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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Isaiah 30: CEVDCI
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
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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