Isaiah 30
New Living Translation
Judah’s Worthless Treaty with Egypt
30 “What sorrow awaits my rebellious children,”
says the Lord.
“You make plans that are contrary to mine.
You make alliances not directed by my Spirit,
thus piling up your sins.
2 For without consulting me,
you have gone down to Egypt for help.
You have put your trust in Pharaoh’s protection.
You have tried to hide in his shade.
3 But by trusting Pharaoh, you will be humiliated,
and by depending on him, you will be disgraced.
4 For though his power extends to Zoan
and his officials have arrived in Hanes,
5 all who trust in him will be ashamed.
He will not help you.
Instead, he will disgrace you.”
6 This message came to me concerning the animals in the Negev:
The caravan moves slowly
across the terrible desert to Egypt—
donkeys weighed down with riches
and camels loaded with treasure—
all to pay for Egypt’s protection.
They travel through the wilderness,
a place of lionesses and lions,
a place where vipers and poisonous snakes live.
All this, and Egypt will give you nothing in return.
7 Egypt’s promises are worthless!
Therefore, I call her Rahab—
the Harmless Dragon.[a]
A Warning for Rebellious Judah
8 Now go and write down these words.
Write them in a book.
They will stand until the end of time
as a witness
9 that these people are stubborn rebels
who refuse to pay attention to the Lord’s instructions.
10 They tell the seers,
“Stop seeing visions!”
They tell the prophets,
“Don’t tell us what is right.
Tell us nice things.
Tell us lies.
11 Forget all this gloom.
Get off your narrow path.
Stop telling us about your
‘Holy One of Israel.’”
12 This is the reply of the Holy One of Israel:
“Because you despise what I tell you
and trust instead in oppression and lies,
13 calamity will come upon you suddenly—
like a bulging wall that bursts and falls.
In an instant it will collapse
and come crashing down.
14 You will be smashed like a piece of pottery—
shattered so completely that
there won’t be a piece big enough
to carry coals from a fireplace
or a little water from the well.”
15 This is what the Sovereign Lord,
the Holy One of Israel, says:
“Only in returning to me
and resting in me will you be saved.
In quietness and confidence is your strength.
But you would have none of it.
16 You said, ‘No, we will get our help from Egypt.
They will give us swift horses for riding into battle.’
But the only swiftness you are going to see
is the swiftness of your enemies chasing you!
17 One of them will chase a thousand of you.
Five of them will make all of you flee.
You will be left like a lonely flagpole on a hill
or a tattered banner on a distant mountaintop.”
Blessings for the Lord’s People
18 So the Lord must wait for you to come to him
so he can show you his love and compassion.
For the Lord is a faithful God.
Blessed are those who wait for his help.
19 O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem,
you will weep no more.
He will be gracious if you ask for help.
He will surely respond to the sound of your cries.
20 Though the Lord gave you adversity for food
and suffering for drink,
he will still be with you to teach you.
You will see your teacher with your own eyes.
21 Your own ears will hear him.
Right behind you a voice will say,
“This is the way you should go,”
whether to the right or to the left.
22 Then you will destroy all your silver idols
and your precious gold images.
You will throw them out like filthy rags,
saying to them, “Good riddance!”
23 Then the Lord will bless you with rain at planting time. There will be wonderful harvests and plenty of pastureland for your livestock. 24 The oxen and donkeys that till the ground will eat good grain, its chaff blown away by the wind. 25 In that day, when your enemies are slaughtered and the towers fall, there will be streams of water flowing down every mountain and hill. 26 The moon will be as bright as the sun, and the sun will be seven times brighter—like the light of seven days in one! So it will be when the Lord begins to heal his people and cure the wounds he gave them.
27 Look! The Lord is coming from far away,
burning with anger,
surrounded by thick, rising smoke.
His lips are filled with fury;
his words consume like fire.
28 His hot breath pours out like a flood
up to the neck of his enemies.
He will sift out the proud nations for destruction.
He will bridle them and lead them away to ruin.
29 But the people of God will sing a song of joy,
like the songs at the holy festivals.
You will be filled with joy,
as when a flutist leads a group of pilgrims
to Jerusalem, the mountain of the Lord—
to the Rock of Israel.
30 And the Lord will make his majestic voice heard.
He will display the strength of his mighty arm.
It will descend with devouring flames,
with cloudbursts, thunderstorms, and huge hailstones.
31 At the Lord’s command, the Assyrians will be shattered.
He will strike them down with his royal scepter.
32 And as the Lord strikes them with his rod of punishment,[b]
his people will celebrate with tambourines and harps.
Lifting his mighty arm, he will fight the Assyrians.
33 Topheth—the place of burning—
has long been ready for the Assyrian king;
the pyre is piled high with wood.
The breath of the Lord, like fire from a volcano,
will set it ablaze.
Isaiah 30
New American Standard Bible
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;
2 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!
3 Therefore the safety of Pharaoh will be (G)your shame,
And the shelter in the shadow of Egypt, your humiliation.
4 For (H)their officials are at Zoan
And their ambassadors arrive at Hanes.
5 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.”
6 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;
7 Even Egypt, whose (Q)help is vain and empty.
Therefore, I have called [e]her
“[f](R)Rahab who has been exterminated.”
8 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.
9 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
- Isaiah 30:1 Lit pour out a drink offering
- Isaiah 30:2 Lit My mouth
- Isaiah 30:6 Lit them
- Isaiah 30:6 Lit shoulders
- Isaiah 30:7 Lit this one
- Isaiah 30:7 MT They are Rahab or arrogance, to remain; i.e., Egypt, as a sea monster; see note Job 26:12
- Isaiah 30:8 Lit be
- Isaiah 30:8 As in most ancient versions; MT Forever and ever
- Isaiah 30:9 Lit are not willing
- Isaiah 30:9 Or Law
- Isaiah 30:10 Lit smooth things
- Isaiah 30:14 Lit Crushed, it will not be spared
- Isaiah 30:14 Lit snatch up
- Isaiah 30:15 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- Isaiah 30:15 Lit returning
- Isaiah 30:18 Lit waits
- Isaiah 30:18 Lit is on high
- Isaiah 30:18 Lit wait
- Isaiah 30:19 MT For a people will inhabit Zion, Jerusalem
- Isaiah 30:22 Lit it “Go out”
- Isaiah 30:23 Lit fatness
- Isaiah 30:23 Lit fat
- Isaiah 30:24 Lit sorrel-seasoned
- 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 distance
- Isaiah 30:27 Lit heaviness
- 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 I.e., the place of human sacrifice to Molech
- Isaiah 30:33 Lit Its pile
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 American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
