Isaiah 31
31
Israel Should Depend on God’s Power
1Look at the people going down to Egypt for help. They think the horses they get will save them. They hope the many chariots and powerful soldiers will protect them. But the people don’t trust the Holy One of Israel. They didn’t ask the Lord for help. 2But he is the wise one who is bringing the disaster. And they will not be able to stop what he commanded. The Lord will attack those who are evil and all who try to help them.
3The Egyptians are only human, not God. The horses from Egypt are only animals, not spirit. The Lord will stretch out his arm, and the helper will be defeated. And those who wanted help will fall. They will all be destroyed together.
4The Lord told me: “When a lion or its cub catches an animal to eat, the lion stands over the dead animal and roars, and nothing can frighten it away. If men come and yell at the lion, the lion will not be afraid. They might make a lot of noise, but the lion will not run away.”
In the same way, the Lord All-Powerful will come down to Mount Zion. He will fight on that hill. 5Just as birds fly over their nest to protect it, so the Lord All-Powerful will defend#31:5 defend Literally, “fight on” or “fight against.” Jerusalem. He will save her. He will “pass over” and save Jerusalem.
6People of Israel, you should come back to the God you turned away from. 7That is because when those things happen, people will reject the gold and silver idols you made when you sinned against me.
8It is true that Assyria will be defeated with a sword, but it will not be a human sword that defeats him. Assyria will be destroyed, but that destruction will not come from a man’s sword. Assyria will run away from God’s sword, but the young men will be caught and made slaves. 9Their place of safety will be destroyed. Their leaders will be defeated, and they will abandon their flag.
The Lord, whose fireplace is on Zion and whose oven#31:9 fireplace … oven That is, the altar in the Temple. is in Jerusalem, is the one who said this.
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Isaiah 31
31
The Lord, the Only Help
1Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help#Is 30:2,7; 36:6
and who depend on horses!
They trust in the abundance of chariots
and in the large number of horsemen.#Dt 17:16; Ps 20:7; 33:17; Is 2:7; 30:16; 36:9
They do not look#Is 9:13; 17:7–8; Dn 9:13; Am 5:4–8 to the Holy One of Israel,
and they do not seek the Lord.
2But he also is wise and brings disaster.#Is 45:7
He does not go back on what he says;#Nm 23:19; Is 22:14; Jr 44:29
he will rise up against the house of the wicked
and against the allies of evildoers.
3Egyptians are men, not God;
their horses are flesh, not spirit.
When the Lord raises his hand to strike,
the helper will stumble
and the one who is helped will fall;
both will perish together.
4For this is what the Lord said to me:
As a lion or young lion growls over its prey#Nm 24:9; Hs 11:10; Am 3:8
when a band of shepherds is called out against it,
and it is not terrified by their shouting
or subdued by their noise,
so the Lord of Armies will come down
to fight on Mount Zion
and on its hill.#Is 42:13; Zch 12:8
5Like hovering birds,
so the Lord of Armies will protect Jerusalem;#Dt 32:11; Ps 91:4
by protecting it, he will rescue it;
by passing over it, he will deliver it.
6Return to the one the Israelites have greatly rebelled against.#Is 1:5; 59:13 7For on that day, every one of you will reject the worthless idols of silver and gold that your own hands have sinfully made.#Is 2:20; 30:22
8Then Assyria will fall,
but not by human sword;
a sword will devour him,
but not one made by man.#Is 37:7,36–38
He will flee from the sword;
his young men will be put to forced labor.#Gn 49:15; Is 14:2
9His rock#31:9 Perhaps the Assyrian king will pass away because of fear,#Dt 32:31,37
and his officers will be afraid because of the signal flag.#Is 5:26; 13:2; Jr 4:6,21; 51:12,27
This is the Lord’s declaration — whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.#Lv 10:2; Is 10:17; 30:33
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