Isaiah 31–33

Chapter 31

Help Not in Egypt but in God

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 strong,

But they do not ^clook to the ^dHoly One of Israel, nor seek the Lord!

²Yet He also is ^awise and will ^bbring disaster

And does ^cnot retract His words,

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 the Lord 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 the Lord to me,

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

Against which a band of shepherds is called out,

And he will not be terrified at their voice nor disturbed at their noise,

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

⁵Like ¹flying ^abirds so the Lord of hosts will protect Jerusalem.

He will ^bprotect and deliver it;

He will pass over and rescue it.

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

⁷For in that day every man will ^acast away his silver idols and his gold idols, which your ^bsinful hands have made for you as a sin.

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

And a ^bsword not of man will devour him.

So he will ^1cnot escape the sword,

And his young men will become ^dforced laborers.

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

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

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

Chapter 32

The Glorious Future

¹Behold, a ^aking will reign righteously

And princes will rule justly.

²Each will be like a ^arefuge from the wind

And a shelter from the storm,

Like ^1bstreams of water in a dry country,

Like the shade of a ²huge rock in ³a parched land.

³Then ^athe eyes of those who see will not be ¹blinded,

And the ears of those who hear will listen.

⁴The ¹mind of the ^ahasty will discern the ²truth,

And the tongue of the stammerers will hasten to speak clearly.

⁵No longer will the ^afool be called noble,

Or the rogue be spoken of as generous.

⁶For a fool speaks nonsense,

And his heart ^1ainclines toward wickedness:

To practice ^bungodliness and to speak error against the Lord,

To ^2ckeep the hungry person unsatisfied

And ³to withhold drink from the thirsty.

⁷As for a rogue, his weapons are evil;

He ^adevises wicked schemes

To ^bdestroy the afflicted with ¹slander,

^cEven though the needy one speaks ²what is right.

⁸But ^athe noble man devises noble plans;

And by noble plans he stands.

⁹Rise up, you ^awomen who are at ease,

And hear my voice;

^bGive ear to my word,

You complacent daughters.

¹⁰Within a year and a few days

You will be troubled, O complacent daughters;

^aFor the vintage is ended,

And the fruit gathering will not come.

¹¹Tremble, you women who are at ease;

^aBe troubled, you complacent daughters;

^bStrip, undress and put sackcloth on your waist,

^12aBeat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine,

^13aFor the land of my people in which thorns and briars shall come up;

Yea, for all the joyful houses and for the ^bjubilant city.

¹⁴Because ^athe palace has been abandoned, the ¹populated ^bcity forsaken.

²Hill and watch-tower have become ^ccaves forever,

A delight for ^dwild donkeys, a pasture for flocks;

¹⁵Until the ^aSpirit is poured out upon us from on high,

And the wilderness becomes a ^bfertile field,

And the fertile field is considered as a forest.

¹⁶Then ^ajustice will dwell in the wilderness

And righteousness will abide in the fertile field.

¹⁷And the ^awork of righteousness will be peace,

And the service of righteousness, ^bquietness and ¹confidence forever.

¹⁸Then my people will live in a ^apeaceful habitation,

And in secure dwellings and in undisturbed ^bresting places;

¹⁹And it will ^ahail when the ^bforest comes down,

And ^cthe city will be utterly laid low.

²⁰How ^ablessed will you be, you who sow beside all waters,

Who ¹let out freely the ox and the donkey.

Chapter 33

The Judgment of God

¹Woe ^ato you, O destroyer,

While you were not destroyed;

And he ^bwho is treacherous, while others did not deal treacherously with him.

As soon as you finish destroying, ^cyou will be destroyed;

As soon as you cease to deal treacherously, others will ^ddeal treacherously with you.

²O Lord, ^abe gracious to us; we have ^bwaited for You.

Be ¹their ^2cstrength every morning,

Our salvation also in the ^dtime of distress.

³At the sound of the tumult ^apeoples flee;

At the ^blifting up of Yourself nations disperse.

⁴Your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers;

As locusts rushing about men rush about on it.

⁵The Lord is ^aexalted, for He dwells on high;

He has ^bfilled Zion with justice and righteousness.

⁶And He will be the ^1astability of your times,

A ^bwealth of salvation, wisdom and ^cknowledge;

The ^dfear of the Lord is his treasure.

⁷Behold, their brave men cry in ¹the streets,

The ^2aambassadors of peace weep bitterly.

⁸The highways are desolate, ¹the ^atraveler has ceased,

He has ^bbroken the covenant, he has despised the cities,

He has no regard for man.

^9aThe land mourns and pines away,

^bLebanon is shamed and withers;

^cSharon is like a desert plain,

And Bashan and Carmel ¹lose their foliage.

¹⁰“Now ^aI will arise,” says the Lord,

“Now I will be exalted, now I will be lifted up.

¹¹“You have ^aconceived ¹chaff, you will give birth to stubble;

²My ^bbreath will consume you like a fire.

¹²“The peoples will be burned to lime,

^aLike cut thorns which are burned in the fire.

¹³“You who are far away, ^ahear what I have done;

And you who are near, ¹acknowledge My might.”

^14aSinners in Zion are terrified;

^bTrembling has seized the godless.

“Who among us can live with ^cthe consuming fire?

Who among us can live with ¹continual ^dburning?”

¹⁵He who ^awalks righteously and speaks with sincerity,

He who rejects ¹unjust gain

And shakes his hands so that they hold no bribe;

He who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed

And ^bshuts his eyes from looking upon evil;

¹⁶He will dwell on the heights,

^aHis refuge will be the ¹impregnable rock;

^bHis bread will be given him,

His water will be sure.

¹⁷Your eyes will see ^athe King in His beauty;

They will behold ^ba far-distant land.

¹⁸Your heart will meditate on ^aterror:

“Where is ^bhe who counts?

Where is he who weighs?

Where is he who counts the towers?”

¹⁹You will no longer see a fierce people,

A people of ^1aunintelligible speech ²which no one comprehends,

Of a stammering tongue ³which no one understands.

^20aLook upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts;

Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an ^bundisturbed habitation,

^cA tent which will not be folded;

Its stakes will never be pulled up,

Nor any of its cords be torn apart.

²¹But there the majestic One, the Lord, will be for us

A place of ^arivers and wide canals

On which no boat with oars will go,

And on which no mighty ship will pass—

²²For the Lord is our ^ajudge,

The Lord is ^bour lawgiver,

The Lord is ^cour king;

^dHe will save us—

²³Your tackle hangs slack;

It cannot hold the base of its mast firmly,

Nor spread out the sail.

Then the ^aprey of an abundant spoil will be divided;

^bThe lame will take the plunder.

²⁴And no resident will say, “I am ^asick”;

The people who dwell ¹there will be ^bforgiven their iniquity.