Futile Confidence in Egypt
“Woe to the rebellious children,” says the Lord,
a“Who take counsel, but not of Me,
And who devise plans, but not of My Spirit,
bThat they may add sin to sin;
2 aWho walk to go down to Egypt,
And bhave not asked My advice,
To strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh,
And to trust in the shadow of Egypt!
3 aTherefore the strength of Pharaoh
Shall be your shame,
And trust in the shadow of Egypt
Shall be your humiliation.
4 For his princes were at aZoan,
And his ambassadors came to Hanes.
5 aThey were all ashamed of a people who could not benefit them,
Or be help or benefit,
But a shame and also a reproach.”
6 aThe burden against the beasts of the South.
Through a land of trouble and anguish,
From which came the lioness and lion,
bThe viper and fiery flying serpent,
They will carry their riches on the backs of young donkeys,
And their treasures on the humps of camels,
To a people who shall not profit;
7 aFor the Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose.
Therefore I have called her
Rahab‑Hem‑Shebeth.
A Rebellious People
8 Now go, awrite it before them on a tablet,
And note it on a scroll,
That it may be for time to come,
Forever and ever:
9 That athis is a rebellious people,
Lying children,
Children who will not hear the law of the Lord;
10 aWho say to the seers, “Do not see,”
And to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us right things;
bSpeak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits.
11 Get out of the way,
Turn aside from the path,
Cause the Holy One of Israel
To cease from before us.”
12 Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel:
“Because you adespise this word,
And trust in oppression and perversity,
And rely on them,
13 Therefore this iniquity shall be to you
aLike a breach ready to fall,
A bulge in a high wall,
Whose breaking bcomes suddenly, in an instant.
14 And aHe shall break it like the breaking of the potter’s vessel,
Which is broken in pieces;
He shall not spare.
So there shall not be found among its fragments
A shard to take fire from the hearth,
Or to take water from the cistern.”
15 For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:
a“In returning and rest you shall be saved;
In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.”
bBut you would not,
16 And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses”—
Therefore you shall flee!
And, “We will ride on swift horses”—
Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift!
17 aOne thousand shall flee at the threat of one,
At the threat of five you shall flee,
Till you are left as a pole on top of a mountain
And as a banner on a hill.
God Will Be Gracious
18 Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be agracious to you;
And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
bBlessed are all those who cwait for Him.
19 For the people ashall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem;
You shall bweep no more.
He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry;
When He hears it, He will canswer you.
20 And though the Lord gives you
aThe bread of adversity and the water of affliction,
Yet byour teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore,
But your eyes shall see your teachers.
21 Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying,
“This is the way, walk in it,”
Whenever you aturn to the right hand
Or whenever you turn to the left.
22 aYou will also defile the covering of your images of silver,
And the ornament of your molded images of gold.
You will throw them away as an unclean thing;
bYou will say to them, “Get away!”
23 aThen He will give the rain for your seed
With which you sow the ground,
And bread of the increase of the earth;
It will be fat and plentiful.
In that day your cattle will feed
In large pastures.
24 Likewise the oxen and the young donkeys that work the ground
Will eat cured fodder,
Which has been winnowed with the shovel and fan.
25 There will be aon every high mountain
And on every high hill
Rivers and streams of waters,
In the day of the bgreat slaughter,
When the towers fall.
26 Moreover athe light of the moon will be as the light of the sun,
And the light of the sun will be sevenfold,
As the light of seven days,
In the day that the Lord binds up the bruise of His people
And heals the stroke of their wound.
Judgment on Assyria
27 Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar,
Burning with His anger,
And His burden is heavy;
His lips are full of indignation,
And His tongue like a devouring fire.
28 aHis breath is like an overflowing stream,
bWhich reaches up to the neck,
To sift the nations with the sieve of futility;
And there shall be ca bridle in the jaws of the people,
Causing them to err.
29 You shall have a song
As in the night when a holy festival is kept,
And gladness of heart as when one goes with a flute,
To come into athe mountain of the Lord,
To the Mighty One of Israel.
30 aThe Lord will cause His glorious voice to be heard,
And show the descent of His arm,
With the indignation of His anger
And the flame of a devouring fire,
With scattering, tempest, band hailstones.
31 For athrough the voice of the Lord
Assyria will be beaten down,
As He strikes with the brod.
32 And in every place where the staff of punishment passes,
Which the Lord lays on him,
It will be with tambourines and harps;
And in battles of abrandishing He will fight with it.
33 aFor Tophet was established of old,
Yes, for the king it is prepared.
He has made it deep and large;
Its pyre is fire with much wood;
The breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone,
Kindles it.
The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson.
All rights reserved.