CHAPTER 30

1 Wo to the rebellious ¹ children, saith Jehovah,
That they may take counsel, and not from me;
That they may cover a secret, ² and not from my Spirit;
That they may add sin to sin.

2 Who set out that they may go down into Egypt,
And have not inquired at my mouth;
Strengthening themselves with the strength of Pharaoh,
And trusting in the shadow of Egypt.

3 But the strength of Pharaoh
Shall become to you shame;
And reliance on the shadow of Egypt
Shall become disgrace.

4 For his princes were in Zoan,
And his ambassadors came to Hanes.

5 All shall be ashamed
Of a people that will not profit them,
And will not become a help,
And will not yield advantage,
But will become shame,
And even disgrace.

6 The burden of the beasts of the south.
In the land of trouble and anguish,
The lion and the stronger lion,
The viper and the flying serpent;
While they shall carry their riches
On the shoulders of young asses,
And on the bunches of camels,
To a people that will not profit them.

7 Surely the Egyptians are vanity,
And shall help in vain.
Therefore have I cried to her,
Their strength is to sit still.

8 Now go, and write this vision on a tablet before them,
And engrave it in a book,
That it may be till the last day,
For ever and ever.

9 For this is a rebellious people,
Lying children,
Children who refuse to hear the law of Jehovah.

10 Who say to the seers, Do not see,
And to the foreseers, Do not foresee to us right things;
Speak ye to us flatteries,
See ye errors.

11 Go out of the way;
Turn aside from the path;
Cause the Holy One of Israel
To depart from our presence.

12 Therefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel:
Because ye have disdained this word,
And have trusted in violence and wickedness,
And have rested on it;

13 Therefore shall your iniquity be to you
Like a breach falling,
Like the bulging out in a lofty wall,
The fall of which comes suddenly and unexpectedly.

14 And the breaking of it shall be
As the breaking of a potter's vessel,
Which is broken without mercy;
And in its breaking there is not found a sherd
To carry fire from the hearth,
Or to draw water from a well.

15 For thus saith the Lord Jehovah,
The Holy One of Israel:
In rest and quietness shall you be safe;
In peace and confidence shall be your strength;
But ye would not.

16 And ye said, No, but we will flee on horses;
Therefore shall ye flee;
We will ride on the swift;
Therefore they that shall pursue you shall be more swift.

17 A thousand as one from the face of the rebuke of one,
From the face of the rebuke of five shall ye flee,
Until ye shall be left
As the mast of a ship on the top of a mountain,
And as a banner on a hill.

18 Therefore will Jehovah wait for you,
That he may have compassion on you;
And therefore will he be exalted,
That he may have compassion on you;
For Jehovah is a God of judgment:
Blessed are all they that wait for him.

19 Surely the people in Zion shall dwell in Jerusalem:
Weeping thou shalt not weep;
With compassion will he have compassion on thee;
At the voice of thy cry, as soon as he shall hear it,
He will answer thee.

20 When the Lord shall have given to you
Bread of anguish
And water of affliction,
Thy rain shall not be withheld,
And thine eyes shall see thy rain.

21 Then shall thine ears hear a word behind thee,
Saying, This is the way;
Walk ye in it;
Whether ye go to the right,
Or go to the left.

22 Then shall ye profane
The covering of the graven images of thy silver,
And the covering of thy molten gold;
And thou shalt put it away from thee as a menstruous cloth,
And shalt say to it, Depart. ³

23 Then will he give rain to thy seed,
When thou shalt have sowed the ground,
And bread of the produce of the earth;
And it shall be plentiful and fat;
And in that day thy cattle
Shall feed in large pastures.

24 Thine oxen also,
And the young asses that labour the ground,
Shall eat clean provender,
Which shall be winnowed with the shovel
And with the sieve.

25 And it shall come to pass,
That on every high mountain,
And on every lofty hill,
Shall be streams, streams of waters,
In the day of the great slaughter
When the towers shall have fallen.

26 And the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun,
And the light of the sun shall be sevenfold,
As the light of seven days,
In the day when Jehovah
Shall have bound up the breach of his people,
And shall have healed the stroke of their wound.

27 Behold! the name of Jehovah cometh
From a distant place:
His face burneth,
And the burden is heavy;
His lips are full of indignation,
And his tongue as a devouring fire.

28 And his breath, as an overflowing torrent,
Shall divide even to the neck;
To sift the nations with a useless sieve;
And on the cheeks of the peoples
There shall be a bridle causing to err.

29 You shall have a song, as in the night
When a festival is kept,
And gladness of heart,
As of him that moveth to a pipe,
That he may come to the mountain of Jehovah,
To the Mighty One of Israel.

30 And Jehovah shall cause to be heard the power of his voice,
And shall cause to be seen the descent of his arm,
With rage of countenance,
And with the flame of devouring fire,
With scattering, with flood, and with hailstones.

31 Verily by the voice of Jehovah shall the Assyrian be crushed,
Who smote with a rod.

32 And in every passage shall be the fastened staff,
Which Jehovah shall lay upon him
With tabrets and harps,
And with battles of lifting up
Shall he fight against her.

33 For Tophet is ordained since yesterday;
Yea, for the king it is prepared:
He hath made it deep and large;
The pile of it is fire, and much wood;
The breath of Jehovah, like a torrent of brimstone,
Doth kindle it.