30 “Woea 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;
2who go down to Egyptd
without consultinge me;
who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection,f
to Egypt’s shade for refuge.g
3But Pharaoh’s protection will be to your shame,
Egypt’s shadeh will bring you disgrace.i
4Though they have officials in Zoanj
and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,
5everyone will be put to shame
because of a peoplek uselessl to them,
who bring neither helpm nor advantage,
but only shame and disgrace.n”
6A prophecyo concerning the animals of the Negev:p
Through a land of hardship and distress,q
of lionsr and lionesses,
of adders and darting snakes,s
the envoys carry their riches on donkeys’t backs,
their treasuresu on the humps of camels,
to that unprofitable nation,
7 to Egypt, whose help is utterly useless.v
Therefore I call her
Rahabw the Do-Nothing.
8Go now, write it on a tabletx for them,
inscribe it on a scroll,y
that for the days to come
it may be an everlasting witness.z
9For these are rebelliousa people, deceitfulb children,
children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction.c
10They say to the seers,d
“See no more visionse!”
and to the prophets,
“Give us no more visions of what is right!
Tell us pleasant things,f
prophesy illusions.g
11Leave this way,h
get off this path,
and stop confrontingi us
with the Holy Onej of Israel!”
12Therefore, this is what the Holy Onek of Israel says:
“Because you have rejected this message,l
relied on oppressionm
and depended on deceit,
13this sin will become for you
like a high wall,n cracked and bulging,
that collapseso suddenly,p in an instant.
14It will break in pieces like pottery,q
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.”
15This is what the Sovereignr Lord, the Holy Ones of Israel, says:
“In repentance and restt is your salvation,
in quietness and trustu is your strength,
but you would have none of it.v
16You said, ‘No, we will fleew on horses.’x
Therefore you will flee!
You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’
Therefore your pursuers will be swift!
at the threat of one;
at the threat of fivey
you will all fleez away,
till you are lefta
like a flagstaff on a mountaintop,
like a bannerb on a hill.”
18Yet the Lord longsc to be gracious to you;
therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.d
For the Lord is a God of justice.e
Blessed are all who wait for him!f
19People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more.g How gracious he will be when you cry for help!h As soon as he hears, he will answeri you. 20Although the Lord gives you the breadj of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachersk will be hiddenl no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voicem behind you, saying, “This is the way;n walk in it.” 22Then you will desecrate your idolso overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold;p you will throw them away like a menstrualq cloth and say to them, “Away with you!r”
23He will also send you rains for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be richt and plentiful.u In that dayv your cattle will graze in broad meadows.w 24The oxenx and donkeys that work the soil will eat foddery and mash, spread out with forkz and shovel. 25In the day of great slaughter,a when the towersb fall, streams of water will flowc on every high mountain and every lofty hill. 26The moon will shine like the sun,d 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 healse the wounds he inflicted.
27See, the Namef of the Lord comes from afar,
with burning angerg and dense clouds of smoke;
his lips are full of wrath,h
and his tongue is a consuming fire.i
28His breathj is like a rushing torrent,k
rising up to the neck.l
He shakes the nations in the sievem of destruction;
he places in the jaws of the peoples
a bitn that leads them astray.
as on the night you celebrate a holy festival;o
your hearts will rejoicep
as when people playing pipesq go up
to the mountainr of the Lord,
to the Rocks of Israel.
30The Lord will cause people to hear his majestic voicet
and will make them see his armu coming down
with raging angerv and consuming fire,w
with cloudburst, thunderstormx and hail.y
31The voice of the Lord will shatter Assyria;z
with his rod he will strikea them down.
32Every stroke the Lord lays on them
with his punishing clubb
will be to the music of timbrelsc and harps,
as he fights them in battle with the blows of his arm.d
33Tophethe 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 breathf of the Lord,
like a stream of burning sulfur,g
sets it ablaze.h