Isaiah 20
The Lord instructed Isaiah to walk naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and warning to Egypt and Ethiopia of the impending Assyrian invasion. This act symbolized the shame and humiliation that the Egyptians and Ethiopians would experience when they were led away as captives by the Assyrians. The people of Judah would also be affected, realizing too late that their expectation of help from Egypt and Ethiopia was misplaced. They would be left wondering how they could escape the Assyrian king.
1In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod, (when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him,) and fought against Ashdod, and took it;2At the same time spake the LORD by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.3And the LORD said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia;4So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.5And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory.6And the inhabitant of this isle shall say in that day, Behold, such is our expectation, whither we flee for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria: and how shall we escape?
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