Isaiah 31
Good News Translation
God Will Protect Jerusalem
31 Those who go to Egypt for help are doomed! They are relying on Egypt's vast military strength—horses, chariots, and soldiers. But they do not rely on the Lord, the holy God of Israel, or ask him for help. 2 He knows what he is doing! He sends disaster. He carries out his threats to punish evil people and those who protect them. 3 The Egyptians are not gods—they are only human. Their horses are not supernatural. When the Lord acts, the strong nation will crumble, and the weak nation it helped will fall. Both of them will be destroyed.
4 The Lord said to me, “No matter how shepherds yell and shout, they can't scare away a lion from an animal that it has killed; in the same way, there is nothing that can keep me, the Lord Almighty, from protecting Mount Zion. 5 Just as a bird hovers over its nest to protect its young, so I, the Lord Almighty, will protect Jerusalem and defend it.”
6 God said, “People of Israel, you have sinned against me and opposed me. But now, come back to me! 7 A time is coming when all of you will throw away the sinful idols you made out of silver and gold. 8 Assyria will be destroyed in war, but not by human power. The Assyrians will run from battle, and their young men will be made slaves. 9 Their emperor will run away in terror, and the officers will be so frightened that they will abandon their battle flags.” The Lord has spoken—the Lord who is worshiped in Jerusalem and whose fire burns there for sacrifices.
Isaiah 31
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Alliance with Egypt Is Futile
31 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help
and who rely on horses,
who trust in chariots because they are many
and in horsemen because they are very strong,
but do not look to the Holy One of Israel
or consult the Lord!(A)
2 Yet he is wise and can bring disaster;
he does not depart from his words
but will rise against the house of the evildoers
and against the helpers of those who work iniquity.(B)
3 The Egyptians are human and not God;
their horses are flesh and not spirit.
When the Lord stretches out his hand,
the helper will stumble, and the one helped will fall,
and they will all perish together.(C)
4 For thus the Lord said to me,
“As a lion or a young lion growls over its prey
and, when a band of shepherds is called out against it,
is not terrified by their shouting
or daunted at their noise,
so the Lord of hosts will come down
to fight upon Mount Zion and upon its hill.(D)
5 Like birds hovering overhead, so the Lord of hosts
will protect Jerusalem;
he will protect and deliver it;
he will spare and rescue it.”(E)
6 Turn back to him whom you[a] have deeply betrayed, O people of Israel.(F) 7 For on that day all of you shall throw away your idols of silver and idols of gold, which your hands have sinfully made for you.(G)
8 “Then the Assyrian shall fall by a sword not of mortals,
and a sword not of humans shall devour him;
he shall flee from the sword,
and his young men shall be put to forced labor.(H)
9 His rock shall pass away in terror,
and his officers desert the standard in panic,”
says the Lord, whose fire is in Zion
and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.(I)
Footnotes
- 31.6 Heb they
Isaiah 31
Complete Jewish Bible
31 Woe to those going down to Egypt
expecting help — relying on horses;
trusting in chariots, because they have many,
and in the strength of their cavalrymen —
but not looking to the Holy One of Isra’el,
not consulting Adonai.
2 But he too is wise and can bring disaster,
and he does not take back his words;
he will rise against the house of evildoers
and against the help of those who do wrong.
3 Now the Egyptians are men and not God,
and their horses flesh and not spirit.
So when Adonai stretches out his hand,
both he who helps will stumble,
and he who is helped will fall;
both will perish together.
4 For here is what Adonai says to me:
“As a lion or lion cub growls at its prey
and isn’t frightened away by the shouts
of hordes of shepherds called out against him —
their voices do not upset him —
so likewise Adonai-Tzva’ot will descend
to fight on Mount Tziyon, on its hill.
5 Like hovering birds, Adonai-Tzva’ot
will protect Yerushalayim.
In protecting it, he will rescue it;
in sparing it, he will save it.
6 People of Isra’el! Return to him
to whom you have been so deeply disloyal!
7 For on that day everyone will discard
his idols of silver and idols of gold,
which you made for yourselves
with your own sinful hands.
8 Then Ashur will fall by a sword not of mortals,
a sword, not of humans, will devour him;
he will flee before the sword,
and his young men will be put to forced labor.
9 His rock, out of terror, will pass away,
and his panicked officers will desert the standard.”
So says Adonai, whose fire is in Tziyon,
whose furnace is in Yerushalayim.
Isaiah 31
The Message
Impressed by Military Mathematics
31 1-3 Doom to those who go off to Egypt
thinking that horses can help them,
Impressed by military mathematics,
awed by sheer numbers of chariots and riders—
And to The Holy of Israel, not even a glance,
not so much as a prayer to God.
Still, he must be reckoned with,
a most wise God who knows what he’s doing.
He can call down catastrophe.
He’s a God who does what he says.
He intervenes in the work of those who do wrong,
stands up against interfering evildoers.
Egyptians are mortal, not God,
and their horses are flesh, not Spirit.
When God gives the signal, helpers and helped alike
will fall in a heap and share the same dirt grave.
* * *
4-5 This is what God told me:
“Like a lion, king of the beasts,
that gnaws and chews and worries its prey,
Not fazed in the least by a bunch of shepherds
who arrive to chase it off,
So God-of-the-Angel-Armies comes down
to fight on Mount Zion, to make war from its heights.
And like a huge eagle hovering in the sky,
God-of-the-Angel-Armies protects Jerusalem.
I’ll protect and rescue it.
Yes, I’ll hover and deliver.”
6-7 Repent, return, dear Israel, to the One you so cruelly abandoned. On the day you return, you’ll throw away—every last one of you—the no-gods your sinful hands made from metal and wood.
8-9 “Assyrians will fall dead,
killed by a sword-thrust but not by a soldier,
laid low by a sword not swung by a mortal.
Assyrians will run from that sword, run for their lives,
and their prize young men made slaves.
Terrorized, that rock-solid people will fall to pieces,
their leaders scatter hysterically.”
God’s Decree on Assyria.
His fire blazes in Zion,
his furnace burns hot in Jerusalem.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
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.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson