Isaiah 30
Christian Standard Bible
Condemnation of the Egyptian Alliance
30 Woe to the rebellious children!(A)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
They carry out a plan,(B) but not mine;
they make an alliance,
but against my will,
piling sin on top of sin.
2 Without asking my advice
they set out to go down to Egypt(C)
in order to seek shelter under Pharaoh’s protection
and take refuge in Egypt’s shadow.(D)
3 But Pharaoh’s protection will become your shame,
and refuge in Egypt’s shadow your humiliation.(E)
4 For though his[a] princes are at Zoan(F)
and his messengers reach as far as Hanes,
5 everyone will be ashamed
because of a people who can’t help.
They are of no benefit, they are no help;
they are good for nothing but shame and disgrace.(G)
6 A pronouncement(H) concerning the animals of the Negev:[b]
Through a land of trouble and distress,
of lioness and lion,
of viper and flying serpent,(I)
they carry their wealth on the backs of donkeys
and their treasures on the humps of camels,
to a people who will not help them.
7 Egypt’s help is completely worthless;
therefore, I call her:
Rahab Who Just Sits.(J)
8 Go now, write it on a tablet in their presence
and inscribe it on a scroll;
it will be for the future,
forever and ever.
9 They are a rebellious people,
deceptive children,(K)
children who do not want to listen to the Lord’s instruction.
10 They say to the seers, “Do not see,”
and to the prophets,
“Do not prophesy the truth to us.
Tell us flattering things.(L)
Prophesy illusions.
11 Get out of the way!
Leave the pathway.
Rid us of the Holy One of Israel.”(M)
12 Therefore the Holy One of Israel says:
“Because you have rejected this message
and have trusted in oppression and deceit,
and have depended on them,
13 this iniquity(N) of yours will be
like a crumbling gap,
a bulge in a high wall
whose collapse will come in an instant—suddenly!
14 Its collapse will be like the shattering
of a potter’s jar,(O) crushed to pieces,
so that not even a fragment of pottery
will be found among its shattered remains—
no fragment large enough to take fire from a hearth
or scoop water from a cistern.”
15 For the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said:
“You will be delivered by returning and resting;
your strength will lie in quiet confidence.
But you are not willing.”
16 You say, “No!
We will escape on horses”—
therefore you will escape!—
and, “We will ride on fast horses”—
but those who pursue you will be faster.(P)
17 One thousand will flee at the threat of one,(Q)
at the threat of five you will flee,
until you remain
like a solitary pole on a mountaintop
or a banner on a hill.
The Lord’s Mercy to Israel
18 Therefore the Lord is waiting to show you mercy,
and is rising up to show you compassion,(R)
for the Lord is a just God.
All who wait patiently for him are happy.
19 For people will live on Zion in Jerusalem. You will never weep again; he will show favor to you at the sound of your outcry; as soon as he hears, he will answer you. 20 The Lord will give you meager bread and water during oppression,(S) but your Teacher[c] will not hide any longer. Your eyes will see your Teacher, 21 and whenever you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you: “This is the way. Walk in it.”(T) 22 Then you will defile your silver-plated idols and your gold-plated images. You will throw them away like menstrual cloths, and call them filth.
23 Then he will send rain for your seed that you have sown in the ground, and the food, the produce of the ground, will be rich and plentiful. On that day your cattle will graze in open pastures.(U) 24 The oxen and donkeys that work the ground will eat salted fodder scattered with winnowing shovel(V) and fork. 25 Streams flowing with water will be on every high mountain and every raised hill on the day of great slaughter when the towers fall. 26 The moonlight will be as bright as the sunlight, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter(W)—like the light of seven days—on the day(X) that the Lord bandages his people’s injuries and heals the wounds he inflicted.(Y)
Annihilation of the Assyrians
27 Look! The name of the Lord is coming from far away,
his anger burning and heavy with smoke.[d]
His lips are full of fury,
and his tongue is like a consuming fire.
28 His breath is like an overflowing torrent(Z)
that rises to the neck.(AA)
He comes to sift the nations in a sieve of destruction
and to put a bridle on the jaws of the peoples
to lead them astray.(AB)
29 Your singing will be like that
on the night of a holy festival,
and your heart will rejoice
like one who walks to the music of a flute,
going up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the Rock of Israel.(AC)
30 And the Lord will make the splendor of his voice heard
and reveal his arm(AD) striking in angry wrath
and a flame of consuming fire,
in driving rain, a torrent, and hailstones.
31 Assyria will be shattered by the voice of the Lord.
He will strike with a rod.
32 And every stroke of the appointed[e] staff
that the Lord brings down on him
will be to the sound of tambourines and lyres;
he will fight against him with brandished weapons.
33 Indeed! Topheth has been ready(AE)
for the king for a long time.
Its funeral pyre is deep and wide,
with plenty of fire and wood.
The breath of the Lord,(AF) like a torrent of burning sulfur,
kindles it.
Isaiah 30
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 30
Doomed Alliance with Egypt
1 Woe to the rebellious children, says the Lord,
who devise plans that were not in accord with my will,
who make alliances that were not inspired by me,
thereby adding sin upon sin.
2 They depart for Egypt
without seeking my counsel,
to take refuge in Pharaoh’s protection
and to take shelter in Egypt’s shadow.
3 Therefore, Pharaoh’s protection will be your shame,
and the shelter of Egypt’s shadow
will be your humiliation.
4 For though his princes are at Zoan
and his envoys have reached Hanes,[a]
5 everyone has been put to shame
by a people who cannot be of any use,
who afford them neither help nor profit
but only shame and disgrace.
6 An oracle on the beasts of the Negeb:
Through a land of hardship and distress,
of the lioness and the roaring lion,
of the viper and the flying serpent,
they carry their wealth on the backs of donkeys
and their treasures on the humps of camels
to a nation that cannot be of help to them.
7 For Egypt’s help is vain and futile;
therefore I have called her
“Rahab[b] the Worthless.”
8 [c]And so go forth and in their presence
write it on a scroll,
inscribe it on a tablet,
so that it may serve hereafter
as an eternal witness.
9 They are a rebellious people,
deceitful children,
children who refuse to listen
to the instruction of the Lord.
10 To the seers they say,
“Cease to have visions!”
To the prophets they demand,
“Do not prophesy to us what is right;
reveal to us pleasant things; prophesy illusions.
11 Cease with your warnings;
turn aside from the straight path.
We wish to hear nothing further
about the Holy One of Israel.”
12 Therefore, thus says the Holy One of Israel:
Because you have rejected this warning,
placing your trust in fraud and deceit
and relying on them,
13 this guilt of yours will become for you
like a crack appearing in a high wall
that bulges out and continues to widen
until suddenly, in an instant,
that wall will come hurtling to the ground.
14 It will crash and break like an earthenware pot,
shattered so completely
that among its fragments not a single shard can be found
to remove an ember from the hearth
or to scoop out water from a cistern.
15 For thus says the Lord God,
the Holy One of Israel:
Your salvation depends upon repentance and tranquility
and your strength upon quiet trust.
But you would have none of it.
16 “No,” you said. “We will flee upon horses.”
Therefore, you will flee.
“We will ride on swift horses,” you added.
But your pursuers will be even more swift.
17 A thousand will tremble at the threat of one;
if five threaten you, you will flee,
until you are left
like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain
or like a banner on a hill.
18 But even so the Lord is waiting to be gracious to you,
and he will rise up to grant you his compassion.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
blessed are all those who wait for him.
19 O people of Zion who dwell in Jerusalem,
you will weep no more.
The Lord will be gracious to you
when you cry out to him for help;
when he hears your call,
he will answer you.
20 Although the Lord may give you the bread of adversity
and the water of affliction,
he who is your Teacher will no longer hide himself,
but with your own eyes you will see your Teacher.
21 And when you stray from your path,
whether to the right or to the left,
you will hear his voice behind you,
sounding in your ears and saying,
“This is the way; continue to follow it.”
22 Then you will realize how unclean
are your silver-plated idols
and your gold-plated images.
You will cast them away like polluted rags
and shout at them, “Away with you!”
God’s Promise of Prosperity
23 God will send rain
for the seed you sow in the ground,
and the crops that the soil brings forth
will be rich and abundant.
When that day comes,
your cattle will graze in broad pastures.
24 The oxen and the donkeys that plow the land
will be fed with fodder
that has been winnowed with shovel and pitchfork.
25 On every lofty mountain and on every high hill
there will be streams of water
on the day of the great slaughter
when the strongholds fall.
26 The light of the moon will match that of the sun,
and the light of the sun itself
will be seven times brighter than before,
like the light of seven days compressed into one,
when the Lord binds up the wounds of his people
and heals the injuries inflicted by his blows.
Divine Punishment of Assyria
27 See, the name of the Lord approaches from afar,
with burning anger and dense clouds of smoke.
His lips are brimming over with anger,
and his tongue is like a devouring fire.
28 His breath is like a rushing flood
that reaches up to the neck;
it will winnow the nations with the sieve of destruction
and place on the jaws of the people
a bridle that will lead them astray.
29 But as for you, your songs will be
like those on the night of a holy festival,
and you will experience joy in your hearts
such as occurs when, to the sound of a flute,
people make a pilgrimage to the mountain of the Lord,
to the Rock of Israel.
30 Then the Lord will make his majestic voice heard
and allow his arm to be seen
as it descends in furious anger
and a flame of devouring fire
amid cloudbursts and thunderstorms and hail.
31 Assyria will be shattered at the voice of the Lord
as he strikes with his rod.
32 Every stroke that the Lord inflicts upon Assyria
with his punishing rod
will be accompanied by the sound
of timbrels and lyres
as he engages in battle
with his uplifted hand.
33 The pyre has been ready for a long time,
prepared for the king.
His pyre is deep and broad,
with fire and wood in abundance.
And the breath of the Lord, like a steam of sulfur,
will set it ablaze.[d]
Footnotes
- Isaiah 30:4 Hanes: like Tunis, a city in the Nile Delta and a residence of the pharaoh.
- Isaiah 30:7 Rahab: a monster in Eastern mythologies, often used in the Bible as a symbol for Egypt.
- Isaiah 30:8 These verses show that Isaiah made use of writing.
- Isaiah 30:33 A place for human sacrifices to the god Baal in the Valley of Ben-hinnom, outside Jerusalem.
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
