Isaiah 30

‘You will suffer badly.

You are like children who are disobedient.

You make plans and agreements

but those are not my plans.

You do more and more sin.

₂You do not ask Me what

you must do but you go to Egypt

and ask Pharaoh to protect you.

You think you will be safe

if the people of Egypt protect you.

₃But Pharaoh will not be able

to help you and you will be humiliated.

₄Your officials are already in the city of Zoan,

and your messengers are already in Ganes,

₅but those people are worthless.

They can not help you and you will be ashamed

and other people will mock you.’

₆The Lord was angry when He talked

to the animals in the south.

He said: ‘The messengers

of Judah bring gifts

to a nation that can not help them.

They put the gifts

on their donkeys and camels

and they walk through the desert

where it is very dangerous.

There are lions, snakes

and dragons that can fly.

₇But Egypt is worthless,

and Egypt can not help you.

It is like a monster,

but it can do nothing.’

₈Go now and write in a book

and let the people of Judah see it.

You must write it all down

so that people can read it later,

and so that everyone will know

what the people of Judah did.

₉They are disobedient,

they are like children who tell lies,

and they do not want to listen

to what the Lord teaches them.

₁₀They said to the prophets:

‘Do not look

when the Lord shows you

what will happen later.

Do not listen

when He says what is right.

You must tell us things

that we want to hear.

It does not_matter if it is not_true.’

₁₁They say: ‘Go away,

and don't talk to us

about the holy God of Israel.’

₁₂That is why

the holy God of Israel says:

‘You did not listen to what I told you,

and you thought it was right

to oppress people and cheat them.

₁₃That is why your sin will become

like a high wall that is not upright

and starts to break.

The wall will fall over suddenly

₁₄and it will break like a clay pot

when someone breaks the pot

into a lot of small pieces,

and you can't find one piece

that is big enough

to pick up hot coals out of the fire

or to get some water from a dam.’

‘If you come back to Me

and you believe

that I will protect you,

then I will save you.

If you keep quiet and believe

and trust in Me, I will help you.

But you did not want to do it.

₁₆You said: “No, we will flee on horses.

We will ride on fast horses.”

That is why you will have to flee,

but the people who want to catch you

will be faster than you.

₁₇There will be 1 000 of you

who will flee from one

of the enemies' men,

and if 5 of the enemies' men

are coming, you will flee

and keep on running

until only a few of you are left.

You will be like a pole or like a flag

standing alone on a mountain.’

₁₈That is why the Lord

is ready to help you.

He wants to help you

and He wants to be good to you again.

That is why He is preparing everything

to be good to you again.

The Lord wants to do

it because He is the God

who does what is right.

All is well with people who believe

that He will do what He has promised.

₁₉Yes, people who live in Zion,

in Jerusalem, you will never cry again.

If you cry and pray to the Lord

and ask Him to help you,

He will be good to you again,

this is sure.

If you pray, He will listen to you,

and He will answer you immediately.

₂₀The Lord has made you suffer

but He will be with you now.

He will teach you what to do

and you will see Him.

₂₁If you do what is wrong

and you turn away from Him,

He will be behind you and talk to you.

He will say: ‘No, that is not

the right way. Here it is.

You must walk here.’

₂₂Then you will know

that the idols are impure,

and the images of idols that

you have covered with silver and gold are impure.

You will throw them away

like a dirty cloth and you will say:

‘We never want to see them again.’

₂₃The Lord will give rain

when you have planted seed in the ground,

and the wheat will grow in the ground.

There will be a lot of grains_of_wheat

and they will be good and healthy.

Your sheep and goats will have

very big fields where they can eat.

₂₄Your oxen and donkeys that work

on the wheat_fields will eat food

that you have made soft in water,

food that you have mixed

with a shovel and fork.

₂₅On every mountain and every high hill

there will be water streams.

The Lord will defeat all your enemies.

On that day when

the towers in the walls

of their cities fall down,

₂₆the light of the moon will shine

as brightly as the sun,

and the light of the sun

will shine 7 times brighter.

It will be like the light

of 7 days in one day.

Then the Lord will cover the wounds

of his people and He will heal the sores

where He has beaten them.

₂₇Look, the Lord comes

from far away and He is very angry.

When He speaks,

it is like a burning fire.

₂₈His breath is like

a strong stream of water that is deep enough

to come up to a man's neck.

He will punish the other nations.

He will sieve them with a fine sieve,

and He will put a bit in their mouths

that will make them go the wrong way.

₂₉People of Jerusalem, on that day

you will sing. You will sing like people

who celebrate at night.

You will sing like

when you play the flute

and go to the mountain of the Lord,

the Rock of Israel.

₃₀The Lord is angry,

and He will talk loudly.

He prepares to punish the Assyrians.

There will be fire and storms of rain,

thunder and hail-stones.

₃₁Yes, the Assyrians will tremble

when God speaks,

and when He starts to punish them.

₃₂And each time

that God beats them,

his people will celebrate

with tambourines and lyres.

The Lord will

go to war_against Assyria.

₃₃Long ago the Lord prepared

the wood for a fire.

This will be a very big fire

with a lot of wood.

The fire will burn the king of Assyria.

The breath of the Lord is like

a stream of sulphur,

and it will start the fire and burn the wood.