30
Judah Warned against Egyptian Alliance
1 “Woe to the
Arebellious children,” declares the Loʀᴅ,
“Who
Bexecute a plan, but not Mine,
And
1Cmake an alliance, but not of My Spirit,
In order to add sin to sin;
2 Who
Aproceed down to Egypt
CTo take refuge in the safety of Pharaoh
And to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!
3 “Therefore the safety of Pharaoh will be
Ayour shame
And the shelter in the shadow of Egypt, your humiliation.
4 “For
Atheir princes are at Zoan
And their ambassadors arrive at Hanes.
5 “Everyone will be
Aashamed because of a people who cannot profit them,
Who are Bnot for help or profit, but for shame and also for reproach.”
6 The
1oracle concerning the
Abeasts of the
BNegev.
Through a land of
Cdistress and anguish,
From
2where
come lioness and lion, viper and
Dflying serpent,
They
Ecarry their riches on the
3backs of young donkeys
And their treasures on
Fcamels’ humps,
To a people who cannot profit them;
7 Even Egypt, whose
Ahelp is vain and empty.
Therefore, I have called
1her
“
2BRahab who has been exterminated.”
8 Now go,
Awrite it on a tablet before them
And inscribe it on a scroll,
That it may
1serve in the time to come
9 For this is a
Arebellious people,
Bfalse sons,
Sons who
1refuse to
Clisten
To the
2instruction of the Loʀᴅ;
10 Who say to the
Aseers, “You must not see
visions”;
And to the prophets, “You must not
Bprophesy to us what is right,
CSpeak to us
1pleasant words,
Prophesy illusions.
11 “Get out of the way,
Aturn aside from the path,
1BLet us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.”
12 Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel,
“
ASince you have rejected this word
And have put your trust in
Boppression and guile, and have relied on them,
13 Therefore this
Ainiquity will be to you
Like a
Bbreach about to fall,
A bulge in a high wall,
Whose collapse comes
Csuddenly in an instant,
14 Whose collapse is like the smashing of a
Apotter’s jar,
That a sherd will not be found among its pieces
To
2take fire from a hearth
Or to scoop water from a cistern.”
15 For thus the Lord
1Goᴅ, the Holy One of Israel, has said,
“In
2repentance and
Arest you will be saved,
In
Bquietness and trust is your strength.”
But you were not willing,
16 And you said, “No, for we will flee on
Ahorses,”
Therefore you shall flee!
“And we will ride on swift horses,”
Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift.
17 AOne thousand
will flee at the threat of one
man; You will flee at the threat of five,
Until you are left as a
1flag on a mountain top
And as a signal on a hill.
God Is Gracious and Just
18 Therefore the Loʀᴅ
1Alongs to be gracious to you,
And therefore He
2waits on
Bhigh to have compassion on you.
For the Loʀᴅ is a
CGod of justice;
How blessed are all those who
3Dlong for Him.
19 1O people in Zion,
Ainhabitant in Jerusalem, you will
Bweep no longer. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will
Canswer you.
20 Although the Lord has given you
Abread of privation and water of oppression,
He, your Teacher will no longer
Bhide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher.
21 Your ears will hear a word behind you, “
1This is the
Away, walk in it,” whenever you
Bturn to the right or to the left.
22 And you will defile your graven
Aimages overlaid with silver, and your molten
Aimages plated with gold. You will scatter them as an impure thing,
and say to
1them, “
BBe gone!”
23 Then He will
Agive
you rain for
1the seed which you will sow in the ground, and bread
from the yield of the ground, and it will be
2rich and
3plenteous; on that day
Byour livestock will graze in a roomy pasture.
24 Also the oxen and the donkeys which work the ground will eat salted fodder, which
1has been
Awinnowed with shovel and fork.
25 On every lofty mountain and on
Aevery high hill there will be
1streams running with water on the day of the great
Bslaughter, when the towers fall.
26 AThe light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times
brighter, like the light of seven days, on the day
Bthe Loʀᴅ binds up the
Cfracture of His people and
Dheals the bruise
1He has inflicted.
27 Behold,
Athe name of the Loʀᴅ comes from a
1remote place;
BBurning is His anger and
2dense is
His 3smoke;
His lips are filled with
Cindignation
And His tongue is like a
Dconsuming fire;
28 His
Abreath is like an overflowing torrent,
Which
Breaches to the neck,
To
Cshake the nations back and forth in a
1sieve,
And to
put in the jaws of the peoples
Dthe bridle which
2leads to ruin.
29 You will have
1songs as in the night when you keep the festival,
And gladness of heart as when one marches to the sound of the flute,
To go to the mountain of the Loʀᴅ, to the Rock of Israel.
30 And the Loʀᴅ will cause
1His voice of authority to be heard,
And the
2descending of His arm to be seen in fierce anger,
And in the flame of a consuming fire
In cloudburst, downpour and hailstones.
31 For
Aat the voice of the Loʀᴅ
BAssyria will be terrified,
When He strikes with the
Crod.
32 And every
1blow of the
2Arod of punishment,
Which the Loʀᴅ will lay on him,
Will be with
the music of Btambourines and lyres;
And in battles,
Cbrandishing weapons, He will fight them.
33 For
1ATopheth has long been ready,
Indeed, it has been prepared for the king.
He has made it deep and large,
2A pyre of fire with plenty of wood;
The
Bbreath of the Loʀᴅ, like a torrent of
Cbrimstone, sets it afire.