Isaia 30
Conferenza Episcopale Italiana
Contro l'ambasciata in Egitto
30 Guai a voi, figli ribelli
-oracolo del Signore -
che fate progetti da me non suggeriti,
vi legate con alleanze che io non ho ispirate
così da aggiungere peccato a peccato.
2 Siete partiti per scendere in Egitto
senza consultarmi,
per mettervi sotto la protezione del faraone
e per ripararvi all'ombra dell'Egitto.
3 La protezione del faraone sarà la vostra vergogna
e il riparo all'ombra dell'Egitto la vostra confusione.
4 Quando i suoi capi saranno giunti a Tanis
e i messaggeri avranno raggiunto Canès,
5 tutti saran delusi di un popolo che non gioverà loro,
che non porterà né aiuto né vantaggio
ma solo confusione e ignominia.
Altro oracolo contro un'ambasciata
6 Oracolo sulle bestie del Negheb.
In una terra di angoscia e di miseria,
adatta a leonesse e leoni ruggenti,
a vipere e draghi volanti,
essi portano le loro ricchezze sul dorso di asini,
i tesori sulla gobba di cammelli
a un popolo che non giova a nulla.
7 Vano e inutile è l'aiuto dell'Egitto;
per questo lo chiamo:
Raab l'ozioso.
Testamento
8 Su, vieni, scrivi questo su una tavoletta davanti a loro,
incidilo sopra un documento,
perché resti per il futuro
in testimonianza perenne.
9 Poiché questo è un popolo ribelle, sono figli bugiardi,
figli che non vogliono ascoltare la legge del Signore.
10 Essi dicono ai veggenti: «Non abbiate visioni»
e ai profeti: «Non fateci profezie sincere,
diteci cose piacevoli, profetateci illusioni!
11 Scostatevi dalla retta via, uscite dal sentiero,
toglieteci dalla vista il Santo di Israele».
12 Pertanto dice il Santo di Israele:
«Poiché voi rigettate questo avvertimento
e confidate nella perversità e nella perfidia,
ponendole a vostro sostegno,
13 ebbene questa colpa diventerà per voi
come una breccia che minaccia di crollare,
che sporge su un alto muro,
il cui crollo avviene in un attimo, improvviso,
14 e si infrange come un vaso di creta,
frantumato senza misericordia,
così che non si trova tra i suoi frantumi
neppure un coccio
con cui si possa prendere fuoco dal braciere
o attingere acqua dalla cisterna».
15 Poiché dice il Signore Dio, il Santo di Israele:
«Nella conversione e nella calma sta la vostra salvezza,
nell'abbandono confidente sta la vostra forza».
Ma voi non avete voluto,
16 anzi avete detto: «No, noi fuggiremo su cavalli».
- Ebbene, fuggite! -
«Cavalcheremo su destrieri veloci».
Ebbene più veloci saranno i vostri inseguitori.
17 Mille si spaventeranno per la minaccia di uno,
per la minaccia di cinque vi darete alla fuga,
finché resti di voi qualcosa
come un palo sulla cima di un monte
e come un'asta sopra una collina.
Dio perdonerà
18 Eppure il Signore aspetta per farvi grazia,
per questo sorge per aver pietà di voi,
perché un Dio giusto è il Signore;
beati coloro che sperano in lui!
19 Popolo di Sion che abiti in Gerusalemme, tu non dovrai più piangere; a un tuo grido di supplica ti farà grazia; appena udrà, ti darà risposta. 20 Anche se il Signore ti darà il pane dell'afflizione e l'acqua della tribolazione, tuttavia non si terrà più nascosto il tuo maestro; i tuoi occhi vedranno il tuo maestro, 21 i tuoi orecchi sentiranno questa parola dietro di te: «Questa è la strada, percorretela», caso mai andiate a destra o a sinistra. 22 Considererai cose immonde le tue immagini ricoperte d'argento; i tuoi idoli rivestiti d'oro getterai via come un oggetto immondo. «Fuori!» tu dirai loro. 23 Allora egli concederà la pioggia per il seme che avrai seminato nel terreno; il pane, prodotto della terra, sarà abbondante e sostanzioso; in quel giorno il tuo bestiame pascolerà su un vasto prato. 24 I buoi e gli asini che lavorano la terra mangeranno biada saporita, ventilata con la pala e con il vaglio. 25 Su ogni monte e su ogni colle elevato, scorreranno canali e torrenti d'acqua nel giorno della grande strage, quando cadranno le torri. 26 La luce della luna sarà come la luce del sole e la luce del sole sarà sette volte di più, quando il Signore curerà la piaga del suo popolo e guarirà le lividure prodotte dalle sue percosse.
Contro l'Assiria
27 Ecco il nome del Signore venire da lontano;
ardente è la sua ira e gravoso il suo divampare;
le sue labbra traboccano sdegno,
la sua lingua è come un fuoco divorante.
28 Il suo soffio è come un torrente che straripa,
che giunge fino al collo.
Viene per vagliare i popoli con il vaglio distruttore
e per mettere alle mascelle dei popoli
una briglia che porta a rovina.
29 Voi innalzerete il vostro canto
come nella notte in cui si celebra una festa;
avrete la gioia nel cuore come chi parte al suono del flauto,
per recarsi al monte del Signore,
alla Roccia d'Israele.
30 Il Signore farà udire la sua voce maestosa
e mostrerà come colpisce il suo braccio
con ira ardente,
in mezzo a un fuoco divorante,
tra nembi, tempesta e grandine furiosa.
31 Poiché alla voce del Signore tremerà l'Assiria,
quando sarà percossa con la verga.
32 Ogni colpo del bastone punitivo,
che il Signore le farà piombare addosso,
sarà accompagnato con timpani e cetre.
Egli combatterà contro di essa con battaglie tumultuose;
33 poiché il Tofet è preparato da tempo,
esso è pronto anche per il re;
profondo e largo è il rogo,
fuoco e legna abbondano,
lo accenderà, come torrente di zolfo,
il soffio del Signore.
Isaiah 30
King James Version
30 Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:
2 That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt!
3 Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.
4 For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes.
5 They were all ashamed of a people that could not profit them, nor be an help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach.
6 The burden of the beasts of the south: into the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit them.
7 For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this, Their strength is to sit still.
8 Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever:
9 That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord:
10 Which 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 stay 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 at an instant.
14 And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters' vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit.
15 For thus saith the Lord God, 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 rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill.
18 And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.
19 For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee.
20 And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy 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 Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence.
23 Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, 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 ear the ground shall eat clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan.
25 And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers 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 the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the Lord cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
28 And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity: and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err.
29 Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the Lord, to the mighty One of Israel.
30 And the Lord shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones.
31 For through the voice of the Lord shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod.
32 And in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the Lord shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets and harps: and in battles of shaking will he fight with it.
33 For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.
Isaiah 30
New King James Version
Futile Confidence in Egypt
30 “Woe to the rebellious children,” says the Lord,
(A)“Who take counsel, but not of Me,
And who [a]devise plans, but not of My Spirit,
(B)That they may add sin to sin;
2 (C)Who walk to go down to Egypt,
And (D)have not asked My advice,
To strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh,
And to trust in the shadow of Egypt!
3 (E)Therefore the strength of Pharaoh
Shall be your shame,
And trust in the shadow of Egypt
Shall be your humiliation.
4 For his princes were at (F)Zoan,
And his ambassadors came to Hanes.
5 (G)They were all ashamed of a people who could not benefit them,
Or be help or benefit,
But a shame and also a reproach.”
6 (H)The [b]burden against the beasts of the South.
Through a land of trouble and anguish,
From which came the lioness and lion,
(I)The viper and fiery flying serpent,
They will carry their riches on the backs of young donkeys,
And their treasures on the humps of camels,
To a people who shall not profit;
7 (J)For the Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose.
Therefore I have called her
[c]Rahab-Hem-Shebeth.
A Rebellious People
8 Now go, (K)write it before them on a tablet,
And note it on a scroll,
That it may be for time to come,
Forever and ever:
9 That (L)this is a rebellious people,
Lying children,
Children who will not hear the law of the Lord;
10 (M)Who say to the seers, “Do not see,”
And to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us right things;
(N)Speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits.
11 Get out of the way,
Turn aside from the path,
Cause the Holy One of Israel
To cease from before us.”
12 Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel:
“Because you (O)despise this word,
And trust in oppression and perversity,
And rely on them,
13 Therefore this iniquity shall be to you
(P)Like a breach ready to fall,
A bulge in a high wall,
Whose breaking (Q)comes suddenly, in an instant.
14 And (R)He shall break it like the breaking of the potter’s vessel,
Which is broken in pieces;
He shall not spare.
So there shall not be found among its fragments
[d]A shard to take fire from the hearth,
Or to take water from the cistern.”
15 For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:
(S)“In returning and rest you shall be saved;
In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.”
(T)But you would not,
16 And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses”—
Therefore you shall flee!
And, “We will ride on swift horses”—
Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift!
17 (U)One thousand shall flee at the threat of one,
At the threat of five you shall flee,
Till you are left as a [e]pole on top of a mountain
And as a banner on a hill.
God Will Be Gracious
18 Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be (V)gracious to you;
And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
(W)Blessed are all those who (X)wait for Him.
19 For the people (Y)shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem;
You shall (Z)weep no more.
He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry;
When He hears it, He will (AA)answer you.
20 And though the Lord gives you
(AB)The bread of adversity and the water of [f]affliction,
Yet (AC)your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore,
But your eyes shall see your teachers.
21 Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying,
“This is the way, walk in it,”
Whenever you (AD)turn to the right hand
Or whenever you turn to the left.
22 (AE)You will also defile the covering of your images of silver,
And the ornament of your molded images of gold.
You will throw them away as an unclean thing;
(AF)You will say to them, “Get away!”
23 (AG)Then He will give the rain for your seed
With which you sow the ground,
And bread of the increase of the earth;
It will be [g]fat and plentiful.
In that day your cattle will feed
In large pastures.
24 Likewise the oxen and the young donkeys that work the ground
Will eat cured fodder,
Which has been winnowed with the shovel and fan.
25 There will be (AH)on every high mountain
And on every high hill
Rivers and streams of waters,
In the day of the (AI)great slaughter,
When the towers fall.
26 Moreover (AJ)the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun,
And the light of the sun will be sevenfold,
As the light of seven days,
In the day that the Lord binds up the bruise of His people
And heals the stroke of their wound.
Judgment on Assyria
27 Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar,
Burning with His anger,
And His burden is heavy;
His lips are full of indignation,
And His tongue like a devouring fire.
28 (AK)His breath is like an overflowing stream,
(AL)Which reaches up to the neck,
To sift the nations with the sieve of futility;
And there shall be (AM)a bridle in the jaws of the people,
Causing them to err.
29 You shall have a song
As in the night when a holy festival is kept,
And gladness of heart as when one goes with a flute,
To come into (AN)the mountain of the Lord,
To [h]the Mighty One of Israel.
30 (AO)The Lord will cause His glorious voice to be heard,
And show the descent of His arm,
With the indignation of His anger
And the flame of a devouring fire,
With scattering, tempest, (AP)and hailstones.
31 For (AQ)through the voice of the Lord
Assyria will be [i]beaten down,
As He strikes with the (AR)rod.
32 And in every place where the staff of punishment passes,
Which the Lord lays on him,
It will be with tambourines and harps;
And in battles of (AS)brandishing He will fight with it.
33 (AT)For Tophet was established of old,
Yes, for the king it is prepared.
He has made it deep and large;
Its pyre is fire with much wood;
The breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone,
Kindles it.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 30:1 Lit. weave a web
- Isaiah 30:6 oracle, prophecy
- Isaiah 30:7 Lit. Rahab Sits Idle
- Isaiah 30:14 A piece of broken pottery
- Isaiah 30:17 A tree stripped of branches
- Isaiah 30:20 oppression
- Isaiah 30:23 rich
- Isaiah 30:29 Lit. the Rock
- Isaiah 30:31 Lit. shattered
Isaiah 30
English Standard Version
Do Not Go Down to Egypt
30 “Ah, (A)stubborn children,” declares the Lord,
(B)“who carry out a plan, but not mine,
and who make (C)an alliance,[a] but not of my Spirit,
that they may add sin to sin;
2 (D)who set out to go down to Egypt,
without asking for my direction,
to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh
and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!
3 (E)Therefore shall the protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame,
and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your humiliation.
4 For though his officials are at (F)Zoan
and (G)his envoys reach (H)Hanes,
5 everyone comes to shame
through (I)a people that cannot profit them,
that brings neither help nor profit,
but shame and disgrace.”
6 An (J)oracle on (K)the beasts of (L)the Negeb.
Through a land of trouble and anguish,
from where come the lioness and the lion,
the adder and the (M)flying fiery serpent,
they carry their riches on the backs of donkeys,
and their treasures on the humps of camels,
to a people that cannot profit them.
7 Egypt's (N)help is worthless and empty;
therefore I have called her
(O)“Rahab who sits still.”
A Rebellious People
8 And now, go, (P)write it before them on a tablet
and inscribe it in a book,
that it may be for the time to come
as a witness forever.[b]
9 (Q)For they are a rebellious people,
lying children,
children unwilling to hear
the instruction of the Lord;
10 (R)who say to (S)the seers, “Do not see,”
and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us what is right;
speak to us (T)smooth things,
prophesy illusions,
11 leave the way, turn aside from the path,
let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.”
12 Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel,
“Because you despise this word
and trust in (U)oppression and perverseness
and rely on them,
13 therefore this iniquity shall be to you
(V)like a breach in a high wall, bulging out and about to collapse,
whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant;
14 and its breaking is (W)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.”
15 For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel,
“In (X)returning[c] and (Y)rest you shall be saved;
in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”
But you were unwilling, 16 and you said,
“No! We will flee upon (Z)horses”;
therefore you shall flee away;
and, “We will ride upon swift steeds”;
therefore your pursuers shall be swift.
17 (AA)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
18 Therefore the Lord (AB)waits to be gracious to you,
and therefore he (AC)exalts himself to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
(AD)blessed are all those who wait for him.
19 For a people shall dwell (AE)in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. 20 And though the Lord give you the (AF)bread of adversity and the (AG)water of affliction, (AH)yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. 21 (AI)And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is (AJ)the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. 22 Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. (AK)You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, “Be gone!”
23 (AL)And he will give (AM)rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and bread, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous. (AN)In that day your livestock will graze in large pastures, 24 and (AO)the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork. 25 And (AP)on every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water, in the day of the great slaughter, (AQ)when the towers fall. 26 (AR)Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when (AS)the Lord binds up (AT)the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.
27 Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar,
burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke;[d]
his lips are full of fury,
and his tongue is like a devouring fire;
28 (AU)his breath is (AV)like an overflowing stream
that reaches up to the neck;
to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction,
and to place on the jaws of the peoples (AW)a bridle that leads astray.
29 You shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept, and gladness of heart, (AX)as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to (AY)the mountain of the Lord, to (AZ)the Rock of Israel. 30 And the Lord (BA)will cause his majestic voice to be heard and the descending blow of his arm to be seen, in furious anger (BB)and a flame of devouring fire, with a cloudburst (BC)and storm and hailstones. 31 The Assyrians will be terror-stricken at the voice of the Lord, (BD)when he strikes with his rod. 32 And every stroke of the appointed staff that the Lord lays on them (BE)will be to the sound of tambourines and lyres. (BF)Battling with brandished arm, he will fight with them. 33 For (BG)a burning place[e] has long been prepared; indeed, for the king it is made ready, (BH)its pyre made deep and wide, with fire and wood in abundance; (BI)the breath of the Lord, like a stream of sulfur, kindles it.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 30:1 Hebrew who weave a web
- Isaiah 30:8 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Syriac, Targum, Vulgate, and Greek versions; Masoretic Text forever and ever
- Isaiah 30:15 Or repentance
- Isaiah 30:27 Hebrew in weight of uplifted clouds
- Isaiah 30:33 Or For Topheth
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
