UST GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR EZRA NEH EST JOB PSA PROV ECC SNG ISA JER LAM EZE DAN HOS JOEL AMOS OBA YNA MIC NAH HAB ZEP HAG ZEC MAL MAT MARK LUKE YHN ACTs ROM 1 COR 2 COR GAL EPH PHP COL 1 TH 2 TH 1 TIM 2 TIM TIT PHM HEB YAC 1 PET 2 PET 1 YHN 2 YHN 3 YHN YUD REV

ISA C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24 C25 C26 C27 C28 C29 C30 C31 C32 C33 C34 C35 C36 C37 C38 C39 C40 C41 C42 C43 C44 C45 C46 C47 C48 C49 C50 C51 C52 C53 C54 C55 C56 C57 C58 C59 C60 C61 C62 C63 C64 C65 C66

UST ISA Chapter 30

◄ ISA 30 ► ║ ═ ©

30 Yahweh declares, “How terrible it will be for the Israelites

who have rebelled against me even though I am like a father to them.

They have made plans without asking me what they should do.

They have made an alliance with the rulers of Egypt

even though I did not guide them to do that by my Spirit.

By doing these things, they keep committing more sins.

2 They sent messengers to Egypt

without asking me if they should do that.

They wanted Pharaoh to protect them,

as if Egypt were a fortress where they could go to be safe

or a huge rock whose shadow would shelter them from the sun.

3 However, it will embarrass the Israelites that they depended on Pharaoh to protect them.

It will humiliate them that they thought Egypt was like

a huge rock whose shadow would shelter them from the sun.

4 Officials from Judah have gone to places throughout Egypt

as ambassadors seeking help. However,

5 it will embarrass all of them that they did this.

That is because the Egyptians will not be helpful to them at all.

Instead, the Judeans will feel shame and disgrace

because they depended on Egypt.”

6 Yahweh gave this message about animals that were in the Negev.

The Judean leaders loaded valuable treasures

onto the backs of donkeys and the humps of camels.

They had those animals carry those treasures

through a land that is difficult and dangerous to cross.

Lions and lionesses can kill people in that land,

and vipers and flying serpents can bite them there.

They are bringing those treasures to the Egyptians to make an alliance,

but the Egyptians will not be helpful to them.

7 The Egyptians will not do anything for the Judeans that really helps them

even though the Judeans think that they are very powerful, like a sea monster.

That is why I call Egypt “The Sea Monster That Does Nothing.”

8 Yahweh told me, “Now go and write this message on a tablet where my people can see it.

Also write it on a scroll so that in the future,

it will always testify that I warned them.

9 These people are rebellious.

They are like children who do not obey their parents.

They disobey the commands that I, Yahweh, gave them in my law.

10 They tell the prophets who see visions,

‘Stop seeing visions that show us the right things to do.

See visions about things that are not true,

and tell us that we are doing good things.

11 Tell us that we can live in a way

that is not the way Yahweh wants people to live.

Stop confronting us with messages from

the holy God of us Israelites!’ ”

12 Because the people are saying these things,

this is what the holy God of the Israelites says:

“I am going to punish you because you are refusing to obey what I have told you.

Instead, you are relying on cheating and oppressing other people.

13 Sometimes a crack spreads in a high wall and causes it to bulge.

When that happens, the wall collapses very suddenly.

Because you are sinning in this way, I will punish you just as suddenly.

14 I will smash you the way someone smashes a clay jar

into tiny pieces without leaving any large pieces.

It will be as if there is not a single shard among the broken pieces

big enough to take coals from a fireplace

or to scoop water from a cistern.”

15 Yahweh the Lord, the holy God of the Israelites, also says this:

“If you repent and depend on me, I will save you.

If you quietly trust me, I will make you strong.

However, you refuse to do that.

16 Instead, you said, ‘No! We will escape from trouble

by riding on fast horses that the Egyptians will give us!”

But you will have to run away to try to escape from your enemies,

and they will be riding on fast horses as they chase you.

17 A thousand of your soldiers will run away when only one enemy soldier resists them.

When five of them resist you, your army will run away.

Those who remain will be alone,

like a flagpole on a mountaintop

or a signal flag on top of a hill.”

18 Even so, Yahweh wants to be kind to you;

yes, he is eager to treat you mercifully.

Yahweh is a God who always does what is just.

Those who wait patiently for him to act have a truly good life.

19 Someday you Israelites will once again live in the city of Jerusalem on Mount Zion. You will not be sad anymore. When you call out to Yahweh for help, he will surely treat you kindly. As soon as he hears you cry out, he will help you. 20 The Lord will allow you to experience suffering and trouble as though they were your food and drink. But then he, your teacher, will not hide himself from you anymore. You will see him personally. 21 Whenever you are about to do something that is wrong, he will speak to you and tell you the right thing to do instead, as if he were a guide walking behind you and telling you how to stay on the right path. 22 At that time, you will reject the idols you have made for yourselves and covered with silver and gold. You will throw them away as you would throw away filthy rags. It will be as if you say to each one, “Get away from us!”

23 Then Yahweh will send rain so that the seeds you plant in the ground will grow. The crops that the ground produces will be plentiful and healthy. Your livestock will graze in large, open pastures at that time. 24 The oxen and the donkeys that plow your ground will eat grain that farmers have sorted with shovels and pitchforks and to which they have added salt for flavor. 25 At that time, Yahweh will kill many of the enemy soldiers who are attacking you, and you will knock down their siege towers. Then streams of water will flow down from every high mountain and every tall hill. 26 The moon will shine as brightly as the sun. The sun will shine seven times more brightly than it does now. Each day will have as much light as seven days have now. This will happen when Yahweh repairs the harm that his people have suffered.

27 Listen to this! Yahweh is coming from far away,

and it is clear that he is very angry with his enemies.

What he is saying shows that he is furious

and that he is going to destroy his enemies as if he were a fire that would burn them up.

28 His anger, which is evident from his heavy breathing,

is like a flood that rises as high as a person’s neck.

He will totally destroy his enemies,

just as only chaff and dust come through a sieve.

It will be as if they are animals on whose jaws Yahweh puts a bridle

so that he can lead them to a place where someone will slaughter them.

29 However, his people will sing joyfully

as they do on the night when they celebrate a festival.

They will feel very happy,

as people do when they walk, playing flutes, up Mount Zion

to come to the temple of Yahweh.

He is like a rock on which the Israelites are safe.

30 Yahweh will shout with his powerful voice.

He will show how he strikes with his mighty power.

His wrath will be as destructive as lightning

in a storm with heavy rain, strong winds, and hailstones.

31 When they realize that Yahweh is powerfully destroying them,

the Assyrians will become very afraid.

32 Yahweh will fight against the Assyrians and destroy them

by using his tremendous power.

His people will sing and play tambourines and harps

to celebrate each thing that Yahweh does to destroy the Assyrians.

33 It is as if Yahweh prepared a place long ago in Tophet

to burn the body of the king of Assyria.

It is as if he made a deep, wide pile from much firewood.

It is as if Yahweh will set all that wood on fire

with his own breath, which will be like a stream of burning sulfur.