Judah Warned against Egyptian Alliance

30 “Woe to the (A)rebellious children,” declares the Lord,
“Who (B)execute a plan, but not Mine,
And [a](C)make an alliance, but not of My Spirit,
In order to add sin to sin;
Who (D)proceed down to Egypt
Without (E)consulting [b]Me,
(F)To take refuge in the safety of Pharaoh,
And to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!
Therefore the safety of Pharaoh will be (G)your shame,
And the shelter in the shadow of Egypt, your humiliation.
For (H)their officials are at Zoan
And their ambassadors arrive at Hanes.
Everyone will be (I)ashamed because of a people who do not benefit them,
Who are (J)not a help or benefit, but a source of shame and also disgrace.”

The pronouncement concerning the (K)animals of the (L)Negev:

Through a land of (M)distress and anguish,
From [c]where come lioness and lion, viper and (N)flying serpent,
They (O)carry their riches on the [d]backs of young donkeys,
And their treasures on (P)camels’ humps,
To a people who will not benefit them;
Even Egypt, whose (Q)help is vain and empty.
Therefore, I have called [e]her
[f](R)Rahab who has been exterminated.”
Now go, (S)write it on a tablet in their presence
And inscribe it on a scroll,
That it may [g]serve in the time to come
[h]As a witness forever.
For this is a (T)rebellious people, (U)false sons,
Sons who [i]refuse to (V)listen
To the [j]instruction of the Lord;
10 Who say to the (W)seers, “You must not see visions”;
And to the prophets, “You must not (X)prophesy the truth to us.
(Y)Speak to us [k]pleasant words,
Prophesy illusions.
11 Get out of the way, (Z)turn aside from the path,
(AA)Stop speaking before us about the Holy One of Israel!”

12 Therefore this is what the Holy One of Israel says:

(AB)Since you have rejected this word
And have put your trust in (AC)oppression and crookedness, and have relied on them,
13 Therefore this (AD)wrongdoing will be to you
Like a (AE)breach about to fall,
A bulge in a high wall,
Whose collapse comes (AF)suddenly in an instant,
14 Whose collapse is like the smashing of a (AG)potter’s jar,
[l]So ruthlessly shattered
That a shard will not be found among its pieces
To [m]take fire from a hearth
Or to scoop water from a cistern.”

15 For this is what the Lord [n]God, the Holy One of Israel, has said:

“In [o]repentance and (AH)rest you will be saved,
In (AI)quietness and trust is your strength.”
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 like a signal post on a mountain top,
And like a flag on a hill.

God Is Gracious and Just

18 Therefore the Lord [p](AL)longs to be gracious to you,
And therefore He [q]waits on (AM)high to have compassion on you.
For the Lord is a (AN)God of justice;
How blessed are all those who [r](AO)long for Him.

19 [s]For, you people in Zion, (AP)inhabitant in Jerusalem, you will (AQ)weep no longer. He will certainly be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will (AR)answer you. 20 Although the Lord has given you (AS)bread of deprivation and water of oppression, He, your Teacher, will no longer (AT)hide Himself, but your eyes will see your Teacher. 21 Your ears will hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the (AU)way, walk in it,” whenever you (AV)turn to the right or to the left. 22 And you will desecrate your carved (AW)images plated with silver, and your cast metal (AX)images plated with gold. You will scatter them as a filthy thing, and say to [t]them, “(AY)Be gone!”

23 Then He will (AZ)give you rain for your seed which you will sow in the ground, and bread from the yield of the ground, and it will be [u]rich and [v]plentiful; on that day (BA)your livestock will graze in a wide pasture. 24 Also the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat [w]seasoned feed, which [x]has been (BB)winnowed with shovel and pitchfork. 25 And on every lofty mountain and (BC)every high hill there will be [y]streams running with water on the day of the great (BD)slaughter, when the towers fall. 26 (BE)And the light of the full moon will be like 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)the Lord binds up the (BG)fracture of His people and (BH)heals the wound [z]He has inflicted.

27 Behold, (BI)the name of the Lord comes from a [aa]remote place;
(BJ)His anger is burning and [ab]dense with [ac]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 river,
Which (BN)reaches to the neck,
To (BO)shake the nations back and forth in a [ad]sieve,
And to put in the jaws of the peoples (BP)the bridle which leads astray.
29 You will have [ae]songs as in the night when you keep the festival,
And gladness of heart as when one marches to the sound of the flute,
To go to the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel.
30 And the Lord will cause [af]His voice of authority to be heard,
And the [ag]descending of His arm to be seen in fierce anger,
And in the flame of a consuming fire
In cloudburst, downpour, and hailstones.
31 For (BQ)at the voice of the Lord (BR)Assyria will be terrified,
When He strikes with the (BS)rod.
32 And every [ah]blow of the [ai](BT)rod of punishment,
Which the Lord will lay on him,
Will be with the music of (BU)tambourines and lyres;
And in battles, (BV)brandishing weapons, He will fight them.
33 For [aj](BW)Topheth has long been ready,
Indeed, it has been prepared for the king.
He has made it deep and large,
[ak]A pyre of fire with plenty of wood;
The (BX)breath of the Lord, like a torrent of (BY)brimstone, sets it afire.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 30:1 Lit pour out a drink offering
  2. Isaiah 30:2 Lit My mouth
  3. Isaiah 30:6 Lit them
  4. Isaiah 30:6 Lit shoulders
  5. Isaiah 30:7 Lit this one
  6. Isaiah 30:7 MT They are Rahab or arrogance, to remain; i.e., Egypt, as a sea monster; see note Job 26:12
  7. Isaiah 30:8 Lit be
  8. Isaiah 30:8 As in most ancient versions; MT Forever and ever
  9. Isaiah 30:9 Lit are not willing
  10. Isaiah 30:9 Or Law
  11. Isaiah 30:10 Lit smooth things
  12. Isaiah 30:14 Lit Crushed, it will not be spared
  13. Isaiah 30:14 Lit snatch up
  14. Isaiah 30:15 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
  15. Isaiah 30:15 Lit returning
  16. Isaiah 30:18 Lit waits
  17. Isaiah 30:18 Lit is on high
  18. Isaiah 30:18 Lit wait
  19. Isaiah 30:19 MT For a people will inhabit Zion, Jerusalem
  20. Isaiah 30:22 Lit it “Go out”
  21. Isaiah 30:23 Lit fatness
  22. Isaiah 30:23 Lit fat
  23. Isaiah 30:24 Lit sorrel-seasoned
  24. Isaiah 30:24 Lit one winnows
  25. Isaiah 30:25 Lit canals, streams of water
  26. Isaiah 30:26 Lit of His blow
  27. Isaiah 30:27 Lit distance
  28. Isaiah 30:27 Lit heaviness
  29. Isaiah 30:27 Lit uplifting
  30. Isaiah 30:28 Lit sifting of the worthless
  31. Isaiah 30:29 Lit the song
  32. Isaiah 30:30 Lit the majesty of His voice
  33. Isaiah 30:30 Lit descent
  34. Isaiah 30:32 Lit passing
  35. Isaiah 30:32 Lit staff of foundation
  36. Isaiah 30:33 I.e., the place of human sacrifice to Molech
  37. Isaiah 30:33 Lit Its pile

30 Woe to the rebellious children, saith Jehovah, that take counsel, but not of me; and that [a]make a league, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin, that set out to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to [b]strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to take refuge in the shadow of Egypt! Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the refuge in the shadow of Egypt your confusion. For their princes are at Zoan, and their ambassadors are come to Hanes. They shall all be ashamed because of a people that cannot profit them, that are not a help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach.

The [c]burden of the beasts of the South.

Through the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the lioness and the lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the humps of camels, to a people that shall not profit them. For Egypt helpeth in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I [d]called her Rahab that sitteth still.

Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come [e]for ever and ever. For it is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the [f]law of Jehovah; 10 that say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits, 11 get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us. 12 Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and rely thereon; 13 therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly in an instant. 14 And he shall break it as a potter’s vessel is broken, breaking it in pieces without sparing; so that there shall not be found among the pieces thereof a sherd wherewith to take fire from the hearth, or to dip up water out of the cistern.

15 For thus said the Lord Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength. And ye would not: 16 but ye said, No, for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift. 17 One thousand shall flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as [g]a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on a hill.

18 And therefore will Jehovah wait, that he may be gracious unto you; and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for Jehovah is a God of justice; blessed are all they that wait for him. 19 For [h]the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; thou shalt weep no more; he will surely be gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear, he will answer thee. 20 [i]And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy [j]teachers [k]be hidden anymore, but thine eyes shall see thy [l]teachers; 21 and thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it; when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left. 22 And ye shall defile the overlaying of thy graven images of silver, and the plating of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt [m]cast them away as an [n]unclean thing; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence.

23 And he will give the rain for thy seed, wherewith thou shalt sow the ground; and bread of the increase of the ground, and it shall be fat and plenteous. In that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures; 24 the oxen likewise and the young asses that till the ground shall eat [o]savory provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fork. 25 And there shall be upon every lofty mountain, and upon every high hill, brooks and streams of waters, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. 26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that Jehovah bindeth up the hurt of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.

27 Behold, the name of Jehovah cometh from far, burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue is as a devouring fire; 28 and his breath is as an overflowing stream, that reacheth even unto the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction: and a bridle that causeth to err shall be in the jaws of the peoples. 29 Ye shall have a song as in the night [p]when a holy feast is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come unto the mountain of Jehovah, to the Rock of Israel. 30 And Jehovah will cause his glorious voice to be heard, and will show the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and the flame of a devouring fire, with [q]a blast, and tempest, and hailstones. 31 For through the voice of Jehovah shall the Assyrian be dismayed; with his rod will he smite him. 32 And every [r]stroke of the [s]appointed staff, which Jehovah shall lay upon him, shall be with the sound of tabrets and harps; and in battles with the brandishing of his arm will he fight with them. 33 For a Topheth is prepared of old; yea, for the king it is made ready; he hath made it deep and large; the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of Jehovah, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 30:1 Or, pour out a drink-offering
  2. Isaiah 30:2 Or, flee to the stronghold of Pharaoh
  3. Isaiah 30:6 Or, oracle concerning
  4. Isaiah 30:7 Or, cried concerning this, They are but arrogancy: be still
  5. Isaiah 30:8 Or, as otherwise read, for a witness for ever
  6. Isaiah 30:9 Or, teaching
  7. Isaiah 30:17 Or, a pole
  8. Isaiah 30:19 Or, O people that dwellest in Zion at Jerusalem
  9. Isaiah 30:20 Or, And then will the Lord give you bread in adversity and water in affliction; and thy teachers shall not etc.
  10. Isaiah 30:20 Or, teacher
  11. Isaiah 30:20 Or, hide themselves
  12. Isaiah 30:20 Or, teacher
  13. Isaiah 30:22 Hebrew scatter.
  14. Isaiah 30:22 Hebrew menstruous.
  15. Isaiah 30:24 Hebrew salted.
  16. Isaiah 30:29 Or, when a feast is hallowed
  17. Isaiah 30:30 Or, crashing
  18. Isaiah 30:32 Hebrew passing.
  19. Isaiah 30:32 Or, staff of doom (Hebrew foundation)