Isaiah 20

1 In the year that Tharthan came unto Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him, and fought against Ashdod, and captured it;

One year King Sargon of Assyria sent the chief commander of his army [to take his soldiers] to capture Ashdod [city in Philistia].

2 At the same time spoke the Lord by means of Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loosen the sackcloth from off thy loins, and thy shoe shalt thou pull off from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.

At that time, Yahweh told me, “Take off the rough sackcloth that you have been wearing and take off your sandals.” [So] I did what he told me to do, and [then] I walked around naked and barefoot [for three years].

3 And the Lord said, Just as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years as a sign and token for Egypt and for Cush:

[Then] Yahweh said this [to the people of Judah]: “My servant Isaiah has been walking around naked and barefoot for the past three years. That is to show the terrible disasters that [I will cause the people of] Egypt and Ethiopia to experience.

4 So shall the king of Assyria lead away the prisoners of Egypt, and the exiles of Cush, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with uncovered buttocks, to the disgrace of Egypt.

What will happen is that the [army of the] King of Assyria will [invade those countries and capture many of the people and] take them away as their prisoners. They will force all them, including both the young ones and the old ones, to walk naked and barefoot. They will [also] force them to have no clothes around their buttocks, which will cause [the people of] Egypt to be ashamed.

5 And they shall be terrified, and ashamed of Cush their trust, and of Egypt their vaunt.

Then the people of other countries who trusted that the armies of Egypt and Ethiopia would be able to help them will be very dismayed/confused and afraid/disappointed.

6 And the inhabitant of this isle shall say on that day, Behold, such is our trust, whither we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria: and how shall we then escape?

They will say, ‘We trusted that the armies of Egypt and Ethiopia [would help us and defend us, but they have been destroyed], so there is no way [RHQ] that we can escape from [being destroyed by the army of] the King of Assyria!’”