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Isaiah 31:2-4
New English Translation
Isaiah 31:2-4
New English Translation
2 Yet he too is wise[a] and he will bring disaster;
he does not retract his decree.[b]
He will attack the wicked nation,[c]
and the nation that helps[d] those who commit sin.[e]
3 The Egyptians are mere humans, not God;
their horses are made of flesh, not spirit.
The Lord will strike with[f] his hand;
the one who helps will stumble
and the one being helped will fall.
Together they will perish.[g]
The Lord Will Defend Zion
4 Indeed, this is what the Lord has said to me:
“The Lord will be like a growling lion,
like a young lion growling over its prey.[h]
Though a whole group of shepherds gathers against it,
it is not afraid of their shouts
or intimidated by their yelling.[i]
In this same way the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will descend
to do battle on Mount Zion and on its hill.[j]
Footnotes
- Isaiah 31:2 sn This statement appears to have a sarcastic tone. The royal advisers who are advocating an alliance with Egypt think they are wise, but the Lord possesses wisdom as well and will thwart their efforts.
- Isaiah 31:2 tn Heb “and he does not turn aside [i.e., “retract”] his words”; NIV “does not take back his words.”
- Isaiah 31:2 tn Heb “and he will arise against the house of the wicked.”
- Isaiah 31:2 sn That is, Egypt.
- Isaiah 31:2 tn Heb “and against the help of the doers of sin.”
- Isaiah 31:3 tn Heb “will extend”; KJV, ASV, NASB, NCV “stretch out.”
- Isaiah 31:3 tn Heb “together all of them will come to an end.”
- Isaiah 31:4 tn Heb “As a lion growls, a young lion over its prey.” In the Hebrew text the opening comparison is completed later in the verse (“so the Lord will come down…”), after a parenthesis describing how fearless the lion is. The present translation divides the verse into three sentences for English stylistic reasons.
- Isaiah 31:4 tn Heb “Though there is summoned against it fullness of shepherds, by their voice it is not terrified, and to their noise it does not respond.”
- Isaiah 31:4 tn Some prefer to translate the phrase לִצְבֹּא עַל (litsboʾ ʿal) as “fight against,” but the following context pictures the Lord defending, not attacking, Zion.
Isaiah 31:2-5
The Message
Isaiah 31:2-5
The Message
Impressed by Military Mathematics
31 1-3 Doom to those who go off to Egypt
thinking that horses can help them,
Impressed by military mathematics,
awed by sheer numbers of chariots and riders—
And to The Holy of Israel, not even a glance,
not so much as a prayer to God.
Still, he must be reckoned with,
a most wise God who knows what he’s doing.
He can call down catastrophe.
He’s a God who does what he says.
He intervenes in the work of those who do wrong,
stands up against interfering evildoers.
Egyptians are mortal, not God,
and their horses are flesh, not Spirit.
When God gives the signal, helpers and helped alike
will fall in a heap and share the same dirt grave.
* * *
4-5 This is what God told me:
“Like a lion, king of the beasts,
that gnaws and chews and worries its prey,
Not fazed in the least by a bunch of shepherds
who arrive to chase it off,
So God-of-the-Angel-Armies comes down
to fight on Mount Zion, to make war from its heights.
And like a huge eagle hovering in the sky,
God-of-the-Angel-Armies protects Jerusalem.
I’ll protect and rescue it.
Yes, I’ll hover and deliver.”
Isaiah 31:2-4
New International Version
Isaiah 31:2-4
New International Version
2 Yet he too is wise(A) and can bring disaster;(B)
he does not take back his words.(C)
He will rise up against that wicked nation,(D)
against those who help evildoers.
3 But the Egyptians(E) are mere mortals and not God;(F)
their horses(G) are flesh and not spirit.
When the Lord stretches out his hand,(H)
those who help will stumble,
those who are helped(I) will fall;
all will perish together.(J)
4 This is what the Lord says to me:
New English Translation (NET)
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The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
New International Version (NIV) 
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