Help Comes from the Lord, Not Egypt

31 It is bad for those who go down to Egypt for help, and trust in the many horses and war-wagons, and in the much strength of their horsemen. They do not look to the Holy One of Israel or ask the Lord for help. ² Yet He is wise and brings trouble, and does not take back His words. He will go against the house of wrong-doers, and against the helpers of those who sin. ³ The Egyptians are men, and not God. Their horses are flesh and not spirit. The Lord puts out His hand, and the helper and the one who is helped will fall. All of them will be destroyed together.

⁴ For the Lord has said to me, “As the lion or the young lion makes noise over the food he has killed, and when a group of shepherds go against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, or troubled by their noise. In the same way, the Lord of All will come down to fight on Mount Zion and on its hill.” ⁵ Like flying birds, the Lord of All will keep Jerusalem safe. He will keep it safe and bring it out of trouble. He will pass over and save it. ⁶ O sons of Israel, return to Him against Whom you have sinned much. ⁷ For in that day every man will throw away his silver and gold objects of worship, which his sinful hands have made. ⁸ And the Assyrian will fall by a sword that is not of man, a sword that man has had no part of will destroy him. He will run from the sword, and his young men will be made to work hard. ⁹ “His safe place will pass away because of fear. And his rulers will be afraid of the flags lifted up,” says the Lord, Whose fire is in Zion and Whose place of burning is in Jerusalem.

A Nation of Right Living

32 See, a king will rule by what is right and good and princes will be fair. ² Each will be like a safe place from the wind, and a covering from the storm. Each will be like rivers of water in a dry country, and like the shadow of a large rock in a waste land. ³ Then the eyes of those who see will be able to see. And the ears of those who hear will listen. ⁴ The mind of those who act in a hurry will understand the truth. And the tongue of those who have trouble speaking will hurry to speak well. ⁵ The fool will no more be called great. The bad man will no more be called a man of honor. ⁶ For a fool speaks foolish things. His mind plans wrong-doing, to sin and to say false things against the Lord, to keep the hungry person hungry, and to keep drink from the thirsty. ⁷ The ways of the bad man are sinful. He makes sinful plans to destroy the suffering with lies, even when the one in need asks for what is right. ⁸ But the man of honor makes good plans, and he stands for what is good.

The Women of Jerusalem

⁹ Rise up, you women who live an easy life, and hear my voice. Listen to what I say, you daughters. ¹⁰ In a little more than a year, you will be troubled. There will be no grapes to gather, the wine will not be made. ¹¹ Shake with fear, you women who live an easy life. Be troubled, you daughters, who feel safe. Take off your clothes and cover your bodies with cloth made from hair. ¹² Beat your breasts for the good fields, for the vine full of fruit, ¹³ and for the land of my people in which thorns and thistles will come up. Yes, be sorry for all the houses of joy, and for the happy city, ¹⁴ because the king’s house will be empty. The city full of people will be left empty. The hill and the watch-tower will become a place for wild animals forever, a happy place for wild donkeys, a field for flocks. ¹⁵ It will be this way until the Spirit is poured out upon us from heaven, and the desert becomes a field giving so much fruit, that it seems as if it has many trees. ¹⁶ Then what is right and fair will be in the desert. What is right and good will be in the field of much fruit. ¹⁷ The work of being right and good will give peace. From the right and good work will come quiet trust forever. ¹⁸ Then my people will live in a place of peace, in safe homes, and in quiet resting places. ¹⁹ But it will hail when the many trees come down and all the city will be laid waste. ²⁰ How happy will you be, you who plant seeds beside all waters, and let the cattle and donkeys eat in any field.

A Prayer for Help

33 It is bad for you, O destroyer, you who were not destroyed yourself! You cannot be trusted, but others have trusted you. As soon as you finish destroying, you will be destroyed. As soon as you stop lying, others will lie to you. ² O Lord, be kind to us. We have waited for You. Be our strength every morning. Save us in the time of trouble. ³ At the loud noise of battle, the people run. When You lift Yourself up, nations divide and run. ⁴ The things taken in war will be gathered as the caterpillar gathers. Men rush upon it like locusts. ⁵ The Lord is honored, for He lives on high. He has filled Zion with what is right and fair and good. ⁶ He will be for you what is sure and faithful for your times, with much saving power, wisdom and learning. The fear of the Lord is worth much. ⁷ See, their men with strength of heart cry in the streets. The men sent to bring peace cry many tears. ⁸ The roads are empty. The traveler does not travel. He has broken the agreement. He has hated the cities. He does not care for man. ⁹ The land is filled with sorrow and wastes away. Lebanon is put to shame and wastes away. Sharon is like a desert. And Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.

¹⁰ “Now I will rise up,” says the Lord. “Now I will be honored. Now I will be lifted up. ¹¹ You bring life to what is of no worth. You give birth to what is of no use. My breath will destroy you like a fire. ¹² The people will be burned to white dust, like thorns cut down and burned in the fire.

¹³ “You who are far away, hear what I have done. And you who are near, speak of My power.” ¹⁴ Sinners in Zion are filled with fear. The sinful shake with fear. They cry, “Who among us can live with the fire that destroys? Who among us can live with the fire that burns forever?” ¹⁵ He who walks with God, and whose words are good and honest, he who will not take money received from wrong-doing, and will not receive money given in secret for wrong-doing, he who stops his ears from hearing about killing, and shuts his eyes from looking at what is sinful, ¹⁶ he will have a place on high. His safe place will be a rock that cannot be taken over. He will be given food and will have water for sure.

¹⁷ Your eyes will see the King in His beauty. They will see a land that is far away. ¹⁸ Your heart will think about fear, asking, “Where is he who numbers? Where is he who weighs? Where is he who numbers the towers?” ¹⁹ You will not see people who show no pity, people whose language no one knows, whose strange tongue you cannot understand. ²⁰ Look upon Zion, the city of our special suppers! Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a quiet resting place, a tent that will not be moved. Its tie-downs will never be pulled up, and none of its ropes will be broken. ²¹ But there the Lord in His great power will be for us. It will be a place of rivers and wide waterways, where no rowboats can go, and where no powerful ships can pass. ²² For the Lord is our judge. The Lord is our law-giver. The Lord is our king. He will save us. ²³ Your ropes are loose. They cannot hold the sail up in its place or spread it out. Then the many riches taken in battle will be divided. Even those who cannot walk will take the riches. ²⁴ And no one living there will say, “I am sick.” The people who live there will be forgiven of their sin.