Woe to the Obstinate Nation

30 “Woeh to the obstinate children,”i

declares the Lord,

“to those who carry out plans that are not mine,

forming an alliance,j but not by my Spirit,

heaping sin upon sin;

2 who go down to Egyptk

without consultingl me;

who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection,m

to Egypt’s shade for refuge.n

3 But Pharaoh’s protection will be to your shame,

Egypt’s shadeo will bring you disgrace.p

4 Though they have officials in Zoanq

and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,

5 everyone will be put to shame

because of a peopler uselesss to them,

who bring neither helpt nor advantage,

but only shame and disgrace.u”

6 A prophecyv concerning the animals of the Negev:w

Through a land of hardship and distress,x

of lionsy and lionesses,

of adders and darting snakes,z

the envoys carry their riches on donkeys’a backs,

their treasuresb on the humps of camels,

to that unprofitable nation,

7 to Egypt, whose help is utterly useless.c

Therefore I call her

Rahabd the Do-Nothing.

8 Go now, write it on a tablete for them,

inscribe it on a scroll,f

that for the days to come

it may be an everlasting witness.g

9 For these are rebellioush people, deceitfuli children,

children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction.j

10 They say to the seers,k

“See no more visionsl!”

and to the prophets,

“Give us no more visions of what is right!

Tell us pleasant things,m

prophesy illusions.n

11 Leave this way,o

get off this path,

and stop confrontingp us

with the Holy Oneq of Israel!”

12 Therefore this is what the Holy Oner of Israel says:

“Because you have rejected this message,s

relied on oppressiont

and depended on deceit,

13 this sin will become for you

like a high wall,u cracked and bulging,

that collapsesv suddenly,w in an instant.

14 It will break in pieces like pottery,x

shattered so mercilessly

that among its pieces not a fragment will be found

for taking coals from a hearth

or scooping water out of a cistern.”

15 This is what the Sovereigny Lord, the Holy Onez of Israel, says:

“In repentance and resta is your salvation,

in quietness and trustb is your strength,

but you would have none of it.c

16 You said, ‘No, we will fleed on horses.’e

Therefore you will flee!

You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’

Therefore your pursuers will be swift!

17 A thousand will flee

at the threat of one;

at the threat of fivef

you will all fleeg away,

till you are lefth

like a flagstaff on a mountaintop,

like a banneri on a hill.”

18 Yet the Lord longsj to be gracious to you;

therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.k

For the Lord is a God of justice.l

Blessed are all who wait for him!m

19 People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more.n How gracious he will be when you cry for help!o As soon as he hears, he will answerp you. 20 Although the Lord gives you the breadq of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachersr will be hiddens no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voicet behind you, saying, “This is the way;u walk in it.” 22 Then you will desecrate your idolsv overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold;w you will throw them away like a menstrualx cloth and say to them, “Away with you!y”

23 He will also send you rainz for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be richa and plentiful.b In that dayc your cattle will graze in broad meadows.d 24 The oxene and donkeys that work the soil will eat fodderf and mash, spread out with forkg and shovel. 25 In the day of great slaughter,h when the towersi fall, streams of water will flowj on every high mountain and every lofty hill. 26 The moon will shine like the sun,k and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the Lord binds up the bruises of his people and healsl the wounds he inflicted.

27 See, the Namem of the Lord comes from afar,

with burning angern and dense clouds of smoke;

his lips are full of wrath,o

and his tongue is a consuming fire.p

28 His breathq is like a rushing torrent,r

rising up to the neck.s

He shakes the nations in the sievet of destruction;

he places in the jaws of the peoples

a bitu that leads them astray.

29 And you will sing

as on the night you celebrate a holy festival;v

your hearts will rejoicew

as when people playing pipesx go up

to the mountainy of the Lord,

to the Rockz of Israel.

30 The Lord will cause people to hear his majestic voicea

and will make them see his armb coming down

with raging angerc and consuming fire,d

with cloudburst, thunderstorme and hail.f

31 The voice of the Lord will shatter Assyria;g

with his rod he will strikeh them down.

32 Every stroke the Lord lays on them

with his punishing clubi

will be to the music of timbrelsj and harps,

as he fights them in battle with the blows of his arm.k

33 Tophethl has long been prepared;

it has been made ready for the king.

Its fire pit has been made deep and wide,

with an abundance of fire and wood;

the breathm of the Lord,

like a stream of burning sulfur,n

sets it ablaze.o

Woe to Those Who Rely on Egypt

31 Woep to those who go down to Egyptq for help,

who rely on horses,r

who trust in the multitude of their chariotss

and in the great strength of their horsemen,

but do not look to the Holy Onet of Israel,

or seek help from the Lord.u

2 Yet he too is wisev and can bring disaster;w

he does not take back his words.x

He will rise up against that wicked nation,y

against those who help evildoers.

3 But the Egyptiansz are mere mortals and not God;a

their horsesb are flesh and not spirit.

When the Lord stretches out his hand,c

those who help will stumble,

those who are helpedd will fall;

all will perish together.e

4 This is what the Lord says to me:

“As a lionf growls,

a great lion over its prey—

and though a whole band of shepherdsg

is called together against it,

it is not frightened by their shouts

or disturbed by their clamorh—

so the Lord Almighty will come downi

to do battle on Mount Zion and on its heights.

5 Like birds hoveringj overhead,

the Lord Almighty will shieldk Jerusalem;

he will shield it and deliverl it,

he will ‘pass over’m it and will rescue it.”

6 Return,n you Israelites, to the One you have so greatly revoltedo against. 7 For in that dayp every one of you will reject the idols of silver and goldq your sinful hands have made.r

8 “Assyrias will fall by no human sword;

a sword, not of mortals, will devourt them.

They will flee before the sword

and their young men will be put to forced labor.u

9 Their strongholdv will fall because of terror;

at the sight of the battle standardw their commanders will panic,x”

declares the Lord,

whose firey is in Zion,

whose furnacez is in Jerusalem.