Esias 30

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

Yahweh says, “Terrible things will happen to you, my people who rebel against me. You make plans, but what you plan is not what I want. You have made an alliance [with the rulers of Egypt], but you did not ask my Spirit [if that was what you should do]. By doing that, you have increased the number of your sins.

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.

You went to Egypt [to ask their rulers for help], without asking for my advice. You have trusted in [the army of] the king of Egypt to protect you; you have [trusted in them] [like] people sit in the shade [to protect themselves from the sun] [MET].

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

[But] the result of your trusting in the king of Egypt is that you will be [disappointed and] disgraced; because of trusting in him, you will be humiliated.

4 For there are princes in Tanes, evil messengers.

Officials/ambassadors [from Judah] have gone to Zoan and Hanes [cities in Egypt to make treaties],

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

but all those [who trust in the King of Egypt] will be humiliated, because that nation will not be able to help you; the treaty that you have made [requesting help from them] will be useless; instead, the result will be that you will be humiliated and disgraced [DOU].”

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.

[I received from Yahweh] this message about the animals in the southern part of Judah: That area is one where [people experience a lot of] troubles and difficulties, an area where there are male and female lions and various kinds of poisonous snakes. Caravans go through that area taking donkeys and camels loaded with valuable goods. [They are taking them] to Egypt to seek for protection [by the army of Egypt], [but] it will be useless.

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

The promises made by [the king of] Egypt are worthless; therefore I call Egypt ‘the sea monster/dragon that does nothing’.

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.

Yahweh told me to write on a scroll a message, in order that it would be a witness [to the people of Judah] that would endure forever.

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

[It would remind them] that they are deceitful and always rebelling against Yahweh; they refuse to pay attention to what he tells/teaches them.

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;

They tell the people who see/receive visions [from Yahweh], “Stop seeing visions!” They tell the prophets, “Do not reveal to us what is right! Tell us pleasant things; do not tell us visions about things that are true!

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

Stop doing what you have been doing [DOU]; stop telling us what the Holy One of Israel [says to us]!”

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

Therefore, this is what the Holy One of Israel says: “You have rejected my message, and you are relying on those who oppress and deceive others.

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, the result of your sin [of rejecting me] will be that you will [suddenly experience disasters]; what will happen to you will be like [SIM] a cracked wall that suddenly collapses [DOU].

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

You will be smashed like a clay jar is smashed [when it is dropped], and it shatters completely, with the result that there is not one piece big enough to carry some coals from a stove or to carry a little bit of water from a well.”

15 Thus says the Lord, the Holy Lord of Israel; When you shall turn and mourn, then you shall be saved; and you shall know where you were, when you did trust in vanities: [then] your strength became vain, yet you would not listen:

Yahweh, [our] God, the Holy One of Israel, [also] says this: “You will be rescued [from your enemies only] if you repent and trust [in what I will do for you]; you will be strong [only] if you quit worrying and trust in me. But you do not want [to do that].

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

You said, ‘No, we will escape on horses [that the army of Egypt will give us]!’ So, you will [try to] flee. You said, ‘We will [escape from the army of Assyria] by riding on swift horses!’ [But] those who pursue you will [also ride] swiftly.

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

[As a result], 1,000 [of you] will flee when [only] one of them pursues you! When only five [of their soldiers] threaten [to kill you], [all of] will flee. [Only a few of] you will be left, like [SIM] a [single] flagpole on top of a mountain with one signal flag on the pole.”

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.

[But] wants to be kind to you; he desires to show you that he is merciful. [Do not forget that] Yahweh is a God who acts justly; he is pleased with those who patiently trust in him.

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

You people who live in Jerusalem [DOU], [some day] you will not cry any more. Yahweh will be kind to you when you call out to him for help. He will answer/help you as soon as he hears you call.

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

Although [now] Yahweh has caused you to [daily] experience [MET] great troubles and suffer much, [he], your teacher, will not hide himself from you. He [SYN] will teach you many things clearly.

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

And you will hear him speak to you to guide you. [Right] behind you he will say, “This is the road on which you should walk; walk on this road!”

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

When that happens, you will destroy [all] your idols that are covered with silver or gold. You will throw them away like you throw away a filthy rag, and you will say to them, “We do not need you any more!”

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

[If you do that], Yahweh will bless you by giving you good rain at the time that you plant your crops. You will have good harvests, and plenty of pasture with grass for your cattle to eat.

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

After the wind [blows away the chaff], the oxen and donkeys that [pull the plow to] plow your ground will have good grain to eat.

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.

At that time, when [your enemies] have been slaughtered and their towers have (collapsed/been destroyed), there will be streams flowing down every hill and mountain [in Judah].

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 your wound.

The moon will seem to shine as brightly as the sun, and the sun will seem to shine seven times as brightly as previously. That is what it will be like when Yahweh causes [the suffering of] his people [to cease; it will be as though] [MET] he will be putting bandages on their wounds and healing them.

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.

[It is as though] we see Yahweh coming from far away; he is extremely angry, and there are thick clouds of smoke around him. By what he says [MTY] he shows that he is angry; what he says is like [SIM] a devastating/destructive 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.

His breath is like [SIM] a flood that covers [his enemies] up to their necks. He will separate [MET] the nations in order to destroy [some of them]; [it is as though] he will put hooks in their mouths and take them away.

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

But [his people] will sing joyfully like they sing during the nights when they celebrate a holy festival. They will be very joyful, like [SIM] [a large group of his people] are joyful when they go up to Zion Hill in Jerusalem, along with men playing flutes [when they are all going there to worship Yahweh]. He is [like] [MET] a huge rock under which [we] Israeli people [are safe].

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 Yahweh will enable [us] to hear him speaking powerfully/majestically. He will show us that he [SYN] is very powerful. [We] will see him [SYN] smash [his enemies]. Being very angry, he will descend with a big rainstorm and thunder and hail [to punish them].

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

[The soldiers of] Assyria will be terrified when they hear the voice of Yahweh and when he strikes them with his 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 while Yahweh strikes them to punish them, [his people] will [celebrate by] playing tambourines and harps. [It will be as though] Yahweh will lift up his powerful hand/arm and defeat the Assyrian army in battle.

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

[The valley of] Topheth [outside Jerusalem] has been prepared for a long time; it is ready for the king [of Assyria]; the (funeral pyre/pile of wood) [for burning his body] is wide and high, and [it will be as though] Yahweh will light the fire with his breath, which will come out like a stream of burning sulfur.