Isaiah 31

CHAPTER 31

Woe to Those Who Go Down to Egypt

¹Woe to those who go down to ^aEgypt for help

And ^brely on horses,

And trust in chariots because they are many

And in horsemen because they are very mighty,

But they do not have ^cregard for the ^dHoly One of Israel, nor seek Yahweh!

²Yet He also is ^awise and will ^bbring about an evil demise

And does ^cnot turn His words aside,

But will arise against the house of ^devildoers

And against the help of the ^eworkers of iniquity.

³Now the Egyptians are ^amen and not God,

And their ^bhorses are flesh and not spirit;

So Yahweh will ^cstretch out His hand,

And ^dhe who helps will stumble,

And he who is helped will fall,

And all of them will come to an end together.

⁴For thus says Yahweh to me,

“As the ^alion or the young lion growls over its prey,

Against which a multitude of shepherds is called out,

And it will not be dismayed at their voice nor afflicted at their noise,

So will Yahweh of hosts come down to wage ^bwar on Mount Zion and on its hill.”

⁵Like ¹flying ^abirds so Yahweh of hosts will defend Jerusalem.

He will ^bdefend and deliver it;

He will pass over and provide a way of escape.

^6aReturn to Him against whom ¹you have ^bdeeply rebelled, O sons of Israel.

⁷For in that day every man will ^areject his silver idols and his gold idols, which your ^bhands have made for you as ^ca sin.

⁸And the ^aAssyrian will fall by a sword not of man,

And a ^bsword not of man will devour him.

So he will ^1cflee from the sword,

And his choice men will become ^dforced laborers.

⁹“His ^arock will pass away because of terror,

And his princes will be dismayed at the ^bstandard,”

Declares Yahweh, whose ^cfire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.