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,” this is Yahweh's declaration. “They make plans, but not from me; they make alliances with other nations, but they were not directed by my Spirit, so they 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.
They set out to go down into Egypt, but have not asked for my direction. They seek protection from Pharaoh and take refuge in the shadow of Egypt.
3 But Pharaoh’s protection will become your shame, and the refuge of Egypt’s shade your disgrace.
Therefore Pharaoh's protection will be your shame, and the refuge in Egypt's shade, your humiliation,
4 For though their princes are at Zoan and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,
although their princes are at Zoan, and their messengers have come to Hanes.
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 will all be ashamed because of a people who cannot help them, who are neither help nor aid, but a shame, and even a disgrace.”
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.
A declaration about the beasts of the Negev: Through the land of trouble and danger, of the lioness and the lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they carry their riches on the backs of donkeys, and their treasures on the camels' humps, to a people who cannot help them.
7 Egypt’s help is futile and empty; therefore I have called her Rahab Who Sits Still.
For Egypt's help is worthless; therefore I have called her Rahab, who sits 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 in their presence on a tablet, and inscribe it on a scroll, that it may be preserved for the time to come as a testimony.
9 These are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to obey the LORD’s instruction.
For these are a rebellious people, lying children, children who will not hear the instruction of Yahweh.
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.
They say to the seers, “Do not see;” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy the truth to us; speak flattering words to us, prophesy illusions.
11 Get out of the way; turn off the road. Rid us of the Holy One of Israel!”
Turn aside from the way, stray off the path; cause the Holy One of Israel to cease speaking before our face.”
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 the Holy One of Israel says, “Because you reject this word and trust in oppression and deceit and lean on it,
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!
so this sin will be to you like a broken part ready to fall, like a bulge in a high wall whose fall will happen suddenly, in an instant.”
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.”
He will break it as a potter's vessel is broken; he will not spare it, so that there will not be found among its pieces a shard with which to scrape fire from the hearth, or to scoop up water out of the cistern.
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 this is what the Lord Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel says, “In returning and resting you will be saved; in quietness and in trust will be your strength. But you were not willing.
16 “No,” you say, “we will flee on horses.” Therefore you will flee! “We will ride swift horses,” but your pursuers will be faster.
You said, 'No, for we will flee on horses,' so you will flee; and, 'We will ride upon swift horses,' so those who pursue you will 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 will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will flee until your remnant will be like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain, or like a flag 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.
Yet Yahweh is waiting to be gracious to you, therefore he is ready to show you mercy. For Yahweh is a God of justice; blessed are all those who 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 a people will live in Zion, in Jerusalem, and you will weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. When he hears it, he will answer you.
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.
Though Yahweh gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, even so, your teacher will not hide himself anymore, but you will see your teacher with your own eyes.
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.”
Your ears will hear a word behind you saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you 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!”
You will desecrate your carved figures overlaid with silver and your gold cast figures. You will throw them away like a menstrual rag. You will say to them, “Get out of here.”
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.
He will give the rain for your seed when you sow the ground, and bread with abundance from the ground, and the crops will be abundant. In that day your cattle will graze in broad pastures.
24 The oxen and donkeys that work the ground will eat salted fodder, winnowed with shovel and pitchfork.
The oxen and the donkeys, who plow the ground, will eat seasoned feed that has been winnowed with a shovel and a fork.
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.
On every high mountain and on every high hill, there will be flowing brooks and streams of waters, in the day of the great slaughter when the 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.
The light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the sunlight of seven days. Yahweh will bind up the breaking of his people and heal the bruises of his wounding them.
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.
Look, the name of Yahweh comes from a distant place, burning with his anger and in dense smoke. His lips are full of fury, 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.
His breath is like an overflowing torrent that reaches up to the middle of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction. His breath is a bridle in the jaws of the peoples to cause them to wander away.
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.
You will have a song as in the night when a holy feast is observed, and gladness of heart, as when one goes with a flute to the mountain of Yahweh, 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.
Yahweh will make the splendor of his voice heard and show the motion of his arm in storming anger and flames of fire, with windstorm, rainstorm, and hailstones.
31 For Assyria will be shattered at the voice of the LORD; He will strike them with His scepter.
For at the voice of Yahweh, Assyria will be shattered; he will strike them with a staff.
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.
Every stroke of the appointed rod that Yahweh will lay on them will be accompanied with the music of tambourines and harps as he battles and fights 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 a place of burning was prepared long ago. Indeed, it is prepared for the king, and God has made it deep and wide. The pile is ready with a fire and much wood. The breath of Yahweh, like a stream of brimstone, will set it on fire.
