Isaiah 30

Do Not Go Down to Egypt

1 "Ah, n stubborn children," declares the Lord,
o "who carry out a plan, but not mine,
and who make p an alliance, 1 but not of my Spirit,
that they may add sin to sin;
2 q who set out to go down to Egypt,
without asking for my direction,
to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh
and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!
3 r Therefore shall the protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame,
and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your humiliation.
4 For though his officials are at s Zoan
and t his envoys reach u Hanes,
5 everyone comes to shame
through v a people that cannot profit them,
that brings neither help nor profit,
but shame and disgrace."

6 An w oracle on x the beasts of y the Negeb.
Through a land of trouble and anguish,
from where come the lioness and the lion,
the adder and the z flying fiery serpent,
they carry their riches on the backs of donkeys,
and their treasures on the humps of camels,
to a people that cannot profit them.
7 Egypt's a help is worthless and empty;
therefore I have called her
b "Rahab who sits still."

A Rebellious People

8 And now, go, c write it before them on a tablet
and inscribe it in a book,
that it may be for the time to come
as a witness forever. 2
9 d For they are a rebellious people,
lying children,
children unwilling to hear
the instruction of the Lord;
10 e who say to f the seers, "Do not see,"
and to the prophets, "Do not prophesy to us what is right;
speak to us g smooth things,
prophesy illusions,
11 leave 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 h oppression and perverseness
and rely on them,
13 therefore this iniquity shall be to you
i like a breach in a high wall, bulging out, and about to collapse,
whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant;
14 and its breaking is j like that of a potter's vessel
that is smashed so ruthlessly
that among its fragments not a shard is found
with which to take fire from the hearth,
or to dip up water out of the cistern."

15 For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel,
"In k returning 3 and l rest you shall be saved;
in quietness and in trust shall be your strength."
But you were unwilling,
16 and you said,
"No! We will flee upon m horses";
therefore you shall flee away;
and, "We will ride upon swift steeds";
therefore your pursuers shall be swift.
17 n A thousand shall flee at the threat of one;
at the threat of five you shall flee,
till you are left
like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain,
like a signal on a hill.

The Lord Will Be Gracious

18 Therefore the Lord o waits to be gracious to you,
and therefore he p exalts himself to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
q blessed are all those who wait for him.

19 For a people shall dwell r in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. 20 And though the Lord give you the s bread of adversity and the s water of affliction, t yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. 21 u And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is v the way, walk in it," when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. 22 Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. w You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, "Be gone!"

23 x And he will give y rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and bread, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous. z In that day your livestock will graze in large pastures, 24 and a the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork. 25 And b on every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water, in the day of the great slaughter, c when the towers fall. 26 d Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when e the Lord binds up f the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.

27 Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar,
burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke; 4
his lips are full of fury,
and his tongue is like a devouring fire;
28 g his breath is h like an overflowing stream
that reaches up to the neck;
to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction,
and to place on the jaws of the peoples i a bridle that leads astray.

29 You shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept, and gladness of heart, j as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to k the mountain of the Lord, to l the Rock of Israel. 30 And the Lord m will cause his majestic voice to be heard and the descending blow of his arm to be seen, in furious anger n and a flame of devouring fire, with a cloudburst o and storm and hailstones. 31 The Assyrians will be terror-stricken at the voice of the Lord, p when he strikes with his rod. 32 And every stroke of the appointed staff that the Lord lays on them q will be to the sound of tambourines and lyres. r Battling with brandished arm, he will fight with them. 33 For s a burning place 5 has long been prepared; indeed, for the king it is made ready, t its pyre made deep and wide, with fire and wood in abundance; u the breath of the Lord, like a stream of sulfur, kindles it.

  1. Cross References
    Isaiah 1:2
    Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: "Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me.
    Isaiah 1:4
    Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged.
  2. Cross References
    Isaiah 29:15
    Ah, you who hide deep from the Lord your counsel, whose deeds are in the dark, and who say, "Who sees us? Who knows us?
  3. Cross References
    Isaiah 25:7
    And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations.
  4. Cross References
    Isaiah 31:1
    Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the Lord!
    Isaiah 36:6
    Behold, you are trusting in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.
  5. Cross References
    Isaiah 30:7
    Egypt's help is worthless and empty; therefore I have called her "Rahab who sits still.
    Isaiah 20:5
    Then they shall be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope and of Egypt their boast.
  6. Cross References
    Isaiah 19:11
    The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish; the wisest counselors of Pharaoh give stupid counsel. How can you say to Pharaoh, "I am a son of the wise, a son of ancient kings"?
  7. Cross References
    Ezekiel 17:15
    But he rebelled against him by sending his ambassadors to Egypt, that they might give him horses and a large army. Will he thrive? Can one escape who does such things? Can he break the covenant and yet escape?
  8. Cross References
    Jeremiah 43:7
    And they came into the land of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of the Lord. And they arrived at Tahpanhes.
  9. Cross References
    Isaiah 30:7
    Egypt's help is worthless and empty; therefore I have called her "Rahab who sits still.
    Jeremiah 2:36
    How much you go about, changing your way! You shall be put to shame by Egypt as you were put to shame by Assyria.
  10. Cross References
    Isaiah 13:1
    The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.
  11. Cross References
    Isaiah 51:9
    Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord ; awake, as in days of old, the generations of long ago. Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the dragon?
    Psalms 68:30
    Rebuke the beasts that dwell among the reeds, the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples. Trample underfoot those who lust after tribute; scatter the peoples who delight in war.
  12. Cross References
    Acts 8:26
    Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." This is a desert place.
  13. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 8:15
    Who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock.
  14. Cross References
    Isaiah 36:6
    Behold, you are trusting in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.
  15. Cross References
    Isaiah 51:9
    Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord ; awake, as in days of old, the generations of long ago. Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the dragon?
  16. Cross References
    Habakkuk 2:2
    And the Lord answered me: "Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it.
  17. Cross References
    Isaiah 30:1
    Ah, stubborn children," declares the Lord, "who carry out a plan, but not mine, and who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin.
  18. Cross References
    Amos 2:12
    "But you made the Nazirites drink wine, and commanded the prophets, saying, 'You shall not prophesy.'
    Amos 7:12 - 13
    And Amaziah said to Amos, "O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there.
  19. Cross References
    1 Samuel 9:9
    (Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he said, "Come, let us go to the seer," for today's "prophet" was formerly called a seer.)
  20. Cross References
    1 Kings 22:13
    And the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, "Behold, the words of the prophets with one accord are favorable to the king. Let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably.
    Jeremiah 28:1 - 11
    In that same year, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet from Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the Lord, in the presence of the priests and all the people, saying.
    Ezekiel 13:8 - 16
    Therefore thus says the Lord God : "Because you have uttered falsehood and seen lying visions, therefore behold, I am against you, declares the Lord God.
  21. Cross References
    Isaiah 5:8
    Woe to those who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is no more room, and you are made to dwell alone in the midst of the land.
    Isaiah 5:20
    Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
  22. Cross References
    Psalms 62:3
    How long will all of you attack a man to batter him, like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
  23. Cross References
    Psalms 2:9
    You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
  24. Cross References
    Hosea 14:1
    Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
  25. Cross References
    Exodus 14:14
    The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.
  26. Cross References
    Isaiah 31:1
    Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the Lord!
    Isaiah 31:3
    The Egyptians are man, and not God, and their horses are flesh, and not spirit. When the Lord stretches out his hand, the helper will stumble, and he who is helped will fall, and they will all perish together.
    Hosea 14:3
    Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride on horses; and we will say no more, 'Our God,' to the work of our hands. In you the orphan finds mercy.
  27. Cross References
    Leviticus 26:8
    Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand, and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.
    Deuteronomy 32:30
    How could one have chased a thousand, and two have put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and the Lord had given them up?
  28. Cross References
    Habakkuk 2:3
    For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end - it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.
  29. Cross References
    Isaiah 5:16
    But the Lord of hosts is exalted in justice, and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness.
  30. Cross References
    Psalms 2:12
    Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
    Psalms 34:8
    Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
    Proverbs 16:20
    Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.
    Jeremiah 17:7
    Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.
  31. Cross References
    Isaiah 14:32
    What will one answer the messengers of the nation? "The Lord has founded Zion, and in her the afflicted of his people find refuge.
  32. Cross References
    1 Kings 22:27
    And say, 'Thus says the king, "Put this fellow in prison and feed him meager rations of bread and water, until I come in peace."'
    Psalms 127:2
    It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.
    Ezekiel 4:10 - 11
    And your food that you eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day; from day to day you shall eat it.
  33. Cross References
    1 Kings 22:27
    And say, 'Thus says the king, "Put this fellow in prison and feed him meager rations of bread and water, until I come in peace."
    Psalms 127:2
    It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.
    Ezekiel 4:10 - 11
    And your food that you eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day; from day to day you shall eat it.
  34. Cross References
    Isaiah 3:1 - 2
    For behold, the Lord God of hosts is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah support and supply, all support of bread, and all support of water.
  35. Cross References
    Jeremiah 31:33 - 34
    But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord : I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
  36. Cross References
    Isaiah 35:8
    And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.
    Acts 9:2
    And asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
  37. Cross References
    Isaiah 2:20
    In that day mankind will cast away their idols of silver and their idols of gold, which they made for themselves to worship, to the moles and to the bats.
    Isaiah 31:7
    For in that day everyone shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which your hands have sinfully made for you.
    Hosea 14:8
    O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like an evergreen cypress; from me comes your fruit.
  38. Cross References
    Isaiah 32:20
    Happy are you who sow beside all waters, who let the feet of the ox and the donkey range free.
    Psalms 144:13 - 14
    May our granaries be full, providing all kinds of produce; may our sheep bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our fields.
  39. Cross References
    Jeremiah 5:24
    They do not say in their hearts, 'Let us fear the Lord our God, who gives the rain in its season, the autumn rain and the spring rain, and keeps for us the weeks appointed for the harvest.
  40. Cross References
    Psalms 65:13
    The meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy.
  41. Cross References
    Genesis 45:6
    For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.
  42. Cross References
    Isaiah 33:21
    But there the Lord in majesty will be for us a place of broad rivers and streams, where no galley with oars can go, nor majestic ship can pass.
    Psalms 107:35
    He turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water.
    Joel 3:18
    And in that day the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the streambeds of Judah shall flow with water; and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the Lord and water the Valley of Shittim.
  43. Cross References
    Isaiah 32:19
    And it will hail when the forest falls down, and the city will be utterly laid low.
    Isaiah 2:15
    Against every high tower, and against every fortified wall.
  44. Cross References
    Isaiah 60:19 - 20
    The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light; but the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.
  45. Cross References
    Hosea 6:1
    Come, let us return to the Lord ; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
  46. Cross References
    Isaiah 1:5 - 6
    Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
  47. Cross References
    Isaiah 11:4
    But with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
    2 Thessalonians 2:8
    And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.
  48. Cross References
    Isaiah 8:8
    And it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, reaching even to the neck, and its outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.
    Nahum 1:8
    But with an overflowing flood he will make a complete end of the adversaries, and will pursue his enemies into darkness.
  49. Cross References
    Isaiah 37:29
    Because you have raged against me and your complacency has come to my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will turn you back on the way by which you came.
  50. Cross References
    1 Samuel 10:5
    After that you shall come to Gibeath-elohim, where there is a garrison of the Philistines. And there, as soon as you come to the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre before them, prophesying.
    1 Kings 1:40
    And all the people went up after him, playing on pipes, and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth was split by their noise.
  51. Cross References
    Isaiah 2:3
    And many peoples shall come, and say: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths." For out of Zion shall go the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
  52. Cross References
    Isaiah 26:4
    Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.
    Isaiah 44:8
    Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? And you are my witnesses! Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any.
    Deuteronomy 32:18
    You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you, and you forgot the God who gave you birth.
  53. Cross References
    Psalms 18:13
    The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice, hailstones and coals of fire.
  54. Cross References
    Isaiah 29:6
    You will be visited by the Lord of hosts with thunder and with earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire.
  55. Cross References
    Isaiah 28:2
    Behold, the Lord has one who is mighty and strong; like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest, like a storm of mighty, overflowing waters, he casts down to the earth with his hand.
    Joshua 10:11
    And as they fled before Israel, while they were going down the ascent of Beth-horon, the Lord threw down large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more who died because of the hailstones than the sons of Israel killed with the sword.
  56. Cross References
    Isaiah 9:4
    For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.
    Micah 6:9
    The voice of the Lord cries to the city - and it is sound wisdom to fear your name: "Hear of the rod and of him who appointed it!
  57. Cross References
    Exodus 15:1
    Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying, "I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.
  58. Cross References
    Isaiah 11:15
    And the Lord will utterly destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt, and will wave his hand over the River with his scorching breath, and strike it into seven channels, and he will lead people across in sandals.
    Isaiah 19:16
    In that day the Egyptians will be like women, and tremble with fear before the hand that the Lord of hosts shakes over them.
    Isaiah 2:19
    And people shall enter the caves of the rocks and the holes of the ground, from before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth.
  59. Cross References
    2 Kings 23:10
    And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to Molech.
    Jeremiah 7:31
    And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind.
  60. Cross References
    Ezekiel 24:9 - 10
    Therefore thus says the Lord God : Woe to the bloody city! I also will make the pile great.
  61. Cross References
    Psalms 18:8
    Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him.
    Ezekiel 20:48
    All flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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