30:1 “The rebellious 1 children are as good as dead,” 2 says the Lord,
“those who make plans without consulting me, 3
who form alliances without consulting my Spirit, 4
and thereby compound their sin. 5
30:2 They travel down to Egypt
without seeking my will, 6
seeking Pharaoh’s protection,
and looking for safety in Egypt’s protective shade. 7
30:3 But Pharaoh’s protection will bring you nothing but shame,
and the safety of Egypt’s protective shade nothing but humiliation.
30:4 Though his 8 officials are in Zoan
and his messengers arrive at Hanes, 9
30:5 all will be put to shame 10
because of a nation that cannot help them,
who cannot give them aid or help,
but only shame and disgrace.”
30:6 This is a message 11 about the animals in the Negev:
Through a land of distress and danger,
inhabited by lionesses and roaring lions, 12
by snakes and darting adders, 13
they transport 14 their wealth on the backs of donkeys,
their riches on the humps of camels,
to a nation that cannot help them. 15
31:1 Those who go down to Egypt for help are as good as dead, 16
those who rely on war horses,
and trust in Egypt’s many chariots 17
and in their many, many horsemen. 18
But they do not rely on the Holy One of Israel 19
and do not seek help from the Lord.
31:2 Yet he too is wise 20 and he will bring disaster;
he does not retract his decree. 21
He will attack the wicked nation, 22
and the nation that helps 23 those who commit sin. 24
31:3 The Egyptians are mere humans, not God;
their horses are made of flesh, not spirit.
The Lord will strike with 25 his hand;
the one who helps will stumble
and the one being helped will fall.
Together they will perish. 26
31:2 Yet he too is wise 27 and he will bring disaster;
he does not retract his decree. 28
He will attack the wicked nation, 29
and the nation that helps 30 those who commit sin. 31
16:7 So Moab wails over its demise 32 –
they all wail!
Completely devastated, they moan
about what has happened to the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth. 33
16:8 For the fields of Heshbon are dried up,
as well as the vines of Sibmah.
The rulers of the nations trample all over its vines,
which reach Jazer and spread to the desert;
their shoots spread out and cross the sea.
16:9 So I weep along with Jazer 34
over the vines of Sibmah.
I will saturate you 35 with my tears, Heshbon and Elealeh,
for the conquering invaders shout triumphantly
over your fruit and crops. 36
16:10 Joy and happiness disappear from the orchards,
and in the vineyards no one rejoices or shouts;
no one treads out juice in the wine vats 37 –
I have brought the joyful shouts to an end. 38
16:11 So my heart constantly sighs for Moab, like the strumming of a harp, 39
my inner being sighs 40 for Kir Hareseth. 41
7:11 Ephraim has been like a dove,
easily deceived and lacking discernment.
They called to Egypt for help;
they turned to Assyria for protection.
12:1 Ephraim continually feeds on the wind;
he chases the east wind all day;
he multiplies lies and violence.
They make treaties 45 with Assyria,
and send olive oil as tribute 46 to Egypt.
1 tn Or “stubborn” (NCV); cf. NIV “obstinate.”
2 tn Heb “Woe [to] rebellious children.”
3 tn Heb “making a plan, but not from me.”
4 tn Heb “and pouring out a libation, but not [from] my spirit.” This translation assumes that the verb נָסַךְ (nasakh) means “pour out,” and that the cognate noun מַסֵּכָה (massekhah) means “libation.” In this case “pouring out a libation” alludes to a ceremony that formally ratifies an alliance. Another option is to understand the verb נָסַךְ as a homonym meaning “weave,” and the cognate noun מַסֵּכָה as a homonym meaning “covering.” In this case forming an alliance is likened to weaving a garment.
5 tn Heb “consequently adding sin to sin.”
6 tn Heb “those who go to descend to Egypt, but [of] my mouth they do not inquire.”
7 tn Heb “to seek protection in the protection of Pharaoh, and to seek refuge in the shade of Egypt.”
8 sn This probably refers to Judah’s officials and messengers.
9 sn Zoan was located in the Egyptian delta in the north; Hanes was located somewhere in southern region of lower Egypt, south of Memphis; the exact location is debated.
10 tn The present translation follows the marginal (Qere) reading of the Hebrew text; the consonantal text (Kethib) has “made to stink, decay.”
11 tn Traditionally, “burden” (so KJV, ASV); NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “oracle.”
12 tc Heb “[a land of] a lioness and a lion, from them.” Some emend מֵהֶם (mehem, “from them”) to מֵהֵם (mehem), an otherwise unattested Hiphil participle from הָמַם (hamam, “move noisily”). Perhaps it would be better to take the initial mem (מ) as enclitic and emend the form to הֹמֶה (homeh), a Qal active participle from הָמָה (hamah, “to make a noise”); cf. J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:542, n. 9.
13 tn Heb “flying fiery one.” See the note at 14:29.
14 tn Or “carry” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
15 sn This verse describes messengers from Judah transporting wealth to Egypt in order to buy Pharaoh’s protection through a treaty.
16 tn Heb “Woe [to] those who go down to Egypt for help.”
17 tn Heb “and trust in chariots for they are many.”
18 tn Heb “and in horsemen for they are very strong [or “numerous”].”
19 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
20 sn This statement appears to have a sarcastic tone. The royal advisers who are advocating an alliance with Egypt think they are wise, but the Lord possesses wisdom as well and will thwart their efforts.
21 tn Heb “and he does not turn aside [i.e., “retract”] his words”; NIV “does not take back his words.”
22 tn Heb “and he will arise against the house of the wicked.”
23 sn That is, Egypt.
24 tn Heb “and against the help of the doers of sin.”
25 tn Heb “will extend”; KJV, ASV, NASB, NCV “stretch out.”
26 tn Heb “together all of them will come to an end.”
27 sn This statement appears to have a sarcastic tone. The royal advisers who are advocating an alliance with Egypt think they are wise, but the Lord possesses wisdom as well and will thwart their efforts.
28 tn Heb “and he does not turn aside [i.e., “retract”] his words”; NIV “does not take back his words.”
29 tn Heb “and he will arise against the house of the wicked.”
30 sn That is, Egypt.
31 tn Heb “and against the help of the doers of sin.”
32 tn Heb “So Moab wails for Moab.”
33 tn The Hebrew text has, “for the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth you [masculine plural] moan, surely destroyed.” The “raisin cakes” could have cultic significance (see Hos 3:1), but the next verse focuses on agricultural disaster, so here the raisin cakes are mentioned as an example of the fine foods that are no longer available (see 2 Sam 6:19; Song 2:5) because the vines have been destroyed by the invader (see v. 8). Some prefer to take אֲשִׁישֵׁי (’ashishe, “raisin cakes of”) as “men of” (see HALOT 95 s.v. *אָשִׁישׁ; cf. NIV). The verb form תֶהְגּוּ (tehgu, “you moan”) is probably the result of dittography (note that the preceding word ends in tav [ת]) and should be emended to הגו (a perfect, third plural form), “they moan.”
34 tn Heb “So I weep with the weeping of Jazer.” Once more the speaker (the Lord? – see v. 10b) plays the role of a mourner (see 15:5).
35 tc The form אֲרַיָּוֶךְ (’arayyavekh) should be emended to אֲרַוָּיֶךְ (’aravvayekh; the vav [ו] and yod [י] have been accidentally transposed) from רָוָה (ravah, “be saturated”).
36 tn Heb “for over your fruit and over your harvest shouting has fallen.” The translation assumes that the shouting is that of the conqueror (Jer 51:14). Another possibility is that the shouting is that of the harvesters (see v. 10b, as well as Jer 25:30), in which case one might translate, “for the joyful shouting over the fruit and crops has fallen silent.”
37 tn Heb “wine in the vats the treader does not tread.”
38 sn The Lord appears to be the speaker here. See 15:9.
39 tn Heb “so my intestines sigh for Moab like a harp.” The word מֵעַי (me’ay, “intestines”) is used here of the seat of the emotions. English idiom requires the word “heart.” The point of the comparison to a harp is not entirely clear. Perhaps his sighs of mourning resemble a harp in sound, or his constant sighing is like the repetitive strumming of a harp.
40 tn The verb is supplied in the translation; “sighs” in the preceding line does double duty in the parallel structure.
41 tn Heb “Kir Heres” (so ASV, NRSV, TEV, CEV), a variant name for “Kir Hareseth” (see v. 7).
42 tn The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT.
43 tn Heb “at the appearance of her eyes.”
44 sn The Chaldeans were prominent tribal groups of Babylonia. The imagery is reminiscent of events in the reigns of Hezekiah (2 Kgs 20:12-15) and Jehoiakim (2 Kgs 23:34-24:1).
45 tn Heb “a treaty” (so NIV, NRSV); KJV, NASB “a covenant”; NAB “comes to terms.”
46 tn The phrase “as tribute” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity. Cf. NCV “send a gift of olive oil.”