ISAIAH 30-32
“In returning and resting you will be saved;
in quietness and trust will be your strength.”
“Woe to the stubborn sons,” declares Jehovah,
JEHOVAH:
“Who carry out plans that are not mine,
Who make alliances, but not by my spirit,
In order to add sin to sin.
They go down to Egypt without consulting me,
To take shelter under Pharoh’s protection
And to take refuge in the shadow of Egypt!
But the protection of Pharoh will become for you a reason for shame,
And refuge in Egypt’s shadow a cause for humiliation.
For his princes are in Zoan,
And his envoys have reached Hanes.
They will all be put to shame
By a people who can bring no benefit to them,
Who offer no help and no benefit,
Only shame and disgrace.”
NARRATOR:
A pronouncement against the beasts of the south:
Through the land of distress and hardship,
Of the lion, the roaring lion,
Of the viper and the flying fiery snake,
They carry their wealth on the backs of donkeys
And their supplies on the humps of camels.
But these things will not benefit the people.
For Egypt’s help is completely useless.
So I have called this one: “Rahab, who sits still.”
JEHOVAH:
“Now go, write it on a tablet in their presence,
And inscribe it in a book,
So that it may serve for a future day
As a permanent witness.
For they are a rebellious people, deceitful sons,
Sons who are unwilling to hear the law of Jehovah.
They say to the seers, ‘Do not see,’
And to the visionaries, ‘Do not tell us truthful visions.
Tell us flattering things; envision deceptive illusions.
Turn aside from the way; deviate from the path.
Quit putting before us the Holy One of Israel.’”
“Since you reject this word
And you trust in fraud and deceit
And you rely on these,
So this error will be for you like a broken wall,
Like a bulging high wall ready to fall.
It will crash suddenly, in an instant.
It will be broken like a large potter’s jar,
So completely smashed that no fragment among its pieces will be left
To rake the fire from the fireplace
Or to scoop water from a puddle.”
“For by returning to me and resting, you will be saved;
Your strength will be in keeping calm and showing trust.”
But you were unwilling.
Instead, you said: “No, we will flee on horses!”
So flee you will.
“And on swift horses we will ride!”
So those pursuing you will be swift.
A thousand will tremble at the threat of one;
At the threat of five you will flee
Until what is left of you is like a mast on the top of a mountain,
Like a signal pole on a hill.
But Jehovah is waiting patiently to show you favor,
And he will rise up to show you mercy.
For Jehovah is a God of justice.
Happy are all those keeping in expectation of him.
NARRATOR:
When the people dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem, you will by no means weep.
He will surely show you favor at the sound of your cry for help;
He will answer you as soon as he hears it.
Though Jehovah will give you bread in the form of distress
And water in the form of oppression,
Your Grand Instructor will no longer hide himself,
And you will see your Grand Instructor with your own eyes.
And your own ears will hear a word behind you saying,
“This is the way. Walk in it,”
In case you should go to the right or in case you should go to the left.
And you will defile the silver overlay of your graven images
And the golden plating of your metal statues.
You will cast them away like a menstrual cloth
And say to them, “Be gone!”
And he will give the rain for the seed you sow in the ground,
And the bread that the ground produces will be abundant and rich.
In that day your livestock will graze in spacious pastures.
And the cattle and the donkeys that work the ground
Will eat fodder seasoned with sorrel,
Which was winnowed with the shovel and the pitchfork.
And on every tall mountain and on every high hill
Will be streams and watercourses,
In the day of the great slaughter when the towers fall.
And the light of the full moon will become like the light of the sun;
And the light of the sun will become seven times stronger,
Like the light of seven days,
In the day that Jehovah binds up the breakdown of his people
And heals the severe wound from the blow he inflicted.
Look! The name of Jehovah is coming from far away,
Burning with his anger and with heavy clouds.
His lips are full of indignation,
And his tongue is like a consuming fire.
His spirit is like a flooding torrent that reaches clear to the neck,
To shake the nations in a sieve of destruction;
And the peoples will have a bridle in their jaws that leads them astray.
But your song will be like the one sung in the night
When you prepare for a festival,
And your heart will rejoice like one
Who walks with a flute
On his way to the mountain of Jehovah, to the Rock of Israel.
Jehovah will make his majestic voice heard
And reveal his arm as it descends in the heat of anger,
With the flame of a consuming fire,
A cloudburst and a thunderstorm and hailstones.
For because of the voice of Jehovah, Assyria will be struck with terror;
He will strike it with a rod.
And every swing of his rod of punishment
That Jehovah will bring down on Assyria
Will be accompanied by tambourines and harps
As he brandishes his arm against them in battle.
For his Topheth is already prepared;
It is also made ready for the king.
He has made the woodpile deep and wide,
With an abundance of fire and wood.
The breath of Jehovah, like a torrent of sulfur,
Will set fire to it.
ISAIAH:
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for assistance,
Who rely on horses,
Who trust in war chariots because they are numerous,
And in warhorses because they are mighty.
But they do not look to the Holy One of Israel,
And they do not search for Jehovah.
But he is also wise and will bring calamity,
And he will not take back his words.
He will rise up against the house of evildoers
And against those who help wrongdoers.
The Egyptians, though, are mere men and not God;
Their horses are flesh and not spirit.
When Jehovah stretches out his hand,
Whoever offers help will stumble
And whoever is helped will fall;
They will all perish at the same time.
JEHOVAH:
“Just as the lion growls, a strong young lion, over its prey,
When a whole group of shepherds is called together against it,
And it is not terrified by their voice
Or daunted by their commotion,
So will Jehovah of armies come down to wage war
Over Mount Zion and over her hill.
Like swooping birds, so Jehovah of armies will defend Jerusalem.
He will defend her and save her.
He will spare her and rescue her.”
ISAIAH:
“Return to the One against whom you have blatantly revolted, O people of Israel.
For in that day each one will reject his worthless gods of silver
And his valueless gods of gold,
Which your own hands sinfully made.
And the Assyrian will fall by the sword, not of a man;
And a sword, not of a human, will devour him.
He will flee because of the sword,
And his young men will be put to forced labor.
His crag will pass away because of sheer fright,
And his princes will be terrified because of the signal pole,”
NARRATOR:
Declares Jehovah,
Whose light is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.
NARRATOR:
Look! A king will reign for righteousness,
And princes will rule for justice.
And each one will be like a hiding place from the wind,
A place of concealment from the rainstorm,
Like streams of water in a waterless land,
Like the shadow of a massive crag in a parched land.
Then the eyes of those seeing will no longer be pasted shut,
And the ears of those hearing will pay attention.
The heart of those who are impetuous will ponder over knowledge,
And the stammering tongue will speak fluently and clearly.
The senseless one will no longer be called generous,
And the unprincipled man will not be called noble;
For the senseless one will speak nonsense,
And his heart will devise harmful things,
To promote apostasy and to speak what is wayward against Jehovah,
To cause the hungry one to go unfed
And to deprive the thirsty one of something to drink.
The devices of the unprincipled man are bad;
He promotes shameful conduct
To ruin the afflicted one with lies,
Even when the poor speaks what is right.
But the generous one has generous intentions,
And in generous endeavors he perseveres.
JEHOVAH:
“You complacent women, get up and listen to my voice!
You carefree daughters, pay attention to what I say!
In a little over a year, you who are carefree will shudder,
Because no fruit will have been gathered when the grape harvest ends.
Tremble, you complacent women!
Shudder, you who are carefree!
Strip yourselves bare,
And put sackcloth around your hips.
Beat your breasts in lamentation
Over the desirable fields and the fruitful vine.
For the ground of my people will be covered with thorns and briars;
They will cover all the houses of rejoicing,
Yes, the city of exultation.
For the fortified tower has been forsaken;
The noisy city has been abandoned.
Ophel and the watchtower have become a permanent wasteland,
A delight for wild donkeys,
A pasture for the flocks,
Until the spirit is poured out on us from above,
And the wilderness becomes an orchard,
And the orchard is regarded as a forest.
Then justice will reside in the wilderness,
And righteousness will dwell in the orchard.
The result of true righteousness will be peace,
And the fruitage of true righteousness will be lasting tranquility and security.
My people will dwell in a peaceful abiding place,
In secure dwellings and in tranquil resting-places.
But the hail will flatten the forest,
And the city will be completely leveled.
Happy are you who sow seed alongside all waters,
Who send out the bull and the donkey.”
WolfCast Home Page – Listen, follow, subscribe
Thank you for coming here and walking through the garden of my mind. No day is as brilliant in its moment as it is gilded in memory. Embrace your experience and relish gorgeous recollection.
Into every life a little light will shine. Thank you for being my luminance in whatever capacity you may. Shine on, you brilliant souls!
— Go back home and read MORE by Wolf Inwool
— Visit the archive
I welcome feedback at my inbox
