Isaiah 30
30
Woe to the Obstinate Nation
1“Woe to the obstinate children,”
declares the Lord,
“to those who carry out plans that are not mine,
forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit,
heaping sin upon sin;
2who go down to Egypt
without consulting me;
who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection,
to Egypt’s shade for refuge.
3But Pharaoh’s protection will be to your shame,
Egypt’s shade will bring you disgrace.
4Though they have officials in Zoan
and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,
5everyone will be put to shame
because of a people useless to them,
who bring neither help nor advantage,
but only shame and disgrace.”
6A prophecy concerning the animals of the Negev:
Through a land of hardship and distress,
of lions and lionesses,
of adders and darting snakes,
the envoys carry their riches on donkeys’ backs,
their treasures on the humps of camels,
to that unprofitable nation,
7to Egypt, whose help is utterly useless.
Therefore I call her
Rahab the Do-Nothing.
8Go now, write it on a tablet for them,
inscribe it on a scroll,
that for the days to come
it may be an everlasting witness.
9For these are rebellious people, deceitful children,
children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction.
10They say to the seers,
“See no more visions!”
and to the prophets,
“Give us no more visions of what is right!
Tell us pleasant things,
prophesy illusions.
11Leave this way,
get off this path,
and stop confronting us
with the Holy One of Israel!”
12Therefore this is what the Holy One of Israel says:
“Because you have rejected this message,
relied on oppression
and depended on deceit,
13this sin will become for you
like a high wall, cracked and bulging,
that collapses suddenly, in an instant.
14It will break in pieces like pottery,
shattered so mercilessly
that among its pieces not a fragment will be found
for taking coals from a hearth
or scooping water out of a cistern.”
15This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says:
“In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it.
16You said, ‘No, we will flee on horses.’
Therefore you will flee!
You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’
Therefore your pursuers will be swift!
17A thousand will flee
at the threat of one;
at the threat of five
you will all flee away,
till you are left
like a flagstaff on a mountaintop,
like a banner on a hill.”
18Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;
therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.
For the Lord is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him!
19People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. 20Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” 22Then you will desecrate your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, “Away with you!”
23He will also send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich and plentiful. In that day your cattle will graze in broad meadows. 24The oxen and donkeys that work the soil will eat fodder and mash, spread out with fork and shovel. 25In the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall, streams of water will flow on every high mountain and every lofty hill. 26The moon will shine like the sun, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the Lord binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds he inflicted.
27See, the Name of the Lord comes from afar,
with burning anger and dense clouds of smoke;
his lips are full of wrath,
and his tongue is a consuming fire.
28His breath is like a rushing torrent,
rising up to the neck.
He shakes the nations in the sieve of destruction;
he places in the jaws of the peoples
a bit that leads them astray.
29And you will sing
as on the night you celebrate a holy festival;
your hearts will rejoice
as when people playing pipes go up
to the mountain of the Lord,
to the Rock of Israel.
30The Lord will cause people to hear his majestic voice
and will make them see his arm coming down
with raging anger and consuming fire,
with cloudburst, thunderstorm and hail.
31The voice of the Lord will shatter Assyria;
with his rod he will strike them down.
32Every stroke the Lord lays on them
with his punishing club
will be to the music of timbrels and harps,
as he fights them in battle with the blows of his arm.
33Topheth has long been prepared;
it has been made ready for the king.
Its fire pit has been made deep and wide,
with an abundance of fire and wood;
the breath of the Lord,
like a stream of burning sulfur,
sets it ablaze.
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Isaiah 30: NIV
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The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by Permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.
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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