Isaiah 31–33

Chapter 31

The Futility of Relying on Egypt

¹What sorrow awaits those who look to Egypt for help,

trusting their horses, chariots, and charioteers

and depending on the strength of human armies

instead of looking to the Lord,

the Holy One of Israel.

²In his wisdom, the Lord will send great disaster;

he will not change his mind.

He will rise against the wicked

and against their helpers.

³For these Egyptians are mere humans, not God!

Their horses are puny flesh, not mighty spirits!

When the Lord raises his fist against them,

those who help will stumble,

and those being helped will fall.

They will all fall down and die together.

⁴But this is what the Lord has told me:

“When a strong young lion

stands growling over a sheep it has killed,

it is not frightened by the shouts and noise

of a whole crowd of shepherds.

In the same way, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies

will come down and fight on Mount Zion.

⁵The Lord of Heaven’s Armies will hover over Jerusalem

and protect it like a bird protecting its nest.

He will defend and save the city;

he will pass over it and rescue it.”

⁶Though you are such wicked rebels, my people, come and return to the Lord. ⁷I know the glorious day will come when each of you will throw away the gold idols and silver images your sinful hands have made.

⁸“The Assyrians will be destroyed,

but not by the swords of men.

The sword of God will strike them,

and they will panic and flee.

The strong young Assyrians

will be taken away as captives.

⁹Even the strongest will quake with terror,

and princes will flee when they see your battle flags,”

says the Lord, whose fire burns in Zion,

whose flame blazes from Jerusalem.

Chapter 32

Israel’s Ultimate Deliverance

¹Look, a righteous king is coming!

And honest princes will rule under him.

²Each one will be like a shelter from the wind

and a refuge from the storm,

like streams of water in the desert

and the shadow of a great rock in a parched land.

³Then everyone who has eyes will be able to see the truth,

and everyone who has ears will be able to hear it.

⁴Even the hotheads will be full of sense and understanding.

Those who stammer will speak out plainly.

⁵In that day ungodly fools will not be heroes.

Scoundrels will not be respected.

⁶For fools speak foolishness

and make evil plans.

They practice ungodliness

and spread false teachings about the Lord.

They deprive the hungry of food

and give no water to the thirsty.

⁷The smooth tricks of scoundrels are evil.

They plot crooked schemes.

They lie to convict the poor,

even when the cause of the poor is just.

⁸But generous people plan to do what is generous,

and they stand firm in their generosity.

⁹Listen, you women who lie around in ease.

Listen to me, you who are so smug.

¹⁰In a short time—just a little more than a year—

you careless ones will suddenly begin to care.

For your fruit crops will fail,

and the harvest will never take place.

¹¹Tremble, you women of ease;

throw off your complacency.

Strip off your pretty clothes,

and put on burlap to show your grief.

¹²Beat your breasts in sorrow for your bountiful farms

and your fruitful grapevines.

¹³For your land will be overgrown with thorns and briers.

Your joyful homes and happy towns will be gone.

¹⁴The palace and the city will be deserted,

and busy towns will be empty.

Wild donkeys will frolic and flocks will graze

in the empty forts and watchtowers

¹⁵until at last the Spirit is poured out

on us from heaven.

Then the wilderness will become a fertile field,

and the fertile field will yield bountiful crops.

¹⁶Justice will rule in the wilderness

and righteousness in the fertile field.

¹⁷And this righteousness will bring peace.

Yes, it will bring quietness and confidence forever.

¹⁸My people will live in safety, quietly at home.

They will be at rest.

¹⁹Even if the forest should be destroyed

and the city torn down,

²⁰the Lord will greatly bless his people.

Wherever they plant seed, bountiful crops will spring up.

Their cattle and donkeys will graze freely.

Chapter 33

A Message about Assyria

¹What sorrow awaits you Assyrians, who have destroyed others

but have never been destroyed yourselves.

You betray others,

but you have never been betrayed.

When you are done destroying,

you will be destroyed.

When you are done betraying,

you will be betrayed.

²But Lord, be merciful to us,

for we have waited for you.

Be our strong arm each day

and our salvation in times of trouble.

³The enemy runs at the sound of your voice.

When you stand up, the nations flee!

⁴Just as caterpillars and locusts strip the fields and vines,

so the fallen army of Assyria will be stripped!

⁵Though the Lord is very great and lives in heaven,

he will make Jerusalem his home of justice and righteousness.

⁶In that day he will be your sure foundation,

providing a rich store of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge.

The fear of the Lord will be your treasure.

⁷But now your brave warriors weep in public.

Your ambassadors of peace cry in bitter disappointment.

⁸Your roads are deserted;

no one travels them anymore.

The Assyrians have broken their peace treaty

and care nothing for the promises they made before witnesses.

They have no respect for anyone.

⁹The land of Israel wilts in mourning.

Lebanon withers with shame.

The plain of Sharon is now a wilderness.

Bashan and Carmel have been plundered.

¹⁰But the Lord says: “Now I will stand up.

Now I will show my power and might.

¹¹You Assyrians produce nothing but dry grass and stubble.

Your own breath will turn to fire and consume you.

¹²Your people will be burned up completely,

like thornbushes cut down and tossed in a fire.

¹³Listen to what I have done, you nations far away!

And you that are near, acknowledge my might!”

¹⁴The sinners in Jerusalem shake with fear.

Terror seizes the godless.

“Who can live with this devouring fire?” they cry.

“Who can survive this all-consuming fire?”

¹⁵Those who are honest and fair,

who refuse to profit by fraud,

who stay far away from bribes,

who refuse to listen to those who plot murder,

who shut their eyes to all enticement to do wrong—

¹⁶these are the ones who will dwell on high.

The rocks of the mountains will be their fortress.

Food will be supplied to them,

and they will have water in abundance.

¹⁷Your eyes will see the king in all his splendor,

and you will see a land that stretches into the distance.

¹⁸You will think back to this time of terror, asking,

“Where are the Assyrian officers

who counted our towers?

Where are the bookkeepers

who recorded the plunder taken from our fallen city?”

¹⁹You will no longer see these fierce, violent people

with their strange, unknown language.

²⁰Instead, you will see Zion as a place of holy festivals.

You will see Jerusalem, a city quiet and secure.

It will be like a tent whose ropes are taut

and whose stakes are firmly fixed.

²¹The Lord will be our Mighty One.

He will be like a wide river of protection

that no enemy can cross,

that no enemy ship can sail upon.

²²For the Lord is our judge,

our lawgiver, and our king.

He will care for us and save us.

²³The enemies’ sails hang loose

on broken masts with useless tackle.

Their treasure will be divided by the people of God.

Even the lame will take their share!

²⁴The people of Israel will no longer say,

“We are sick and helpless,”

for the Lord will forgive their sins.