30:1 “The rebellious
“those who make plans without consulting me,
who form alliances without consulting my Spirit,
and thereby compound their sin.
30:2 They travel down to Egypt
without seeking my will,
seeking Pharaoh’s protection,
and looking for safety in Egypt’s protective shade.
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
and his messengers arrive at Hanes,
30:5 all will be put to shame
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
Through a land of distress and danger,
inhabited by lionesses and roaring lions,
by snakes and darting adders,
they transport
their riches on the humps of camels,
to a nation that cannot help them.
30:7 Egypt is totally incapable of helping.
For this reason I call her
‘Proud one
30:8 Now go, write it
inscribe it on a scroll,
so that it might be preserved for a future time
as an enduring witness.
30:9 For these are rebellious people –
they are lying children,
children unwilling to obey the Lord’s law.
30:10 They
and to the seers, “Don’t relate messages to us about what is right!
Tell us nice things,
relate deceptive messages.
30:11 Turn aside from the way,
stray off the path.
Remove from our presence the Holy One of Israel.”
30:12 For this reason this is what the Holy One of Israel says:
“You have rejected this message;
you trust instead in your ability to oppress and trick,
and rely on that kind of behavior.
30:13 So this sin will become your downfall.
You will be like a high wall
that bulges and cracks and is ready to collapse;
it crumbles suddenly, in a flash.
30:14 It shatters in pieces like a clay jar,
so shattered to bits that none of it can be salvaged.
Among its fragments one cannot find a shard large enough
to scoop a hot coal from a fire
or to skim off water from a cistern.”
30:15 For this is what the master, the Lord, the Holy One of Israel says:
“If you repented and patiently waited for me, you would be delivered;
if you calmly trusted in me you would find strength,
but you are unwilling.
30:16 You say, ‘No, we will flee on horses,’
so you will indeed flee.
You say, ‘We will ride on fast horses,’
so your pursuers will be fast.
30:17 One thousand will scurry at the battle cry of one enemy soldier;
at the battle cry of five enemy soldiers you will all run away,
until the remaining few are as isolated
as a flagpole on a mountaintop
or a signal flag on a hill.”
30:18 For this reason the Lord is ready to show you mercy;
he sits on his throne, ready to have compassion on you.
Indeed, the Lord is a just God;
all who wait for him in faith will be blessed.
30:19 For people will live in Zion;
in Jerusalem
When he hears your cry of despair, he will indeed show you mercy;
when he hears it, he will respond to you.
30:20 The sovereign master
and suffering to drink;
but your teachers will no longer be hidden;
your eyes will see them.
30:21 You
“This is the correct
whether you are heading to the right or the left.
30:22 You will desecrate your silver-plated idols
and your gold-plated images.
You will throw them away as if they were a menstrual rag,
saying to them, “Get out!”
30:23 He will water the seed you plant in the ground,
and the ground will produce crops in abundance.
At that time
30:24 The oxen and donkeys used in plowing
will eat seasoned feed winnowed with a shovel and pitchfork.
30:25 On every high mountain
and every high hill
there will be streams flowing with water,
at the time of
30:26 The light of the full moon will be like the sun’s glare
and the sun’s glare will be seven times brighter,
like the light of seven days,
when the Lord binds up his people’s fractured bones
and heals their severe wound.
30:27 Look, the name
in raging anger and awesome splendor.
He speaks angrily
and his word is like destructive fire.
30:28 His battle cry overwhelms like a flooding river
that reaches one’s neck.
He shakes the nations in a sieve that isolates the chaff;
he puts a bit into the mouth of the nations and leads them to destruction.
30:29 You will sing
as you do in the evening when you are celebrating a festival.
You will be happy like one who plays a flute
as he goes to the mountain of the Lord, the Rock who shelters Israel.
30:30 The Lord will give a mighty shout
and intervene in power,
with furious anger and flaming, destructive fire,
with a driving rainstorm and hailstones.
30:31 Indeed, the Lord’s shout will shatter Assyria;
he will beat them with a club.
30:32 Every blow from his punishing cudgel,
with which the Lord will beat them,
will be accompanied by music from the
and he will attack them with his weapons.
30:33 For
it has been made deep and wide for the king.
The firewood is piled high on it.
The Lord’s breath, like a stream flowing with brimstone,
will ignite it.
31:1 Those who go down to Egypt for help are as good as dead,
those who rely on war horses,
and trust in Egypt’s many chariots
and in their many, many horsemen.
But they do not rely on the Holy One of Israel
and do not seek help from the Lord.
31:2 Yet he too is wise
he does not retract his decree.
He will attack the wicked nation,
and the nation that helps
31:3 The Egyptians are mere humans, not God;
their horses are made of flesh, not spirit.
The Lord will strike with
the one who helps will stumble
and the one being helped will fall.
Together they will perish.
31:4 Indeed, this is what the Lord says to me:
“The Lord will be like a growling lion,
like a young lion growling over its prey.
Though a whole group of shepherds gathers against it,
it is not afraid of their shouts
or intimidated by their yelling.
In this same way the Lord who commands armies will descend
to do battle on Mount Zion and on its hill.
31:5 Just as birds hover over a nest,
so the Lord who commands armies will protect Jerusalem.
He will protect and deliver it;
as he passes over
31:6 You Israelites! Return to the one against whom you have so blatantly rebelled!
31:8 Assyria will fall by a sword, but not one human-made;
a sword not made by humankind will destroy them.
They will run away from this sword
and their young men will be forced to do hard labor.
31:9 They will surrender their stronghold
their officers will be afraid of the Lord’s battle flag.”
This is what the Lord says –
the one whose fire is in Zion,
whose firepot is in Jerusalem.