Isaiah 30
Legacy Standard Bible
Alliance with Egypt Condemned
30 “Woe to the (A)rebellious children,” declares Yahweh,
“Who (B)execute counsel, but not Mine,
And [a](C)make an alliance, but not of My Spirit,
In order to add sin to sin,
2 Who (D)go down to Egypt—
But did not (E)ask [b]Me—
(F)To find strength in the strong defense of Pharaoh
And to take refuge in the shadow of Egypt!
3 Therefore the strong defense of Pharaoh will be (G)your shame
And the refuge in the shadow of Egypt, your dishonor.
4 For (H)their princes are at Zoan
And their messengers reach Hanes.
5 Everyone will be (I)ashamed because of a people who cannot profit them,
Who are (J)not for help or profit, but for shame and also for reproach.”
6 The [c]oracle concerning the (K)beasts of the (L)Negev.
Through a land of (M)distress and anguish,
From [d]where come lioness and lion, viper and (N)flying fiery serpent,
They (O)carry their wealth on the [e]backs of young donkeys
And their treasures on (P)camels’ humps,
To a people who cannot profit them;
7 Even Egypt, whose (Q)help is vain and empty.
Therefore, I have called [f]her
“[g](R)Rahab who has ceased.”
8 Now go, (S)write it on a tablet before them
And inscribe it on a scroll,
That it may be in the time to come
[h]As a witness forever.
9 For this is a (T)rebellious people, (U)false sons,
Sons who are not willing to (V)listen
To the law of Yahweh,
10 Who say to the (W)seers, “You must not see,”
And to those who have visions, “You must not (X)behold visions for us of what is right,
(Y)Speak to us [i]pleasant words,
Behold visions of illusions.
11 Get out of the way, (Z)turn aside from the path,
[j](AA)Cease speaking before us about the Holy One of Israel.”
12 Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel,
“(AB)Since you have rejected this word
And have put your trust in (AC)oppression and deviousness and have relied on them,
13 Therefore this (AD)iniquity will be to you
Like a (AE)breach about to fall,
A bulge in a high wall,
Whose breaking comes (AF)suddenly in an instant,
14 Whose breaking is like the breaking of a (AG)potter’s jar,
[k]So ruthlessly shattered
That a potsherd will not be found among its pieces
To [l]take fire from a hearth
Or to scoop water from a cistern.”
15 For thus Lord Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, has said,
“In [m]repentance and (AH)rest you will be saved,
In (AI)quietness and trust is your might.”
But you were not willing,
16 And you said, “No, for we will flee on (AJ)horses,”
Therefore you shall flee!
“And we will ride on swift horses,”
Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift.
17 (AK)One thousand will flee at the threat of one man;
You will flee at the threat of five,
Until you are left as a [n]flag on a mountain top
And as a [o]standard on a hill.
Yahweh Is Gracious and Just
18 Therefore Yahweh (AL)waits with longing to be gracious to you,
And therefore He is on (AM)high to have compassion on you.
For Yahweh is a (AN)God of justice;
How blessed are all those who (AO)wait for Him.
19 [p]O people in Zion, (AP)inhabitant in Jerusalem, you will (AQ)weep no longer. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will (AR)answer you. 20 The Lord has given you (AS)bread of distress and water of oppression; He, your Teacher will no longer (AT)hide Himself, but your eyes will see your Teacher. 21 And your ears will hear a word behind you, “[q]This is the (AU)way, walk in it,” whenever you (AV)turn to the right or to the left. 22 And you will defile your graven (AW)images overlaid with your silver, and your molten (AX)images plated with your gold. You will scatter them as an impure thing and say to [r]them, “(AY)Be gone!”
23 Then He will (AZ)give you rain for [s]the seed which you will sow in the ground, and bread from the produce of the ground, and it will be [t]rich and fat; on that day (BA)your livestock will graze in a roomy pasture. 24 Also the oxen and the donkeys which work the ground will eat salted fodder, which [u]has been (BB)winnowed with shovel and fork. 25 And it will be that on every lofty mountain and on (BC)every lifted up hill there will be [v]streams running with water on the day of the great (BD)slaughter, when the towers fall. 26 (BE)And the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, on the day (BF)Yahweh binds up the (BG)fracture of His people and (BH)heals the bruise [w]He has inflicted.
27 Behold, (BI)the name of Yahweh comes from afar;
(BJ)Burning is His anger and heavy is His [x]smoke;
His lips are filled with (BK)indignation
And His tongue is like a (BL)consuming fire;
28 His (BM)breath is like an overflowing torrent,
Which (BN)reaches to the neck,
To (BO)shake the nations back and forth in a [y]sieve of worthlessness,
And to put in the jaws of the peoples (BP)the bridle which staggers one to ruin.
29 You will have [z]songs as in the night when you set yourself apart as holy for the festival,
And gladness of heart as when one marches to the sound of the flute,
To go to the mountain of Yahweh, to the Rock of Israel.
30 And Yahweh will cause [aa]His splendid voice to be heard,
And the [ab]descending of His arm to be seen in raging anger,
And in the flame of a consuming fire
In cloudburst, downpour, and hailstones.
31 For (BQ)at the voice of Yahweh (BR)Assyria will be dismayed,
When He strikes with the (BS)rod.
32 And every [ac]blow of the [ad](BT)appointed staff,
Which Yahweh will cause to rest upon him,
Will be with the music of (BU)tambourines and lyres;
And in battles, (BV)waving weapons He will fight them.
33 For [ae](BW)Topheth has long been ready,
Indeed, it has been prepared for the king.
He has made it deep and large,
[af]A pyre of fire with plenty of wood;
The (BX)breath of Yahweh, like a torrent of (BY)brimstone, sets it afire.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 30:1 Lit pour out a drink offering
- Isaiah 30:2 Lit My mouth
- Isaiah 30:6 Or burden of
- Isaiah 30:6 Lit them
- Isaiah 30:6 Lit shoulders
- Isaiah 30:7 Lit this one
- Isaiah 30:7 M.T. They are Rahab (or arrogance), to sit still
- Isaiah 30:8 As in the versions; Heb Forever and ever
- Isaiah 30:10 Lit smooth things
- Isaiah 30:11 Lit Cause to cease from our presence
- Isaiah 30:14 Lit Crushed, it will not be spared
- Isaiah 30:14 Lit snatch up
- Isaiah 30:15 Lit returning
- Isaiah 30:17 Lit pole
- Isaiah 30:17 Or signal
- Isaiah 30:19 M.T. A people will inhabit Zion, Jerusalem
- Isaiah 30:21 Lit saying, “This
- Isaiah 30:22 Lit it, “Go out”
- Isaiah 30:23 Lit your
- Isaiah 30:23 Lit fatness
- Isaiah 30:24 Lit one winnows
- Isaiah 30:25 Lit canals, streams of water
- Isaiah 30:26 Lit of His blow
- Isaiah 30:27 Lit uplifting
- Isaiah 30:28 Lit sifting of the worthless
- Isaiah 30:29 Lit the song
- Isaiah 30:30 Lit the majesty of His voice
- Isaiah 30:30 Lit descent
- Isaiah 30:32 Lit passing
- Isaiah 30:32 Lit staff of foundation
- Isaiah 30:33 The place of human sacrifice to Molech
- Isaiah 30:33 Lit Its pile
Isaiah 30
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Futility of Reliance on Egypt
30 Woe to the rebellious children, says the Lord,
who carry out a plan but not mine;
who make an alliance but against my will,
adding sin to sin;(A)
2 who set out to go down to Egypt
without asking for my counsel,
to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh
and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt.(B)
3 Therefore the protection of Pharaoh shall become your shame,
and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt your humiliation.(C)
4 For though his officials are at Zoan
and his envoys reach Hanes,(D)
5 everyone comes to shame
through a people that cannot profit them,
that brings neither help nor profit,
only shame and disgrace.(E)
6 An oracle concerning the animals of the Negeb.
Through a land of trouble and distress,
of lioness and roaring[a] lion,
of viper and flying serpent,
they carry their riches on the backs of donkeys
and their treasures on the humps of camels
to a people that cannot profit them.(F)
7 For Egypt’s help is worthless and empty;
therefore I have called her,
“Rahab who sits still.”[b](G)
A Rebellious People
8 Go now, write it before them on a tablet,
and inscribe it on a scroll,
so that it may be for the time to come
as a witness forever.(H)
9 For they are a rebellious people,
faithless children,
children who will not hear
the instruction of the Lord;(I)
10 who say to the seers, “Do not see,”
and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us what is right;
speak to us smooth things;
prophesy illusions;(J)
11 leave the way; turn aside from the path;
let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.”(K)
12 Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel:
Because you reject this word
and put your trust in oppression and deceit
and rely on them,(L)
13 therefore this iniquity shall become for you
like a break in a high wall, bulging out and about to collapse,
whose crash comes suddenly, in an instant;(M)
14 its breaking is like that of a potter’s vessel
that is smashed so ruthlessly
that among its fragments not a sherd is found
for taking fire from the hearth
or dipping water out of the cistern.(N)
15 For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:
In returning and rest you shall be saved;
in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.
But you refused(O) 16 and said,
‘No! We will flee upon horses’—
therefore you shall flee!
and, ‘We will ride upon swift steeds’—
therefore your pursuers shall be swift!(P)
17 A thousand shall flee at the threat of one;
at the threat of five you shall flee
until you are left
like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain,
like a signal on a hill.(Q)
God’s Promise to Zion
18 Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you;
therefore he will rise up to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
blessed are all those who wait for him.(R)
19 O people in Zion, inhabitants of Jerusalem, you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when he hears it, he will answer you.(S) 20 Though the Lord may give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself any longer, but your eyes shall see your Teacher.(T) 21 And when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”(U) 22 Then you will defile your silver-covered idols and your gold-plated images. You will scatter them like impure things; you will say to them, “Away with you!”(V)
23 He will give rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and grain, the produce of the ground, will be rich and plenteous. On that day your cattle will graze in broad pastures,(W) 24 and the oxen and donkeys that till the ground will eat silage that has been winnowed with shovel and fork. 25 On every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water—on a day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. 26 Moreover, the light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, like the light of seven days, on the day when the Lord binds up the injuries of his people and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.(X)
Judgment on Assyria
27 See, the name of the Lord comes from far away,
his anger burning and his burden heavy;[c]
his lips are full of indignation,
and his tongue is like a devouring fire;(Y)
28 his breath is like an overflowing stream
that reaches up to the neck—
to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction
and to place on the jaws of the peoples a bridle that leads them astray.(Z)
29 You shall have a song as in the night when a holy festival is kept and gladness of heart, as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel.(AA) 30 And the Lord will cause his majestic voice to be heard and the descending blow of his arm to be seen, in furious anger and a flame of devouring fire, with a cloudburst and tempest and hailstones.(AB) 31 The Assyrian will be terror-stricken at the voice of the Lord when he strikes with his rod.(AC) 32 And every stroke of the staff of punishment[d] that the Lord lays upon him will be to the sound of timbrels and lyres with dancing;[e] with brandished arm he will fight with him.(AD) 33 For his burning place[f] has long been prepared, also for the king;[g] its pyre is made deep and wide, with fire and wood in abundance; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of sulfur, kindles it.(AE)
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New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.