30
1 “Woe
to the rebellious
children”, says
the LORD, “who
take counsel, but
not from me;
and who make
an alliance, but
not with my
Spirit, that they
may add sin
to sin;
2 who
set out to
go down into
Egypt without
asking for my
advice, to
strengthen themselves in
the strength of
Pharaoh, and to
take refuge in
the shadow of
Egypt!
3 Therefore
the strength of
Pharaoh will be
your shame, and
the refuge in
the shadow of
Egypt your
confusion.
4 For
their princes are
at Zoan, and
their ambassadors
have come to
Hanes.
5 They
shall all be
ashamed because of
a people that
can’t profit them,
that are not
a help nor
profit, but a
shame, and also
a reproach.”
6 The
burden of
the animals of the
South.
Through the land
of trouble and
anguish, of the
lioness and the
lion, the viper
and fiery flying
serpent, they
carry their riches
on the shoulders
of young donkeys,
and their treasures
on the humps
of camels, to
an unprofitable people.
7 For
Egypt helps in
vain, and to no
purpose; therefore
I have called
her Rahab who sits
still.
8 Now
go, write it
before them on
a tablet, and
inscribe it in
a book, that
it may be
for the time
to come forever
and ever.
9 For
it is a
rebellious people,
lying children,
children who will
not hear the
LORD’s law;
10 who
tell the seers,
“Don’t see!” and
the prophets, “Don’t
prophesy to us
right things. Tell
us pleasant things.
Prophesy deceits.
11 Get
out of the
way. Turn away
from the path.
Cause the Holy One
of Israel to
cease from before
us.”
12 Therefore
the Holy One
of Israel says, “Because
you despise this
word, and trust
in oppression and
perverseness, and
rely on it,
13 therefore
this iniquity
shall be to
you like a
breach ready to
fall, swelling out
in a high
wall, whose breaking
comes suddenly in
an instant.
14 He
will break it
as a potter’s
vessel is broken,
breaking it in
pieces without
sparing, so that
there won’t be
found among the
broken pieces
a piece good enough
to take fire from
the hearth, or
to dip up water
out of the
cistern.”
15 For
thus said the Lord
GOD, the Holy
One of Israel, “You
will be saved
in returning and
rest. Your
strength will be
in quietness and
in confidence.” You
refused,
16 but
you said, “No,
for we will
flee on horses;”
therefore you will
flee; and, “We
will ride on
the swift;”
therefore those
who pursue you
will be swift.
17 One thousand
will flee at
the threat of one.
At the threat
of five, you
will flee until
you are left
like a beacon
on the top
of a mountain,
and like a
banner on a
hill.
18 Therefore
the LORD will
wait, that he
may be gracious
to you; and
therefore he will
be exalted, that
he may have
mercy on you,
for the LORD
is a God
of justice. Blessed
are all those
who wait for
him.
19 For
the people will
dwell in Zion
at Jerusalem. You
will weep no
more. He will
surely be gracious
to you at
the voice of
your cry. When
he hears you,
he will answer
you.
20 Though
the Lord may give
you the bread
of adversity and
the water of
affliction, yet
your teachers won’t
be hidden any more,
but your eyes
will see your
teachers;
21 and
when you turn to
the right hand, and
when you turn to
the left, your ears
will hear a voice
behind you, saying, “This
is the way.
Walk in it.”
22 You
shall defile the
overlaying of your
engraved images of
silver, and the
plating of your
molten images of
gold. You
shall cast them
away as an
unclean thing. You
shall tell it, “Go
away!”
23 He
will give the
rain for your
seed, with which
you will sow
the ground; and
bread of the
increase of
the ground will be
rich and plentiful.
In that day,
your livestock
will feed in
large pastures.
24 The oxen
likewise and the
young donkeys that
till the ground
will eat savory feed,
which has been
winnowed with the
shovel and with
the fork.
25 There
will be brooks and
streams of water
on every lofty
mountain and on
every high hill
in the day
of the great
slaughter, when
the towers fall.
26 Moreover
the light of the
moon will be
like the light of
the sun, and
the light of the
sun will be
seven times brighter,
like the light of
seven days, in
the day that
the LORD binds
up the fracture
of his people,
and heals the
wound they
were struck with.
27 Behold,
the LORD’s name
comes from far
away, burning with
his anger, and
in thick rising smoke.
His lips are
full of
indignation. His
tongue is as
a devouring fire.
28 His
breath is as
an overflowing
stream that
reaches even to
the neck, to
sift the nations
with the sieve
of destruction. A
bridle that leads
to ruin will
be in the
jaws of the
peoples.
29 You
will have a
song, as in
the night when
a holy feast
is kept, and
gladness of heart,
as when one
goes with a
flute to come
to the LORD’s
mountain, to
Israel’s Rock.
30 The
LORD will cause
his glorious voice
to be heard,
and will show
the descent of his
arm, with the
indignation of
his anger and the
flame of
a devouring fire, with
a blast, storm,
and hailstones.
31 For
through the LORD’s
voice the Assyrian
will be dismayed.
He will strike
him with his
rod.
32 Every stroke
of the rod
of punishment,
which the LORD
will lay on
him, will be
with the sound of
tambourines and
harps. He will
fight with them
in battles,
brandishing weapons.
33 For
his burning place
has long been
ready. Yes, it
is prepared for
the king. He
has made its
pyre deep and
large with fire
and much wood.
The LORD’s breath,
like a stream
of sulfur, kindles
it.