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
The Worthless Treaty with Egypt
1“Woe to the rebellious children,”
declares the Lord,
“to those who carry out a plan that is not Mine,
who form an alliance, but against My will,
heaping up sin upon sin.
2They set out to go down to Egypt
without asking My advice,
to seek shelter under Pharaoh’s protection
and take refuge in Egypt’s shade.
3But Pharaoh’s protection will become your shame,
and the refuge of Egypt’s shade your disgrace.
4For though their princes are at Zoan
and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,
5everyone will be put to shame
because of a people useless to them.
They cannot be of help;
they are good for nothing but shame and reproach.”
6This is the burden against the beasts of the Negev:
Through a land of hardship and distress,
of lioness and lion,
of viper and flying serpent,
they carry their wealth on the backs of donkeys
and their treasures on the humps of camels,
to a people of no profit to them.
7Egypt’s help is futile and empty;
therefore I have called her
Rahab Who Sits Still.#30:7 Hebrew Rahab-hem-shebeth
8Go now, write it on a tablet in their presence
and inscribe it on a scroll;
it will be for the days to come,
a witness forever and ever.
9These are rebellious people, deceitful children,
children unwilling to obey the Lord’s instruction.
10They say to the seers,
“Stop seeing visions!”
and to the prophets,
“Do not prophesy to us the truth!
Speak to us pleasant words;
prophesy illusions.
11Get out of the way; turn off the road.
Rid us of the Holy One of Israel!”
12Therefore this is what the Holy One of Israel says:
“Because you have rejected this message,
trusting in oppression and relying on deceit,
13this iniquity of yours is like a breach about to fail,
a bulge in a high wall,
whose collapse will come suddenly—
in an instant!
14It will break in pieces like a potter’s jar,
shattered so that no fragment can be found.
Not a shard will be found in the dust
large enough to scoop the coals from a hearth
or to skim the water from a cistern.”
15For the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said:
“By repentance and rest
you would be saved;
your strength would lie in quiet confidence—
but you were not willing.”
16“No,” you say, “we will flee on horses.”
Therefore you will flee!
“We will ride swift horses,”
but your pursuers will be faster.
17A thousand will flee at the threat of one;
at the threat of five you will all flee,
until you are left alone like a pole on a mountaintop,
like a banner on a hill.
God Will Be Gracious
18Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you;
therefore He rises to show you compassion,
for the Lord is a just God.
Blessed are all who wait for Him.
19O people in Zion who dwell in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. He will surely be gracious when you cry for help; when He hears, He will answer you. 20The Lord will give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, but your Teacher will no longer hide Himself—with your own eyes you will see Him.
21And whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you: “This is the way. Walk in it.” 22So you will desecrate your silver-plated idols and your gold-plated images. You will throw them away like menstrual cloths, saying to them, “Be gone!”
23Then He will send rain for the seed that you have sown in the ground, and the food that comes from your land will be rich and plentiful. On that day your cattle will graze in open pastures. 24The oxen and donkeys that work the ground will eat salted fodder, winnowed with shovel and pitchfork.
25And from every high mountain and every raised hill, streams of water will flow in the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall. 26The light of the moon will be as bright as the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter—like the light of seven days—on the day that the Lord binds up the brokenness of His people and heals the wounds He has inflicted.
27Behold, the Name of the Lord comes from afar,
with burning anger and dense smoke.
His lips are full of fury,
and His tongue is like a consuming fire.
28His breath is like a rushing torrent
that rises to the neck.
He comes to sift the nations in a sieve of destruction;
He bridles the jaws of the peoples to lead them astray.
29You will sing
as on the night of a holy festival,
and your heart will rejoice
like one who walks to the music of a flute,
going up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the Rock of Israel.
30And the Lord will cause His majestic voice to be heard
and His mighty arm to be revealed,
striking in angry wrath with a flame of consuming fire,
and with cloudburst, storm, and hailstones.
31For Assyria will be shattered at the voice of the Lord;
He will strike them with His scepter.
32And with every stroke of the rod of punishment #30:32 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Syriac; MT the rod of foundation; DSS the rod of His foundation
that the Lord brings down on them,
the tambourines and lyres will sound
as He battles with weapons brandished.
33For Topheth has long been prepared;
it has been made ready for the king.
Its funeral pyre is deep and wide,
with plenty of fire and wood.
The breath of the Lord, like a torrent of burning sulfur,
sets it ablaze.
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