19:3 The Egyptians will panic, 6
and I will confuse their strategy. 7
They will seek guidance from the idols and from the spirits of the dead,
from the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, and from the magicians. 8
30:7 Alas, what a terrible time of trouble it is! 9
There has never been any like it.
It is a time of trouble for the descendants of Jacob,
but some of them will be rescued out of it. 10
5:18 Woe 11 to those who wish for the day of the Lord!
Why do you want the Lord’s day of judgment to come?
It will bring darkness, not light.
5:19 Disaster will be inescapable, 12
as if a man ran from a lion only to meet a bear,
then escaped 13 into a house,
leaned his hand against the wall,
and was bitten by a poisonous snake.
5:20 Don’t you realize the Lord’s day of judgment will bring 14 darkness, not light –
gloomy blackness, not bright light?
1 tn In the Hebrew text this verse begins with “they said to him” (cf. NRSV).
2 tn Or “rebuke” (KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV), or “correction.”
3 tn Or “contempt”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “disgrace.”
4 tn Heb “when sons come to the cervical opening and there is no strength to give birth.”
5 tn Heb “elders of the priests” (so KJV, NAB, NASB); NCV “the older priests”; NRSV, TEV, CEV “the senior priests.”
6 tn Heb “and the spirit of Egypt will be laid waste in its midst.”
7 tn The verb בָּלַע (bala’, “confuse”) is a homonym of the more common בָּלַע (bala’, “swallow”); see HALOT 135 s.v. I בלע.
8 tn Heb “they will inquire of the idols and of the spirits of the dead and of the ritual pits and of the magicians.” Hebrew אוֹב (’ov, “ritual pit”) refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. See the note on “incantations” in 8:19.
9 tn Heb “Alas [or Woe] for that day will be great.” For the use of the particle “Alas” to signal a time of terrible trouble, even to sound the death knell for someone, see the translator’s note on 22:13.
10 tn Heb “It is a time of trouble for Jacob but he will be saved out of it.”
11 tn The term הוֹי (hoy, “woe”) was used when mourning the dead (see the note on the word “dead” in 5:16). The prophet here either engages in role playing and mourns the death of the nation in advance or sarcastically taunts those who hold to this misplaced belief.
12 tn The words “Disaster will be inescapable” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
13 tn Heb “went” (so KJV, NRSV).
14 tn Heb “Will not the day of the Lord be.”