Isaiah 20
The Lord instructed Isaiah to walk naked and barefoot as a sign of the impending captivity of Egypt and Ethiopia by the Assyrians. This sign was meant to symbolize the shame and humiliation that Egypt and Ethiopia would face at the hands of the Assyrians. The people of these nations would be forced to flee naked and barefoot, and their hopes for help from one another would be dashed. The inhabitants of a nearby island would also be affected, realizing too late that they had placed their trust in Egypt and Ethiopia for protection from the Assyrians.
1In the year in which Tharthan entered into Ashdod, when Sargon, the king of the Assyrians, had sent him, and when he had fought against Ashdod and had captured it2in that same time, the Lord spoke by the hand of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saying: "Go forth, and remove the sackcloth from your waist, and take your shoes from your feet." And he did so, going out naked and barefoot3And the Lord said: Just as my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot, as a sign and as a portent of three years over Egypt and over Ethiopia4so also will the king of the Assyrians force the captivity of Egypt, and the transmigration of Ethiopia: young and old, naked and barefoot, with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt5And they will be afraid and confounded over Ethiopia, their hope, and Egypt, their glory6And in that day, the inhabitants of a certain island will say: "Behold, this was our hope, we fled to them for help, to free us from the face of the king of the Assyrians. And now, how will we be able to escape?
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