30 Eternal One: Oh, it will be so bad for you, My rebellious children,
        who enact a plan but not as I would have you do,
    Who form an alliance contrary to My Spirit,
        compounding sin, one bad choice after another.
²     You look to Egypt for security and help without consulting Me.
        You seem to think that Pharaoh is the answer,
    That Egypt will protect you from harm.
³     But because you cling to the earthly power of great nations,
        you will be disappointed and ashamed
    In the very thing you grasped—Pharaoh and Egypt.
⁴     For even though Egypt’s princes and ambassadors are in the delta region,
        in Zoan and Hanes,
⁵     They will be no help to you, no security or revenue for you.
        You’ll be embarrassed that you ever thought they would be
    And you will be shamed and disgraced for associating with them.

⁶ A message about the beasts of the Negev:
    Nevertheless, the Judeans go down to Egypt,
Crossing through a land of trouble and anguish,
    tracked by lionesses and lions, in danger of vipers and poisonous snakes,
All their precious valuables packed on the backs of donkeys and camels.
    They look to a people who can offer them nothing.

⁷ Eternal One: Egypt’s help is no help at all.
        Therefore I call Egypt “Rahab”—a storm that just sits there.

⁸ So, go on—write all this down on a tablet in their presence;
    inscribe it on a scroll as a permanent record
So people will know about it forever.
⁹ After all, these people are rebellious and distrustful.
    They won’t accept, don’t even pay attention
To what the Eternal has tried to tell them.
¹⁰ They say to those gifted with discernment and insight:
    “Stop with your visions. We’ve had enough of them.”
They say to the prophets, “Tell us only what we’d like to hear;
    save your truth-telling pessimism for someone else.
We want to hear flattery.
¹¹ And for goodness’ sake, stop talking about the Holy One of Israel.
    Get out of the gloomy rut you are in—
Your message is a bit stale—take a different path.”

¹² But the Holy One of Israel says,

Eternal One: Because you refused to accept this truth, My word and purpose,
        and trusted instead in deceit and manipulation, you will fall.
¹³     Your wrongdoing, your misplaced confidence and web of lies,
        will be your undoing.
    Like a breach in a wall that bulges out and suddenly gives way,
        your façade will come crashing down in an instant.
¹⁴     Your destruction will be as complete
        as when someone savagely smashes a piece of pottery.
    There won’t be even a single piece big enough
        to scoop an ember from the fire or skim a sip of water from a cistern.

Eternal One: In returning and rest, you will be saved.
        In quietness and trust you will find strength.

But you refused. ¹⁶     You couldn’t sit still;
        instead, you said, “No! We will ride out of here on horseback.
    Fast horses will give us an edge in battle.”
        But those who pursue you will be faster still.
¹⁷     When one person threatens, a thousand will panic and flee.
        When five terrorize you, all will run pell-mell,
    Until you are as conspicuous as a single flag standing high on a hill.

¹⁸     Meanwhile, the Eternal One yearns to give you grace and boundless compassion;
        that’s why He waits.
    For the Eternal is a God of justice.
        Those inclined toward Him, waiting for His help, will find happiness.

²⁷     See now, the name of the Eternal is echoing from far away.
        God is coming with a fury inescapable to set things right again.
    God is coming like fire and smoke;
        His lips, indignation—His tongue, consuming fire.
²⁸     God’s breath barrels down like hurricane rain,
        rising right up to the neck to rattle the nations
    And to subdue all peoples as a horse handler bridles a crazy mare for slaughter.
²⁹     In your newfound freedom, you will sing as if it’s a festival night.
        With lighthearted joy, you will dance your way toward Jerusalem,
    To the Eternal’s mountain, the Rock Israel can trust.
³⁰     Then the Eternal One will make unmistakable His absolute authority
        when all hear His voice, and God’s power will be obvious
    For all to see—God’s anger against the nations—that consuming fire
        like a cloudburst, thunderstorm, and hailstorm all at once.
³¹     And Assyria
        will cover its ears, terrified at the sound of God’s voice
    When He comes to strike them with His punishing rod.
³²     And every wave of the Eternal’s attacks against Assyria
        will be accompanied by a song with tambourines and harps.
    In battle after battle, He lifts his arm and fights against them.
³³     After all, long ago, God prepared the place of vindication,
        a funeral pyre for Assyria’s king laid deep and high,
    A large stack of wood just waiting for God’s breath like brimstone to ignite it.