Isaiah 20

Contemporary English Version

Isaiah Acts Out the Defeat of Egypt and Ethiopia

20 King Sargon of Assyria gave orders for his army commander to capture the city of Ashdod.^{[a] 2} About this same time the Lord had told me, “Isaiah, take off everything, including your sandals!” I did this and went around naked and barefoot ³ for three years.

Then the Lord said:

What Isaiah has done is a warning to Egypt and Ethiopia.^{[b] 4} Everyone in these two countries will be led away naked and barefoot by the king of Assyria. Young or old, they will be taken prisoner, and Egypt will be disgraced. ⁵ They will be confused and frustrated, because they depended on Ethiopia and bragged about Egypt. ⁶ When this happens, the people who live along the coast^[c] will say, “Look what happened to them! We ran to them for safety, hoping they would protect us from the king of Assyria. But now, there is no escape for us.”