Day 206: Isaiah 11 - 16

Chapter 11

 The Righteous Reign of the Branch
1: There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
2: And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
3: And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
4: but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
5: Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
6: The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.
7: The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8: The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
9: They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
10: In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.
11: In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush,a from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea.
12: He will raise a signal for the nations and will assemble the banished of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
13: The jealousy of Ephraim shall depart, and those who harass Judah shall be cut off;
Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah, and Judah shall not harass Ephraim.
14: But they shall swoop down on the shoulder of the Philistines in the west, and together they shall plunder the people of the east. They shall put out their hand against Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites shall obey them.
15: And the LORD will utterly destroyb the tongue of the Sea of Egypt, and will wave his hand over the River with his scorching breath, and strike it into seven channels,
and he will lead people across in sandals.
16: And there will be a highway from Assyria for the remnant that remains of his people, as there was for Israel when they came up from the land of Egypt.

Chapter 12

The LORD Is My Strength and My Song
1: You will say in that day: “I will give thanks to you, O LORD, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me.
2: “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”
3: With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
4: And you will say in that day: “Give thanks to the LORD, call upon his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted.
5: “Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth.
6: Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”

Chapter 13

The Judgment of Babylon
1: The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.
2: On a bare hill raise a signal; cry aloud to them; wave the hand for them to enter
the gates of the nobles.
3: I myself have commanded my consecrated ones, and have summoned my mighty men to execute my anger, my proudly exulting ones.
4: The sound of a tumult is on the mountains as of a great multitude! The sound of an uproar of kingdoms, of nations gathering together! The LORD of hosts is mustering a host for battle.
5: They come from a distant land, from the end of the heavens, the LORD and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.
6: Wail, for the day of the LORD is near; as destruction from the Almighty it will come!
7: Therefore all hands will be feeble, and every human heart will melt.
8: They will be dismayed: pangs and agony will seize them; they will be in anguish like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at one another; their faces will be aflame.
9: Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it.
10: For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light;
the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light.
11: I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant, and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless.
12: I will make people more rare than fine gold, and mankind than the gold of Ophir.
13: Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place, at the wrath of the LORD of hosts in the day of his fierce anger.
14: And like a hunted gazelle, or like sheep with none to gather them, each will turn to his own people, and each will flee to his own land.
15: Whoever is found will be thrust through, and whoever is caught will fall by the sword.
16: Their infants will be dashed in pieces before their eyes; their houses will be plundered and their wives ravished.
17: Behold, I am stirring up the Medes against them, who have no regard for silver
and do not delight in gold.
18: Their bows will slaughter the young men; they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb; their eyes will not pity children.
19: And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendor and pomp of the Chaldeans,
will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them.
20: It will never be inhabited or lived in for all generations; no Arab will pitch his tent there; no shepherds will make their flocks lie down there.
21: But wild animals will lie down there, and their houses will be full of howling creatures; there ostriches will dwell, and there wild goats will dance.
22: Hyenas will cry in its towers, and jackals in the pleasant palaces; its time is close at hand and its days will not be prolonged.

Chapter 14

The Restoration of Jacob
1: For the LORD will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel, and will set them in their own land, and sojourners will join them and will attach themselves to the house of Jacob.
2: And the peoples will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them in the LORD’s land as male and female slaves. They will take captive those who were their captors, and rule over those who oppressed them.
Israel’s Remnant Taunts Babylon
3: When the LORD has given you rest from your pain and turmoil and the hard service with which you were made to serve,
4: you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon: “How the oppressor has ceased, the insolent fury ceased!
5: The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of rulers,
6: that struck the peoples in wrath with unceasing blows that ruled the nations in anger with unrelenting persecution.
7: The whole earth is at rest and quiet; they break forth into singing.
8: The cypresses rejoice at you, the cedars of Lebanon, saying, ‘Since you were laid low, no woodcutter comes up against us.’
9: Sheol beneath is stirred up to meet you when you come; it rouses the shades to greet you, all who were leaders of the earth; it raises from their thrones all who were kings of the nations.
10: All of them will answer and say to you: ‘You too have become as weak as we!
You have become like us!’
11: Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, the sound of your harps; maggots are laid as a bed beneath you, and worms are your covers.
12: “How you are fallen from heaven,O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low!
13: You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God
I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north;
14: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’
15: But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit.
16: Those who see you will stare at you and ponder over you: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms,
17: who made the world like a desert and overthrew its cities, who did not let his prisoners go home?’
18: All the kings of the nations lie in glory, each in his own tomb;
19: but you are cast out, away from your grave, like a loathed branch,
clothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword, who go down to the stones of the pit, like a dead body trampled underfoot.
20: You will not be joined with them in burial, because you have destroyed your land, you have slain your people. “May the offspring of evildoers nevermore be named!
21: Prepare slaughter for his sons because of the guilt of their fathers, lest they rise and possess the earth, and fill the face of the world with cities.”
22: “I will rise up against them,” declares the LORD of hosts, “and will cut off from Babylon name and remnant, descendants and posterity,” declares the LORD.
23: “And I will make it a possession of the hedgehog, and pools of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” declares the LORD of hosts.
An Oracle Concerning Assyria
24: The LORD of hosts has sworn: “As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand,
25: that I will break the Assyrian in my land, and on my mountains trample him underfoot; and his yoke shall depart from them, and his burden from their shoulder.”
26: This is the purpose that is purposed concerning the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations.
27: For the LORD of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?
An Oracle Concerning Philistia
28: In the year that King Ahaz died came this oracle:
29: Rejoice not, O Philistia, all of you, that the rod that struck you is broken, for from the serpent’s root will come forth an adder, and its fruit will be a flying fiery serpent.
30: And the firstborn of the poor will graze, and the needy lie down in safety;
but I will kill your root with famine, and your remnant it will slay.
31: Wail, O gate; cry out, O city; melt in fear, O Philistia, all of you! For smoke comes out of the north, and there is no straggler in his ranks.
32: What will one answer the messengers of the nation? “The LORD has founded Zion, and in her the afflicted of his people find refuge.”

Chapter 15

An Oracle Concerning Moab
1: An oracle concerning Moab. Because Ar of Moab is laid waste in a night, Moab is undone; because Kir of Moab is laid waste in a night, Moab is undone.
2: He has gone up to the temple, and to Dibon, to the high places to weep; over Nebo and over Medeba Moab wails. On every head is baldness; every beard is shorn;
3: in the streets they wear sackcloth; on the housetops and in the squares everyone wails and melts in tears.
4: Heshbon and Elealeh cry out; their voice is heard as far as Jahaz; therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud; his soul trembles.
5: My heart cries out for Moab; her fugitives flee to Zoar, to Eglath-shelishiyah.For at the ascent of Luhith they go up weeping; on the road to Horonaim they raise a cry of destruction;
6: the waters of Nimrim are a desolation; the grass is withered, the vegetation fails, the greenery is no more.
7: Therefore the abundance they have gained and what they have laid up they carry away over the Brook of the Willows.
8: For a cry has gone around the land of Moab; her wailing reaches to Eglaim; her wailing reaches to Beer-elim.
9: For the waters of Dibonc are full of blood; for I will bring upon Dibon even more, a lion for those of Moab who escape, for the remnant of the land.

Chapter 16


1: Send the lamb to the ruler of the land, from Sela, by way of the desert, to the mount of the daughter of Zion.
2: Like fleeing birds, like a scattered nest, so are the daughters of Moab at the fords of the Arnon.
3: “Give counsel; grant justice; make your shade like night at the height of noon; shelter the outcasts; do not reveal the fugitive;
4: let the outcasts of Moab sojourn among you; be a shelter to them from the destroyer.
When the oppressor is no more, and destruction has ceased, and he who tramples underfoot has vanished from the land,
5: then a throne will be established in steadfast love, and on it will sit in faithfulness
in the tent of David one who judges and seeks justice and is swift to do righteousness.”
6: We have heard of the pride of Moab - how proud he is! - of his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence; in his idle boasting he is not right.
7: Therefore let Moab wail for Moab, let everyone wail. Mourn, utterly stricken, for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth.
8: For the fields of Heshbon languish, and the vine of Sibmah; the lords of the nations
have struck down its branches, which reached to Jazer and strayed to the desert; its shoots spread abroad and passed over the sea.
9: Therefore I weep with the weeping of Jazer for the vine of Sibmah; I drench you with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh; for over your summer fruit and your harvest the shout has ceased.
10: And joy and gladness are taken away from the fruitful field, and in the vineyards no songs are sung, no cheers are raised; no treader treads out wine in the presses; I have put an end to the shouting.
11: Therefore my inner parts moan like a lyre for Moab, and my inmost self for Kir-hareseth.
12: And when Moab presents himself, when he wearies himself on the high place, when he comes to his sanctuary to pray, he will not prevail.
13: This is the word that the LORD spoke concerning Moab in the past.
14: But now the LORD has spoken, saying, “In three years, like the years of a hired worker, the glory of Moab will be brought into contempt, in spite of all his great multitude, and those who remain will be very few and feeble.”

Day 205: Isaiah 6 - 10

Chapter 6

Isaiah’s Vision of the Lord
1: In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.
2: Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
3: And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
4: And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.
5: And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”
6: Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar.
7: And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

Isaiah’s Commission from the Lord
8: And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”
9: And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
10: Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
11: Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said: “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste,
12: and the LORD removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
13: And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burnedf again, like a terebinth or an oak,
whose stump remains when it is felled.” The holy seed is its stump.

Chapter 7

Isaiah Sent to King Ahaz
1: In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it.
2: When the house of David was told, “Syria is in league with Ephraim,” the heart of Ahazb and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.
3: And the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-jashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer’s Field.
4: And say to him, ‘Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remaliah.
5: Because Syria, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has devised evil against you, saying,
6: “Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer itd for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,”
7: thus says the Lord GOD: “it shall not stand, and it shall not come to pass.
8: For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin. And within sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered from being a people.
9: And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.
If youe are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.”
The Sign of Immanuel
10: Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz:
11: “Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.”
12: But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test.”
13: And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also?
14: Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
15: He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good.
16: For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted.
17: The LORD will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!”
18: In that day the LORD will whistle for the fly that is at the end of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
19: And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures.
20: In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is hired beyond the Riverj—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also.
21: In that day a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep,
22: and because of the abundance of milk that they give, he will eat curds, for everyone who is left in the land will eat curds and honey.
23: In that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekelsk of silver will become briers and thorns.
24: With bow and arrows a man will come there, for all the land will be briers and thorns.
25: And as for all the hills that used to be hoed with a hoe, you will not come there for fear of briers and thorns, but they will become a place where cattle are let loose and where sheep tread.

Chapter 8


The Coming Assyrian Invasion
1: Then the LORD said to me, “Take a large tablet and write on it in common characters, ‘Belonging to Maher-shalal-hash-baz.’
2: And I will get reliable witnesses, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah, to attest for me.”
3: And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the LORD said to me, “Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz;
4: for before the boy knows how to cry ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”
5: The LORD spoke to me again:
6: “Because this people have refused the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and rejoice over Rezin and the son of Remaliah,
7: therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them the waters of the River, mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks,
8: and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, reaching even to the neck and its outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.”
9: Be broken, you peoples, and be shattered; give ear, all you far countries; strap on your armor and be shattered; strap on your armor and be shattered.
10: Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing; speak a word, but it will not stand,
for God is with us.

Fear God, Wait for the LORD
11: For the LORD spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying:
12: “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread.
13: But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.
14: And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
15: And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”
16: Bind up the testimony; seal the teachingg among my disciples.
17: I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him.
18: Behold I and the children whom the LORDhas given me are signs and portents in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.
19: And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living?
20: To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.
21: They will pass through the land, greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously againsti their king and their God, and turn their faces upward.
22: And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness.

Chapter 9

For to Us a Child Is Born
1: But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
2: The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.
3: You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
4: For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.
5: For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.
6: For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upond his shoulder, and his name shall be callede Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7: Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this. Judgment on Arrogance and Oppression
8: The Lord has sent a word against Jacob, and it will fall on Israel;
9: and all the people will know, Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, who say in pride and in arrogance of heart:
10: “The bricks have fallen, but we will build with dressed stones; the sycamores have been cut down, but we will put cedars in their place.”
11: But the LORD raises the adversaries of Rezin against him, and stirs up his enemies.
12: The Syrians on the east and the Philistines on the west devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.
13: The people did not turn to him who struck them, nor inquire of the LORD of hosts.
14: So the LORD cut off from Israel head and tail, palm branch and reed in one day -
15: the elder and honored man is the head, and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail;
16: for those who guide this people have been leading them astray, and those who are guided by them are swallowed up.
17: Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men, and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows; for everyone is godless and an evildoer and every mouth speaks folly. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.
18: For wickedness burns like a fire; it consumes briers and thorns; it kindles the thickets of the forest, and they roll upward in a column of smoke.
19: Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts the land is scorched, and the people are like fuel for the fire; no one spares another.
20: They slice meat on the right, but are still hungry, and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied; each devours the flesh of his own arm,
21: Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim devours Manasseh; together they are against Judah. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.

Chapter 10

1: Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who keep writing oppression,
2: to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right,
that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey!
3: What will you do on the day of punishment, in the ruin that will come from afar?
To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your wealth?
4: Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners or fall among the slain. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still. Judgment on Arrogant Assyria
5: Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger; the staff in their hands is my fury!
6: Against a godless nation I send him, and against the people of my wrath I command him, to take spoil and seize plunder, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
7: But he does not so intend, and his heart does not so think; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few;
8: for he says: “Are not my commanders all kings?
9: Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus?
10: As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols, whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11: shall I not do to Jerusalem and her idols as I have done to Samaria and her images?”
12: When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, hea will punish the speechb of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes.
13: For he says: “By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding; I remove the boundaries of peoples, and plunder their treasures;
like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones.
14: My hand has found like a nest the wealth of the peoples; and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken, so I have gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved a wing or opened the mouth or chirped.”
15: Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it, or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it? As if a rod should wield him who lifts it, or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!
16: Therefore the Lord GOD of hosts will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors, and under his glory a burning will be kindled, like the burning of fire.
17: The light of Israel will become a fire, and his Holy One a flame, and it will burn and devour his thorns and briers in one day.
18: The glory of his forest and of his fruitful land the LORD will destroy, both soul and body, and it will be as when a sick man wastes away.
19: The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few that a child can write them down.

The Remnant of Israel Will Return
20: In that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean on him who struck them, but will lean on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
21: A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.
22: For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness.
23: For the Lord GOD of hosts will make a full end, as decreed, in the midst of all the earth.
24: Therefore thus says the Lord GOD of hosts: “O my people, who dwell in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrians when they strike with the rod and lift up their staff against you as the Egyptians did.
25: For in a very little while my fury will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction.
26: And theLORD of hosts will wield against them a whip, as when he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb. And his staff will be over the sea, and he will lift it as he did in Egypt.
27: And in that day his burden will depart from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck; and the yoke will be broken because of the fat.”
28: He has come to Aiath; he has passed through Migron; at Michmash he stores his baggage;
29: they have crossed over the pass; at Geba they lodge for the night;
Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul has fled.
30: Cry aloud, O daughter of Gallim! Give attention, O Laishah! O poor Anathoth!
31: Madmenah is in flight; the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety.
32: This very day he will halt at Nob; he will shake his fist at the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.
33: Behold, the Lord GOD of hosts will lop the boughs with terrifying power; the great in height will be hewn down, and the lofty will be brought low.
34: He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an axe, and Lebanon will fall by the Majestic One.

Day 204: Isaiah 1 - 5

Chapter 1

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

The Unfaithful City
21: How the faithful city has become a whore, she who was full of justice! Righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers.
22: Your silver has become dross, your best wine mixed with water.
23: Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not bring justice to the fatherless, and the widow’s cause does not come to them.
24: Therefore the Lord declares, the LORD of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: “Ah, I will get relief from my enemies and avenge myself on my foes.
25: I will turn my hand against you and will smelt away your dross as with lye and remove all your alloy.
26: And I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.”
27: Zion shall be redeemed by justice, and those in her who repent, by righteousness.
28: But rebels and sinners shall be broken together, and those who forsake the LORD shall be consumed.
29: For they shall be ashamed of the oaks that you desired; and you shall blush for the gardens that you have chosen.
30: For you shall be like an oak whose leaf withers, and like a garden without water.
31: And the strong shall become tinder, and his work a spark, and both of them shall burn together, with none to quench them.

Chapter 2

The Mountain of the LORD
1: The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2: It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills;
and all the nations shall flow to it,
3: and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
4: He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.
5: O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the LORD. The Day of the LORD
6: For you have rejected your people, the house of Jacob, because they are full of things from the east and of fortune-tellers like the Philistines, and they strike hands with the children of foreigners.
7: Their land is filled with silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures; their land is filled with horses, and there is no end to their chariots.
8: Their land is filled with idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their own fingers have made.
9: So man is humbled, and each one is brought low - do not forgive them!
10: Enter into the rock and hide in the dust from before the terror of the LORD, and from the splendor of his majesty.
11: The haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.
12: For the LORD of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low;
13: against all the cedars of Lebanon, lofty and lifted up; and against all the oaks of Bashan;
14: against all the lofty mountains, and against all the uplifted hills;
15: against every high tower, and against every fortified wall;
16: against all the ships of Tarshish, and against all the beautiful craft.
17: And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled, and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low, and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.
18: And the idols shall utterly pass away.
19: And people shall enter the caves of the rocks and the holes of the ground, from before the terror of the LORD, and from the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth.
20: In that day mankind will cast away their idols of silver and their idols of gold, which they made for themselves to worship, to the moles and to the bats,
21: to enter the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs, from before the terror of the LORD, and from the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth.
22: Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?

Chapter 3

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

Chapter 4


1: And seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away our reproach.”

The Branch of the LORD Glorified
2: In that day the branch of the LORD shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel.
3: And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem,
4: when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning.
5: Then the LORD will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a canopy.
6: There will be a booth for shade by day from the heat, and for a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.

Chapter 5



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

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

Day 202: Sirach 44 - 47

(ECCLESIASTICUS, OR THE WISDOM OF JESUS, SON OF SIRACH)

Chapter 44

Hymn in Honour of Our Ancestors
1: Let us now sing the praises of famous men, our ancestors in their generations.
2: The Lord apportioned to them great glory, his majesty from the beginning.
3: There were those who ruled in their kingdoms, and made a name for themselves by their valour; those who gave counsel because they were intelligent; those who spoke in prophetic oracles;
4: those who led the people by their counsels and by their knowledge of the people’s lore; they were wise in their words of instruction;
5: those who composed musical tunes, or put verses in writing;
6: rich men endowed with resources, living peacefully in their homes –
7: all these were honoured in their generations, and were the pride of their times.
8: Some of them have left behind a name, so that others declare their praise.
9: But of others there is no memory; they have perished as though they had never existed;
they have become as though they had never been born, they and their children after them.
10: But these also were godly men, whose righteous deeds have not been forgotten;
11: their wealth will remain with their descendants, and their inheritance with their children’s children.
12: Their descendants stand by the covenants; their children also, for their sake.
13: Their offspring will continue forever, and their glory will never be blotted out.
14: Their bodies are buried in peace, but their name lives on generation after generation.
15: The assembly declares their wisdom, and the congregation proclaims their praise.
16: Enoch pleased the Lord and was taken up, an example of repentance to all generations.
17: Noah was found perfect and righteous; in the time of wrath he kept the race alive; therefore a remnant was left on the earth when the flood came.
18: Everlasting covenants were made with him that all flesh should never again be blotted out by a flood.
19: Abraham was the great father of a multitude of nations, and no one has been found like him in glory.
20: He kept the law of the Most High, and entered into a covenant with him; he certified the covenant in his flesh, and when he was tested he proved faithful.
21: Therefore the Lord assured him with an oath that the nations would be blessed through his offspring; that he would make him as numerous as the dust of the earth, and exalt his offspring like the stars, and give them an inheritance from sea to sea and from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth.
22: To Isaac also he gave the same assurance for the sake of his father Abraham. The blessing of all people and the covenant
23: he made to rest on the head of Jacob; he acknowledged him with his blessings, and gave him his inheritance; he divided his portions, and distributed them among twelve tribes. From his descendants the Lord brought forth a godly man, who found favour in the sight of all.

Chapter 45

1: and was beloved by God and people, Moses, whose memory is blessed.
2: He made him equal in glory to the holy ones, and made him great, to the terror of his enemies.
3: By his words he performed swift miracles; the Lord glorified him in the presence of kings. He gave him commandments for his people, and revealed to him his glory.
4: For his faithfulness and meekness he consecrated him, choosing him out of all humankind.
5: He allowed him to hear his voice, and led him into the dark cloud, and gave him the commandments face to face, the law of life and knowledge, so that he might teach Jacob the covenant, and Israel his decrees.
6: He exalted Aaron, a holy man like Moses who was his brother, of the tribe of Levi.
7: He made an everlasting covenant with him, and gave him the priesthood of the people.
He blessed him with stateliness, and put a glorious robe on him.
8: He clothed him in perfect splendour, and strengthened him with the symbols of authority, the linen undergarments, the long robe, and the ephod.
9: And he encircled him with pomegranates, with many golden bells all round, to send forth a sound as he walked, to make their ringing heard in the temple as a reminder to his people;
10: with the sacred vestment, of gold and violet and purple, the work of an embroiderer; with the oracle of judgement, Urim and Thummim;
11: with twisted crimson, the work of an artisan; with precious stones engraved like seals, in a setting of gold, the work of a jeweller, to commemorate in engraved letters each of the tribes of Israel;
12: with a gold crown upon his turban, inscribed like a seal with ‘Holiness’, a distinction to be prized, the work of an expert, a delight to the eyes, richly adorned.
13: Before him such beautiful things did not exist. No outsider ever put them on, but only his sons and his descendants in perpetuity.
14: His sacrifices shall be wholly burned twice every day continually.
15: Moses ordained him, and anointed him with holy oil; it was an everlasting covenant for him and for his descendants as long as the heavens endure, to minister to the Lord and serve as priest and bless his people in his name.
16: He chose him out of all the living to offer sacrifice to the Lord, incense and a pleasing odour as a memorial portion, to make atonement for the people.
17: In his commandments he gave him authority and statutes and judgements, to teach Jacob the testimonies, and to enlighten Israel with his law.
18: Outsiders conspired against him, and envied him in the wilderness, Dathan and Abiram and their followers and the company of Korah, in wrath and anger.
19: The Lord saw it and was not pleased, and in the heat of his anger they were destroyed; he performed wonders against them to consume them in flaming fire.
20: He added glory to Aaron and gave him a heritage; he allotted to him the best of the first fruits, and prepared bread of first fruits in abundance;
21: for they eat the sacrifices of the Lord, which he gave to him and his descendants.
22: But in the land of the people he has no inheritance, and he has no portion among the people; for the Lord himself is his portion and inheritance.
23: Phinehas son of Eleazar ranks third in glory for being zealous in the fear of the Lord, and standing firm, when the people turned away, in the noble courage of his soul; and he made atonement for Israel.
24: Therefore a covenant of friendship was established with him, that he should be leader of the sanctuary and of his people, that he and his descendants should have the dignity of the priesthood forever.
25: Just as a covenant was established with David son of Jesse of the tribe of Judah, that the king’s heritage passes only from son to son, so the heritage of Aaron is for his descendants alone.
26: And now bless the Lord who has crowned you with glory. May the Lord grant you wisdom of mind to judge his people with justice, so that their prosperity may not vanish, and that their glory may endure through all their generations.

 

Chapter 46

1: Joshua, son of Nun was mighty in war, and was the successor of Moses in the prophetic office. He became, as his name implies, a great saviour of God’s elect, to take vengeance on the enemies that rose against them, so that he might give Israel its inheritance.
2: How glorious he was when he lifted his hands and brandished his sword against the cities!
3: Who before him ever stood so firm? For he waged the wars of the Lord.
4: Was it not through him that the sun stood still and one day became as long as two?
5: He called upon the Most High, the Mighty One, when enemies pressed him on every side, and the great Lord answered him with hailstones of mighty power.
6: He overwhelmed that nation in battle, and on the slope he destroyed his opponents, so that the nations might know his armament, that he was fighting in the sight of the Lord; for he was a devoted follower of the Mighty One.
7: And in the days of Moses he proved his loyalty, he and Caleb, son of Jephunneh:
they opposed the congregation, restrained the people from sin, and stilled their wicked grumbling.
8: And these two alone were spared out of six hundred thousand infantry, to lead the people into their inheritance, the land flowing with milk and honey.
9: The Lord gave Caleb strength, which remained with him in his old age, so that he went up to the hill country, and his children obtained it for an inheritance,
10: so that all the Israelites might see how good it is to follow the Lord.
11: The judges also, with their respective names, whose hearts did not fall into idolatry
and who did not turn away from the Lord - may their memory be blessed!
12: May their bones send forth new life from where they lie, and may the names of those who have been honoured live again in their children!
13: Samuel was beloved by his Lord; a prophet of the Lord, he established the kingdom
and anointed rulers over his people.
14: By the law of the Lord he judged the congregation, and the Lord watched over Jacob.
15: By his faithfulness he was proved to be a prophet, and by his words he became known as a trustworthy seer.
16: He called upon the Lord, the Mighty One, when his enemies pressed him on every side, and he offered in sacrifice a sucking-lamb.
17: Then the Lord thundered from heaven, and made his voice heard with a mighty sound;
18: he subdued the leaders of the enemy and all the rulers of the Philistines.
19: Before the time of his eternal sleep, Samuel bore witness before the Lord and his anointed: ‘No property, not so much as a pair of shoes, have I taken from anyone!’ And no one accused him.
20: Even after he had fallen asleep, he prophesied and made known to the king his death,
and lifted up his voice from the ground in prophecy, to blot out the wickedness of the people.

 

Chapter 47

1: after him Nathan rose up to prophesy in the days of David.
2: As the fat is set apart from the offering of well-being, so David was set apart from the Israelites.
3: He played with lions as though they were young goats, and with bears as though they were lambs of the flock.
4: In his youth did he not kill a giant, and take away the people’s disgrace, when he whirled the stone in the sling and struck down the boasting Goliath?
5: For he called on the Lord, the Most High, and he gave strength to his right arm
to strike down a mighty warrior, and to exalt the power of his people.
6: So they glorified him for the tens of thousands he conquered, and praised him for the blessings bestowed by the Lord, when the glorious diadem was given to him.
7: For he wiped out his enemies on every side, and annihilated his adversaries the Philistines; he crushed their power to our own day.
8: In all that he did he gave thanks to the Holy One, the Most High, proclaiming his glory; he sang praise with all his heart, and he loved his Maker.
9: He placed singers before the altar, to make sweet melody with their voices.
10: He gave beauty to the festivals, and arranged their times throughout the year, while they praised God’s holy name, and the sanctuary resounded from early morning.
11: The Lord took away his sins, and exalted his power for ever; he gave him a covenant of kingship and a glorious throne in Israel.
12: After him a wise son rose up who because of him lived in security:
13: Solomon reigned in an age of peace, because God made all his borders tranquil, so that he might build a house in his name and provide a sanctuary to stand for ever.
14: How wise you were when you were young! You overflowed like the Nile with understanding.
15: Your influence spread throughout the earth, and you filled it with proverbs having deep meaning.
16: Your fame reached to far-off islands, and you were loved for your peaceful reign.
17: Your songs, proverbs, and parables, and the answers you gave astounded the nations.
18: In the name of the Lord God, who is called the God of Israel, you gathered gold like tin and amassed silver like lead.
19: But you brought in women to lie at your side, and through your body you were brought into subjection.
20: You stained your honour and defiled your family line, so that you brought wrath upon your children, and they were grieved at your folly,
21: because the sovereignty was divided and a rebel kingdom arose out of Ephraim.
22: But the Lord will never give up his mercy, or cause any of his works to perish; he will never blot out the descendants of his chosen one, or destroy the family line of him who loved him. So he gave a remnant to Jacob, and to David a root from his own family.
23: Solomon rested with his ancestors, and left behind him one of his sons,
broad in folly and lacking in sense, Rehoboam, whose policy drove the people to revolt. Then Jeroboam son of Nebat led Israel into sin and started Ephraim on its sinful ways.
24: Their sins increased more and more, until they were exiled from their land.
25: For they sought out every kind of wickedness, until vengeance came upon them.