Isaiah Acts Out the Defeat of Egypt and Ethiopia
1 King Sargon of Assyria gave orders for his army commander to capture the city of Ashdod. 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. 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 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.”
The Sign of the Naked Prophet
1 Under the orders of Emperor Sargon of Assyria, the commander-in-chief of the Assyrian army attacked the Philistine city of Ashdod. 2 Three years earlier the Lord had told Isaiah son of Amoz to take off his sandals and the sackcloth he was wearing. He obeyed and went around naked and barefoot. 3 When Ashdod was captured, the Lord said, “My servant Isaiah has been going around naked and barefoot for three years. This is a sign of what will happen to Egypt and Ethiopia. 4 The emperor of Assyria will lead away naked the prisoners he captures from those two countries. Young and old, they will walk barefoot and naked, with their buttocks exposed, bringing shame on Egypt. 5 Those who have put their trust in Ethiopia and have boasted about Egypt will be disillusioned, their hopes shattered. 6 When that time comes, the people who live along the coast of Philistia will say, ‘Look at what has happened to the people we relied on to protect us from the emperor of Assyria! How will we ever survive?’”