Isaiah 30:12-17

30:12 For this reason this is what the Holy One of Israel says:

“You have rejected this message; ¹ 

you trust instead in your ability to oppress and trick, ² 

and rely on that kind of behavior. ³ 

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. ⁴ 

30:14 It shatters in pieces like a clay jar,

so shattered to bits that none of it can be salvaged. ⁵ 

Among its fragments one cannot find a shard large enough ⁶ 

to scoop a hot coal from a fire ⁷ 

or to skim off water from a cistern.” ⁸ 

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; ⁹ 

if you calmly trusted in me you would find strength, ¹⁰ 

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; ¹¹ 

at the battle cry of five enemy soldiers you will all run away, ¹² 

until the remaining few are as isolated ¹³ 

as a flagpole on a mountaintop

or a signal flag on a hill.”

[30:12]  ¹ tn The sentence actually begins with the word “because.” In the Hebrew text vv. 12-13 are one long sentence.

[30:12]  ² tn Heb “and you trust in oppression and cunning.”

[30:12]  ³ tn Heb “and you lean on it”; NAB “and depend on it.”

[30:13]  ⁴ tn The verse reads literally, “So this sin will become for you like a breach ready to fall, bulging on a high wall, the breaking of which comes suddenly, in a flash.” Their sin produces guilt and will result in judgment. Like a wall that collapses their fall will be swift and sudden.

[30:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “Its shattering is like the shattering of a jug of [i.e., “made by”] potters, [so] shattered one cannot save [any of it].”

[30:14]  ⁸ tn The words “large enough” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[30:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “to remove fire from the place of kindling.”

[30:14]  ¹⁰ tn On the meaning of גֶבֶא (geveh, “cistern”) see HALOT 170 s.v.

[30:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in returning and in quietness you will be delivered.” Many English versions render the last phrase “shall be saved” or something similar (e.g., NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[30:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in quietness and in trust is your strength” (NASB and NRSV both similar).

[30:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “One thousand from before [or “because of”] one battle cry.” גְּעָרָה (gÿ’arah) is often defined as “threat,” but in war contexts it likely refers to a shout or battle cry. See Ps 76:6.

[30:17]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “from before [or “because of”] the battle cry of five you will flee.

[30:17]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “until you are left” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV).