Isaiah 31–33

Warnings About Relying on Egypt

31How terrible it will be for those people who go down to Egypt for help.

They think horses will save them.

They think their many chariots

and strong horsemen will save them.

But they don’t trust God, the Holy One of Israel,

or ask the Lord for help.

²But he is wise and can bring them disaster.

He does not change his warnings.

He will rise up and fight against the evil people

and against those who try to help evil people.

³The Egyptians are only people and are not God.

Their horses are only animals and are not spirit.

The Lord will stretch out his arm,

and the one who helps will stumble,

and the people who wanted help will fall.

All of them will be destroyed together.

⁴The Lord says this to me:

“When a lion or a lion’s cub kills an animal to eat,

it stands over the dead animal and roars.

A band of shepherds

may be assembled against it,

but the lion will not be afraid of their yelling

or upset by their noise.

So the Lord All-Powerful will come down

to fight on Mount Zion and on its hill.

⁵The Lord All-Powerful will defend Jerusalem

like birds flying over their nests.

He will defend and save it;

he will ‘pass over’ and save Jerusalem.”

⁶You children of Israel, come back to the God you fought against. ⁷The time is coming when each of you will stop worshiping idols of gold and silver, which you sinned by making.

⁸“Assyria will be defeated by a sword, but not the sword of a person;

Assyria will be destroyed, but not by a person’s sword.

Assyria will run away from the sword of God,

but its young men will be caught and made slaves.

⁹They will panic, and their protection will be destroyed.

Their commanders will be terrified when they see God’s battle flag,”

says the Lord,

whose fire is in Jerusalem

and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.

A Good Kingdom Is Coming

32A king will rule in a way that brings justice,

and leaders will make fair decisions.

²Then each ruler will be like a shelter from the wind,

like a safe place in a storm,

like streams of water in a dry land,

like a cool shadow from a large rock in a hot land.

³People will look to the king for help,

and they will truly listen to what he says.

⁴People who are now worried will be able to understand.

Those who cannot speak clearly now will then be able to speak clearly and quickly.

⁵Fools will not be called great,

and people will not respect the wicked.

⁶A fool says foolish things,

and in his mind he plans evil.

A fool does things that are wicked,

and he says wrong things about the Lord.

A fool does not feed the hungry

or let thirsty people drink water.

⁷The wicked person uses evil like a tool.

He plans ways to take everything from the poor.

He destroys the poor with lies,

even when the poor person is in the right.

⁸But a good leader plans to do good,

and those good things make him a good leader.

Hard Times Are Coming

⁹You women who are calm now,

stand up and listen to me.

You women who feel safe now,

hear what I say.

¹⁰You women feel safe now,

but after one year you will be afraid.

There will be no grape harvest

and no summer fruit to gather.

¹¹Women, you are calm now, but you should shake with fear.

Women, you feel safe now, but you should tremble.

Take off your nice clothes

and put rough cloth around your waist to show your sadness.

¹²Beat your breasts in grief, because the fields that were pleasant are now empty.

Cry, because the vines that once had fruit now have no more grapes.

¹³Cry for the land of my people,

in which only thorns and weeds now grow.

Cry for the city that once was happy

and for all the houses that once were filled with joy.

¹⁴The palace will be empty;

people will leave the noisy city.

Strong cities and towers will be empty.

Wild donkeys will love to live there, and sheep will go there to eat.

Things Will Get Better

¹⁵This will continue until God pours his Spirit from above upon us.

Then the desert will be like a fertile field

and the fertile field like a forest.

¹⁶Justice will be found even in the desert,

and fairness will be found in the fertile fields.

¹⁷That fairness will bring peace,

and it will bring calm and safety forever.

¹⁸My people will live in peaceful places

and in safe homes

and in calm places of rest.

¹⁹Hail will destroy the forest,

and the city will be completely destroyed.

²⁰But you will be happy as you plant seeds near every stream

and as you let your cattle and donkeys wander freely.

Warnings to Assyria and Promises to God’s People

33How terrible it will be for you who destroy others

but have not been destroyed yet.

How terrible it will be for you, traitor,

whom no one has turned against yet.

When you stop destroying,

others will destroy you.

When you stop turning against others,

they will turn against you.

²Lord, be kind to us.

We have waited for your help.

Give us strength every morning.

Save us when we are in trouble.

³Your powerful voice makes people run away in fear;

your greatness causes the nations to run away.

⁴Like locusts, your enemies will take away the things you stole in war.

Like locusts rushing about, they will take your wealth.

⁵The Lord is very great, and he lives in a high place.

He fills Jerusalem with fairness and justice.

⁶He will be your safety.

He is full of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge.

Respect for the Lord is the greatest treasure.

⁷See, brave people are crying out in the streets;

those who tried to bring peace are weeping loudly.

⁸There is no one on the roads,

no one walking in the paths.

People have broken the agreements they made.

They refuse to believe the proof from witnesses.

No one respects other people.

⁹The land is sick and dying;

Lebanon is ashamed and dying.

The Plain of Sharon is dry like the desert,

and the trees of Bashan and Carmel are dying.

¹⁰The Lord says, “Now, I will stand up

and show my greatness.

Now, I will become important to the people.

¹¹You people do useless things

that are like hay and straw.

A destructive wind will burn you like fire.

¹²People will be burned until their bones become like lime;

they will burn quickly like dry thornbushes.”

¹³You people in faraway lands, hear what I have done.

You people who are near me, learn about my power.

¹⁴The sinners in Jerusalem are afraid;

those who are separated from God shake with fear.

They say, “Can any of us live through this fire that destroys?

Who can live near this fire that burns on and on?”

¹⁵A person who does what is right

and speaks what is right,

who refuses to take money unfairly,

who refuses to take money to hurt others,

who does not listen to plans of murder,

who refuses to think about evil—

¹⁶this is the kind of person who will be safe.

He will be protected as he would be in a high, walled city.

He will always have bread,

and he will not run out of water.

¹⁷Your eyes will see the king in his beauty.

You will see the land that stretches far away.

¹⁸You will think about the terror of the past:

“Where is that officer?

Where is the one who collected the taxes?

Where is the officer in charge of our defense towers?”

¹⁹No longer will you see those proud people from other countries,

whose strange language you couldn’t understand.

God Will Protect Jerusalem

²⁰Look at Jerusalem, the city of our festivals.

Look at Jerusalem, that beautiful place of rest.

It is like a tent that will never be moved;

the pegs that hold her in place will never be pulled up,

and her ropes will never be broken.

²¹There the Lord will be our Mighty One.

That land is a place with streams and wide rivers,

but there will be no enemy boats on those rivers;

no powerful ship will sail on them.

²²This is because the Lord is our judge.

The Lord makes our laws.

The Lord is our king.

He will save us.

²³You sailors from other lands, hear:

The ropes on your boats hang loose.

The mast is not held firm.

The sails are not spread open.

Then your great wealth will be divided.

There will be so much wealth that even the crippled people will carry off a share.

²⁴No one living in Jerusalem will say, “I am sick.”

The people who live there will have their sins forgiven.