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Warnings to the Stubborn Nation

30 The Lord said,

“·How terrible it will be for [L Woe to] these ·stubborn [rebellious] children.
They ·make plans [take counsel], but ·they don’t ask me to help them [L not of/from me].
    They make ·agreements with other nations [alliances], ·without asking [not of/from] my Spirit.
    They are adding ·more and more sins to themselves [L sin upon sin].
They go down to Egypt for help
    without asking me about it first.
They ·hope they will be saved by [L seek protection in the strength of] ·the king of Egypt [L Pharaoh];
    they ·want Egypt to protect them [L seek refuge in the shade of Egypt].
But ·hiding in Egypt [L the protection of Pharaoh] will bring you only shame;
    Egypt’s ·protection [L shade] will only disappoint you.
Your officers have gone to Zoan [C in northern Egypt; 19:11],
    and your messengers have gone to Hanes [C in southern Egypt],
but they will be put to shame,
    because Egypt is useless to them.
It will give no help and will be of no ·use [benefit; advantage];
    it will cause them only shame and ·embarrassment [disgrace].”

God’s Message to Judah

This is a ·message [prophecy; oracle; burden] about the ·animals [beasts] in ·southern Judah [the South; L the Negev]:

·Southern Judah is a dangerous place [L Though a land of trouble and distress]
    full of lions and lionesses,
    ·poisonous snakes [adders] and ·darting [or flying, fiery] ·snakes [serpents].
·The messengers travel through there with their wealth [L They carry their riches] on the backs of donkeys
    and their treasure on the ·backs [humps] of camels.
They carry them to a nation that cannot help them,
    to Egypt whose help is ·useless [L worthless and futile].
So I call that country Rahab [C mythical sea monster symbolic of chaos; 51:9; Ps. 89:10] the ·Do-Nothing [Harmless; Silenced].

Now write this on a ·sign [tablet] for the people,
    ·write this [inscribe it] on a scroll,
so that for the days to come
    this will be a witness forever.
These people are ·like children who lie and refuse to obey [L a rebellious nation, lying children];
    children who refuse to listen to the Lord’s ·teachings [law; instruction; L Torah].
10 They tell the seers [C another name for prophets],
    “Don’t see any more visions!”
They say to the prophets,
    “Don’t tell us ·the truth [what is right]!
Say ·things that will make us feel good [pleasant/smooth things];
    ·see only good things for us [L prophesy illusions].
11 Stop blocking our path.
    Get out of our way.
·Stop telling us about [or Rid us of]
    the Holy One of Israel [1:4].”

12 So this is what the Holy One of Israel says:

“You people have ·refused to accept [rejected; despise] this message
    and have depended on ·cruelty [oppression] and ·lies [deceit] to help you.
13 You are guilty of these things.
    So you will be like a high wall ·with cracks in it [cracked and bulging]
    that falls suddenly and ·breaks into small pieces [or in a flash/instant].
14 You will be like a clay jar that breaks,
    smashed into many pieces.
Those pieces will be too small
    to take coals from the fire
or to get water from a ·well [cistern].”

15 This is what the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel [1:4], says:

“If you ·come back to me [repent] and ·trust [rest in] me, you will be saved.
    If you will be calm and trust me, you will be strong.”
    But you ·don’t want to do that [refused; would not].
16 You say, “No, we need horses to ·run away on [flee].”
    So you will ·run away on horses [L flee].
You say, “We will ride away on fast horses.”
    So those who chase you will be fast.
17 One enemy will make threats,
    and a thousand of your men will ·run away [flee; Deut. 32:30].
Five enemies will make threats,
    and all of you will run from them.
You will be left alone like a flagpole on a hilltop,
    like a ·banner [standard; signal flag] on a hill.
18 The Lord ·wants [is waiting] to ·show his mercy [be gracious] to you.
    He ·wants to rise and [or is exalted and wants to] ·comfort [show compassion to] you.
The Lord is a ·fair [just] God,
    and everyone who waits for ·his help [L him] will be ·happy [blessed].

The Lord Will Help His People

19 You people who live on Mount Zion in Jerusalem will not ·cry [weep] anymore. The Lord will hear your crying, and he will ·comfort [be gracious to] you. When he hears you, he will ·help [answer] you. 20 The Lord has given you ·sorrow and hurt like the bread and water you ate every day [L the bread of adversity and the water of affliction]. ·He is your teacher; he will not continue to hide [or But your teachers will no longer be hidden] from you, but you will see your ·teacher [or teachers] with your own eyes. 21 If you go the wrong way—to the right or to the left—you will hear a voice behind you saying, “This is the right way. ·You should go this way [L Walk in it].” 22 Then you will ·ruin [destroy; desecrate] your statues covered with silver and gold. You will throw them away like ·filthy rags [unclean things; a menstrual cloth; Lev. 15:19–24] and say, “Go away!”

23 ·At that time [L In that day] the Lord will send rain for the seeds you ·plant [sow] in the ground, and the ground will grow food for you. The harvest will be ·rich [fat] and ·great [plentiful], and ·you will have plenty of food in the fields for your animals [L your cattle will graze in large pastures]. 24 Your oxen and donkeys that work the soil will have ·all the food they need [the best grain; seasoned feed]. ·You will have to use shovels and pitchforks to spread all their food […winnowed with fork and shovel]. 25 Every mountain and hill will have streams flowing with water. ·These things will happen after many people are killed and [L …in the day of great slaughter when] the towers are pulled down. 26 ·At that time [L In that day] the light from the moon will be bright like the sun, and the light from the sun will be seven times brighter than now, like the light of seven days. These things will happen when the Lord ·bandages his broken [binds up the broken limbs of his] people and heals the ·hurts he gave them [wounds he inflicted].

27 Look! The ·Lord [L the name of the Lord; C the name represents the person] comes from far away.
    His anger is like a fire with thick clouds of smoke.
His ·mouth is [lips are] filled with anger,
    and his tongue is like a ·burning [consuming; devouring] fire.
28 His breath is like a rushing river,
    which rises to the ·throat [neck].
He will ·judge [L sift; shake] the nations as if he is sifting them through the strainer of destruction.
    He will place in their mouths a bit that will lead them ·the wrong way [astray].
29 You will ·sing happy songs [L have a song]
    as on the nights you begin a festival.
You will be happy like people ·listening to [or playing; L going with] flutes
    as they come to the mountain of the Lord,
    to the Rock of Israel.
30 The Lord will cause all people to hear his ·great [majestic; glorious] voice
    and to see his powerful arm come down with anger,
like a ·great fire that burns everything [consuming/devouring fire],
    like a great storm with much rain and hail.
31 Assyria will be ·afraid [terrorized; or shattered] when it hears the voice of the Lord,
    because he will strike Assyria with a rod.
32 ·When the Lord punishes Assyria with a rod [L Every stroke he lays on them with his punishing club/rod],
    he will beat them to the music of tambourines and harps;
    he will fight against them with his mighty weapons.
33 ·Topheth [or The burning place; C perhaps located in the Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna); Jer. 7:31–32] has been made ready for a long time;
    it is ready for the king.
It was made deep and wide
    with much wood and fire.
And the Lord’s breath will come
    like a stream of ·burning sulfur [T brimstone] and set it on fire.

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;
(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!
(E)Therefore the strength of Pharaoh
Shall be your shame,
And trust in the shadow of Egypt
Shall be your humiliation.
For his princes were at (F)Zoan,
And his ambassadors came to Hanes.
(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.”

(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;
(J)For the Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose.
Therefore I have called her
[c]Rahab-Hem-Shebeth.

A Rebellious People

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:
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

  1. Isaiah 30:1 Lit. weave a web
  2. Isaiah 30:6 oracle, prophecy
  3. Isaiah 30:7 Lit. Rahab Sits Idle
  4. Isaiah 30:14 A piece of broken pottery
  5. Isaiah 30:17 A tree stripped of branches
  6. Isaiah 30:20 oppression
  7. Isaiah 30:23 rich
  8. Isaiah 30:29 Lit. the Rock
  9. Isaiah 30:31 Lit. shattered

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:

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!

Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.

For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes.

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.

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.

For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this, Their strength is to sit still.

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:

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.

Ay de la nación obstinada

30 El Señor ha dictado esta sentencia:

«Ay de los hijos rebeldes
    que ejecutan planes que no son míos,
que hacen alianzas contrarias a mi Espíritu,
    que amontonan pecado sobre pecado,
que bajan a Egipto sin consultarme,
    que se acogen a la protección de Faraón,
    y se refugian bajo la sombra de Egipto.
¡La protección de Faraón será su vergüenza!
    ¡El refugiarse bajo la sombra de Egipto, su humillación!
Aunque en Zoán tengan funcionarios,
    y a Janés hayan llegado sus mensajeros,
todos quedarán avergonzados
    por culpa de un pueblo que les resulta inútil,
que no les brinda ninguna ayuda ni provecho,
    sino solo vergüenza y frustración».

Esta es la sentencia que se ha dictado contra los animales del Néguev:

Por tierra de dificultades y angustias,
    de leones y leonas,
    de víboras y serpientes voladoras,
llevan ellos a lomos de burro
    las riquezas de esa nación inútil,
    y sus tesoros, sobre jorobas de camellos.
La ayuda de Egipto no sirve para nada;
    por eso la llamo: «Rahab, la inmóvil».

Ve, pues, delante de ellos,
    y grábalo en una tablilla.
Escríbelo en un rollo de cuero,
    para que en los días venideros
    quede como un testimonio eterno.
Porque este es un pueblo rebelde;
    son hijos engañosos,
hijos que no quieren escuchar
    la ley del Señor.
10 A los videntes les dicen:
    «¡No tengáis más visiones!»,
y a los profetas:
    «¡No nos sigáis profetizando la verdad!
Decidnos cosas agradables,
    profetizad ilusiones.
11 ¡Apartaos del camino,
    retiraos de esta senda,
y dejad de enfrentarnos
    con el Santo de Israel!»

12 Así dice el Santo de Israel:

«Vosotros habéis rechazado esta palabra;
    habéis confiado en la opresión y en la perversidad,
    y os habéis apoyado en ellas.
13 Por eso vuestra iniquidad se alzará frente a vosotros
    como un muro alto y agrietado,
    a punto de derrumbarse:
    ¡de repente, en un instante, se desplomará!
14 Vuestra iniquidad quedará hecha pedazos,
    hecha añicos sin piedad, como vasija de barro:
    ni uno solo de sus pedazos servirá
    para sacar brasas del fuego
    ni agua de una cisterna».

15 Porque así dice el Señor omnipotente, el Santo de Israel:

«En el arrepentimiento y la calma está vuestra salvación,
    en la serenidad y la confianza está vuestra fuerza,
    ¡pero vosotros no lo queréis reconocer!
16 Os resistís y decís: “Huiremos a caballo”.
    ¡Por eso, así tendréis que huir!
Decís: “Cabalgaremos sobre caballos veloces”.
    ¡Por eso, veloces serán vuestros perseguidores!
17 Ante la amenaza de uno solo,
    mil de vosotros saldrán huyendo;
ante la amenaza de cinco,
    huiréis todos vosotros.
Quedaréis abandonados
    como un mástil en la cima de una montaña,
    como una señal sobre una colina».

18 Por eso el Señor os espera, para tener piedad de vosotros;
    por eso se levanta para mostraros compasión.
Porque el Señor es un Dios de justicia.
    ¡Dichosos todos los que en él esperan!

19 Pueblo de Sión, que habitas en Jerusalén, ya no llorarás más. ¡El Dios de piedad se apiadará de ti cuando clames pidiendo ayuda! Tan pronto como te oiga, te responderá. 20 Aunque el Señor te dé pan de adversidad y agua de aflicción, tu maestro no se esconderá más; con tus propios ojos lo verás. 21 Ya sea que te desvíes a la derecha o a la izquierda, tus oídos percibirán a tus espaldas una voz que te dirá: «Este es el camino; síguelo». 22 Entonces profanarás tus ídolos enchapados en plata y tus imágenes revestidas de oro; los arrojarás como cosa impura, y les dirás: «¡Fuera de aquí!»

23 El Señor te enviará lluvia para la semilla que siembres en la tierra, y el alimento que produzca la tierra será suculento y abundante. En aquel día tu ganado pacerá en extensas praderas. 24 Los bueyes y los burros que trabajan la tierra comerán el mejor forraje, aventado con bieldo y horquilla. 25 En el día de la gran masacre, cuando caigan las torres, habrá arroyos y corrientes de agua en toda montaña alta y en toda colina elevada. 26 Cuando el Señor ponga una venda en la fractura de su pueblo y sane las heridas que le causó, brillará la luna como el sol, y será la luz del sol siete veces más intensa, como la luz de siete días enteros.

27 ¡Mirad! El nombre del Señor viene de lejos,
    con ardiente ira y densa humareda.
Sus labios están llenos de furor;
    su lengua es como un fuego consumidor.
28 Su aliento es cual torrente desbordado
    que llega hasta el cuello,
para zarandear a las naciones
    en la zaranda destructora.
Pone en las quijadas de los pueblos
    un freno que los desvía.
29 Vosotros cantaréis como en noche de fiesta solemne;
    vuestro corazón se alegrará,
como cuando uno sube con flautas
    a la montaña del Señor,
    a la Roca de Israel.
30 El Señor hará oír su majestuosa voz,
    y descargará su brazo:
con rugiente ira y llama de fuego consumidor,
    con aguacero, tormenta y granizo.
31 La voz del Señor quebrantará a Asiria;
    la golpeará con su bastón.
32 Cada golpe que el Señor descargue sobre ella
    con su vara de castigo
será al son de panderos y de arpas;
    agitando su brazo, peleará contra ellos.
33 Porque Tofet[a] está preparada desde hace tiempo;
    está dispuesta incluso para el rey.
Se ha hecho una pira de fuego profunda y ancha,
    con abundancia de fuego y leña;
el soplo del Señor la encenderá
    como un torrente de azufre ardiente.

Footnotes

  1. 30:33 Tofet. Lugar de incineración, cercano a Jerusalén.