< Isaiah 31 >
1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in their abundance of chariots and in their multitude of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy One of Israel; they do not seek the LORD.
Woe [to] those going down to Egypt for help, And on horses lean, And trust on chariots, because many, And on horsemen, because very strong, And have not looked on the Holy One of Israel, And Jehovah have not sought.
2 Yet He too is wise and brings disaster; He does not call back His words. He will rise up against the house of the wicked and against the allies of evildoers.
And He also [is] wise, and bringeth in evil, And His words He hath not turned aside, And He hath risen against a house of evil doers, And against the help of workers of iniquity.
3 But the Egyptians are men, not God; their horses are flesh, not spirit. When the LORD stretches out His hand, the helper will stumble, and the one he helps will fall; both will perish together.
And the Egyptians [are men], and not God, And their horses [are] flesh, and not spirit, And Jehovah stretcheth out His hand, And stumbled hath the helper, And fallen hath the helped one, And together all of them are consumed.
4 For this is what the LORD has said to me: “Like a lion roaring or a young lion over its prey— and though a band of shepherds is called out against it, it is not terrified by their shouting or subdued by their clamor— so the LORD of Hosts will come down to do battle on Mount Zion and its heights.
For thus said Jehovah unto me: 'As growl doth the lion and the young lion over his prey, Called against whom is a multitude of shepherds, From their voice he is not affrighted, And from their noise he is not humbled; So come down doth Jehovah of Hosts To war on mount Zion, and on her height.
5 Like birds hovering overhead, so the LORD of Hosts will protect Jerusalem. He will shield it and deliver it; He will pass over it and preserve it.”
As birds flying, so doth Jehovah of Hosts Cover over Jerusalem, covering and delivering, Passing over, and causing to escape.'
6 Return to the One against whom you have so blatantly rebelled, O children of Israel.
Turn back to Him from whom sons of Israel Have deepened apostasy.
7 For on that day, every one of you will reject the idols of silver and gold that your own hands have sinfully made.
For in that day despise doth each His idols of silver, and his idols of gold, That your hands made to you — a sin.
8 “Then Assyria will fall, but not by the sword of man; a sword will devour them, but not one made by mortals. They will flee before the sword, and their young men will be put to forced labor.
And fallen hath Asshur by sword, not of the high, Yea, a sword — not of the low, doth consume him, And he hath fled for himself from the face of a sword, And his young men become tributary.
9 Their rock will pass away for fear, and their princes will panic at the sight of the battle standard,” declares the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, whose furnace is in Jerusalem.
And [to] his rock from fear he passeth on, And affrighted by the ensign have been his princes — an affirmation of Jehovah, Who hath a light in Zion, And who hath a furnace in Jerusalem!