Isaiah 31

New American Standard Bible

Help Not in Egypt but in God

31 Woe to those who go down to ^(A)Egypt for help
And ^(B)rely on horses,
And trust in chariots because they are many
And in horsemen because they are very strong,
But they do not ^(C)look to the ^(D)Holy One of Israel, nor seek the Lord!
²Yet He also is ^(E)wise and will ^(F)bring disaster,
And does ^(G)not retract His words,
But will arise against the house of ^(H)evildoers,
And against the help of the ^(I)workers of injustice.
³Now the Egyptians are ^(J)human and not God,
And their ^(K)horses are flesh and not spirit;
So the Lord will ^(L)stretch out His hand,
And any ^(M)helper will stumble,
And one who is helped will fall.
And all of them will come to an end together.

⁴For this is what the Lord says to me:
“As the ^(N)lion or the young lion growls over his prey,
Against which a band of shepherds is called out,
And he will not be terrified at their voice nor disturbed at their noise,
So will the Lord of armies come down to wage ^(O)war on Mount Zion and on its hill.”
⁵Like ^[a]flying ^(P)birds so the Lord of armies will protect Jerusalem.
He will ^(Q)protect and save it;
He will pass over and rescue it.

⁶^(R)Return to Him against whom ^[b]you have been ^(S)profoundly obstinate, you sons of Israel. ⁷For on that day every person will ^(T)reject his silver idols and his gold idols, which your hands have made for you as ^(U)a sin.

⁸And the ^(V)Assyrian will fall by a sword not wielded by a man,
And a ^(W)sword not of man will devour him.
So he will ^[c]^(X)not escape the sword,
And his young men will become ^(Y)forced laborers.
⁹“His ^(Z)rock will pass away because of panic,
And his officers will be terrified by the ^(AA)flag,”
Declares the Lord, whose ^(AB)fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.