jerusalem like a bird in a cage.

    What the evidence does not settle: What ended the siege: the annal does not say why Sennacherib went home without the city, and a king's annal records no defeat.

    The argument in full

    The angel of the LORD, as the text says. The text says the angel of the LORD went out and struck 185,000 men, and Sennacherib went home to Nineveh, where his sons killed him (37:36 to 38).

    A pestilence in the camp. The stroke is read as disease, as the angel of the LORD brings a plague in David's day (2 Samuel 24:15 and 16); Herodotus in his Histories, book 2, tells of mice that gnawed the Assyrian bowstrings.

    The city shut in, and tribute paid. The annal claims forty-six walled towns of Judah taken and tribute sent to Nineveh, which 2 Kings 18:13 to 16 also records, and it says nothing of the city taken or of any loss in the camp.

  • Is 53 about Israel or about one man?

    Isaiah 53 and the rabbis→
    • The people of Israel. Held by Rashi in his Commentary on Isaiah, on 53:3, and reported by Origen in his Against Celsus, book 1, as the answer the Jews of his day gave.
    • One man who dies for the sins of others. Held by Albert Barnes in his Notes on Isaiah, on 53:4.

    What the evidence does not settle: Who speaks the we of 53:1 to 6, the nations or Israel, and whether reading the servant as Israel in the other songs decides this one.

    The argument in full

    The people of Israel. The kings of the nations are read as the speakers of 53:1 to 6, astonished at a people they had despised, and the servant elsewhere is Israel (49:3).

    One man who dies for the sins of others. The servant is cut off for the transgression of my people (53:8), given a grave (53:9) and made a guilt offering (53:10), and the New Testament reads the chapter of Jesus at Acts 8:35, Matthew 8:17 and 1 Peter 2:22 to 25.

  • What are the new heavens and the new earth?

    New heavens and new earth→
    • A thousand years on this earth. Held by Irenaeus in his Against Heresies, book 5, and John F. Walvoord, The Millennial Kingdom (1959).
    • Christ's kingdom, begun in the church. Held by John Calvin in his Commentary on Isaiah, on 65:17.
    • The renewed creation after the judgment. Held by Anthony A. Hoekema, The Bible and the Future (1979).

    What the evidence does not settle: How to read death at a hundred years (65:20) beside Revelation's no more death (Revelation 21:4), and whether the prophet's pictures of houses and vineyards are to be read as they stand.

    The argument in full

    A thousand years on this earth. In 65:20 a man still dies at a hundred years, so the chapter is read as a kingdom on this earth before the last judgment, when death is not yet ended.

    Christ's kingdom, begun in the church. The new creation is read as the renewal Christ's reign brings to His people, begun at His first coming and completed at His last.

    The renewed creation after the judgment. Revelation 21:1 to 4 takes up the same promise after the last judgment, so the chapter is read as the new earth itself, described in the terms of long life in the land.

The pages Isaiah opens on

Studies205

Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 1 title

People and groups6

Places6

Words5

Books beside it6

Sources for this page

The painting in the band is The Prophet Isaiah, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain. The movements, the chapter entries, the figures and the Context are read off the text of Isaiah, and every count on the page is read from the store. The works behind the readings under Where do readers disagree are Rashi, Commentary on Isaiah; Origen, On First Principles and Against Celsus; Tertullian, Against Marcion; Irenaeus, Against Heresies; Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews; Herodotus, Histories; the annals of Sennacherib; John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Isaiah (1551); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706); Albert Barnes, Notes on Isaiah (1840); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah (1866); Bernhard Duhm, Das Buch Jesaia (1892); Oswald T. Allis, The Unity of Isaiah (1950); Edward J. Young, Studies in Isaiah (1954); John F. Walvoord, The Millennial Kingdom (1959); Anthony A. Hoekema, The Bible and the Future (1979); John N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 1 to 39 (1986); and Brevard S. Childs, Isaiah (2001). Every verse quoted on this page is the Berean Standard Bible, read from the store.

Start Isaiah at chapter 1 →