Isaiah 30:1-18
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Condemnation of the Egyptian Alliance
30 Woe to the rebellious children!(A)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
They carry out a plan,(B) but not Mine;
they make an alliance,
but against My will,
piling sin on top of sin.
2 They set out to go down to Egypt(C)
without asking My advice,
in order to seek shelter under Pharaoh’s protection
and take refuge in Egypt’s shadow.(D)
3 But Pharaoh’s protection will become your shame,
and refuge in Egypt’s shadow your disgrace.(E)
4 For though his[a] princes are at Zoan(F)
and his messengers reach as far as Hanes,
5 everyone will be ashamed
because of a people who can’t help.
They are of no benefit, they are no help;
they are good for nothing but shame and reproach.(G)
6 An oracle(H) about the animals of the Negev:[b]
Through a land of trouble and distress,
of lioness and lion,
of viper and flying serpent,(I)
they carry their wealth on the backs of donkeys
and their treasures on the humps of camels,
to a people who will not help them.
7 Egypt’s help is completely worthless;
therefore, I call her:
Rahab Who Just Sits.(J)
8 Go now, write it on a tablet in their presence
and inscribe it on a scroll;
it will be for the future,
forever and ever.
9 They are a rebellious people,
deceptive children,(K)
children who do not want to obey the Lord’s instruction.
10 They say to the seers, “Do not see,”
and to the prophets,
“Do not prophesy the truth to us.
Tell us flattering things.(L)
Prophesy illusions.
11 Get out of the way!
Leave the pathway.
Rid us of the Holy One of Israel.”(M)
12 Therefore the Holy One of Israel says:
“Because you have rejected this message
and have trusted in oppression and deceit,
and have depended on them,
13 this iniquity(N) of yours will be
like a spreading breach,
a bulge in a high wall
whose collapse will come in an instant—suddenly!
14 Its collapse will be like the shattering
of a potter’s jar,(O) crushed to pieces,
so that not even a fragment of pottery
will be found among its shattered remains—
no fragment large enough to take fire from a hearth
or scoop water from a cistern.”
15 For the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said:
“You will be delivered by returning and resting;
your strength will lie in quiet confidence.
But you are not willing.”
16 You say, “No!
We will escape on horses”—
therefore you will escape!—
and, “We will ride on fast horses”—
but those who pursue you will be faster.(P)
17 One thousand will flee at the threat of one,(Q)
at the threat of five you will flee,
until you alone remain
like a solitary pole on a mountaintop
or a banner on a hill.
The Lord’s Mercy to Israel
18 Therefore the Lord is waiting to show you mercy,
and is rising up to show you compassion,(R)
for the Lord is a just God.
All who wait patiently for Him are happy.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 30:4 Or Judah’s
- Isaiah 30:6 Or Southland
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