Isaiah 30
30
Futile Confidence in Egypt
1“Woe to the rebellious children,” says the Lord,
#Is. 29:15“Who take counsel, but not of Me,
And who devise plans, but not of My Spirit,
#Deut. 29:19That they may add sin to sin;
2#Is. 31:1; Jer. 43:7Who walk to go down to Egypt,
And #Num. 27:21; Josh. 9:14; 1 Kin. 22:7; Jer. 21:2; 42:2, 20have not asked My advice,
To strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh,
And to trust in the shadow of Egypt!
3#Is. 20:5; Jer. 37:5, 7Therefore the strength of Pharaoh
Shall be your shame,
And trust in the shadow of Egypt
Shall be your humiliation.
4For his princes were at #Is. 19:11Zoan,
And his ambassadors came to Hanes.
5#Jer. 2:36They were all ashamed of a people who could not benefit them,
Or be help or benefit,
But a shame and also a reproach.”
6#Is. 57:9; Hos. 8:9; 12:1The burden against the beasts of the South.
Through a land of trouble and anguish,
From which came the lioness and lion,
#Deut. 8:15; Is. 14:29The viper and fiery flying serpent,
They will carry their riches on the backs of young donkeys,
And their treasures on the humps of camels,
To a people who shall not profit;
7#Jer. 37:7For the Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose.
Therefore I have called her
Rahab-Hem-Shebeth.
A Rebellious People
8Now go, #Hab. 2:2write it before them on a tablet,
And note it on a scroll,
That it may be for time to come,
Forever and ever:
9That #Deut. 32:20; Is. 1:2, 4; 65:2this is a rebellious people,
Lying children,
Children who will not hear the law of the Lord;
10#Is. 5:20; Jer. 11:21; Amos 2:12; Mic. 2:6Who say to the seers, “Do not see,”
And to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us right things;
#1 Kin. 22:8, 13; Jer. 6:14; 23:17, 26; Ezek. 13:7; Mic. 2:11; Rom. 16:18; 2 Tim. 4:3, 4Speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits.
11Get out of the way,
Turn aside from the path,
Cause the Holy One of Israel
To cease from before us.”
12Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel:
“Because you #Lev. 26:43; Num. 15:31; Prov. 1:30; 13:13; Is. 5:24; Ezek. 20:13, 16, 24; Amos 2:4despise this word,
And trust in oppression and perversity,
And rely on them,
13Therefore this iniquity shall be to you
#1 Kin. 20:30; Ps. 62:3, 4; Is. 58:12Like a breach ready to fall,
A bulge in a high wall,
Whose breaking #Is. 29:5comes suddenly, in an instant.
14And #Ps. 2:9; Jer. 19:11He shall break it like the breaking of the potter’s vessel,
Which is broken in pieces;
He shall not spare.
So there shall not be found among its fragments
A shard to take fire from the hearth,
Or to take water from the cistern.”
15For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:
#Ps. 116:7; Is. 7:4; 28:12“In returning and rest you shall be saved;
In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.”
#Matt. 23:37But you would not,
16And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses”—
Therefore you shall flee!
And, “We will ride on swift horses”—
Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift!
17#Lev. 26:36; Deut. 28:25; 32:30; Josh. 23:10; (Prov. 28:1)One thousand shall flee at the threat of one,
At the threat of five you shall flee,
Till you are left as a pole on top of a mountain
And as a banner on a hill.
God Will Be Gracious
18Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be #Is. 33:2gracious to you;
And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
#Ps. 2:12; 34:8; Prov. 16:20; Jer. 17:7Blessed are all those who #Is. 26:8wait for Him.
19For the people #Is. 65:9; (Ezek. 37:25, 28)shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem;
You shall #Is. 25:8weep no more.
He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry;
When He hears it, He will #Ps. 50:15; Is. 65:24; (Matt. 7:7–11)answer you.
20And though the Lord gives you
#1 Kin. 22:27; Ps. 127:2The bread of adversity and the water of affliction,
Yet #Ps. 74:9; Amos 8:11your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore,
But your eyes shall see your teachers.
21Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying,
“This is the way, walk in it,”
Whenever you #Josh. 1:7turn to the right hand
Or whenever you turn to the left.
22#2 Chr. 31:1; Is. 2:20; 31:7You will also defile the covering of your images of silver,
And the ornament of your molded images of gold.
You will throw them away as an unclean thing;
#Hos. 14:8You will say to them, “Get away!”
23#(Matt. 6:33); 1 Tim. 6:8Then He will give the rain for your seed
With which you sow the ground,
And bread of the increase of the earth;
It will be fat and plentiful.
In that day your cattle will feed
In large pastures.
24Likewise the oxen and the young donkeys that work the ground
Will eat cured fodder,
Which has been winnowed with the shovel and fan.
25There will be #Is. 2:14, 15on every high mountain
And on every high hill
Rivers and streams of waters,
In the day of the #Is. 2:10–21; 34:2great slaughter,
When the towers fall.
26Moreover #(Is. 60:19, 20; Rev. 21:23; 22:5)the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun,
And the light of the sun will be sevenfold,
As the light of seven days,
In the day that the Lord binds up the bruise of His people
And heals the stroke of their wound.
Judgment on Assyria
27Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar,
Burning with His anger,
And His burden is heavy;
His lips are full of indignation,
And His tongue like a devouring fire.
28#Is. 11:4; 2 Thess. 2:8His breath is like an overflowing stream,
#Is. 8:8Which reaches up to the neck,
To sift the nations with the sieve of futility;
And there shall be #2 Kin. 19:28; Is. 37:29a bridle in the jaws of the people,
Causing them to err.
29You shall have a song
As in the night when a holy festival is kept,
And gladness of heart as when one goes with a flute,
To come into #(Is. 2:3)the mountain of the Lord,
To the Mighty One of Israel.
30#Is. 29:6The Lord will cause His glorious voice to be heard,
And show the descent of His arm,
With the indignation of His anger
And the flame of a devouring fire,
With scattering, tempest, #Is. 28:2and hailstones.
31For #Is. 14:25; 37:36through the voice of the Lord
Assyria will be beaten down,
As He strikes with the #Is. 10:5, 24rod.
32And in every place where the staff of punishment passes,
Which the Lord lays on him,
It will be with tambourines and harps;
And in battles of #Is. 11:15brandishing He will fight with it.
33#2 Kin. 23:10; Jer. 7:31For Tophet was established of old,
Yes, for the king it is prepared.
He has made it deep and large;
Its pyre is fire with much wood;
The breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone,
Kindles it.
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Isaiah 30: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Isaiah 30
30
Don't Expect Help from Egypt
1This is the Lord's message for his rebellious people:
“You follow your own plans
instead of mine;
you make treaties
without asking me,
and you keep on sinning.
2You trust Egypt for protection.
So you refuse my advice
and send messengers to Egypt
to beg their king for help.
3“You will be disappointed,
completely disgraced
for trusting Egypt.
4The king's power reaches
from the city of Zoan
as far south as Hanes.#30.4 Zoan … Hanes: Or “Your messengers have reached the city of Zoan and gone as far as Hanes.” Zoan was in northeast Egypt; Hanes was to the south.
5But Egypt can't protect you,
and to trust that nation
is useless and foolish.”
6This is a message
about the animals
of the Southern Desert:
“You people carry treasures
on donkeys and camels.
You travel to a feeble nation
through a troublesome desert
filled with lions
and flying fiery dragons.
7Egypt can't help you!
That's why I call that nation
a helpless monster.”#30.7 a helpless monster: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
Israel Refuses To Listen
8The Lord told me to write down his message for his people, so that it would be there forever. 9They have turned against the Lord and can't be trusted. They have refused his teaching 10and have said to his messengers and prophets:
Don't tell us what God has shown you and don't preach the truth. Just say what we want to hear, even if it's false. 11Stop telling us what God has said! We don't want to hear any more about the holy One of Israel.
12Now this is the answer
of the holy One of Israel:
“You rejected my message,
and you trust in violence
and lies.
13This sin is like a crack
that makes a high wall
quickly crumble 14and shatter
like a crushed bowl.
There's not a piece left
big enough to carry hot coals
or to dip out water.”
Trust the Lord
15The holy Lord God of Israel
had told all of you,
“I will keep you safe
if you turn back to me
and calm down.
I will make you strong
if you quietly trust me.”
Then you stubbornly 16said,
“No! We will safely escape
on speedy horses.”
But those who chase you
will be even faster.
17As few as five of them,
or even one, will be enough
to chase a thousand of you.
Finally, all that will be left
will be a few survivors
as lonely as a flag pole
on a barren hill.
The Lord Will Show Mercy
18The Lord God is waiting
to show how kind he is
and to have pity on you.
The Lord always does right;
he blesses those who trust him.
19People of Jerusalem, you don't need to cry anymore. The Lord is kind, and as soon as he hears your cries for help, he will come. 20The Lord has given you trouble and sorrow as your food and drink. But now you will again see the Lord, your teacher, and he will guide you. 21Whether you turn to the right or to the left, you will hear a voice saying, “This is the road! Now follow it.” 22Then you will treat your idols of silver and gold like garbage; you will throw them away like filthy rags.
23The Lord will send rain to water the seeds you have planted—your fields will produce more crops than you need, and your cattle will graze in open pastures. 24Even the oxen and donkeys that plow your fields will be fed the finest grain.#30.24 the finest grain: The Hebrew text refers to grain with the husks removed.
25On that day people will be slaughtered and towers destroyed, but streams of water will flow from high hills and towering mountains. 26Then the Lord will bandage his people's injuries and heal the wounds he has caused. The moon will shine as bright as the sun, and the sun will shine seven times brighter than usual. It will be like the light of seven days all at once.
Assyria Will Be Punished
27The Lord is coming
from far away
with his fiery anger
and thick clouds of smoke.#30.27 with … smoke: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
His angry words flame up
like a destructive fire;
28he breathes out a flood
that comes up to the neck.
He sifts the nations
and destroys them.
Then he puts a bridle
in every foreigner's mouth
and leads them to doom.
29The Lord's people will sing as they do when they celebrate a religious festival#30.29 a religious festival: Probably Passover. at night. The Lord is Israel's mighty rock,#30.29 mighty rock: See the note at 17.10. and his people will be as happy as they are when they follow the sound of flutes to the mountain where he is worshiped.
30The Lord will get furious. His fearsome voice will be heard, his arm will be seen ready to strike, and his anger will be like a destructive fire, followed by thunderstorms and hailstones. 31When the Assyrians hear the Lord's voice and see him striking with his iron rod, they will be terrified. 32He will attack them in battle, and each time he strikes them, it will be to the music of tambourines and harps.
33Long ago the Lord got a place ready for burning the body of the dead king.#30.33 burning … king: Or “sacrificing the king” or “sacrificing to Molech.” Human sacrifices were sometimes offered to Molech, a god whose name sounds like the Hebrew word for “king” (see 2 Kings 23.10; Jeremiah 32.35). The place for the fire is deep and wide, the wood is piled high, and the Lord will start the fire by breathing out flaming sulfur.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.