27 Behold, (A)the name of the Lord comes from a [a]remote place;
(B)His anger is burning and [b]dense with [c]smoke;
His lips are filled with (C)indignation,
And His tongue is like a (D)consuming fire;
28 His (E)breath is like an overflowing river,
Which (F)reaches to the neck,
To (G)shake the nations back and forth in a [d]sieve,
And to put in the jaws of the peoples (H)the bridle which leads astray.
29 You will have [e]songs as in the night when you keep the festival,
And gladness of heart as when one marches to the sound of the flute,
To go to the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel.
30 And the Lord will cause [f]His voice of authority to be heard,
And the [g]descending of His arm to be seen in fierce anger,
And in the flame of a consuming fire
In cloudburst, downpour, and hailstones.
31 For (I)at the voice of the Lord (J)Assyria will be terrified,
When He strikes with the (K)rod.
32 And every [h]blow of the [i](L)rod of punishment,
Which the Lord will lay on him,
Will be with the music of (M)tambourines and lyres;
And in battles, (N)brandishing weapons, He will fight them.
33 For [j](O)Topheth has long been ready,
Indeed, it has been prepared for the king.
He has made it deep and large,
[k]A pyre of fire with plenty of wood;
The (P)breath of the Lord, like a torrent of (Q)brimstone, sets it afire.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 30:27 Lit distance
  2. Isaiah 30:27 Lit heaviness
  3. Isaiah 30:27 Lit uplifting
  4. Isaiah 30:28 Lit sifting of the worthless
  5. Isaiah 30:29 Lit the song
  6. Isaiah 30:30 Lit the majesty of His voice
  7. Isaiah 30:30 Lit descent
  8. Isaiah 30:32 Lit passing
  9. Isaiah 30:32 Lit staff of foundation
  10. Isaiah 30:33 I.e., the place of human sacrifice to Molech
  11. Isaiah 30:33 Lit Its pile

27 See, the name of the Lord comes from far away,
    burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke;
his lips are full of fury,
    and his tongue is like a devouring fire.
28 His breath is like an overflowing torrent,
    and it rises right up to the neck,
to shake[a] the nations in the sieve of destruction,
    and to place in the jaws of the peoples a bit that leads them astray.

29 You will have songs as on nights when people celebrate a holy festival,[b] and gladness of heart, as when they set out with flutes to go to the Lord’s mountain, to the Rock of Israel.

God’s Judgment on Assyria

30 And the Lord will make heard—yes, he will make heard[c]—his majestic voice, and make his arm[d] seen descending in raging anger and in a flame of consuming fire, with a cloudburst, thunderstorm and hailstones. 31 Indeed, the Assyrians will be shattered at the Lord’s voice, when he strikes them with his scepter. 32 And every stroke of his punishing rod[e] that the Lord brings down on them will be to the sound of tambourines and harps, as he fights against her[f] in battle with a brandished arm.

33 For the Fire Pit[g] has long been prepared; truly it is for the king; it will indeed be made ready.[h] And[i] its pyre will be deep and wide, with abundant fire and wood. Like a stream of burning sulfur, the breath of the Lord will set it ablaze.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 30:28 So 1QIsaa; MT reads to sift; LXX reads to confuse
  2. Isaiah 30:29 So 1QIsaa; MT reads one celebrates a holy festival
  3. Isaiah 30:30 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read heard only once
  4. Isaiah 30:30 I.e. the Messiah
  5. Isaiah 30:32 So MTmss; 1QIsaa reads the rod of his foundation; MT reads the rod of foundation
  6. Isaiah 30:32 So 1QIsaa MT; MTqere, mss read against them
  7. Isaiah 30:33 Lit. the Topheth; i.e. a fire pit near Jerusalem where the Canaanite deity Molech was worshipped
  8. Isaiah 30:33 So 1QIsaa; MT reads it is made ready for the king; cf. LXX
  9. Isaiah 30:33 So 1QIsaa; MT lacks And