Esias 30

1 Woe to the apostate children, saith the Lord: ye have framed counsel, not by me, and covenants not by my Spirit, to add sins to sins:

Woe [to] apostate sons, A declaration of YHWH! To do counsel, and not from Me, And to spread out a covering, and not of My Spirit, So as to add sin to sin.

2 [even] they that proceed to go down into Egypt, but they have not enquired of me, that they might be helped by Pharao, and protected by the Egyptians.

Who are walking to go down to Egypt, And have not asked My mouth, To be strong in the strength of Pharaoh, And to trust in the shadow of Egypt.

3 For the protection of Pharaoh shall be to you a disgrace, and [there shall be] a reproach to them that trust in Egypt.

And the strength of Pharaoh Has been to you for shame, And the trust in the shadow of Egypt confusion,

4 For there are princes in Tanes, evil messengers.

For his princes were in Zoan, And his messengers reach Hanes.

5 In vain shall they labour [in seeking] to a people, which shall not profit them for help, but [shall be] for a shame and reproach.

He made all ashamed of a people that do not profit, Not for help, and not for profit, But for shame, and also for reproach!

6 THE VISION OF THE QUADRUPEDS IN THE DESERT. In affliction and distress, [where are] the lion and lion's whelp, thence [come] also asps, and the young of flying asps, [there shall they be] who bore their wealth on asses and camels to a nation which shall not profit them.

The burden of the beasts of the south. Into a land of adversity and distress, Of young lion and of old lion, From where [are] viper and flying, burning serpent, They carry their wealth on the shoulder of donkeys, And their treasures on the hump of camels, To a people not profitable.

7 The Egyptians shall help you utterly in vain: tell them, This your consolation is vain.

Indeed, Egyptians [are] vanity, and help in vain, Therefore I have cried concerning this: “Their strength [is] to sit still.”

8 Now then sit down and write these words on a tablet, and in a book; for these things shall be for [many long] days, and even for ever.

No, go in, write it on a tablet with them, And inscribe it on a scroll, And it is for a latter day, for a witness for all time,

9 For the people is disobedient, false children, who would not hear the law of God:

That this [is] a people of rebellion, sons—liars, Sons not willing to hear the Law of YHWH.

10 who say to the prophets, Report not to us; and to them that see visions, Speak [them] not to us, but speak and report to us another error;

Who have said to seers, “Do not see,” And to prophets, “Do not prophesy to us straightforward things, Speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits,

11 and turn us aside from this way; remove from us this path, and remove from us the oracle of Israel.

Turn aside from the way, Decline from the path, Cause the Holy One of Israel To cease from before us.”

12 Therefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye have refused to obey these words, and have trusted in falsehood; and because thou hast murmured, and been confident in this respect:

Therefore, thus said the Holy One of Israel: “Because of your kicking against this word, And you trust in oppression, And perverseness, and rely on it,

13 therefore shall this sin be to you as a wall suddenly falling when a strong city has been taken, of which the fall is very near at hand.

Therefore this iniquity is to you as a breach falling, Swelled out in a wall set on high, Whose destruction comes suddenly, in an instant.

14 And the fall thereof shall be as the breaking of an earthen vessel, [as] small fragments of a pitcher, so that thou shouldest not find among them a sherd, with which thou mightest take up fire, and with which thou shouldest draw a little water.

And He has broken it As the breaking of the potters’ bottle, Beaten down—He does not spare, Nor is there found, in its beating down, A potsherd to take fire from the burning, And to draw out waters from a ditch.”

15 Thus saith the Lord, the Holy Lord of Israel; When thou shalt turn and mourn, then thou shalt be saved; and thou shalt know where thou wast, when thou didst trust in vanities: [then] your strength became vain, yet ye would not hearken:

For thus said Lord YHWH, The Holy One of Israel: “In returning and rest you are saved, In keeping quiet and in confidence is your might,” And you have not been willing.

16 but ye said, We will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will be aided by swift riders; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.

And you say, “No, for we flee on a horse,” Therefore you flee, And, “We ride on the swift!” Therefore your pursuers are swift.

17 A thousand shall flee because of the voice of one, and many shall flee on account of the voice of five; until ye be left as a signal-post upon a mountain, and as one bearing an ensign upon a hill.

One thousand [flee] because of the rebuke of one, Because of the rebuke of five you flee, Until you have surely been left as a pole On the top of the mountain, And as an ensign on the height.

18 And the Lord will again wait, that he may pity you, and will therefore be exalted that he may have mercy upon you: because the Lord your God is a judge: blessed are they that stay themselves upon him.

And therefore YHWH waits to favor you, And therefore He is exalted to pity you, For YHWH [is] a God of judgment, O the blessedness of all waiting for Him.

19 For the holy people shall dwell in Sion: and [whereas] Jerusalem has wept bitterly, [saying], Pity me; he shall pity thee: when he perceived the voice of thy cry, he hearkened to thee.

For the people in Zion dwell in Jerusalem, Do not weep—weeping, Pitying, He pities you at the voice of your cry, When He hears He answers you.

20 And [though] the Lord shall give you the bread of affliction and scant water, yet they that cause thee to err shall no more at all draw nigh to thee; for thine eyes shall see those that cause thee to err,

And the Lord has given to you bread of adversity, And water of oppression. And your teachers remove no longer, And your eyes have seen your teachers,

21 and thine ears shall hear the words of them that went after thee to lead thee astray, who say, This [is] the way, let us walk in it, whether to the right or to the left.

And your ear hears a word behind you, saying, “This [is] the way, go in it,” When you turn to the right, And when you turn to the left.

22 And thou shalt pollute the plated idols, and thou shalt grind to powder the gilt ones, and shalt scatter them as the water of a removed [woman], and thou shalt thrust them forth as dung.

And you have defiled the covering of Your carved images of silver, And the ephod of your molten image of gold, You scatter them as a sickening thing, “Go out,” you say to it.

23 Then shall there be rain to the seed of thy land; and the bread of the fruit of thy land shall be plenteous and rich: and thy cattle shall feed in that day in a fertile and spacious place.

And He has given rain [for] your seed, With which you sow the ground, And bread, the increase of the ground, And it has been fat and plentiful, Your livestock enjoy an enlarged pasture in that day.

24 Your bulls and your oxen that till the ground, shall eat chaff mixed with winnowed barley.

And the oxen and the young donkeys serving the ground, Eat fermented provender, That one is winnowing with shovel and fan.

25 And there shall be upon every lofty mountain and upon every high hill, water running in that day, when many shall perish, and when the towers shall fall.

And there has been on every high mountain, And on every exalted hill, Streams—conduits of waters, In a day of much slaughter, in the falling of towers.

26 And the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold in the day when the Lord shall heal the breach of his people, and shall heal the pain of thy wound.

And the light of the moon has been as the light of the sun, And the light of the sun is sevenfold, As the light of seven days, In the day of YHWH’s binding up the breach of His people, When He heals the stroke of its wound.

27 Behold, the name of the Lord comes after a [long] time, burning wrath: the word of his lips is with glory, a word full of anger, and the anger of his wrath shall devour as fire.

Behold, the Name of YHWH is coming from far, His anger is burning, and the flame [is] great, His lips have been full of indignation, And His tongue [is] as a devouring fire.

28 And his breath, as rushing water in a valley, shall reach as far as the neck, and be divided, to confound the nations for [their] vain error: error also shall pursue them, and overtake them.

And His breath [is] as an overflowing stream, It divides to the neck, To sift nations with a sieve of vanity, And a bridle causing to err, [Is] on the jaws of the peoples.

29 Must ye always rejoice, and go into my holy places continually, as they that keep a feast? and must ye go with a pipe, as those that rejoice, into the mountain of the Lord, to the God of Israel?

Singing is to you as in a night sanctified for a festival, And joy of heart as he who is going with a pipe, To go to the mountain of YHWH, To the rock of Israel.

30 And the Lord shall make his glorious voice to be heard, and the wrath of his arm, to make a display with wrath and anger and devouring flame: he shall lighten terribly, and [his wrath shall be] as water and violent hail.

And YHWH has caused The splendor of His voice to be heard, And the coming down of His arm He shows with the raging of anger, And the flame of a consuming fire, Scattering, and inundation, and hailstone.

31 For by the voice of the Lord the Assyrians shall be overcome, [even] by the stroke wherewith he shall smite them.

For from the voice of YHWH Asshur [is] broken down, He strikes with a rod.

32 And it shall happen to him from every side, [that] they from whom their hope of assistance was, in which he trusted, themselves shall war against him in turn with drums and with harp.

And every passage of the settled staff, That YHWH causes to rest on him, Has been with tambourines and with harps, And in battles of shaking He has fought with it.

33 For thou shalt be required before [thy] time: has it been prepared for thee also to reign? nay, God has [prepared for thee] a deep trench, wood piled, fire and much wood: the wrath of the Lord [shall be] as a trench kindled with sulphur.

For Tophet is arranged from former time, Even it is prepared for the king, He has made deep, He has made large, Its pile [is] fire and much wood, The breath of YHWH, As a stream of brimstone, is burning in it!