Isaiah 30–31

Woe to the Obstinate Nation

30“Woe^h 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;

²who go down to Egypt^k

without consulting^l me;

who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection,^m

to Egypt’s shade for refuge.ⁿ

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

Egypt’s shade^o will bring you disgrace.^p

⁴Though they have officials in Zoan^q

and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,

⁵everyone will be put to shame

because of a people^r useless^s to them,

who bring neither help^t nor advantage,

but only shame and disgrace.^u”

⁶A prophecy^v concerning the animals of the Negev:^w

Through a land of hardship and distress,^x

of lions^y and lionesses,

of adders and darting snakes,^z

the envoys carry their riches on donkeys’^a backs,

their treasures^b on the humps of camels,

to that unprofitable nation,

⁷to Egypt, whose help is utterly useless.^c

Therefore I call her

Rahab^d the Do-Nothing.

⁸Go now, write it on a tablet^e for them,

inscribe it on a scroll,^f

that for the days to come

it may be an everlasting witness.^g

⁹For these are rebellious^h people, deceitfulⁱ children,

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

¹⁰They say to the seers,^k

“See no more visions^l!”

and to the prophets,

“Give us no more visions of what is right!

Tell us pleasant things,^m

prophesy illusions.ⁿ

¹¹Leave this way,^o

get off this path,

and stop confronting^p us

with the Holy One^q of Israel!”

¹²Therefore this is what the Holy One^r of Israel says:

“Because you have rejected this message,^s

relied on oppression^t

and depended on deceit,

¹³this sin will become for you

like a high wall,^u cracked and bulging,

that collapses^v suddenly,^w in an instant.

¹⁴It 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.”

¹⁵This is what the Sovereign^y Lord, the Holy One^z of Israel, says:

“In repentance and rest^a is your salvation,

in quietness and trust^b is your strength,

but you would have none of it.^c

¹⁶You said, ‘No, we will flee^d on horses.’^e

Therefore you will flee!

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

Therefore your pursuers will be swift!

¹⁷A thousand will flee

at the threat of one;

at the threat of five^f

you will all flee^g away,

till you are left^h

like a flagstaff on a mountaintop,

like a bannerⁱ on a hill.”

¹⁸Yet the Lord longs^j 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

¹⁹People 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 answer^p you. ²⁰Although the Lord gives you the bread^q of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers^r will be hidden^s no more; with your own eyes you will see them. ²¹Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice^t behind you, saying, “This is the way;^u walk in it.” ²²Then you will desecrate your idols^v overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold;^w you will throw them away like a menstrual^x cloth and say to them, “Away with you!^y”

²³He will also send you rain^z for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich^a and plentiful.^b In that day^c your cattle will graze in broad meadows.^{d 24}The oxen^e and donkeys that work the soil will eat fodder^f and mash, spread out with fork^g and shovel. ²⁵In the day of great slaughter,^h when the towersⁱ fall, streams of water will flow^j on every high mountain and every lofty hill. ²⁶The 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 heals^l the wounds he inflicted.

²⁷See, the Name^m 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

²⁸His breath^q is like a rushing torrent,^r

rising up to the neck.^s

He shakes the nations in the sieve^t of destruction;

he places in the jaws of the peoples

a bit^u that leads them astray.

²⁹And you will sing

as on the night you celebrate a holy festival;^v

your hearts will rejoice^w

as when people playing pipes^x go up

to the mountain^y of the Lord,

to the Rock^z of Israel.

³⁰The Lord will cause people to hear his majestic voice^a

and will make them see his arm^b coming down

with raging anger^c and consuming fire,^d

with cloudburst, thunderstorm^e and hail.^f

³¹The voice of the Lord will shatter Assyria;^g

with his rod he will strike^h them down.

³²Every stroke the Lord lays on them

with his punishing clubⁱ

will be to the music of timbrels^j and harps,

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

³³Topheth^l 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 breath^m of the Lord,

like a stream of burning sulfur,ⁿ

sets it ablaze.^o

Woe to Those Who Rely on Egypt

31Woe^p to those who go down to Egypt^q for help,

who rely on horses,^r

who trust in the multitude of their chariots^s

and in the great strength of their horsemen,

but do not look to the Holy One^t of Israel,

or seek help from the Lord.^u

²Yet he too is wise^v 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.

³But the Egyptians^z are mere mortals and not God;^a

their horses^b are flesh and not spirit.

When the Lord stretches out his hand,^c

those who help will stumble,

those who are helped^d will fall;

all will perish together.^e

⁴This is what the Lord says to me:

“As a lion^f growls,

a great lion over its prey—

and though a whole band of shepherds^g

is called together against it,

it is not frightened by their shouts

or disturbed by their clamor^h—

so the Lord Almighty will come downⁱ

to do battle on Mount Zion and on its heights.

⁵Like birds hovering^j overhead,

the Lord Almighty will shield^k Jerusalem;

he will shield it and deliver^l it,

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

⁶Return,ⁿ you Israelites, to the One you have so greatly revolted^o against. ⁷For in that day^p every one of you will reject the idols of silver and gold^q your sinful hands have made.^r

⁸“Assyria^s will fall by no human sword;

a sword, not of mortals, will devour^t them.

They will flee before the sword

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

⁹Their stronghold^v will fall because of terror;

at the sight of the battle standard^w their commanders will panic,^x”

declares the Lord,

whose fire^y is in Zion,

whose furnace^z is in Jerusalem.