Isaiah 30

English Standard Version Anglicised

30 “Ah, ^(A)stubborn children,” declares the Lord,
^(B)“who carry out a plan, but not mine,
and who make ^(C)an alliance,^[a] but not of my Spirit,
    that they may add sin to sin;
^2 (D)who set out to go down to Egypt,
    without asking for my direction,
to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh
    and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!
^3 (E)Therefore shall the protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame,
    and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your humiliation.
⁴ For though his officials are at ^(F)Zoan
    and ^(G)his envoys reach ^(H)Hanes,
⁵ everyone comes to shame
    through ^(I)a people that cannot profit them,
that brings neither help nor profit,
    but shame and disgrace.”

Through a land of trouble and anguish,
    from where come the lioness and the lion,
    the adder and the ^(M)flying fiery serpent,
they carry their riches on the backs of donkeys,
    and their treasures on the humps of camels,
    to a people that cannot profit them.
⁷ Egypt's ^(N)help is worthless and empty;
    therefore I have called her
    ^(O)“Rahab who sits still.”

⁸ And now, go, ^(P)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 for ever.^[b]
9 (Q)For they are a rebellious people,
    lying children,
children unwilling to hear
    the instruction of the Lord;
^10 (R)who say to ^(S)the seers, “Do not see”,
    and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us what is right;
speak to us ^(T)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 ^(U)oppression and perverseness
    and rely on them,
¹³ therefore this iniquity shall be to you
    ^(V)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 ^(W)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 ^(X)returning^[c] and ^(Y)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 ^(Z)horses”;
    therefore you shall flee away;
and, “We will ride upon swift steeds”;
    therefore your pursuers shall be swift.
^17 (AA)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.

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

²⁷ Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar,
    burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke;^[d]
his lips are full of fury,
    and his tongue is like a devouring fire;
^28 (AU)his breath is ^(AV)like an overflowing stream
    that reaches up to the neck;
to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction,
    and to place on the jaws of the peoples ^(AW)a bridle that leads astray.