Isaiah 31–33

31Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help, and rely on horses, and trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very strong, but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek Jehovah! ²Yet he also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his words, but will arise against the house of the evil-doers, and against the help of them that work iniquity. ³Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit: and when Jehovah shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall stumble, and he that is helped shall fall, and they all shall be consumed together.

⁴For thus saith Jehovah unto me, As the lion and the young lion growling over his prey, if a multitude of shepherds be called forth against him, will not be dismayed at their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so will Jehovah of hosts come down to fight upon mount Zion, and upon the hill thereof. ⁵As birds hovering, so will Jehovah of hosts protect Jerusalem; he will protect and deliver it, he will pass over and preserve it. ⁶Turn ye unto him from whom ye have deeply revolted, O children of Israel. ⁷For in that day they shall cast away every man his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a sin. ⁸And the Assyrian shall fall by the sword, not of man; and the sword, not of men, shall devour him; and he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall become subject to taskwork. ⁹And his rock shall pass away by reason of terror, and his princes shall be dismayed at the ensign, saith Jehovah, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem.

32Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in justice. ²And a man shall be as a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest, as streams of water in a dry place, as the shade of a great rock in a weary land. ³And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken. ⁴And the heart of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly. ⁵The fool shall be no more called noble, nor the churl said to be bountiful. ⁶For the fool will speak folly, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise profaneness, and to utter error against Jehovah, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and to cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. ⁷And the instruments of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the meek with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right. ⁸But the noble deviseth noble things; and in noble things shall he continue.

⁹Rise up, ye women that are at ease, and hear my voice; ye careless daughters, give ear unto my speech. ¹⁰For days beyond a year shall ye be troubled, ye careless women; for the vintage shall fail, the ingathering shall not come. ¹¹Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones; strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins. ¹²They shall smite upon the breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine. ¹³Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city. ¹⁴For the palace shall be forsaken; the populous city shall be deserted; the hill and the watch-tower shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks; ¹⁵until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness become a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest.

¹⁶Then justice shall dwell in the wilderness; and righteousness shall abide in the fruitful field. ¹⁷And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and confidence for ever. ¹⁸And my people shall abide in a peaceable habitation, and in safe dwellings, and in quiet resting-places. ¹⁹But it shall hail in the downfall of the forest; and the city shall be utterly laid low. ²⁰Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth the feet of the ox and the ass.

33Woe to thee that destroyest, and thou wast not destroyed; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! When thou hast ceased to destroy, thou shalt be destroyed; and when thou hast made an end of dealing treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee. ²O Jehovah, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou our arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble. ³At the noise of the tumult the peoples are fled; at the lifting up of thyself the nations are scattered. ⁴And your spoil shall be gathered as the caterpillar gathereth: as locusts leap shall men leap upon it. ⁵Jehovah is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with justice and righteousness. ⁶And there shall be stability in thy times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge: the fear of Jehovah is thy treasure.

⁷Behold, their valiant ones cry without; the ambassadors of peace weep bitterly. ⁸The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: the enemy hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth not man. ⁹The land mourneth and languisheth; Lebanon is confounded and withereth away; Sharon is like a desert; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves. ¹⁰Now will I arise, saith Jehovah; now will I lift up myself; now will I be exalted. ¹¹Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath is a fire that shall devour you. ¹²And the peoples shall be as the burnings of lime, as thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire.

¹³Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might. ¹⁴The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling hath seized the godless ones: Who among us can dwell with the devouring fire? who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings? ¹⁵He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from taking a bribe, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from looking upon evil: ¹⁶He shall dwell on high; his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks; his bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.

¹⁷Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold a land that reacheth afar. ¹⁸Thy heart shall muse on the terror: Where is he that counted, where is he that weighed the tribute? where is he that counted the towers? ¹⁹Thou shalt not see the fierce people, a people of a deep speech that thou canst not comprehend, of a strange tongue that thou canst not understand. ²⁰Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnites: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tent that shall not be removed, the stakes whereof shall never be plucked up, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken. ²¹But there Jehovah will be with us in majesty, a place of broad rivers and streams, wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby. ²²For Jehovah is our judge, Jehovah is our lawgiver, Jehovah is our king; he will save us. ²³Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not strengthen the foot of their mast, they could not spread the sail: then was the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame took the prey. ²⁴And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.