IsaiahChapter 30
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1"How terrible it will be for the rebel children,"
says the LORD.
"They carry out a plan that is not mine.
They make an agreement with others, but it is against my will.
They pile sin on top of sin. 2They start out to go down to Egypt
without asking me for advice.
They look for shelter under Pharaoh's protection.
They look for safety in Egypt's shade. 3But Pharaoh's protection will bring you shame.
Hiding in Egypt's shade will bring you disgrace. 4For even though their princes are at Zoan,
and their messengers have arrived in Hanes, 5everyone will be put to shame
because of a people who are useless to them.
They bring no help and no good,
only shame and disgrace." 6This is the message of judgment against the animals of the Negev:
They travel through a land of hardship and trouble.
It is a land of lionesses and lions,
of poisonous snakes and flying serpents.
They carry their riches on the backs of donkeys.
They carry their treasures on the humps of camels.
They take them to a people who cannot help them. 7Egypt's help is useless and empty.
So I have called her
Rahab Who Sits Still.a 8Now go and write it on a tablet in front of them.
Write it on a scroll.
It will be for the days to come,
a witness forever and ever. 9These are rebel people.
They are lying children.
They are children who will not obey the LORD's teaching. 10They say to the seers, "Stop seeing visions!"
They say to the prophets,
"Don't tell us what is true!
Tell us nice things.
Prophesy things that are not real. 11Get out of the way.
Leave this path.
Stop telling us about the Holy One of Israel!" 12So this is what the Holy One of Israel says:
"Because you have rejected this message,
and you trust in being cruel to others,
and you depend on lies, 13this sin of yours is like a crack in a high wall.
The wall bulges and is about to fall.
It will crash down suddenly, in a moment! 14It will break into pieces like a potter's jar.
It will be smashed so badly that no piece can be found.
No piece in the dust will be big enough
to scoop coals from a fire
or to dip water from a well."b 15This is what the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, says:
"You would be saved by turning back to me and resting.
Your strength would come from being quiet and trusting.
But you would not do it." 16You said, "No, we will run away on horses."
So you will run away!
You said, "We will ride fast horses."
But those chasing you will be faster. 17A thousand of you will run from the threat of one.
At the threat of five, all of you will run.
In the end you will be left alone,
like a pole on a mountaintop,
like a flag on a hill. 18So the LORD longs to show you grace.
He rises up to show you mercy.
For the LORD is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him. 19People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem,
you will not cry anymore.
He will surely show you grace when you cry for help.
When he hears you, he will answer you. 20The Lord will give you hard times as your bread
and trouble as your water.
But your Teacher will not hide anymore.
You will see him with your own eyes. 21You may turn to the right or to the left.
Then your ears will hear a voice behind you saying,
"This is the way. Walk in it." 22Then you will treat your idols as unclean.
They are covered with silver and gold.
You will throw them away like cloths from a woman's monthly bleeding.
You will say to them, "Go away!" 23Then he will send rain for the seed you plant in the ground.
The food from your land will be rich and plenty.
On that day your cattle will eat grass in wide fields. 24The oxen and donkeys that work the ground
will eat salted feed.
It will be separated from the husks with shovel and pitchfork. 25Streams of water will flow
from every high mountain and every tall hill.
This will happen on the day of great killing,
when the towers fall. 26The moon will shine as bright as the sun.
The sun will shine seven times brighter,
like the light of seven days.
This will happen on the day the LORD bandages his broken people.
He will heal the wounds he gave them. 27Look, the Name of the LORD is coming from far away.
He comes with burning anger and thick smoke.
His lips are full of fury.
His tongue is like a fire that burns everything up. 28His breath is like a rushing flood
that rises up to the neck.
He comes to shake the nations in a sifting screen that destroys.
He puts a bit in the mouths of the peoples
to lead them the wrong way. 29You will sing like on the night of a holy feast.
Your heart will be glad
like someone who walks to the music of a flute.
You will go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the Rock of Israel. 30The LORD will make people hear his great voice.
He will show his mighty arm coming down.
He will strike in burning anger,
with flames of fire that burn everything up.
He will strike with cloudbursts, storms, and hailstones. 31The voice of the LORD will smash Assyria.
He will strike them with his royal rod. 32The LORD will bring down his rod of punishment on them.
With every stroke, tambourines and harps will play.
He will fight them, waving his weapons. 33Topheth has been ready for a long time.
It has been made ready for the king.
Its fire pit is deep and wide.
It has plenty of fire and wood.
The breath of the LORD sets it on fire,
like a stream of burning sulfur.c