Isaiah 30

Revised Geneva Translation

30 “Woe to the rebellious children,” says the LORD, “who take counsel, but not from Me, and cover with a covering, but not by My Spirit, so that they may lay sin upon sin.

² “They walk forth to go down into Egypt to strengthen themselves with the strength of Pharaoh and trust in the shadow of Egypt and have not asked from My Mouth.

³ “But the strength of Pharaoh shall be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.

⁴ “For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes.

⁵ “They shall all be ashamed of the people who cannot profit them or help or do them good but are a shame and a reproach.”

⁶ The burden of the beasts of the South: In a land of trouble and anguish—from where comes the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent—they shall bear their riches upon the shoulders of the colts, and their treasures upon the bunches of the camels, to a people that cannot profit.

⁷ “For the Egyptians are purposeless, and they shall help in vain. Therefore I have cried to her. Their strength is to sit still.

⁸ “Now go. Write it before them on a tablet, and note it in a Book, so that it may be for the last day, forever and ever,

⁹ “that it is a rebellious people, lying children, children that would not hear the Law of the LORD.

¹⁰ “They say to the Seers, ‘Do not see,’ and to the Prophets, ‘Do not Prophesy to us right things. Speak flattering things to us. Prophesy errors.

¹¹ “‘Depart out of the way. Go aside out of the path. Cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from us.’”

¹² Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel, “Because you have cast off this Word, and trust in violence, and wickedness, and stay thereupon,

¹³ “therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach that falls, a swelling in a high wall, whose breaking comes suddenly in a moment.

¹⁴ “And its breaking is like the breaking of a potter’s pot, which is broken without pity. And in its breaking, there is not found a shard to take fire out of the hearth, or to take water out of the cistern.”

¹⁵ For thus said the LORD God, the Holy One of Israel, “In rest and quietness shall you be saved. Your strength shall be in quietness and in confidence.” But you would not.

¹⁶ For you have said, “No, but we will flee away upon horses!” Therefore, shall you flee. “We will ride upon the swiftest!” Therefore, your persecutors shall be swifter.

¹⁷ A thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one. At the rebuke of five shall you flee, till you are left as a ship mast upon the top of a mountain, and as a beacon upon a hill.

¹⁸ And, therefore, the LORD will wait, so that He may have mercy upon you. And, therefore, He will be exalted, so that He may have compassion upon you. For the LORD is the God of Judgment. Blessed are all those who wait for Him.

¹⁹ Surely a people shall dwell in Zion. In Jerusalem, you shall weep no more. He will certainly have mercy upon you at the voice of your cry. When He hears you, He will answer you.

²⁰ And when the LORD has given you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, your rain shall be kept back no more. But your eyes shall see your rain.

²¹ And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right hand and when you turn to the left.

²² And you shall pollute the covering of the images of silver, and the rich ornament of your images of gold, and cast them away as a menstruous cloth. And you shall say to it, “Get away!”

²³ Then He shall give rain to your seed when you shall sow the ground, and bread from the increase of the Earth. And it shall be fat and rich. On that day, your cattle shall be fed in large pastures.

²⁴ The oxen, also, and the young donkeys that till the ground shall eat clean fodder, which is winnowed with the shovel and with the fan.

²⁵ And upon every high mountain and upon every high hill there shall be rivers, streams of waters, on the day of the great slaughter, when the towers shall fall.

²⁶ Moreover, the light of the Moon shall be as the light of the Sun. And the light of the Sun shall be sevenfold, and like the light of seven days, on the day that the LORD shall bind up the breach of His people and heal the stroke of their wound.

²⁷ Behold, the Name of the LORD comes from afar. His Face is burning, and its burden heavy. His Lips are full of indignation, and His Tongue as a devouring fire.

²⁸ and His Spirit as a river that overflows up to the neck. It divides apart, to fan the nations with the fan of frivolity. And there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people that causes them to err.

²⁹ There shall be a song to you, as in the night (when a solemn Feast is kept), and gladness of heart, as he who comes with a flute to go to the Mount of the LORD, to the Mighty One of Israel.

³⁰ And the LORD shall cause His glorious Voice to be heard and shall declare the descent of His Arm with the anger of His Countenance, and flame of a devouring fire, with scattering and tempest and hailstones.

³¹ For with the Voice of the LORD shall Assyria be destroyed, who struck with the rod.

³² And in every place of punishment that the staff shall pass, which the LORD shall lay upon him, there will be tambourines and harps. And in brandishing battles, He shall fight against it.

³³ For Tophet is prepared of old. It is even prepared for the king. He has made it deep and large. It burns with fire and much wood. The breath of the LORD, like a river of brimstone, kindles it.