Isaiah 30:12-18

English Standard Version

¹²Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel,
“Because you despise this word
    and trust in ^(A)oppression and perverseness
    and rely on them,
¹³therefore this iniquity shall be to you
    ^(B)like a breach in a high wall, bulging out and about to collapse,
    whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant;
¹⁴and its breaking is ^(C)like that of a potter's vessel
    that is smashed so ruthlessly
that among its fragments not a shard is found
    with which to take fire from the hearth,
    or to dip up water out of the cistern.”

¹⁵For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel,
“In ^(D)returning^[a] and ^(E)rest you shall be saved;
    in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”
But you were unwilling, ¹⁶and you said,
“No! We will flee upon ^(F)horses”;
    therefore you shall flee away;
and, “We will ride upon swift steeds”;
    therefore your pursuers shall be swift.
¹⁷^(G)A thousand shall flee at the threat of one;
    at the threat of five you shall flee,
till you are left
    like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain,
    like a signal on a hill.

The Lord Will Be Gracious

¹⁸Therefore the Lord ^(H)waits to be gracious to you,
and therefore he ^(I)exalts himself to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
^(J)blessed are all those who wait for him.