Isaiah 30

1 “Woe to the sons of apostasy!” says the Lord. For you would take advice, but not from me. And you would begin to weave, but not by my spirit. Thus do you add sin upon sin!

Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of Me; and that form projects, but not of My spirit, that they may add sin to sin;

2 You are walking so as to descend into Egypt, and you have not sought answers from my mouth, instead hoping for assistance from the strength of Pharaoh and placing trust in the shadow of Egypt.

That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at My mouth; to take refuge in the stronghold of Pharaoh, and to take shelter in the shadow of Egypt!

3 And so, the strength of Pharaoh will be your confusion, and trust in the shadow of Egypt will be your disgrace.

Therefore shall the stronghold of Pharaoh turn to your shame, and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your confusion.

4 For your leaders were at Tanis, and your messengers have traveled even as far as Hanes.

For his princes are at Zoan, and his ambassadors are come to Hanes.

5 They have all been confounded because of a people who were not able to offer profit to them, who were not of assistance, nor of other usefulness, except to offer confusion and reproach.

They shall all be ashamed of a people that cannot profit them, that are not a help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach.

6 The burden of the beasts in the south. In a land of tribulation and anguish, from which go forth the lioness and the lion, the viper and the flying king snake, they carry their riches upon the shoulders of beasts of burden, and their valuables upon the humps of camels, to a people who are not able to offer profit to them.

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 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.

7 For Egypt will offer assistance, but without purpose or success. Therefore, concerning this, I cried out: “It is only arrogance! Remain calm.”

For Egypt helpeth in vain, and to no purpose; therefore have I called her arrogancy that sitteth still.

8 Now, therefore, enter and write for them upon a tablet, and note it diligently in a book, and this shall be a testimony in the last days, and even unto eternity.

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.

9 For they are a people who provoke to wrath, and they are lying sons, sons unwilling to listen to the law of God.

For it is a rebellious people, lying children, children that refuse to hear the teaching of the LORD;

10 They say to the seers, “Do not see,” and to those who behold: “Do not behold for us the things that are right. Speak to us of pleasing things. See errors for us.

That say to the seers: 'See not,' and to the prophets: 'Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy delusions;

11 Take me from the way. Avert me from the path. Let the Holy One of Israel cease from before our face.”

Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.'

12 Because of this, thus says the Holy One of Israel: Since you have rejected this word, and you have hoped in calumny and rebellion, and since you have depended upon these things,

Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel: because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon;

13 for this reason, this iniquity will be to you like a breach that has fallen, and like a gap in a high wall. For its destruction will happen suddenly, when it is not expected.

Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.

14 And it will be crushed, just as the earthen vessel of a potter is destroyed by a sharp blow. And not even a fragment of its earthenware will be found, which might carry a little fire from the hearth, or which might draw a little water from a hollow.

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 to take fire from the hearth, or to take water out of the cistern.

15 For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: If you return and are quiet, you shall be saved. Your strength will be found in silence and in hope. But you are not willing!

For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel: in sitting still and rest shall ye be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength; and ye would not.

16 And you have said: “Never! Instead, we will flee by horseback.” For this reason, you will be put to flight. And you have said, “We will climb upon swift ones.” For this reason, those who pursue you will be even swifter.

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.

17 A thousand men will flee in terror from the face of one, and you will flee in terror from the face of five, until you who have been left behind are like the mast of a ship at the top of a mountain, or like a sign on a hill.

One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one, at the rebuke 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.

18 Therefore, the Lord waits, so that he may take pity on you. And therefore, he will be exalted for sparing you. For the Lord is the God of judgment. Blessed are all those who wait for him.

And therefore will the LORD wait, that He may be gracious unto you, and therefore will He be exalted, that He may have compassion upon you; for the LORD is a God of justice, happy are all they that wait for Him.

19 For the people of Zion will live in Jerusalem. Bitterly, you will not weep. Mercifully, he will take pity on you. At the voice of your outcry, as soon as he hears, he will respond to you.

For, O people that dwellest 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.

20 And the Lord will give you thick bread and accessible water. And he will not cause your teacher to fly away from you anymore. And your eyes will behold your instructor.

And though the Lord give you sparing bread and scant water, yet shall not thy Teacher hide Himself any more, but thine eyes shall see thy Teacher;

21 And your ears will listen to the word of one admonishing you behind your back: “This is the way! Walk in it! And do not turn aside, neither to the right, nor to the left.”

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.'

22 And you will defile the plates of your silver graven images and the vestment of your gold molten idols. And you will throw these things away like the uncleanness of a menstruating woman. You will say to it, “Go away!”

And ye shall defile thy graven images overlaid with silver, and thy molten images covered with gold; thou shalt put them far away as one unclean; thou shalt say unto it: 'Get thee hence.'

23 And wherever you sow seed upon the earth, rain will be given to the seed. And bread from the grain of the earth will be very plentiful and full. In that day, the lamb will pasture in the spacious land of your possession.

And He will give the rain for thy seed, wherewith thou sowest 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.

24 And your bulls, and the colts of the donkeys that work the ground, will eat a mix of grains like that winnowed on the threshing floor.

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

25 And there will be, on every lofty mountain, and on every elevated hill, rivers of running water, in the day of the slaughter of many, when the tower will fall.

And there shall be upon every lofty mountain, and upon every high hill streams and watercourses, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.

26 And the light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, like the light of seven days, in the day when the Lord will bind the wound of his people, and when he will heal the stroke of their scourge.

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 the seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the bruise of His people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.

27 Behold, the name of the Lord arrives from far away. His fury is burning and heavy to bear. His lips have been filled with indignation, and his tongue is like a devouring fire.

Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, with His anger burning, and in thick uplifting of smoke; His lips are full of indignation, and His tongue is as a devouring fire;

28 His Spirit is like a torrent, inundating, even as high as the middle of the neck, in order to reduce the nations to nothing, along with the bridle of error that was in the jaws of the people.

And His breath is as an overflowing stream, that divideth 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.

29 There will be a song for you, as in the night of a sanctified solemnity, and a joy of heart, as when one travels with music to arrive at the mountain of the Lord, to the Strong One of Israel.

Ye shall have a song as in the night when a feast is hallowed; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with the pipe to come into the mountain of the LORD, to the Rock of Israel.

30 And the Lord will cause the glory of his voice to be heard, and, with a threatening fury and a devouring flame of fire, he will reveal the terror of his arm. He will crush with the whirlwind and with hailstones.

And the LORD will cause His glorious voice to be heard, and will show the lighting down of His arm, with furious anger, and the flame of a devouring fire, with a bursting of clouds, and a storm of rain, and hailstones.

31 For at the voice of the Lord, Assur will dread being struck with the staff.

For through the voice of the LORD shall Asshur be dismayed, the rod with which He smote.

32 And when the passage of the staff has been begun, the Lord will cause it to rest upon him, with timbrels and harps. And with special battles, he will fight against them.

And in every place where the appointed staff shall pass, which the LORD shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets and harps; and in battles of wielding will He fight with them.

33 For a burning place, deep and wide, has been prepared from yesterday, prepared by the King. Its nourishment is fire and much wood. The breath of the Lord, like a torrent of brimstone, kindles it.

For a hearth is ordered of old; yea, for the king it is prepared, deep and large; the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.