The Hebrew Prophets

In the year that Sargon the king of Ashur sent his commander-in-chief to attack Ashdod, he captured it.

It was at that time that ADONAI, speaking through Yesha'yahu the son of Amotz, said, "Go and unwind the sackcloth from around your waist, and take your sandals off your feet." So he did it, going about unclothed and barefoot.

In time, ADONAI said, "Just as my servant Yesha'yahu has gone about unclothed and barefoot for three years as a sign and portent against Egypt and Ethiopia,

so will the king of Ashur lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Ethiopia, young and old, unclothed and barefoot, with their buttocks exposed, to the shame of Egypt.

They will be dismayed and ashamed because of Ethiopia their hope and Egypt their pride.

On that day, the people living along this coast will say, 'Look what happened to the people to whom we fled for help, hoping they would rescue us from the king of Ashur! How will we escape now?'"

A prophecy about the coastal desert: Like whirlwinds sweeping over the Negev, it comes from the desert, from a fearsome land.

A dire vision has been shown to me: the betrayer betrays, and the spoiler spoils. 'Eilam, advance! Madai, lay siege! I will end all groaning.

This is why my insides are racked with pain; I am seized by pangs, like a woman in labor; wrenched by what I hear, aghast at what I see.

My mind reels, shuddering assails me. The twilight I longed for terrifies me.

They set the table, light the lamps, eat and drink - "Get going, princes! Oil the shields!"

For this is what Adonai said to me: "Go, post a watchman to report what he sees!

If he sees the cavalry, horsemen in pairs, riders on donkeys, riders on camels, he must be on alert, on full alert!"

He calls out like a lion: "My lord, I stand on the watchtower all day long, I stay at my post all night."

Then, as they appeared - the cavalry, horsemen in pairs - he spoke these words: "She has fallen! She has fallen - Bavel! All the carved images of her gods lie shattered on the ground."

My people, who have been threshed, grain trodden down on my threshing-floor: I am telling you what I have heard from ADONAI-Tzva'ot, the God of Isra'el.

A prophecy about Dumah: Someone is calling to me from Se'ir: "Watchman, how much longer is it night? Watchman, how much longer is it night?"

The watchman answers: "Morning is coming, but also the night. If you want to ask, ask! Come back again!"

A prophecy about Arabia: You caravans of D'danim will camp in the desert growth of Arabia.

Bring water to the thirsty, you who live in Teima, greet the fugitives with food;

because they are fleeing the sword, the drawn sword, the bent bow and the press of battle.

For this is what Adonai has told me: "Within a year [and not a day more], as if a hired worker were keeping track of the time, the glory of Kedar will come to an end.

Few of Kedar's valiant archers will be left. " ADONAI the God of Isra'el has spoken.

A prophecy about the Valley of Vision: Tell me what is wrong with you, that you have all gone up on the roofs.

You city full of noise, confusion and boisterous excitement, your slain did not fall to the sword, nor did they die in battle.