Isaiah 30
1 Woe to the rebellious children, saith Jehovah, that take counsel, but not of me; and that make a league, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin,
Tragedy is coming to my defiant children, declares the Lord. You make plans that don't come from me; you make alliances against my wishes, adding sin to sin.
2 that set out to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to take refuge in the shadow of Egypt!
You go to Egypt without asking me, looking to Pharaoh for protection, hoping to find safety hiding behind Egypt.
3 Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the refuge in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.
But the protection of Pharaoh will be an embarrassment to you; hiding behind Egypt will only bring you humiliation.
4 For their princes are at Zoan, and their ambassadors are come to Hanes.
Even though he has officials at Zoan and his messengers reach Hanes,
5 They shall all be ashamed because of a people that cannot profit them, that are not a help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach.
the Egyptians will offend everyone because they are useless—they're no help and good for nothing, except for causing shame and bringing disgrace.
6 The burden of the beasts of the South. Through the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the lioness and the lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the humps of camels, to a people that shall not profit [them].
A message about the animals of the Negev. The messengers travel through a harsh and hostile land where lions and lionesses live, vipers and vicious snakes too. Their donkeys are burdened down with valuable gifts, their camels are loaded with treasure, to give to a worthless people that can't help.
7 For Egypt helpeth in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I called her Rahab that sitteth still.
Egypt's support is an empty breath of wind. That's why I call her Pride Sitting Down.
8 Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever.
Now go and write all this down on a tablet and on a scroll so that it will last forever and ever.
9 For it is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of Jehovah;
For they are a rebellious people, deceitful children, who refuse to listen to the Lord's instructions.
10 that say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits,
They tell people who see visions, “Stop seeing visions!” and to the prophets, “Don't give us prophecies about doing right—just tell us pleasant things and give us fake prophecies.
11 get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.
Stop telling us straight; go a different direction! We don't want to hear any more about the Holy One of Israel.”
12 Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and rely thereon;
So this is how the Holy One of Israel replies, Since you have rejected this message, and since you trust in oppression and believe in dishonesty,
13 therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly in an instant.
your punishment will suddenly fall on you, like a high wall that bulges out and collapses in an instant.
14 And he shall break it as a potter’s vessel is broken, breaking it in pieces without sparing; so that there shall not be found among the pieces thereof a sherd wherewith to take fire from the hearth, or to dip up water out of the cistern.
You will be smashed like a clay pot, broken into such tiny pieces that there won't be a big enough piece to pick up coals from a hearth or a little bit of water from a well.
15 For thus said the Lord Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength. And ye would not:
This is what the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, said, If you repent and patiently trust in me, you would be saved; you would be strong if you had such calm confidence. But you refused to do it.
16 but ye said, No, for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.
You replied, “No! We'll escape on horseback! We'll get away on fast horses!” But the fast ones will be the ones chasing you!
17 One thousand [shall flee] at the threat of one; at the threat of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on a hill.
Just one of them will chase after a thousand of you. Just five of them will make you all run away. All that will be left of you will look like a flag fluttering on the top of a mountain, a banner waving on a hill.
18 And therefore will Jehovah wait, that he may be gracious unto you; and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for Jehovah is a God of justice; blessed are all they that wait for him.
So the Lord waits, wanting to be kind to you, ready to act to show you mercy, for the Lord is a God who does what is right. All who wait for him are blessed.
19 For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; thou shalt weep no more; he will surely be gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear, he will answer thee.
People of Zion, you who live in Jerusalem, you won't have to weep any more. When you cry for help he will be kind to you. He will answer you immediately he hears you.
20 And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be hidden anymore, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers;
Even though the Lord will give you the bread of hardship to eat and the water of suffering to drink, your teacher will no longer hide himself from you—you will see him with your own eyes.
21 and thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it; when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.
When you walk to the right or to the left, you will hear this command coming from behind you: “This is the way to follow.”
22 And ye shall defile the overlaying of thy graven images of silver, and the plating of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as an unclean thing; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence.
You will defile your silver-coated idols coated with silver and your gold-covered images. You will throw them away like a dirty cloth used for periods, and say to them, “out of here!”
23 And he will give the rain for thy seed, wherewith thou shalt sow the ground; and bread of the increase of the ground, and it shall be fat and plenteous. In that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures;
He will send rain when you sow, and the land will produce great harvests. At that time your cattle will feed in rich pastures.
24 the oxen likewise and the young asses that till the ground shall eat savory provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fork.
The oxen and donkeys that help cultivate the earth will eat good greens and grain, spread with fork and shovel.
25 And there shall be upon every lofty mountain, and upon every high hill, brooks [and] streams of waters, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.
At that time when your enemies are killed and the fortresses fall, streams of water will flow down every mountain and hill.
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that Jehovah bindeth up the hurt of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
The moon will shine as bright as the sun, and the sun will shine seven times brighter, like having seven days light in one. This is the way it will be when the Lord bandages the injuries of his people and heals the wounds he caused them.
27 Behold, the name of Jehovah cometh from far, burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue is as a devouring fire;
Look how the Lord arrives from far away, burning with anger and accompanied by thick clouds of smoke! What he says shows his anger—it's like a fire that burns everything up.
28 and his breath is as an overflowing stream, that reacheth even unto the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction: and a bridle that causeth to err [shall be] in the jaws of the peoples.
His breath rushes out like a flood that comes up to the neck. He shakes the nations in a sieve that destroys them; he puts bridles in the mouths of the different peoples to lead them away.
29 Ye shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come unto the mountain of Jehovah, to the Rock of Israel.
But you will have a song to sing like you do on the night of a holy festival. You will celebrate in happiness like those who play pipes as they go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel.
30 And Jehovah will cause his glorious voice to be heard, and will show the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of [his] anger, and the flame of a devouring fire, with a blast, and tempest, and hailstones.
The Lord will shout so everyone hears him he will reveal his great power. He will hit out in his anger and fury, with a fire that burns everything up, and with torrential rain, storm, and hail.
31 For through the voice of Jehovah shall the Assyrian be dismayed; with his rod will he smite [him].
At the Lord's command the Assyrians will be shattered, knocked down by his scepter.
32 And every stroke of the appointed staff, which Jehovah shall lay upon him, shall be with [the sound of] tabrets and harps; and in battles with the brandishing [of his arm] will he fight with them.
Every time the Lord hits them with his rod of punishment it will be accompanied by the music of tambourines and harps as he fights them, swinging into them in battle.
33 For a Topheth is prepared of old; yea, for the king it is made ready; he hath made it deep and large; the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of Jehovah, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.
The place of burning has been prepared a long time ago, ready for the king. Its funeral pyre is deep and wide, and has plenty of fire and wood. The breath of the Lord, like a flood of burning sulfur, sets it on fire.
