The Folly of Not Trusting God

31 Woe to those awho go down to Egypt for help,

And brely on horses,

Who trust in chariots because they are many,

And in horsemen because they are very strong,

But who do not look to the Holy One of Israel,

cNor seek the Lord!

2 Yet He also is wise and will bring disaster,

And dwill not 1call back His words,

But will arise against the house of evildoers,

And against the help of those who work iniquity.

3 Now the Egyptians are men, and not God;

And their horses are flesh, and not spirit.

When the Lord stretches out His hand,

Both he who helps will fall,

And he who is helped will fall down;

They all will perish etogether.

God Will Deliver Jerusalem

4 For thus the Lord has spoken to me:

f“As a lion roars,

And a young lion over his prey

(When a multitude of shepherds is summoned against him,

He will not be afraid of their voice

Nor be disturbed by their noise),

So the Lord of hosts will come down

To fight for Mount Zion and for its hill.

5 gLike birds flying about,

So will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem.

Defending, He will also deliver it;

Passing over, He will preserve it.”

6 Return to Him against whom the children of Israel have hdeeply revolted. 7 For in that day every man shall ithrow away his idols of silver and his idols of gold—jsin, which your own hands have made for yourselves.

8 “Then Assyria shall kfall by a sword not of man,

And a sword not of mankind shall ldevour him.

But he shall flee from the sword,

And his young men shall become forced labor.

9 mHe shall cross over to his stronghold for fear,

And his princes shall be afraid of the banner,”

Says the Lord,

Whose fire is in Zion

And whose furnace is in Jerusalem.

A Reign of Righteousness

32 Behold, aa king will reign in righteousness,

And princes will rule with justice.

2 A man will be as a hiding place from the wind,

And ba 1cover from the tempest,

As rivers of water in a dry place,

As the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

3 cThe eyes of those who see will not be dim,

And the ears of those who hear will listen.

4 Also the heart of the 2rash will dunderstand knowledge,

And the tongue of the stammerers will be ready to speak plainly.

5 The foolish person will no longer be called 3generous,

Nor the miser said to be bountiful;

6 For the foolish person will speak foolishness,

And his heart will work einiquity:

To practice ungodliness,

To utter error against the Lord,

To keep the hungry unsatisfied,

And he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.

7 Also the schemes of the schemer are evil;

He devises wicked plans

To destroy the poor with flying words,

Even when the needy speaks justice.

8 But a 4generous man devises generous things,

And by generosity he shall stand.

Consequences of Complacency

9 Rise up, you women gwho are at ease,

Hear my voice;

You complacent daughters,

Give ear to my speech.

10 In a year and some days

You will be troubled, you complacent women;

For the vintage will fail,

The gathering will not come.

11 Tremble, you women who are at ease;

Be troubled, you complacent ones;

Strip yourselves, make yourselves bare,

And gird sackcloth on your waists.

12 People shall mourn upon their breasts

For the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.

13 hOn the land of my people will come up thorns and briers,

Yes, on all the happy homes in ithe joyous city;

14 jBecause the palaces will be forsaken,

The bustling city will be deserted.

The forts and towers will become lairs forever,

A joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks—

15 Until kthe Spirit is poured upon us from on high,

And lthe wilderness becomes a fruitful field,

And the fruitful field is counted as a forest.

The Peace of God’s Reign

16 Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,

And righteousness remain in the fruitful field.

17 mThe work of righteousness will be peace,

And the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever.

18 My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation,

In secure dwellings, and in quiet nresting places,

19 oThough hail comes down pon the forest,

And the city is brought low in humiliation.

20 Blessed are you who sow beside all waters,

Who send out freely the feet of qthe ox and the donkey.

A Prayer in Deep Distress

33 Woe to you awho plunder, though you have not been plundered;

And you who deal treacherously, though they have not dealt treacherously with you!

bWhen you cease plundering,

You will be cplundered;

When you make an end of dealing treacherously,

They will deal treacherously with you.

2 O Lord, be gracious to us;

dWe have waited for You.

Be 1their arm every morning,

Our salvation also in the time of trouble.

3 At the noise of the tumult the people eshall flee;

When You lift Yourself up, the nations shall be scattered;

4 And Your plunder shall be gathered

Like the gathering of the caterpillar;

As the running to and fro of locusts,

He shall run upon them.

5 fThe Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high;

He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.

6 Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times,

And the strength of salvation;

The fear of the Lord is His treasure.

7 Surely their valiant ones shall cry outside,

gThe ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly.

8 hThe highways lie waste,

The traveling man ceases.

iHe has broken the covenant,

2He has despised the 3cities,

He regards no man.

9 jThe earth mourns and languishes,

Lebanon is shamed and shriveled;

Sharon is like a wilderness,

And Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits.

Impending Judgment on Zion

10 “Now kI will rise,” says the Lord;

“Now I will be exalted,

Now I will lift Myself up.

11 lYou shall conceive chaff,

You shall bring forth stubble;

Your breath, as fire, shall devour you.

12 And the people shall be like the burnings of lime;

mLike thorns cut up they shall be burned in the fire.

13 Hear, nyou who are afar off, what I have done;

And you who are near, acknowledge My might.”

14 The sinners in Zion are afraid;

Fearfulness has seized the hypocrites:

“Who among us shall dwell with the devouring ofire?

Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?”

15 He who pwalks righteously and speaks uprightly,

He who despises the gain of oppressions,

Who gestures with his hands, refusing bribes,

Who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed,

And qshuts his eyes from seeing evil:

16 He will dwell on 4high;

His place of defense will be the fortress of rocks;

Bread will be given him,

His water will be sure.

The Land of the Majestic King

17 Your eyes will see the King in His rbeauty;

They will see the land that is very far off.

18 Your heart will meditate on terror:

s“Where is the scribe?

Where is he who weighs?

Where is he who counts the towers?”

19 tYou will not see a fierce people,

uA people of obscure speech, beyond perception,

Of a 5stammering tongue that you cannot understand.

20 vLook upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts;

Your eyes will see wJerusalem, a quiet home,

A tabernacle that will not be taken down;

xNot one of yits stakes will ever be removed,

Nor will any of its cords be broken.

21 But there the majestic Lord will be for us

A place of broad rivers and streams,

In which no 6galley with oars will sail,

Nor majestic ships pass by

22 (For the Lord is our zJudge,

The Lord is our aLawgiver,

bThe Lord is our King;

He will save us);

23 Your tackle is loosed,

They could not strengthen their mast,

They could not spread the sail.

Then the prey of great plunder is divided;

The lame take the prey.

24 And the inhabitant will not say, “I am sick”;

cThe people who dwell in it will be forgiven their iniquity.

Judgment on the Nations

34 Come anear, you nations, to hear;

And heed, you people!

bLet the earth hear, and all that is in it,

The world and all things that come forth from it.

2 For the indignation of the Lord is against all nations,

And His fury against all their armies;

He has utterly destroyed them,

He has given them over to the cslaughter.

3 Also their slain shall be thrown out;

dTheir stench shall rise from their corpses,

And the mountains shall be melted with their blood.

4 eAll the host of heaven shall be dissolved,

And the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll;

fAll their host shall fall down

As the leaf falls from the vine,

And as gfruit falling from a fig tree.

5 “For hMy sword shall be bathed in heaven;

Indeed it ishall come down on Edom,

And on the people of My curse, for judgment.

6 The jsword of the Lord is filled with blood,

It is made 1overflowing with fatness,

With the blood of lambs and goats,

With the fat of the kidneys of rams.

For kthe Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah,

And a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

7 The wild oxen shall come down with them,

And the young bulls with the mighty bulls;

Their land shall be soaked with blood,

And their dust 2saturated with fatness.”

8 For it is the day of the Lord’s lvengeance,

The year of recompense for the cause of Zion.

9 mIts streams shall be turned into pitch,

And its dust into brimstone;

Its land shall become burning pitch.

10 It shall not be quenched night or day;

nIts smoke shall ascend forever.

oFrom generation to generation it shall lie waste;

No one shall pass through it forever and ever.

11 pBut the 3pelican and the 4porcupine shall possess it,

Also the owl and the raven shall dwell in it.

And qHe shall stretch out over it

The line of confusion and the stones of emptiness.

12 They shall call its nobles to the kingdom,

But none shall be there, and all its princes shall be nothing.

13 And rthorns shall come up in its palaces,

Nettles and brambles in its fortresses;

sIt shall be a habitation of jackals,

A courtyard for ostriches.

14 The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the 5jackals,

And the wild goat shall bleat to its companion;

Also 6the night creature shall rest there,

And find for herself a place of rest.

15 There the arrow snake shall make her nest and lay eggs

And hatch, and gather them under her shadow;

There also shall the hawks be gathered,

Every one with her mate.

16 “Search from tthe book of the Lord, and read:

Not one of these shall fail;

Not one shall lack her mate.

For My mouth has commanded it, and His Spirit has gathered them.

17 He has cast the lot for them,

And His hand has divided it among them with a measuring line.

They shall possess it forever;

From generation to generation they shall dwell in it.”

The Future Glory of Zion

35 The awilderness and …