Isaiah 20:2-4
New English Translation
2 At that time the Lord announced through[a] Isaiah son of Amoz: “Go, remove the sackcloth from your waist and take your sandals off your feet.” He did as instructed and walked around in undergarments[b] and barefoot. 3 Later the Lord explained, “In the same way that my servant Isaiah has walked around in undergarments and barefoot for the past three years, as an object lesson and omen pertaining to Egypt and Cush, 4 so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, both young and old. They will be in undergarments and barefoot, with the buttocks exposed; the Egyptians will be publicly humiliated.[c]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Isaiah 20:2 tn Heb “spoke by the hand of.”
- Isaiah 20:2 tn The word used here (עָרוֹם, ʿarom) sometimes means “naked,” but here it appears to mean simply “lightly dressed,” i.e., stripped to one’s undergarments. See HALOT 883 s.v. עָרוֹם. The term also occurs in vv. 3, 4.
- Isaiah 20:4 tn Heb “lightly dressed and barefoot, and bare with respect to the buttocks, the nakedness of Egypt.”
Isaiah 20:2-4
New International Version
2 at that time the Lord spoke through Isaiah son of Amoz.(A) He said to him, “Take off the sackcloth(B) from your body and the sandals(C) from your feet.” And he did so, going around stripped(D) and barefoot.(E)
3 Then the Lord said, “Just as my servant(F) Isaiah has gone stripped and barefoot for three years,(G) as a sign(H) and portent(I) against Egypt(J) and Cush,[a](K) 4 so the king(L) of Assyria will lead away stripped(M) and barefoot the Egyptian captives(N) and Cushite(O) exiles, young and old, with buttocks bared(P)—to Egypt’s shame.(Q)
Footnotes
- Isaiah 20:3 That is, the upper Nile region; also in verse 5
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