Isaiah 30

1 “Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the LORD, “to those who carry out a plan that is not Mine, who form an alliance, but against My will, heaping up sin upon sin.

Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not from me; and that set themselves a ruler, but not by my spirit, in order that they may add sin to sin:

2 They set out to go down to Egypt without asking My advice, to seek shelter under Pharaoh’s protection and take refuge in Egypt’s shade.

That travel to go down into Egypt, and have not asked my will; to strengthen themselves through the strength of Pharaoh, and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!

3 But Pharaoh’s protection will become your shame, and the refuge of Egypt’s shade your disgrace.

Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh become your shame, and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt your disgrace.

4 For though their princes are at Zoan and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,

For his princes were at Zo'an, and his ambassadors had reached Chanes.

5 everyone will be put to shame because of a people useless to them. They cannot be of help; they are good for nothing but shame and reproach.”

They all are ashamed because of a people that cannot profit them, neither be a help nor give profit; but [bringeth] shame, and also a reproach.

6 This is the burden against the beasts of the Negev: Through a land of hardship and distress, of lioness and lion, of viper and flying serpent, they carry their wealth on the backs of donkeys and their treasures on the humps of camels, to a people of no profit to them.

The doom of the beasts of the south: Through the land of trouble and anguish, whence come the lioness and the lion, the viper and flying dragons, they will carry upon the shoulders of young asses their riches, and upon the humps of camels their treasures, to a people that cannot profit.

7 Egypt’s help is futile and empty; therefore I have called her Rahab Who Sits Still.

And the Egyptians will help in vain, and to no purpose; therefore have I called this, Boasters they are in sitting still.

8 Go now, write it on a tablet in their presence and inscribe it on a scroll; it will be for the days to come, a witness forever and ever.

Now go, write it before them on a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the latest time to come, for ever, and to eternity:

9 These are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to obey the LORD’s instruction.

For this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord:

10 They say to the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us the truth! Speak to us pleasant words; prophesy illusions.

Who have said to the seers, Ye shall not see; and to the prophets, Reveal not unto us true things, speak unto us smooth things, reveal deceits;

11 Get out of the way; turn off the road. Rid us of the Holy One of Israel!”

Depart you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, remove from before us the Holy One of Israel.

12 Therefore this is what the Holy One of Israel says: “Because you have rejected this message, trusting in oppression and relying on deceit,

Therefore thus hath said the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and lean thereon for aid:

13 this iniquity of yours is like a breach about to fail, a bulge in a high wall, whose collapse will come suddenly— in an instant!

Therefore shall this iniquity be to you as a threatening breach, swelling out in a high-towering wall, the fall of which will come unawares, suddenly.

14 It will break in pieces like a potter’s jar, shattered so that no fragment can be found. Not a shard will be found in the dust large enough to scoop the coals from a hearth or to skim the water from a cistern.”

And he will break it, as one breaketh a potter's vessel, dashing it in pieces without sparing it; so that there cannot be found among its fragments a sherd to rake fire from a hearth and to draw water from a pit.

15 For the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said: “By repentance and rest you would be saved; your strength would lie in quiet confidence— but you were not willing.”

For thus hath said the Lord Eternal, the Holy One of Israel, In repose and rest shall ye be helped; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength; and ye would not.

16 “No,” you say, “we will flee on horses.” Therefore you will flee! “We will ride swift horses,” but your pursuers will be faster.

And ye said, “No; for upon horses will we flee;” therefore shall ye flee: and, “Upon swift beasts will we ride;” therefore shall your pursuers be swift.

17 A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee, until you are left alone like a pole on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill.

One thousand [shall flee] at the threatening of one; at the threatening of five shall ye [all] flee: till ye be left as a pole upon a mountain-top, and as an ensign on a hill.

18 Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore He rises to show you compassion, for the LORD is a just God. Blessed are all who wait for Him.

And therefore will the Lord wait, to be gracious unto you, and therefore will he exalt himself, to have mercy upon you; for a God of justice is the Lord: happy are all those that wait for him.

19 O people in Zion who dwell in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. He will surely be gracious when you cry for help; when He hears, He will answer you.

For O people of Zion that shall dwell at Jerusalem! thou shalt indeed not weep: he will be surely gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; so soon as he heareth it, he answereth thee.

20 The Lord will give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, but your Teacher will no longer hide Himself—with your own eyes you will see Him.

And the Lord will give you bread [in] adversity, and water [in] oppression; and thy teachers shall not have to hide themselves in a corner any more, but thy eyes shall see thy teachers:

21 And whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you: “This is the way. Walk in it.”

And thy ears shall hear the 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.

22 So you will desecrate your silver-plated idols and your gold-plated images. You will throw them away like menstrual cloths, saying to them, “Be gone!”

And ye will regard as unclean the covering of thy graven idols of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou wilt cast them away as a filthy thing; “Get thee hence,” wilt thou say unto them.

23 Then He will send rain for the seed that you have sown in the ground, and the food that comes from your land will be rich and plentiful. On that day your cattle will graze in open pastures.

Then will he give the rain for thy seed, that thou mayest sow in the ground; and bread—the produce of the ground—this shall be fat and nutritious: thy cattle shall feed on that day in extensive pastures.

24 The oxen and donkeys that work the ground will eat salted fodder, winnowed with shovel and pitchfork.

The oxen likewise and the young asses that till the ground shall eat salted provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan.

25 And from every high mountain and every raised hill, streams of water will flow in the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall.

And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every prominent hill, rivulets, streams of waters on the day of the great slaughter, when towers fall.

26 The light of the moon will be as bright as the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter—like the light of seven days—on the day that the LORD binds up the brokenness of His people and heals the wounds He has inflicted.

And 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 the seven days, on the day that the Lord bindeth up the broken [limbs] of his people, and healeth the bruise of their wound.

27 Behold, the Name of the LORD comes from afar, with burning anger and dense smoke. His lips are full of fury, and His tongue is like a consuming fire.

Behold, the name of the Lord cometh from afar, burning is his anger, and heavy the smoke; his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue is like a devouring fire;

28 His breath is like a rushing torrent that rises to the neck. He comes to sift the nations in a sieve of destruction; He bridles the jaws of the peoples to lead them astray.

And his breath, like an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to toss the nations with the van of falsehood: and [to place] a deceiving bridle on the jaws of the people.

29 You will sing as on the night of a holy festival, and your heart will rejoice like one who walks to the music of a flute, going up to the mountain of the LORD, to the Rock of Israel.

[Then] shall ye have a song, as in the night when a festival is ushered in, and joy of heart, as when one goeth with the flute to come unto the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel.

30 And the LORD will cause His majestic voice to be heard and His mighty arm to be revealed, striking in angry wrath with a flame of consuming fire, and with cloudburst, storm, and hailstones.

And the Lord will cause his majestic voice to be heard, and will show the stretching down of his arm, in the indignation of [his] anger, and in the flame of a devouring fire, in flood, and tempest, and stones of hail.

31 For Assyria will be shattered at the voice of the LORD; He will strike them with His scepter.

For because of the voice of the Lord shall be terrified Asshur, that smote [you] with the rod.

32 And with every stroke of the rod of punishment that the LORD brings down on them, the tambourines and lyres will sound as He battles with weapons brandished.

And at every passage of the appointed staff which the Lord will let fall on him, there shall be [music] on tambourine and harp; and in the tumult of battles will he fight with them.

33 For Topheth has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king. Its funeral pyre is deep and wide, with plenty of fire and wood. The breath of the LORD, like a torrent of burning sulfur, sets it ablaze.

For already of old is Topheth made ready; also this is prepared for the king—deep and wide; its pile hath fire and wood in plenty, the breath of the Lord, like a stream of sulfur, will kindle it into a flame.