Isaiah 20 (YLT)

Chapter Text

20:1 In the year of the coming in of Tartan to Ashdod, when Sargon king of Asshur sendeth him, and he fighteth against Ashdod, and captureth it,

20:2 at that time spake Jehovah by the hand of Isaiah son of Amoz, saying, `Go, and thou hast loosed the sackcloth from off thy loins, and thy sandal thou dost draw from off thy foot,' and he doth so, going naked and barefoot.

20:3 And Jehovah saith, `As My servant Isaiah hath gone naked and barefoot three years, a sign and a wonder for Egypt and for Cush,

20:4 so doth the king of Asshur lead the captivity of Egypt, and the removal of Cush, young and old, naked and barefoot, with seat uncovered--the nakedness of Egypt;

20:5 and they have been affrighted and ashamed of Cush their confidence, and of Egypt their beauty,

20:6 and the inhabitant of this isle hath said in that day--Lo, thus <FI>is<Fi> our trust, Whither we have fled for help, To be delivered from the king of Asshur, And how do we escape--we?'

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "year", "coming", "tartan", "ashdod", "sargon", "king", "asshur", and "sendeth". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "year" and "coming", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The local YLT text gives this verse as the immediate unit, so "year" and "coming" carries the first interpretive weight. In The Suffering Servant Bears Iniquity, the local focus is the servant of the LORD, atonement, and judgment and restoration.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "year" and "coming" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.