And then Uzziah king became
Did what was right, God gave him fame
But in his pride he wore the crown
With leprosy God struck him down
Isaiah was the prophet then
Who served God in Jerusalem
He saw a vision of God’s throne
That shook his core and made him groan
Oh, woe is me! My unclean soul!
A fiery angel brought a coal
And touched his lips, declared him clean
His sin removed. Was this a dream?
“Whom shall I send?” the Lord God asked
For this was quite a special task
The prophet answered, “Here am I!”
Go tell this folk the time is nigh
People hear but do not listen
People see but have no vision
Their hearts pump blood but do not bleed
They will not turn to me in need
Their ruined cities will declare
Their guilt is great, beyond repair
Though what remains I will lay waste
The holy seed is not erased
The King will reign in majesty
From east and west they’ll come to see
His righteousness and justice flow
The desert bloom and gardens grow
The dead will rise and come to feast
And join the crowds from west and east
The heavens and the earth revived
The Man of Sorrows satisfied
Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah
Followed on in rapid fire
Hezekiah was afraid
For healing from a boil he prayed
An extra fifteen years he got
But in that time he lost the plot
From Babylon came envoys bold
He showed them where he kept his gold
Isaiah told of coming doom
Jerusalem was idol strewn
Then Hezekiah breathed his last
His son Manasseh joined the cast
Of evil monarchs who provoked
The Lord to banish Israel’s folk
Josiah was the last good king
He sought the Lord in everything
Jeremiah smashed a pot
And warned them of their coming lot
Then armies came from Babylon
Invaded Judah and ere long
Jerusalem was under threat
Idolatry made them forget
To call upon the Lord, repent
And so to Babylon they went
Then by the rivers in that land
Their captors made this strange demand
Sing us the songs of Zion now
And make us laugh, you know just how
But they were sad and could not play
Their instruments or even say
A single word but in their hearts
They cursed their captors for their part
On Israel’s throne there sat no king
And everyone did their own thing
Jerusalem was burned to ash
The temple looted of its stash
Among the exiles one or two
Were faithful to the Lord God who
Remembered still the covenant
God’s promises are permanent
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