Isaiah 30
30
Israel Should Trust in God, Not Egypt
1The Lord said, “Look at these children. They don’t obey me. They make plans, but they don’t ask me to help them. They make agreements with other nations, but my Spirit does not want those agreements. These people are adding more and more sins to the ones they have already done. 2They are going down to Egypt for help, but they did not ask me if that was the right thing to do. They hope they will be saved by the Pharaoh. They want Egypt to protect them.
3“But I tell you, hiding in Egypt will not help you. Pharaoh will not be able to protect you. 4Your leaders have gone to Zoan, and your representatives have gone to Hanes.#30:4 Zoan, Hanes Cities in Egypt. 5But they will be disappointed. They are depending on a nation that cannot help them. Egypt is useless—it will not help. Egypt will bring nothing but shame and embarrassment.”
God’s Message to Judah
6This is a message#30:6 message Or “burden.” about the Negev animals#30:6 Negev animals Or “Creatures of the South,” a phrase that can refer to Egypt.:
There is a dangerous place full of lions, adders,#30:6 adders Very poisonous snakes. deadly snakes,#30:6 deadly snakes Literally, “flying snakes.” and useless people. And there are people who load their wealth onto donkeys and their treasures on the backs of camels. They carry them to a people who cannot help. 7That useless nation is Egypt. Egypt’s help is worth nothing, so I call Egypt the “Do-Nothing Dragon.”#30:7 Do-Nothing Dragon Or “Resting Rahab,” the great sea monster. Some ancient stories tell about Rahab fighting with God.
8Now write this on a sign so that all people can see it, and write this in a book. Write these things for a future time. This will be far, far in the future:#30:8 Write … future Or “Write this for the future as a witness forever.”
9These people are like children who refuse to obey. They lie and refuse to listen to the Lord’s teachings. 10They tell the prophets, “Don’t see dreams#30:10 dreams Or “visions.” Special kinds of dreams God used to speak to his prophets. about things we should do. Don’t tell us the truth. Say nice things to us and make us feel good. See only good things for us. 11Stop seeing things that will really happen. Get out of our way. Stop telling us about the Holy One of Israel.”
Judah’s Help Comes Only From God
12The Holy One of Israel says, “You people have refused to accept this message from me. You depend on fighting and lies to help you. 13You are guilty of these things. So you are like a tall wall with cracks in it. That wall will fall and break into small pieces. 14You will be like a large clay jar that breaks into many small, useless pieces. You cannot use them to get a hot coal from the fire or to get water from a pool in the ground.”
15The Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, says, “If you come back to me you will be saved. Only by remaining calm and trusting in me can you be strong.”
But you don’t want to do that. 16You say, “No, we need fast horses for battle.” That is true—you will need fast horses, but only to run away because your enemy will be faster than your horses. 17One enemy soldier will make threats, and a thousand of your men will run away. And when five of them make threats, all of you will run away. The only thing that will be left of your army will be a flagpole on a hill.
God Will Help His People
18So the Lord is waiting to show his mercy to you. He wants to rise and comfort you. The Lord is the God who does the right thing, so he will bless everyone who waits for his help.
19You people who live in Jerusalem on Mount Zion will not continue crying. The Lord will hear your crying, and he will comfort you. When he hears you, he will help you.
20The Lord might give you sorrow and pain like the bread and water you eat every day. But God is your teacher, and he will not continue to hide from you. You will see your teacher with your own eyes. 21If you wander from the right path, either to the right or to the left, you will hear a voice behind you saying, “You should go this way. Here is the right way.”
22Then you will take your idols covered with gold and silver and make them unfit to be used again. You will throw them away like filthy rags#30:22 You … rags Or “You will throw those gods away like menstrual clothes.” and say, “Go away!”
23At that time the Lord will send you rain. You will plant seeds, and the ground will grow food for you. You will have a very large harvest. You will have plenty of food in the fields for your animals. There will be large fields for your sheep. 24Your cattle and donkeys will have all the food they need. There will be much food. You will have to use shovels and pitchforks to spread all the food#30:24 food This was special food that had been allowed to ferment. This made the meat of the animal tender and good. for your animals to eat. 25Every mountain and hill will have streams filled with water. These things will happen after many people are killed and the enemy’s towers are pulled down.
26At that time the light from the moon will be as bright as the sun, and the light from the sun will be seven times brighter than it is now. One day of sunlight will be like a whole week’s worth. This will happen when the Lord bandages his broken people and heals the hurts from their beatings.
27Look! The Lord is coming from far away. His anger is like a fire with thick clouds of smoke. His mouth is filled with anger, and his tongue is like a burning fire. 28His breath is like a great river that rises until it reaches the throat. He will judge the nations as if putting them through a strainer that separates the ones fit for destruction. He will put a bit in their mouths to lead them to the place they don’t want to go.
29You will sing happy songs, like the nights when you begin a festival. You will be very happy walking to the Lord’s mountain and listening to the flute on the way to worship the Rock of Israel.
30The Lord will cause all people to hear his great voice and to see his powerful arm come down in anger. That arm will be like a great fire that burns everything. His power will be like a great storm with much rain and hail. 31Assyria will be frightened by the Lord’s voice and the stick that will beat him. 32And as the Lord beats Assyria, his people will keep the rhythm with their drums and harps.
33Topheth#30:33 Topheth Gehenna, the Valley of Hinnom. In this valley people killed their children to honor the false god, “Molech.” has been made ready for a long time. It is ready for the king.#30:33 king This is like the name of the false god, “Molech.” It was made very deep and wide. There is a very big pile of wood and fire there, and the Lord’s breath will come like a stream of burning sulfur to start the fire.
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Isaiah 30: ERV
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Isaiah 30
30
XXX
1Wo unto the rebellious children, saith Jehovah,
Who form counsels, but not from me;
And make oblations, but not by my spirit:
That they may add sin to sin.
2Who set forward to go down to Egypt;
But have not inquired at my mouth:
To strengthen themselves with the strength of Pharaoh;
And to trust in the shadow of Egypt.
3But the strength of Pharaoh shall be your shame;
And your trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.
4When his princes were at Zoan,
And his ambassadors arrived at Hanes:
5They were all ashamed of a people that could not profit them;
Nor be an help nor profit;
But a shame and also a reproach.
6THE ORACLE CONCERNING THE BEASTS OF THE SOUTH.
Through a land of distress and difficulty,
From whence come the lioness and the lion,
The viper and the flying fiery serpent,
They carry on the shoulder of young asses their wealth;
And on the bunch of the camel their treasures;
To a people that shall not profit them:
7For Egypt shall help in vain, and to no purpose;
Wherefore I have called her, Rahab Hem Shabeth.
8Now, go write it for them on a tablet;
And note it in a book:
That it might be for time to come;
For ever and ever.
9For this is a rebellious people, lying children;
Children, who will not hear the law of Jehovah;
10Who say to the seers, See not;
And to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us rightthings;
Speak unto us smooth things;
Prophesy deceits.
11Get you out of the way,
Turn out of the path;
Cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.
12Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel:
Because ye have rejected this word,
And have trusted in oppression and perverseness;
And have stayed thereon:
13Therefore this iniquity shall be unto you
Like a breach ready to fall, bulging out in a high wall;
Whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.
14And it shall be broken, as the breaking of a potter's vessel that is broken in pieces;
He shall not spare;
So that there shall not be found a sherd among its fragments,
To take up fire from the hearth,
Or to take water from the cistern.
15Verily thus saith the Lord Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel:
In returning and rest should ye have been saved;
In quietness and in confidence should have been your strength;
But ye would not.
16And ye said: No, for we will flee upon horses;
Therefore shall ye certainly flee:
And, we will ride upon swift coursers;
Therefore shall they be made swift that pursue you.
17One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one;
At the rebuke of five shall ye flee:
Till ye be left as a standard on the summit of a mountain;
And as a beacon on an hill.
18And therefore shall Jehovah delay, that he may be gracious unto you;
And therefore shall he withdraw himself that he may have mercy upon you;
For Jehovah is a God of judgment;
Blessed are all they that wait for him.
19Surely the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem:
Thou shalt weep no more:
He will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry;
No sooner shall he hear it, than he will answer thee.
20And the Lord shall give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction;
And thy teachers shall not be hid any more;
But thine eyes shall see thy teachers:
21And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee,
Saying: This is the way, walk ye in it:
When ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.
22And ye shall defile the covering of your graven images of silver,
And the clothing of your molten images of gold:
Thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth;
Thou shalt say unto them, Begone.
23Then shall he give rain for thy seed,
With which thou shalt sow thy ground,
And bread of the produce of the ground;
And it shall be abundant and plenteous:
And thy cattle shall feed in that day in large pastures.
24And the oxen, and the young asses, that till the ground,
Shall eat clean provender,
Which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan.
25And there shall be upon every high mountain,
And upon every lofty hill,
Brooks, even streams of water,
In the day of the great slaughter,
When the towers fall.
26Moreover 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 when Jehovah shall bind up the breach of his people;
And shall heal the wound which his stroke hath inflicted.
27Behold! the name of Jehovah cometh from afar,
His wrath burneth, and vehement is the flame;
His lips are full of indignation,
And his tongue is as a consuming fire.
28And his breath is like an overflowing torrent,
That reacheth to the middle of the neck;
To sift the nations with the sieve of destruction:
And there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people causing them to err.
29Ye shall have a song, as in the night when the feast
is celebrated;
And gladness of heart, as when one marcheth after the pipe,
To go to the mountain of Jehovah, to the rock of Israel.
30And Jehovah shall cause his glorious voice to be heard,
And make the descending of his arm to be seen,
With indignant wrath, and with a flame of consuming fire;
With a violent storm, and rushing showers, and hailstones.
31When at the voice of Jehovah the Assyrian shall be beaten down,
Then with the rod He shall smite.
32And wherever the appointed rod shall pass,
Which Jehovah shall cause to rest upon him;
It shall be accompanied with tabrets and harps;
And with fierce battles shall He fight against them.
33For Tophet is ordained of old,
Even the same for the king is prepared;
He hath made it deep; he hath made it large;
The pile thereof, fire and wood in abundance:
The breath of Jehovah, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.
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Translated by Rev John Jones (Ioan Tegid).Published at Oxford in 1830, second edition 1842.