Isaiah 30:15-22

English Standard Version

¹⁵For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel,
“In ^(A)returning^[a] and ^(B)rest you shall be saved;
    in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”
But you were unwilling, ¹⁶and you said,
“No! We will flee upon ^(C)horses”;
    therefore you shall flee away;
and, “We will ride upon swift steeds”;
    therefore your pursuers shall be swift.
¹⁷^(D)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

¹⁸Therefore the Lord ^(E)waits to be gracious to you,
and therefore he ^(F)exalts himself to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
^(G)blessed are all those who wait for him.

¹⁹For a people shall dwell ^(H)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. ²⁰And though the Lord give you the ^(I)bread of adversity and the ^(J)water of affliction, ^(K)yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. ²¹^(L)And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is ^(M)the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. ²²Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. ^(N)You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, “Be gone!”