Isaiah 30
30
The Lord Will Judge His Stubborn People
1“How terrible it will be for these stubborn children of mine!”
announces the Lord.
“How terrible for those who carry out plans that did not come from me!
Their agreement with Egypt did not come from my Spirit.
So they pile up one sin on top of another.
2They go down to Egypt
without asking me for advice.
They look to Pharaoh to help them.
They ask Egypt to keep them safe.
3But looking to Pharaoh will only bring them shame.
Asking Egypt for help will bring them dishonor.
4Their officials have gone to the city of Zoan.
Their messengers have arrived in Hanes.
5But the people of Judah will be put to shame.
That’s because they are trusting in a nation that is useless to them.
Egypt will not bring them any help or advantage.
Instead, it will bring them shame and dishonor.”
6Here is a prophecy the Lord gave me about the animals in the Negev Desert.
Judah’s messengers carry their riches on the backs of donkeys.
They carry their treasures on the humps of camels.
They travel through a land of danger and suffering.
It’s a land filled with lions.
Poisonous snakes are also there.
The messengers travel to a nation
that can’t do them any good.
7They travel to Egypt, whose help is totally useless.
That’s why I call it Rahab the Do-Nothing.
8The Lord said to me, “Go now.
Write on a tablet for the people of Judah
what I am about to say.
Also write it on a scroll.
In days to come
it will be a witness that lasts forever.
9That’s because these people of Judah refuse to obey me.
They are children who tell lies.
They will not listen to what I want to teach them.
10They say to the seers,
‘Don’t see any more visions!’
They say to the prophets,
‘Don’t give us any more visions of what is right!
Tell us pleasant things.
Prophesy things we want to hear even if they aren’t true.
11Get out of our way!
Get off our path!
Keep the Holy One of Israel away from us!’ ”
12So the Holy One of Israel speaks. He says,
“You have turned your backs on what I have said.
You have depended on telling people lies.
You have crushed others.
13Those sins are like cracks in a high wall.
They get bigger and bigger.
Suddenly the wall breaks apart.
Then it quickly falls down.
14It breaks into small pieces like a clay pot.
It breaks up completely.
Not one piece is left big enough
for taking coals from a fireplace.
Not one piece is left for dipping water out of a well.”
15The Lord and King is the Holy One of Israel. He says,
“You will find peace and rest
when you turn away from your sins and depend on me.
You will receive the strength you need
when you stay calm and trust in me.
But you do not want to do what I tell you to.
16You said, ‘No. We’ll escape on horses.’
So you will have to escape!
You said, ‘We’ll ride off on fast horses.’
So those who chase you will use faster horses!
17When one of them dares you to fight,
a thousand of you will run away.
When five of them dare you,
all of you will run away.
So few of you will be left that you will be
like a flagpole on top of a mountain.
You will be like only one banner on a hill.”
18But the Lord wants to have mercy on you.
So he will rise up to give you his tender love.
The Lord is a God who is always fair.
Blessed are all those who wait for him to act!
19People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you won’t weep anymore. When you cry out to the Lord for help, he will have mercy on you. As soon as he hears you, he’ll answer you. 20He might treat you like prisoners. You might eat the bread of trouble. You might drink the water of suffering. But he will be your Teacher. He won’t hide himself anymore. You will see him with your own eyes. 21You will hear your Teacher’s voice behind you. You will hear it whether you turn to the right or the left. It will say, “Here is the path I want you to take. So walk on it.” 22Then you will get rid of the silver statues of your gods. You won’t have anything to do with the gold statues either. All of them are “unclean.” So you will throw them away like dirty rags. You will say to them, “Get away from us!”
23The Lord will send rain on the seeds you plant in the ground. The crops that grow will be rich and plentiful. At that time your cattle will eat grass in rolling meadows. 24The oxen and donkeys that work the soil will eat the finest feed and crushed grain. The farmers will use pitchforks and shovels to separate it from the straw. 25At that time the towers of your enemies will fall down. Their soldiers will die. Streams of water will flow on every high mountain and hill. 26The moon will shine like the sun. And the sunlight will be seven times brighter than usual. It will be like the light of seven full days. That will happen when the Lord bandages and heals the wounds and bruises he has brought on his people.
27The Lord will come from far away
in all his power and glory.
He will show his burning anger.
Thick clouds of smoke will be all around him.
His mouth will speak angry words.
The words from his tongue will be like a destroying fire.
28His breath will be like a rushing flood
that rises up to the neck.
He’ll separate out the nations he is going to destroy.
He’ll place a bit in their jaws.
It will lead them down the road to death.
29You will sing
as you do on the night you celebrate a holy feast.
Your hearts will be filled with joy.
You will be as joyful as people playing their flutes
as they go up to the mountain of the Lord.
He is the Rock of Israel.
30The Lord will cause people to hear his powerful voice.
He will make them see his arm coming down to punish them.
It will come down with burning anger and destroying fire.
It will come down with rain, thunderstorms and hail.
31The voice of the Lord will tear the Assyrians apart.
He will strike them down with his scepter.
32He will strike them
with his club to punish them.
Each time he does, his people will celebrate
with the music of harps and tambourines.
He will use his powerful arm
to strike down the Assyrians in battle.
33In the Valley of Ben Hinnom, Topheth has been prepared for a long time.
It has been made ready for the king of Assyria.
Its fire pit has been made deep and wide.
It has plenty of wood for the fire.
The breath of the Lord
will be like a stream of burning sulfur.
It will set the wood on fire.
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Isaiah 30: NIrV
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Isaiah 30
30
Warning against Alliance with Egypt
1“Oh rebellious children!” declares#Literally “declaration of” Yahweh,
“to make a plan, but#Or “and” not from me,
and pour out a libation, but#Or “and” not from my spirit,
so as to add#Literally “for the sake of adding” sin to sin.
2Who go to go down to Egypt,
but#Or “and” they do not ask of my mouth,
to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh
and to take refuge in the shadow of Egypt.
3And the protection of Pharaoh shall be shame to you,
and the refuge in the shadow of Egypt, humiliation.
4For his officials are at Zoan,
and his envoys reach to Hanes.
5Everyone will start to stink because of a people that cannot profit them,
not for help and not for profiting,
but for shame and also for disgrace.”
Oracle regarding the Negev
6An oracle of the animals of the Negev:
Through a land of trouble and distress,
of lioness and lion,
among#Literally “from” them are snake and flying serpent;
they carry their wealth on the backs#Literally “shoulder” of male donkeys
and their treasures on the humps#Hebrew “hump” of camels,
to a people that cannot profit them.
7For#Or “And” Egyptians#Literally “Egypt” help with vanity and emptiness,
therefore I have called this one “Rahab, they are sitting.”
8Now go, write it on a tablet with them,
and inscribe it on a scroll,
that#Or “and” it may be for the time to come,#Literally “for last day”
forever, forever.
9For it is a people of rebellion, deceitful children,
children who are not willing to hear the instruction of Yahweh,
10who say to those who do see, “You must not see!”
and to the seers, “You must not see truth for us;
speak smooth things to us,
see illusions,
11turn aside from the way,
turn aside from the path,
put an end to the holy one of Israel from our face.”
12Therefore the holy one of Israel says this:
“Because you are rejecting this word
and you trust in oppression and cunning#Literally “going wrong”
and you rely on it,
13therefore this iniquity shall come for you like a breach about to fall,
bulging out on a high wall that breaks#Literally “whose breaking comes” suddenly, in an instant.
14And he breaks it like a vessel of a potter#Literally “someone who forms” breaks,
that is crushed; he has no compassion,
and no potsherd is found among its fragments#Hebrew “fragment” to take fire#Literally “for the taking away of fire” from the hearth,
or to skim#Literally “for the skimming off of” water from the cistern.”
15For the Lord Yahweh, the holy one of Israel, said this:
“In returning and rest you shall be saved;
your strength shall be in quietness and in trust.”
But#Or “And” you were not willing, 16and you said,
“No! For we will flee on horses!”#Hebrew “horse” Therefore you shall flee!
And, “We will ride on swift horses!”#Hebrew “horse” Therefore your pursuers shall be swift!
17One thousand because of#Literally “from the face of” a threat of one,
because#Literally “from the face” of a threat of five you shall flee,
until you are left like a flagstaff on top#Literally “head” of a mountain,
and like a signal on a hill.
Yahweh Will Show Mercy
18Therefore Yahweh waits to be gracious to you,
and therefore he will rise up to show you mercy,
for Yahweh is a God of justice;
blessed are all those who wait for him.
19For people will live in Zion;
in Jerusalem, you will surely not weep.
Surely he will be gracious to you;
when he hears the sound of your cry, he will answer you.
20And the Lord will give you the bread of distress
and the water of oppression,
but#Or “and” your teachers will not hide themselves#Hebrew “himself” any longer.
And your eyes shall see#Literally “be seeing” your teachers.
21And your ears shall hear a word from behind you, saying,
“this is the way; walk in it,”
when you go to your right
and when you go to your left.
22And you will defile the plating of your silver idols
and the covering of your gold image.
You will scatter them like contaminated things;#Hebrew “contaminated thing”
you will say to it, “Filth!”#Or “Get out!”
23And he will give rain for your seed with which you sow the ground,
and grain, the produce of the ground, and it will be rich and fertile.#Literally “fat”
On that day, your cattle will graze in broad pastures;#Hebrew “pasture”
24and the oxen and the donkeys that till#Or “tilling” the ground will eat fodder, sorrel
that has been winnowed with shovel and pitchfork.
25And there will be streams on every high mountain and elevated hill,
watercourses of water, on a day of great slaughter, when towers fall.
26And the light of the full moon will be like the light of the sun,
and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, like the light of seven days,
on the day when Yahweh binds up the breakage of his people,
and he heals the wound of his blow.
Judgment against Assyria
27Look! The name of Yahweh comes from afar,
burning with his anger and heaviness of cloud.
His lips are full of indignation,
and his tongue is like a devouring fire.
28And his breath is like an overflowing river;
it reaches up to the neck
to shake the nations with the sieve of worthlessness;
and a bridle that leads astray is on the jawbones of the peoples.
29You shall have a song#Literally “There shall be a song for you” as in the night when a holy festival is kept,
and a gladness of heart like one who goes with the flute,
to go to the mountain of Yahweh, to the rock of Israel.
30And Yahweh will cause the majesty of his voice to be heard,
and he will cause the descent of his arm to be seen,
in furious anger and a flame of devouring fire,
with a cloudburst and a rainstorm and stones#Hebrew “stone” of hail.
31Indeed, Assyria will be shattered by the voice of Yahweh;
he strikes with the rod.
32And every stroke of the staff of foundation#Some translations emend this to “discipline” that Yahweh lays will be on it with timbrels and lyres,
and he will fight against it#The reading tradition (Qere) has “them” with battles of brandishing.
33For Topheth has been prepared from yesterday;
indeed, it is made ready for the king.
He makes its pile of wood deep and wide;
he makes fire and wood abundant.#Literally “numerous”
The breath of Yahweh burns in it like a stream of sulfur.
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