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Isaiah 31-34
New Living Translation
Isaiah 31-34
New Living Translation
The Futility of Relying on Egypt
31 What sorrow awaits those who look to Egypt for help,
trusting their horses, chariots, and charioteers
and depending on the strength of human armies
instead of looking to the Lord,
the Holy One of Israel.
2 In his wisdom, the Lord will send great disaster;
he will not change his mind.
He will rise against the wicked
and against their helpers.
3 For these Egyptians are mere humans, not God!
Their horses are puny flesh, not mighty spirits!
When the Lord raises his fist against them,
those who help will stumble,
and those being helped will fall.
They will all fall down and die together.
4 But this is what the Lord has told me:
“When a strong young lion
stands growling over a sheep it has killed,
it is not frightened by the shouts and noise
of a whole crowd of shepherds.
In the same way, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
will come down and fight on Mount Zion.
5 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies will hover over Jerusalem
and protect it like a bird protecting its nest.
He will defend and save the city;
he will pass over it and rescue it.”
6 Though you are such wicked rebels, my people, come and return to the Lord. 7 I know the glorious day will come when each of you will throw away the gold idols and silver images your sinful hands have made.
8 “The Assyrians will be destroyed,
but not by the swords of men.
The sword of God will strike them,
and they will panic and flee.
The strong young Assyrians
will be taken away as captives.
9 Even the strongest will quake with terror,
and princes will flee when they see your battle flags,”
says the Lord, whose fire burns in Zion,
whose flame blazes from Jerusalem.
Israel’s Ultimate Deliverance
32 Look, a righteous king is coming!
And honest princes will rule under him.
2 Each one will be like a shelter from the wind
and a refuge from the storm,
like streams of water in the desert
and the shadow of a great rock in a parched land.
3 Then everyone who has eyes will be able to see the truth,
and everyone who has ears will be able to hear it.
4 Even the hotheads will be full of sense and understanding.
Those who stammer will speak out plainly.
5 In that day ungodly fools will not be heroes.
Scoundrels will not be respected.
6 For fools speak foolishness
and make evil plans.
They practice ungodliness
and spread false teachings about the Lord.
They deprive the hungry of food
and give no water to the thirsty.
7 The smooth tricks of scoundrels are evil.
They plot crooked schemes.
They lie to convict the poor,
even when the cause of the poor is just.
8 But generous people plan to do what is generous,
and they stand firm in their generosity.
9 Listen, you women who lie around in ease.
Listen to me, you who are so smug.
10 In a short time—just a little more than a year—
you careless ones will suddenly begin to care.
For your fruit crops will fail,
and the harvest will never take place.
11 Tremble, you women of ease;
throw off your complacency.
Strip off your pretty clothes,
and put on burlap to show your grief.
12 Beat your breasts in sorrow for your bountiful farms
and your fruitful grapevines.
13 For your land will be overgrown with thorns and briers.
Your joyful homes and happy towns will be gone.
14 The palace and the city will be deserted,
and busy towns will be empty.
Wild donkeys will frolic and flocks will graze
in the empty forts[a] and watchtowers
15 until at last the Spirit is poured out
on us from heaven.
Then the wilderness will become a fertile field,
and the fertile field will yield bountiful crops.
16 Justice will rule in the wilderness
and righteousness in the fertile field.
17 And this righteousness will bring peace.
Yes, it will bring quietness and confidence forever.
18 My people will live in safety, quietly at home.
They will be at rest.
19 Even if the forest should be destroyed
and the city torn down,
20 the Lord will greatly bless his people.
Wherever they plant seed, bountiful crops will spring up.
Their cattle and donkeys will graze freely.
A Message about Assyria
33 What sorrow awaits you Assyrians, who have destroyed others[b]
but have never been destroyed yourselves.
You betray others,
but you have never been betrayed.
When you are done destroying,
you will be destroyed.
When you are done betraying,
you will be betrayed.
2 But Lord, be merciful to us,
for we have waited for you.
Be our strong arm each day
and our salvation in times of trouble.
3 The enemy runs at the sound of your voice.
When you stand up, the nations flee!
4 Just as caterpillars and locusts strip the fields and vines,
so the fallen army of Assyria will be stripped!
5 Though the Lord is very great and lives in heaven,
he will make Jerusalem[c] his home of justice and righteousness.
6 In that day he will be your sure foundation,
providing a rich store of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge.
The fear of the Lord will be your treasure.
7 But now your brave warriors weep in public.
Your ambassadors of peace cry in bitter disappointment.
8 Your roads are deserted;
no one travels them anymore.
The Assyrians have broken their peace treaty
and care nothing for the promises they made before witnesses.[d]
They have no respect for anyone.
9 The land of Israel wilts in mourning.
Lebanon withers with shame.
The plain of Sharon is now a wilderness.
Bashan and Carmel have been plundered.
10 But the Lord says: “Now I will stand up.
Now I will show my power and might.
11 You Assyrians produce nothing but dry grass and stubble.
Your own breath will turn to fire and consume you.
12 Your people will be burned up completely,
like thornbushes cut down and tossed in a fire.
13 Listen to what I have done, you nations far away!
And you that are near, acknowledge my might!”
14 The sinners in Jerusalem shake with fear.
Terror seizes the godless.
“Who can live with this devouring fire?” they cry.
“Who can survive this all-consuming fire?”
15 Those who are honest and fair,
who refuse to profit by fraud,
who stay far away from bribes,
who refuse to listen to those who plot murder,
who shut their eyes to all enticement to do wrong—
16 these are the ones who will dwell on high.
The rocks of the mountains will be their fortress.
Food will be supplied to them,
and they will have water in abundance.
17 Your eyes will see the king in all his splendor,
and you will see a land that stretches into the distance.
18 You will think back to this time of terror, asking,
“Where are the Assyrian officers
who counted our towers?
Where are the bookkeepers
who recorded the plunder taken from our fallen city?”
19 You will no longer see these fierce, violent people
with their strange, unknown language.
20 Instead, you will see Zion as a place of holy festivals.
You will see Jerusalem, a city quiet and secure.
It will be like a tent whose ropes are taut
and whose stakes are firmly fixed.
21 The Lord will be our Mighty One.
He will be like a wide river of protection
that no enemy can cross,
that no enemy ship can sail upon.
22 For the Lord is our judge,
our lawgiver, and our king.
He will care for us and save us.
23 The enemies’ sails hang loose
on broken masts with useless tackle.
Their treasure will be divided by the people of God.
Even the lame will take their share!
24 The people of Israel will no longer say,
“We are sick and helpless,”
for the Lord will forgive their sins.
A Message for the Nations
34 Come here and listen, O nations of the earth.
Let the world and everything in it hear my words.
2 For the Lord is enraged against the nations.
His fury is against all their armies.
He will completely destroy[e] them,
dooming them to slaughter.
3 Their dead will be left unburied,
and the stench of rotting bodies will fill the land.
The mountains will flow with their blood.
4 The heavens above will melt away
and disappear like a rolled-up scroll.
The stars will fall from the sky
like withered leaves from a grapevine,
or shriveled figs from a fig tree.
5 And when my sword has finished its work in the heavens,
it will fall upon Edom,
the nation I have marked for destruction.
6 The sword of the Lord is drenched with blood
and covered with fat—
with the blood of lambs and goats,
with the fat of rams prepared for sacrifice.
Yes, the Lord will offer a sacrifice in the city of Bozrah.
He will make a mighty slaughter in Edom.
7 Even men as strong as wild oxen will die—
the young men alongside the veterans.
The land will be soaked with blood
and the soil enriched with fat.
8 For it is the day of the Lord’s revenge,
the year when Edom will be paid back for all it did to Israel.[f]
9 The streams of Edom will be filled with burning pitch,
and the ground will be covered with fire.
10 This judgment on Edom will never end;
the smoke of its burning will rise forever.
The land will lie deserted from generation to generation.
No one will live there anymore.
11 It will be haunted by the desert owl and the screech owl,
the great owl and the raven.[g]
For God will measure that land carefully;
he will measure it for chaos and destruction.
12 It will be called the Land of Nothing,
and all its nobles will soon be gone.[h]
13 Thorns will overrun its palaces;
nettles and thistles will grow in its forts.
The ruins will become a haunt for jackals
and a home for owls.
14 Desert animals will mingle there with hyenas,
their howls filling the night.
Wild goats will bleat at one another among the ruins,
and night creatures[i] will come there to rest.
15 There the owl will make her nest and lay her eggs.
She will hatch her young and cover them with her wings.
And the buzzards will come,
each one with its mate.
16 Search the book of the Lord,
and see what he will do.
Not one of these birds and animals will be missing,
and none will lack a mate,
for the Lord has promised this.
His Spirit will make it all come true.
17 He has surveyed and divided the land
and deeded it over to those creatures.
They will possess it forever,
from generation to generation.
Footnotes
- 32:14 Hebrew the Ophel.
- 33:1 Hebrew What sorrow awaits you, O destroyer. The Hebrew text does not specifically name Assyria as the object of the prophecy in this chapter.
- 33:5 Hebrew Zion; also in 33:14.
- 33:8 As in Dead Sea Scrolls; Masoretic Text reads care nothing for the cities.
- 34:2 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering; similarly in 34:5.
- 34:8 Hebrew to Zion.
- 34:11 The identification of some of these birds is uncertain.
- 34:12 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
- 34:14 Hebrew Lilith, possibly a reference to a mythical demon of the night.
Isaiah 31-34
New International Version
Isaiah 31-34
New International Version
Woe to Those Who Rely on Egypt
31 Woe(A) to those who go down to Egypt(B) for help,
who rely on horses,(C)
who trust in the multitude of their chariots(D)
and in the great strength of their horsemen,
but do not look to the Holy One(E) of Israel,
or seek help from the Lord.(F)
2 Yet he too is wise(G) and can bring disaster;(H)
he does not take back his words.(I)
He will rise up against that wicked nation,(J)
against those who help evildoers.
3 But the Egyptians(K) are mere mortals and not God;(L)
their horses(M) are flesh and not spirit.
When the Lord stretches out his hand,(N)
those who help will stumble,
those who are helped(O) will fall;
all will perish together.(P)
4 This is what the Lord says to me:
“As a lion(Q) growls,
a great lion over its prey—
and though a whole band of shepherds(R)
is called together against it,
it is not frightened by their shouts
or disturbed by their clamor(S)—
so the Lord Almighty will come down(T)
to do battle on Mount Zion and on its heights.
5 Like birds hovering(U) overhead,
the Lord Almighty will shield(V) Jerusalem;
he will shield it and deliver(W) it,
he will ‘pass over’(X) it and will rescue it.”
6 Return,(Y) you Israelites, to the One you have so greatly revolted(Z) against. 7 For in that day(AA) every one of you will reject the idols of silver and gold(AB) your sinful hands have made.(AC)
8 “Assyria(AD) will fall by no human sword;
a sword, not of mortals, will devour(AE) them.
They will flee before the sword
and their young men will be put to forced labor.(AF)
9 Their stronghold(AG) will fall because of terror;
at the sight of the battle standard(AH) their commanders will panic,(AI)”
declares the Lord,
whose fire(AJ) is in Zion,
whose furnace(AK) is in Jerusalem.
The Kingdom of Righteousness
32 See, a king(AL) will reign in righteousness
and rulers will rule with justice.(AM)
2 Each one will be like a shelter(AN) from the wind
and a refuge from the storm,(AO)
like streams of water(AP) in the desert(AQ)
and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land.
3 Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed,(AR)
and the ears(AS) of those who hear will listen.
4 The fearful heart will know and understand,(AT)
and the stammering tongue(AU) will be fluent and clear.
5 No longer will the fool(AV) be called noble
nor the scoundrel be highly respected.
6 For fools speak folly,(AW)
their hearts are bent on evil:(AX)
They practice ungodliness(AY)
and spread error(AZ) concerning the Lord;
the hungry they leave empty(BA)
and from the thirsty they withhold water.
7 Scoundrels use wicked methods,(BB)
they make up evil schemes(BC)
to destroy the poor with lies,
even when the plea of the needy(BD) is just.(BE)
8 But the noble make noble plans,
and by noble deeds(BF) they stand.(BG)
The Women of Jerusalem
9 You women(BH) who are so complacent,
rise up and listen(BI) to me;
you daughters who feel secure,(BJ)
hear what I have to say!
10 In little more than a year(BK)
you who feel secure will tremble;
the grape harvest will fail,(BL)
and the harvest of fruit will not come.
11 Tremble,(BM) you complacent women;
shudder, you daughters who feel secure!(BN)
Strip off your fine clothes(BO)
and wrap yourselves in rags.(BP)
12 Beat your breasts(BQ) for the pleasant fields,
for the fruitful vines(BR)
13 and for the land of my people,
a land overgrown with thorns and briers(BS)—
yes, mourn(BT) for all houses of merriment
and for this city of revelry.(BU)
14 The fortress(BV) will be abandoned,
the noisy city deserted;(BW)
citadel and watchtower(BX) will become a wasteland forever,
the delight of donkeys,(BY) a pasture for flocks,(BZ)
15 till the Spirit(CA) is poured on us from on high,
and the desert becomes a fertile field,(CB)
and the fertile field seems like a forest.(CC)
16 The Lord’s justice(CD) will dwell in the desert,(CE)
his righteousness(CF) live in the fertile field.
17 The fruit of that righteousness(CG) will be peace;(CH)
its effect will be quietness and confidence(CI) forever.
18 My people will live in peaceful(CJ) dwelling places,
in secure homes,(CK)
in undisturbed places of rest.(CL)
19 Though hail(CM) flattens the forest(CN)
and the city is leveled(CO) completely,
20 how blessed you will be,
sowing(CP) your seed by every stream,(CQ)
and letting your cattle and donkeys range free.(CR)
Distress and Help
33 Woe(CS) to you, destroyer,
you who have not been destroyed!
Woe to you, betrayer,
you who have not been betrayed!
When you stop destroying,
you will be destroyed;(CT)
when you stop betraying,
you will be betrayed.(CU)
2 Lord, be gracious(CV) to us;
we long for you.
Be our strength(CW) every morning,
our salvation(CX) in time of distress.(CY)
3 At the uproar of your army,(CZ) the peoples flee;(DA)
when you rise up,(DB) the nations scatter.
4 Your plunder,(DC) O nations, is harvested(DD) as by young locusts;(DE)
like a swarm of locusts people pounce on it.
5 The Lord is exalted,(DF) for he dwells on high;(DG)
he will fill Zion with his justice(DH) and righteousness.(DI)
6 He will be the sure foundation for your times,
a rich store of salvation(DJ) and wisdom and knowledge;
the fear(DK) of the Lord is the key to this treasure.[a](DL)
7 Look, their brave men(DM) cry aloud in the streets;
the envoys(DN) of peace weep bitterly.
8 The highways are deserted,
no travelers(DO) are on the roads.(DP)
The treaty is broken,(DQ)
its witnesses[b] are despised,
no one is respected.
9 The land dries up(DR) and wastes away,
Lebanon(DS) is ashamed and withers;(DT)
Sharon(DU) is like the Arabah,
and Bashan(DV) and Carmel(DW) drop their leaves.
10 “Now will I arise,(DX)” says the Lord.
“Now will I be exalted;(DY)
now will I be lifted up.
11 You conceive(DZ) chaff,
you give birth(EA) to straw;
your breath is a fire(EB) that consumes you.
12 The peoples will be burned to ashes;(EC)
like cut thornbushes(ED) they will be set ablaze.(EE)”
13 You who are far away,(EF) hear(EG) what I have done;
you who are near, acknowledge my power!
14 The sinners(EH) in Zion are terrified;
trembling(EI) grips the godless:
“Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire?(EJ)
Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?”
15 Those who walk righteously(EK)
and speak what is right,(EL)
who reject gain from extortion(EM)
and keep their hands from accepting bribes,(EN)
who stop their ears against plots of murder
and shut their eyes(EO) against contemplating evil—
16 they are the ones who will dwell on the heights,(EP)
whose refuge(EQ) will be the mountain fortress.(ER)
Their bread will be supplied,
and water will not fail(ES) them.
17 Your eyes will see the king(ET) in his beauty(EU)
and view a land that stretches afar.(EV)
18 In your thoughts you will ponder the former terror:(EW)
“Where is that chief officer?
Where is the one who took the revenue?
Where is the officer in charge of the towers?(EX)”
19 You will see those arrogant people(EY) no more,
people whose speech is obscure,
whose language is strange and incomprehensible.(EZ)
20 Look on Zion,(FA) the city of our festivals;
your eyes will see Jerusalem,
a peaceful abode,(FB) a tent(FC) that will not be moved;(FD)
its stakes will never be pulled up,
nor any of its ropes broken.
21 There the Lord will be our Mighty(FE) One.
It will be like a place of broad rivers and streams.(FF)
No galley with oars will ride them,
no mighty ship(FG) will sail them.
22 For the Lord is our judge,(FH)
the Lord is our lawgiver,(FI)
the Lord is our king;(FJ)
it is he who will save(FK) us.
23 Your rigging hangs loose:
The mast is not held secure,
the sail is not spread.
Then an abundance of spoils will be divided
and even the lame(FL) will carry off plunder.(FM)
24 No one living in Zion will say, “I am ill”;(FN)
and the sins of those who dwell there will be forgiven.(FO)
Judgment Against the Nations
34 Come near, you nations, and listen;(FP)
pay attention, you peoples!(FQ)
Let the earth(FR) hear, and all that is in it,
the world, and all that comes out of it!(FS)
2 The Lord is angry with all nations;
his wrath(FT) is on all their armies.
He will totally destroy[c](FU) them,
he will give them over to slaughter.(FV)
3 Their slain(FW) will be thrown out,
their dead bodies(FX) will stink;(FY)
the mountains will be soaked with their blood.(FZ)
4 All the stars in the sky will be dissolved(GA)
and the heavens rolled up(GB) like a scroll;
all the starry host will fall(GC)
like withered(GD) leaves from the vine,
like shriveled figs from the fig tree.
5 My sword(GE) has drunk its fill in the heavens;
see, it descends in judgment on Edom,(GF)
the people I have totally destroyed.(GG)
6 The sword(GH) of the Lord is bathed in blood,
it is covered with fat—
the blood of lambs and goats,
fat from the kidneys of rams.
For the Lord has a sacrifice(GI) in Bozrah(GJ)
and a great slaughter(GK) in the land of Edom.
7 And the wild oxen(GL) will fall with them,
the bull calves and the great bulls.(GM)
Their land will be drenched with blood,(GN)
and the dust will be soaked with fat.
8 For the Lord has a day(GO) of vengeance,(GP)
a year of retribution,(GQ) to uphold Zion’s cause.
9 Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch,
her dust into burning sulfur;(GR)
her land will become blazing pitch!
10 It will not be quenched(GS) night or day;
its smoke will rise forever.(GT)
From generation to generation(GU) it will lie desolate;(GV)
no one will ever pass through it again.
11 The desert owl[d](GW) and screech owl[e] will possess it;
the great owl[f] and the raven(GX) will nest there.
God will stretch out over Edom(GY)
the measuring line of chaos(GZ)
and the plumb line(HA) of desolation.
12 Her nobles will have nothing there to be called a kingdom,
all her princes(HB) will vanish(HC) away.
13 Thorns(HD) will overrun her citadels,
nettles and brambles her strongholds.(HE)
She will become a haunt for jackals,(HF)
a home for owls.(HG)
14 Desert creatures(HH) will meet with hyenas,(HI)
and wild goats will bleat to each other;
there the night creatures(HJ) will also lie down
and find for themselves places of rest.
15 The owl will nest there and lay eggs,
she will hatch them, and care for her young
under the shadow of her wings;(HK)
there also the falcons(HL) will gather,
each with its mate.
16 Look in the scroll(HM) of the Lord and read:
None of these will be missing,(HN)
not one will lack her mate.
For it is his mouth(HO) that has given the order,(HP)
and his Spirit will gather them together.
17 He allots their portions;(HQ)
his hand distributes them by measure.
They will possess it forever
and dwell there from generation to generation.(HR)
Footnotes
- Isaiah 33:6 Or is a treasure from him
- Isaiah 33:8 Dead Sea Scrolls; Masoretic Text / the cities
- Isaiah 34:2 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them; also in verse 5.
- Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain.
- Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain.
- Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain.
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.