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The Warning of Judah

30 Woe to the rebellious children,
    says the Lord,
who take counsel, but not from Me,
    and make an alliance, but not of My Spirit,
    in order to add sin to sin;
they walk down to Egypt
    and have not asked from My mouth,
to strengthen themselves in the safety of Pharaoh
    and to trust in the shadow of Egypt!
Therefore the safety of Pharaoh shall be your shame
    and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your humiliation.
For their princes were at Zoan,
    and their ambassadors came to Hanes.
They all will be ashamed
    of a people who cannot profit them,
who are not a help or profit,
    but a shame and also a reproach.

The burden of the beasts of the Negev.

Through a land of trouble and anguish,
    from which comes the lioness and lion,
    the viper and fiery flying serpent,
they will carry their riches on the shoulders of young donkeys,
    and their treasures on the humps of camels,
to a people who shall not profit them.
    For the Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose.
Therefore, I have called her,
    “Rahab who has been exterminated.”

Now go, write it before them on a tablet,
    and note it in a book,
that it may serve in the time to come
    as a witness forever;
for this is a rebellious people, lying children,
    children who refuse to listen to the law of the Lord;
10 they say to the seers,
    “You must not see visions,”
and to the prophets,
    “You must not prophesy to us right things;
speak to us pleasant things,
    prophesy illusions.
11 Get out of the way,
    turn aside from the path,
let us hear no more
    about the Holy One of Israel.”

12 Therefore, thus says the Holy One of Israel:

Because you despise this word
    and trust in oppression and perverseness,
    and rely on them,
13 therefore this iniquity shall be to you
    as a breach ready to fall, swelling up in a high wall,
    whose collapse comes suddenly, in an instant.
14 He shall break it as the breaking of the potter’s vessel
    that is broken in pieces;
He shall not spare so that there shall not be found in the breaking of it a shard
    to take fire from the hearth
    or with which to take water out of a cistern.

15 For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:

In returning and rest you shall be saved;
    in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.
    Yet you were not willing,
16 and you said, “No, for we will flee on horses”;
    therefore you shall flee.
“And we will ride on swift horses”;
    therefore those who pursue you shall be swift.
17 One thousand shall flee
    at the threat of one man;
at the threat of five
    you shall flee
until you are left
    as a flag on the top of a mountain
    and as a banner on a hill.

God’s Promise to Zion

18 Therefore, the Lord longs to be gracious to you,
    and therefore, He waits on high to have mercy on you;
for the Lord is a God of justice;
    how blessed are all who long for Him.

19 O people in Zion, inhabitants in Jerusalem, you shall weep no more. He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry. When He hears it, He will answer you. 20 Though the Lord has given you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet He, your Teacher, will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. 21 Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right hand and when you turn to the left. 22 You shall defile also your graven images overlaid with silver, and your molded images ornamented with gold. You shall scatter them as an impure thing, and say to them, “Be gone!”

23 Then He shall give you rain for the seed which you shall sow in the ground and bread of the increase of the earth. And it shall be rich and plentiful. On that day your cattle shall feed in large pastures. 24 The oxen likewise and the young donkeys that work the ground shall eat cured fodder, which has been winnowed with the shovel and fork. 25 There shall be on every high mountain and on every high hill rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. 26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord binds up the breach of His people and heals the wound from His blow.

Judgment on Assyria

27 See, the name of the Lord comes from afar,
    burning with His anger, and its burden is heavy;
His lips are full of indignation,
    and His tongue as a devouring fire.
28 And His breath is as an overflowing stream
    which reaches to the middle of the neck,
to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity;
    and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people,
    causing them to err.
29 You shall have songs,
    as in the night when a festival is kept,
and gladness of heart,
    as when one goes with a flute
to come into the mountain of the Lord,
    to the Mighty One of Israel.
30 The Lord shall cause His glorious voice to be heard,
    and shall show the descending of His arm
with the indignation of His anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire,
    with scattering, and cloudburst, and hailstones.
31 For through the voice of the Lord the Assyrian shall be beaten down
    when He strikes with a rod.
32 And every blow of the rod of punishment
    which the Lord shall lay on him
shall be with tambourines and harps;
    and in battles, brandishing weapons, He will fight them.
33 For Topheth has been long prepared,
    indeed, for the king it has been prepared.
He has made it deep and large,
    a pile of fire with much wood;
the breath of the Lord,
    like a stream of brimstone,
    kindles it.

Woe to the Obstinate Nation

30 “Woe(A) to the obstinate children,”(B)
    declares the Lord,
“to those who carry out plans that are not mine,
    forming an alliance,(C) but not by my Spirit,
    heaping sin upon sin;
who go down to Egypt(D)
    without consulting(E) me;
who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection,(F)
    to Egypt’s shade for refuge.(G)
But Pharaoh’s protection will be to your shame,
    Egypt’s shade(H) will bring you disgrace.(I)
Though they have officials in Zoan(J)
    and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,
everyone will be put to shame
    because of a people(K) useless(L) to them,
who bring neither help(M) nor advantage,
    but only shame and disgrace.(N)

A prophecy(O) concerning the animals of the Negev:(P)

Through a land of hardship and distress,(Q)
    of lions(R) and lionesses,
    of adders and darting snakes,(S)
the envoys carry their riches on donkeys’(T) backs,
    their treasures(U) on the humps of camels,
to that unprofitable nation,
    to Egypt, whose help is utterly useless.(V)
Therefore I call her
    Rahab(W) the Do-Nothing.

Go now, write it on a tablet(X) for them,
    inscribe it on a scroll,(Y)
that for the days to come
    it may be an everlasting witness.(Z)
For these are rebellious(AA) people, deceitful(AB) children,
    children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction.(AC)
10 They say to the seers,(AD)
    “See no more visions(AE)!”
and to the prophets,
    “Give us no more visions of what is right!
Tell us pleasant things,(AF)
    prophesy illusions.(AG)
11 Leave this way,(AH)
    get off this path,
and stop confronting(AI) us
    with the Holy One(AJ) of Israel!”

12 Therefore this is what the Holy One(AK) of Israel says:

“Because you have rejected this message,(AL)
    relied on oppression(AM)
    and depended on deceit,
13 this sin will become for you
    like a high wall,(AN) cracked and bulging,
    that collapses(AO) suddenly,(AP) in an instant.
14 It will break in pieces like pottery,(AQ)
    shattered so mercilessly
that among its pieces not a fragment will be found
    for taking coals from a hearth
    or scooping water out of a cistern.”

15 This is what the Sovereign(AR) Lord, the Holy One(AS) of Israel, says:

“In repentance and rest(AT) is your salvation,
    in quietness and trust(AU) is your strength,
    but you would have none of it.(AV)
16 You said, ‘No, we will flee(AW) on horses.’(AX)
    Therefore you will flee!
You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’
    Therefore your pursuers will be swift!
17 A thousand will flee
    at the threat of one;
at the threat of five(AY)
    you will all flee(AZ) away,
till you are left(BA)
    like a flagstaff on a mountaintop,
    like a banner(BB) on a hill.”

18 Yet the Lord longs(BC) to be gracious to you;
    therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.(BD)
For the Lord is a God of justice.(BE)
    Blessed are all who wait for him!(BF)

19 People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more.(BG) How gracious he will be when you cry for help!(BH) As soon as he hears, he will answer(BI) you. 20 Although the Lord gives you the bread(BJ) of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers(BK) will be hidden(BL) no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice(BM) behind you, saying, “This is the way;(BN) walk in it.” 22 Then you will desecrate your idols(BO) overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold;(BP) you will throw them away like a menstrual(BQ) cloth and say to them, “Away with you!(BR)

23 He will also send you rain(BS) for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich(BT) and plentiful.(BU) In that day(BV) your cattle will graze in broad meadows.(BW) 24 The oxen(BX) and donkeys that work the soil will eat fodder(BY) and mash, spread out with fork(BZ) and shovel. 25 In the day of great slaughter,(CA) when the towers(CB) fall, streams of water will flow(CC) on every high mountain and every lofty hill. 26 The moon will shine like the sun,(CD) and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the Lord binds up the bruises of his people and heals(CE) the wounds he inflicted.

27 See, the Name(CF) of the Lord comes from afar,
    with burning anger(CG) and dense clouds of smoke;
his lips are full of wrath,(CH)
    and his tongue is a consuming fire.(CI)
28 His breath(CJ) is like a rushing torrent,(CK)
    rising up to the neck.(CL)
He shakes the nations in the sieve(CM) of destruction;
    he places in the jaws of the peoples
    a bit(CN) that leads them astray.
29 And you will sing
    as on the night you celebrate a holy festival;(CO)
your hearts will rejoice(CP)
    as when people playing pipes(CQ) go up
to the mountain(CR) of the Lord,
    to the Rock(CS) of Israel.
30 The Lord will cause people to hear his majestic voice(CT)
    and will make them see his arm(CU) coming down
with raging anger(CV) and consuming fire,(CW)
    with cloudburst, thunderstorm(CX) and hail.(CY)
31 The voice of the Lord will shatter Assyria;(CZ)
    with his rod he will strike(DA) them down.
32 Every stroke the Lord lays on them
    with his punishing club(DB)
will be to the music of timbrels(DC) and harps,
    as he fights them in battle with the blows of his arm.(DD)
33 Topheth(DE) has long been prepared;
    it has been made ready for the king.
Its fire pit has been made deep and wide,
    with an abundance of fire and wood;
the breath(DF) of the Lord,
    like a stream of burning sulfur,(DG)
    sets it ablaze.(DH)