Isaiah 30

Futile Confidence in Egypt

30“Woe to the rebellious children,” says the Lord,

^a“Who take counsel, but not of Me,

And who ¹devise plans, but not of My Spirit,

^bThat they may add sin to sin;

^2cWho walk to go down to Egypt,

And ^dhave not asked My advice,

To strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh,

And to trust in the shadow of Egypt!

^3eTherefore the strength of Pharaoh

Shall be your shame,

And trust in the shadow of Egypt

Shall be your humiliation.

⁴For his princes were at ^fZoan,

And his ambassadors came to Hanes.

^5gThey were all ashamed of a people who could not benefit them,

Or be help or benefit,

But a shame and also a reproach.”

^6hThe ²burden against the beasts of the South.

Through a land of trouble and anguish,

From which came the lioness and lion,

ⁱThe viper and fiery flying serpent,

They will carry their riches on the backs of young donkeys,

And their treasures on the humps of camels,

To a people who shall not profit;

^7jFor the Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose.

Therefore I have called her

³Rahab-Hem-Shebeth.

A Rebellious People

⁸Now go, ^kwrite it before them on a tablet,

And note it on a scroll,

That it may be for time to come,

Forever and ever:

⁹That ^lthis is a rebellious people,

Lying children,

Children who will not hear the law of the Lord;

^10mWho say to the seers, “Do not see,”

And to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us right things;

ⁿSpeak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits.

¹¹Get out of the way,

Turn aside from the path,

Cause the Holy One of Israel

To cease from before us.”

¹²Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel:

“Because you ^odespise this word,

And trust in oppression and perversity,

And rely on them,

¹³Therefore this iniquity shall be to you

^pLike a breach ready to fall,

A bulge in a high wall,

Whose breaking ^qcomes suddenly, in an instant.

¹⁴And ^rHe shall break it like the breaking of the potter’s vessel,

Which is broken in pieces;

He shall not spare.

So there shall not be found among its fragments

⁴A shard to take fire from the hearth,

Or to take water from the cistern.”

¹⁵For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:

^s“In returning and rest you shall be saved;

In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.”

^tBut you would not,

¹⁶And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses”—

Therefore you shall flee!

And, “We will ride on swift horses”—

Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift!

^17uOne thousand shall flee at the threat of one,

At the threat of five you shall flee,

Till you are left as a ⁵pole on top of a mountain

And as a banner on a hill.

God Will Be Gracious

¹⁸Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be ^vgracious to you;

And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you.

For the Lord is a God of justice;

^wBlessed are all those who ^xwait for Him.

¹⁹For the people ^yshall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem;

You shall ^zweep no more.

He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry;

When He hears it, He will ^aanswer you.

²⁰And though the Lord gives you

^bThe bread of adversity and the water of ⁶affliction,

Yet ^cyour teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore,

But your eyes shall see your teachers.

²¹Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying,

“This is the way, walk in it,”

Whenever you ^dturn to the right hand

Or whenever you turn to the left.

^22eYou will also defile the covering of your images of silver,

And the ornament of your molded images of gold.

You will throw them away as an unclean thing;

^fYou will say to them, “Get away!”

^23gThen He will give the rain for your seed

With which you sow the ground,

And bread of the increase of the earth;

It will be ⁷fat and plentiful.

In that day your cattle will feed

In large pastures.

²⁴Likewise the oxen and the young donkeys that work the ground

Will eat cured fodder,

Which has been winnowed with the shovel and fan.

²⁵There will be ^hon every high mountain

And on every high hill

Rivers and streams of waters,

In the day of the ⁱgreat slaughter,

When the towers fall.

²⁶Moreover ^jthe light of the moon will be as the light of the sun,

And the light of the sun will be sevenfold,

As the light of seven days,

In the day that the Lord binds up the bruise of His people

And heals the stroke of their wound.

Judgment on Assyria

²⁷Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar,

Burning with His anger,

And His burden is heavy;

His lips are full of indignation,

And His tongue like a devouring fire.

^28kHis breath is like an overflowing stream,

^lWhich reaches up to the neck,

To sift the nations with the sieve of futility;

And there shall be ^ma bridle in the jaws of the people,

Causing them to err.

²⁹You shall have a song

As in the night when a holy festival is kept,

And gladness of heart as when one goes with a flute,

To come into ⁿthe mountain of the Lord,

To ⁸the Mighty One of Israel.

^30oThe Lord will cause His glorious voice to be heard,

And show the descent of His arm,

With the indignation of His anger

And the flame of a devouring fire,

With scattering, tempest, ^pand hailstones.

³¹For ^qthrough the voice of the Lord

Assyria will be ⁹beaten down,

As He strikes with the ^rrod.

³²And in every place where the staff of punishment passes,

Which the Lord lays on him,

It will be with tambourines and harps;

And in battles of ^sbrandishing He will fight with it.

^33tFor Tophet was established of old,

Yes, for the king it is prepared.

He has made it deep and large;

Its pyre is fire with much wood;

The breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone,

Kindles it.