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Judgment against Assyria

27 Look! The name of Yahweh comes from afar,
    burning with his anger and heaviness of cloud.
His lips are full of indignation,
    and his tongue is like a devouring fire.
28 And his breath is like an overflowing river;
    it reaches up to the neck
to shake the nations with the sieve of worthlessness;
    and a bridle that leads astray is on the jawbones of the peoples.
29 You shall have a song[a] as in the night when a holy festival is kept,
    and a gladness of heart like one who goes with the flute,
        to go to the mountain of Yahweh, to the rock of Israel.
30 And Yahweh will cause the majesty of his voice to be heard,
    and he will cause the descent of his arm to be seen,
in furious anger and a flame of devouring fire,
    with a cloudburst and a rainstorm and stones[b] of hail.
31 Indeed, Assyria will be shattered by the voice of Yahweh;
    he strikes with the rod.
32 And every stroke of the staff of foundation[c] that Yahweh lays will be on it with timbrels and lyres,
    and he will fight against it[d] with battles of brandishing.
33 For Topheth has been prepared from yesterday;
    indeed, it is made ready for the king.
He makes its pile of wood deep and wide;
    he makes fire and wood abundant.[e]
        The breath of Yahweh burns in it like a stream of sulfur.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 30:29 Literally “There shall be a song for you”
  2. Isaiah 30:30 Hebrew “stone”
  3. Isaiah 30:32 Some translations emend this to “discipline”
  4. Isaiah 30:32 The reading tradition (Qere) has “them”
  5. Isaiah 30:33 Literally “numerous”

Assyria punished

27 Look there! The Lord is coming from far away;
    his anger blazing, his smoke-cloud thick.
His lips are full of fury;
    his tongue is like a devouring fire.
28 His breath is like a raging river that reaches up to the neck,
    to shake the nations with a sieve of destruction,
    and to put a misleading rein on the people’s jaws.
29 There will be singing for you
    as on the night that people celebrate a festival.
    The heart will be joyful as it is when one goes with a flute
        to the Lord’s mountain,
        to the rock of Israel.
30 The Lord will unleash his majestic voice
    and display his crushing arm
        in furious anger, with a flame of consuming fire,
        in stormy rain and hail.
31 The Lord’s voice will terrify Assyria;
    with a rod he will smite it.
32 And every crack that is made in the foundation wall,
    which the Lord will bring down upon him,
        will be accompanied by timbrels and lyres.
The Lord will raise his arm and fight against Assyria in battle. 33 His place for burning[a] was arranged long ago;
    it is indeed made ready for a king.
God has made its wood pile wide and deep,
    fire and wood in abundance.
    The breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, ignites it.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 30:33 Heb Topheth

27 See, the Name(A) of the Lord comes from afar,
    with burning anger(B) and dense clouds of smoke;
his lips are full of wrath,(C)
    and his tongue is a consuming fire.(D)
28 His breath(E) is like a rushing torrent,(F)
    rising up to the neck.(G)
He shakes the nations in the sieve(H) of destruction;
    he places in the jaws of the peoples
    a bit(I) that leads them astray.
29 And you will sing
    as on the night you celebrate a holy festival;(J)
your hearts will rejoice(K)
    as when people playing pipes(L) go up
to the mountain(M) of the Lord,
    to the Rock(N) of Israel.
30 The Lord will cause people to hear his majestic voice(O)
    and will make them see his arm(P) coming down
with raging anger(Q) and consuming fire,(R)
    with cloudburst, thunderstorm(S) and hail.(T)
31 The voice of the Lord will shatter Assyria;(U)
    with his rod he will strike(V) them down.
32 Every stroke the Lord lays on them
    with his punishing club(W)
will be to the music of timbrels(X) and harps,
    as he fights them in battle with the blows of his arm.(Y)
33 Topheth(Z) has long been prepared;
    it has been made ready for the king.
Its fire pit has been made deep and wide,
    with an abundance of fire and wood;
the breath(AA) of the Lord,
    like a stream of burning sulfur,(AB)
    sets it ablaze.(AC)

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