Isaiah 30
1 “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.
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 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.
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 Therefore Pharaoh's protection will be your shame, and the refuge in Egypt's shade, your humiliation,
[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 although their princes are at Zoan, and their messengers have come to Hanes.
Officials/ambassadors [from Judah] have gone to Zoan and Hanes [cities in Egypt to make treaties],
5 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.”
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 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.
[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 For Egypt's help is worthless; therefore I have called her Rahab, who sits still.
The promises made by [the king of] Egypt are worthless; therefore I call Egypt ‘the sea monster/dragon that does nothing’.
8 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.
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 these are a rebellious people, lying children, children who will not hear the instruction of Yahweh.
[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 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.
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 Turn aside from the way, stray off the path; cause the Holy One of Israel to cease speaking before our face.”
Stop doing what you have been doing [DOU]; stop telling us what the Holy One of Israel [says to us]!”
12 Therefore the Holy One of Israel says, “Because you reject this word and trust in oppression and deceit and lean on it,
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 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.”
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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 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.”
[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 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.
[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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 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.”
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 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.
[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 The oxen and the donkeys, who plow the ground, will eat seasoned feed that has been winnowed with a shovel and a fork.
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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
[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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 at the voice of Yahweh, Assyria will be shattered; he will strike them with a staff.
[The soldiers of] Assyria will be terrified when they hear the voice of Yahweh and when he strikes them with his rod.
32 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.
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 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.
[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.
