Isaiah 30
30
The Warning of Judah
1#Isa 1:2; 29:15 Woe to the rebellious children,
says the Lord,
who take counsel, but not from Me,
and make an alliance, but not of My Spirit,
in order to add sin to sin;
2#Nu 27:21; Isa 36:6 they walk down to Egypt
and have not asked from My mouth,
to strengthen themselves in the safety of Pharaoh
and to trust in the shadow of Egypt!
3#Isa 20:5 Therefore the safety of Pharaoh shall be your shame
and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your humiliation.
4#Isa 19:11; Jer 43:7 For their princes were at Zoan,
and their ambassadors came to Hanes.
5#Jer 2:36; Isa 30:7 They all will be ashamed
of a people who cannot profit them,
who are not a help or profit,
but a shame and also a reproach.
6#Dt 8:15; Isa 46:1–2; Jer 11:4The burden of the beasts of the Negev.
Through a land of trouble and anguish,
from which comes the lioness and lion,
the viper and fiery flying serpent,
they will carry their riches on the shoulders of young donkeys,
and their treasures on the humps of camels,
to a people who shall not profit them.
7For the Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose.
Therefore, I have called her,
“Rahab who has been exterminated.”
8#Isa 8:1; Hab 2:2 Now go, write it before them on a tablet,
and note it in a book,
that it may serve in the time to come
as a witness forever;
9#Isa 30:1 for this is a rebellious people, lying children,
children who refuse to listen to the law of the Lord;
10#Am 7:13; Jer 11:21 they say to the seers,
“You must not see visions,”
and to the prophets,
“You must not prophesy to us right things;
speak to us pleasant things,
prophesy illusions.
11Get out of the way,
turn aside from the path,
let us hear no more
about the Holy One of Israel.”
12#Isa 5:24Therefore, thus says the Holy One of Israel:
Because you despise this word
and trust in oppression and perverseness,
and rely on them,
13#1Ki 20:30; Ps 62:3 therefore this iniquity shall be to you
as a breach ready to fall, swelling up in a high wall,
whose collapse comes suddenly, in an instant.
14#Ps 2:9; Jer 19:10–11 He shall break it as the breaking of the potter’s vessel
that is broken in pieces;
He shall not spare so that there shall not be found in the breaking of it a shard
to take fire from the hearth
or with which to take water out of a cistern.
15#Isa 32:17; 7:4For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:
In returning and rest you shall be saved;
in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.
Yet you were not willing,
16#Isa 31:1; 31:3 and 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 26:8; 26:36 One thousand shall flee
at the threat of one man;
at the threat of five
you shall flee
until you are left
as a flag on the top of a mountain
and as a banner on a hill.
God’s Promise to Zion
18#Isa 25:9; 2Pe 3:9 Therefore, the Lord longs to be gracious to you,
and therefore, He waits on high to have mercy on you;
for the Lord is a God of justice;
how blessed are all who long for Him.
19#Ps 50:15; Isa 58:9O people in Zion, inhabitants in Jerusalem, you shall weep no more. He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry. When He hears it, He will answer you. 20#1Ki 22:27; Ps 74:9Though the Lord has given you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet He, your Teacher, will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. 21#Ps 25:8–9; Isa 35:8–9Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right hand and when you turn to the left. 22#Jdg 17:3–4; Isa 46:6You shall defile also your graven images overlaid with silver, and your molded images ornamented with gold. You shall scatter them as an impure thing, and say to them, “Be gone!”
23#Isa 32:20; Ps 65:9–13Then He shall give you rain for the seed which you shall sow in the ground and bread of the increase of the earth. And it shall be rich and plentiful. On that day your cattle shall feed in large pastures. 24#Ge 45:6The oxen likewise and the young donkeys that work the ground shall eat cured fodder, which has been winnowed with the shovel and fork. 25#Isa 35:6–7; 43:19–20There shall be on every high mountain and on every high hill rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. 26#Isa 60:19–20; Dt 32:39Moreover 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 seven days, in the day that the Lord binds up the breach of His people and heals the wound from His blow.
Judgment on Assyria
27See, the name of the Lord comes from afar,
burning with His anger, and its burden is heavy;
His lips are full of indignation,
and His tongue as a devouring fire.
28#Isa 8:8; 11:4 And His breath is as an overflowing stream
which reaches to the middle of the neck,
to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity;
and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people,
causing them to err.
29#Ps 42:4; Isa 2:3 You shall have songs,
as in the night when a festival is kept,
and gladness of heart,
as when one goes with a flute
to come into the mountain of the Lord,
to the Mighty One of Israel.
30#Ps 18:13–14; Jos 10:11 The Lord shall cause His glorious voice to be heard,
and shall show the descending of His arm
with the indignation of His anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire,
with scattering, and cloudburst, and hailstones.
31#Isa 9:4; 10:5 For through the voice of the Lord the Assyrian shall be beaten down
when He strikes with a rod.
32#Isa 11:15; 2:19 And every blow of the rod of punishment
which the Lord shall lay on him
shall be with tambourines and harps;
and in battles, brandishing weapons, He will fight them.
33#2Ki 23:10; Ge 19:24; Jer 19:6 For Topheth has been long prepared,
indeed, for the king it has been prepared.
He has made it deep and large,
a pile of fire with much wood;
the breath of the Lord,
like a stream of brimstone,
kindles it.
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Isaiah 30: MEV
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Military Bible Association
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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