Isaiah 30 – NIRV & NIVUK

New International Reader’s Version

Isaiah 30:1-33

The Lord Will Judge His Stubborn People

1“How terrible it will be for these stubborn children of mine!”

announces the Lord.

“How terrible for those who carry out plans that did not come from me!

Their agreement with Egypt did not come from my Spirit.

So they pile up one sin on top of another.

2They go down to Egypt

without asking me for advice.

They look to Pharaoh to help them.

They ask Egypt to keep them safe.

3But looking to Pharaoh will only bring them shame.

Asking Egypt for help will bring them dishonor.

4Their officials have gone to the city of Zoan.

Their messengers have arrived in Hanes.

5But the people of Judah will be put to shame.

That’s because they are trusting in a nation that is useless to them.

Egypt will not bring them any help or advantage.

Instead, it will bring them shame and dishonor.”

6Here is a prophecy the Lord gave me about the animals in the Negev Desert.

Judah’s messengers carry their riches on the backs of donkeys.

They carry their treasures on the humps of camels.

They travel through a land of danger and suffering.

It’s a land filled with lions.

Poisonous snakes are also there.

The messengers travel to a nation

that can’t do them any good.

7They travel to Egypt, whose help is totally useless.

That’s why I call it Rahab the Do-Nothing.

8The Lord said to me, “Go now.

Write on a tablet for the people of Judah

what I am about to say.

Also write it on a scroll.

In days to come

it will be a witness that lasts forever.

9That’s because these people of Judah refuse to obey me.

They are children who tell lies.

They will not listen to what I want to teach them.

10They say to the seers,

‘Don’t see any more visions!’

They say to the prophets,

‘Don’t give us any more visions of what is right!

Tell us pleasant things.

Prophesy things we want to hear even if they aren’t true.

11Get out of our way!

Get off our path!

Keep the Holy One of Israel away from us!’ ”

12So the Holy One of Israel speaks. He says,

“You have turned your backs on what I have said.

You have depended on telling people lies.

You have crushed others.

13Those sins are like cracks in a high wall.

They get bigger and bigger.

Suddenly the wall breaks apart.

Then it quickly falls down.

14It breaks into small pieces like a clay pot.

It breaks up completely.

Not one piece is left big enough

for taking coals from a fireplace.

Not one piece is left for dipping water out of a well.”

15The Lord and King is the Holy One of Israel. He says,

“You will find peace and rest

when you turn away from your sins and depend on me.

You will receive the strength you need

when you stay calm and trust in me.

But you do not want to do what I tell you to.

16You said, ‘No. We’ll escape on horses.’

So you will have to escape!

You said, ‘We’ll ride off on fast horses.’

So those who chase you will use faster horses!

17When one of them dares you to fight,

a thousand of you will run away.

When five of them dare you,

all of you will run away.

So few of you will be left that you will be

like a flagpole on top of a mountain.

You will be like only one banner on a hill.”

18But the Lord wants to have mercy on you.

So he will rise up to give you his tender love.

The Lord is a God who is always fair.

Blessed are all those who wait for him to act!

19People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you won’t weep anymore. When you cry out to the Lord for help, he will have mercy on you. As soon as he hears you, he’ll answer you. 20He might treat you like prisoners. You might eat the bread of trouble. You might drink the water of suffering. But he will be your Teacher. He won’t hide himself anymore. You will see him with your own eyes. 21You will hear your Teacher’s voice behind you. You will hear it whether you turn to the right or the left. It will say, “Here is the path I want you to take. So walk on it.” 22Then you will get rid of the silver statues of your gods. You won’t have anything to do with the gold statues either. All of them are “unclean.” So you will throw them away like dirty rags. You will say to them, “Get away from us!”

23The Lord will send rain on the seeds you plant in the ground. The crops that grow will be rich and plentiful. At that time your cattle will eat grass in rolling meadows. 24The oxen and donkeys that work the soil will eat the finest feed and crushed grain. The farmers will use pitchforks and shovels to separate it from the straw. 25At that time the towers of your enemies will fall down. Their soldiers will die. Streams of water will flow on every high mountain and hill. 26The moon will shine like the sun. And the sunlight will be seven times brighter than usual. It will be like the light of seven full days. That will happen when the Lord bandages and heals the wounds and bruises he has brought on his people.

27The Lord will come from far away

in all his power and glory.

He will show his burning anger.

Thick clouds of smoke will be all around him.

His mouth will speak angry words.

The words from his tongue will be like a destroying fire.

28His breath will be like a rushing flood

that rises up to the neck.

He’ll separate out the nations he is going to destroy.

He’ll place a bit in their jaws.

It will lead them down the road to death.

29You will sing

as you do on the night you celebrate a holy feast.

Your hearts will be filled with joy.

You will be as joyful as people playing their flutes

as they go up to the mountain of the Lord.

He is the Rock of Israel.

30The Lord will cause people to hear his powerful voice.

He will make them see his arm coming down to punish them.

It will come down with burning anger and destroying fire.

It will come down with rain, thunderstorms and hail.

31The voice of the Lord will tear the Assyrians apart.

He will strike them down with his scepter.

32He will strike them

with his club to punish them.

Each time he does, his people will celebrate

with the music of harps and tambourines.

He will use his powerful arm

to strike down the Assyrians in battle.

33In the Valley of Ben Hinnom, Topheth has been prepared for a long time.

It has been made ready for the king of Assyria.

Its fire pit has been made deep and wide.

It has plenty of wood for the fire.

The breath of the Lord

will be like a stream of burning sulfur.

It will set the wood on fire.

New International Version – UK

Isaiah 30:1-33

Woe to the obstinate nation

1‘Woe to the obstinate children,’

declares the Lord,

‘to those who carry out plans that are not mine,

forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit,

heaping sin upon sin;

2who go down to Egypt

without consulting me;

who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection,

to Egypt’s shade for refuge.

3But Pharaoh’s protection will be to your shame,

Egypt’s shade will bring you disgrace.

4Though they have officials in Zoan

and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,

5everyone will be put to shame

because of a people useless to them,

who bring neither help nor advantage,

but only shame and disgrace.’

6A prophecy concerning the animals of the Negev:

Through a land of hardship and distress,

of lions and lionesses,

of adders and darting snakes,

the envoys carry their riches on donkeys’ backs,

their treasures on the humps of camels,

to that unprofitable nation,

7to Egypt, whose help is utterly useless.

Therefore I call her

Rahab the Do-Nothing.

8Go now, write it on a tablet for them,

inscribe it on a scroll,

that for the days to come

it may be an everlasting witness.

9For these are rebellious people, deceitful children,

children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction.

10They say to the seers,

‘See no more visions!’

and to the prophets,

‘Give us no more visions of what is right!

Tell us pleasant things,

prophesy illusions.

11Leave this way,

get off this path,

and stop confronting us

with the Holy One of Israel!’

12Therefore this is what the Holy One of Israel says:

‘Because you have rejected this message,

relied on oppression

and depended on deceit,

13this sin will become for you

like a high wall, cracked and bulging,

that collapses suddenly, in an instant.

14It will break in pieces like pottery,

shattered so mercilessly

that among its pieces not a fragment will be found

for taking coals from a hearth

or scooping water out of a cistern.’

15This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says:

‘In repentance and rest is your salvation,

in quietness and trust is your strength,

but you would have none of it.

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

Therefore you will flee!

You said, “We will ride off on swift horses.”

Therefore your pursuers will be swift!

17A thousand will flee

at the threat of one;

at the threat of five

you will all flee away,

till you are left

like a flagstaff on a mountaintop,

like a banner on a hill.’

18Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;

therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.

For the Lord is a God of justice.

Blessed are all who wait for him!

19People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. 20Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’ 22Then you will desecrate your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, ‘Away with you!’

23He will also send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich and plentiful. In that day your cattle will graze in broad meadows. 24The oxen and donkeys that work the soil will eat fodder and mash, spread out with fork and shovel. 25In the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall, streams of water will flow on every high mountain and every lofty hill. 26The moon will shine like the sun, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the Lord binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds he inflicted.

27See, the Name of the Lord comes from afar,

with burning anger and dense clouds of smoke;

his lips are full of wrath,

and his tongue is a consuming fire.

28His breath is like a rushing torrent,

rising up to the neck.

He shakes the nations in the sieve of destruction;

he places in the jaws of the peoples

a bit that leads them astray.

29And you will sing

as on the night you celebrate a holy festival;

your hearts will rejoice

as when people playing pipes go up

to the mountain of the Lord,

to the Rock of Israel.

30The Lord will cause people to hear his majestic voice

and will make them see his arm coming down

with raging anger and consuming fire,

with cloudburst, thunderstorm and hail.

31The voice of the Lord will shatter Assyria;

with his rod he will strike them down.

32Every stroke the Lord lays on them

with his punishing club

will be to the music of tambourines and harps,

as he fights them in battle with the blows of his arm.

33Topheth has long been prepared;

it has been made ready for the king.

Its fire pit has been made deep and wide,

with an abundance of fire and wood;

the breath of the Lord,

like a stream of burning sulphur,

sets it ablaze.