Isaiah 30

CHAPTER 30

Alliance with Egypt Condemned

¹“Woe to the ^arebellious children,” declares Yahweh,

“Who ^bexecute counsel, but not Mine,

And ^1cmake an alliance, but not of My Spirit,

In order to add sin to sin,

²Who ^ago down to Egypt—

But did not ^bask ¹Me—

^cTo find strength in the strong defense of Pharaoh

And to take refuge in the shadow of Egypt!

³“Therefore the strong defense of Pharaoh will be ^ayour shame

And the refuge in the shadow of Egypt, your dishonor.

⁴“For ^atheir princes are at Zoan

And their messengers reach Hanes.

⁵“Everyone will be ^aashamed because of a people who cannot profit them,

Who are ^bnot for help or profit, but for shame and also for reproach.”

⁶The ¹oracle concerning the ^abeasts of the ^bNegev.

Through a land of ^cdistress and anguish,

From ²where come lioness and lion, viper and ^dflying fiery serpent,

They ^ecarry their wealth on the ³backs of young donkeys

And their treasures on ^fcamels’ humps,

To a people who cannot profit them;

⁷Even Egypt, whose ^ahelp is vain and empty.

Therefore, I have called ¹her

“^2bRahab who has ceased.”

⁸Now go, ^awrite it on a tablet before them

And inscribe it on a scroll,

That it may be in the time to come

¹As a witness forever.

⁹For this is a ^arebellious people, ^bfalse sons,

Sons who are not willing to ^clisten

To the law of Yahweh,

¹⁰Who say to the ^aseers, “You must not see,”

And to those who have visions, “You must not ^bbehold visions for us of what is right,

^cSpeak to us ¹pleasant words,

Behold visions of illusions.

¹¹“Get out of the way, ^aturn aside from the path,

^1bCease speaking before us about the Holy One of Israel.”

¹²Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel,

“^aSince you have rejected this word

And have put your trust in ^boppression and deviousness and have relied on them,

¹³Therefore this ^ainiquity will be to you

Like a ^bbreach about to fall,

A bulge in a high wall,

Whose breaking comes ^csuddenly in an instant,

¹⁴Whose breaking is like the breaking of a ^apotter’s jar,

¹So ruthlessly shattered

That a potsherd will not be found among its pieces

To ²take fire from a hearth

Or to scoop water from a cistern.”

¹⁵For thus Lord Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, has said,

“In ¹repentance and ^arest you will be saved,

In ^bquietness and trust is your might.”

But you were not willing,

¹⁶And you said, “No, for we will flee on ^ahorses,”

Therefore you shall flee!

“And we will ride on swift horses,”

Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift.

^17aOne thousand will flee at the threat of one man;

You will flee at the threat of five,

Until you are left as a ¹flag on a mountain top

And as a ²standard on a hill.

Yahweh Is Gracious and Just

¹⁸Therefore Yahweh ^awaits with longing to be gracious to you,

And therefore He is on ^bhigh to have compassion on you.

For Yahweh is a ^cGod of justice;

How blessed are all those who ^dwait for Him.

¹⁹¹O people in Zion, ^ainhabitant in Jerusalem, you will ^bweep no longer. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will ^canswer you.

²⁰The Lord has given you ^abread of distress and water of oppression; He, your Teacher will no longer ^bhide Himself, but your eyes will see your Teacher.

²¹And your ears will hear a word behind you, “¹This is the ^away, walk in it,” whenever you ^bturn to the right or to the left.

²²And you will defile your graven ^aimages overlaid with your silver, and your molten ^bimages plated with your gold. You will scatter them as an impure thing and say to ¹them, “^cBe gone!”

²³Then He will ^agive you rain for ¹the seed which you will sow in the ground, and bread from the produce of the ground, and it will be ²rich and fat; on that day ^byour livestock will graze in a roomy pasture.

²⁴Also the oxen and the donkeys which work the ground will eat salted fodder, which ¹has been ^awinnowed with shovel and fork.

²⁵And it will be that on every lofty mountain and on ^aevery lifted up hill there will be ¹streams running with water on the day of the great ^bslaughter, when the towers fall.

^26aAnd the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, on the day ^bYahweh binds up the ^cfracture of His people and ^dheals the bruise ¹He has inflicted.

²⁷Behold, ^athe name of Yahweh comes from afar;

^bBurning is His anger and heavy is His ¹smoke;

His lips are filled with ^cindignation

And His tongue is like a ^dconsuming fire;

²⁸His ^abreath is like an overflowing torrent,

Which ^breaches to the neck,

To ^cshake the nations back and forth in a ¹sieve of worthlessness,

And to put in the jaws of the peoples ^dthe bridle which staggers one to ruin.

²⁹You will have ¹songs as in the night when you set yourself apart as holy for the festival,

And gladness of heart as when one marches to the sound of the flute,

To go to the mountain of Yahweh, to the Rock of Israel.

³⁰And Yahweh will cause ¹His splendid voice to be heard,

And the ²descending of His arm to be seen in raging anger,

And in the flame of a consuming fire

In cloudburst, downpour, and hailstones.

³¹For ^aat the voice of Yahweh ^bAssyria will be dismayed,

When He strikes with the ^crod.

³²And every ¹blow of the ^2aappointed staff,

Which Yahweh will cause to rest upon him,

Will be with the music of ^btambourines and lyres;

And in battles, ^cwaving weapons He will fight them.

³³For ^1aTopheth has long been ready,

Indeed, it has been prepared for the king.

He has made it deep and large,

²A pyre of fire with plenty of wood;

The ^bbreath of Yahweh, like a torrent of ^cbrimstone, sets it afire.