A Rebellious People

Isaiah 30

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. 1
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 2 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.

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.)
  5. 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.
  6. 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!
  7. Cross References
    Psalms 62:3
    How long will all of you attack a man to batter him, like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
  8. Cross References
    Psalms 2:9
    You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
  9. Cross References
    Hosea 14:1
    Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
  10. Cross References
    Exodus 14:14
    The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.
  11. 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.
  12. 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?
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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