Foolish Trust in Egypt

1“Oh, you stubborn children,” declares the LORD,

“who carry out plans—

but they are not mine,

and who make alliances—

but not by my Spirit,

piling sin upon sin.

2They set out to go down to Egypt,

without asking my advice;

taking refuge in Pharaoh’s protection,

and seeking shelter in Egypt’s shadow.

3But Pharaoh’s protection will become your shame,

and sheltering in Egypt’s shadow your longing.a

4And it will turn out thatb his officials are at Zoan,

and his envoys will reach Hanes.

5There is only loathsome destructionc

through a people that cannot benefit them,

who bring neither help nor profit,

but only shame and disgrace.”

The Animals of the Negev

6An oracle about the animals of the Negev:d

“Through a land of trouble, dryness,e and distress,

of lionesses and roaring lions,

where there is no water,f

a land of vipers and darting snakes,

he carriesg their riches on donkeys’ backs,

and their treasures on the humps of camels,

to a nation that cannot benefit them,

7to Egypt, which gives help that is worthless and useless.

Therefore I call her,

‘Rahab,h who just sits still.’”

The Illusions of False Prophecy

8“Go now, and write it downi on a tablet in their presence,

inscribing it in a book,

so that for times to come

it may be an everlasting witness.

9For they are a rebellious people,

deceitful children,

children unwilling to hear

the LORD’s instruction.

10They say to the seers,

‘Don’t see visions,’

and to the prophets,

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

Instead, tell us welcome things, prophesy illusions,

11get out of the way,

turn aside from the path,

and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel.”j

Rejecting God’s Message

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

“Because you reject this message,

and put your trust in oppression and enjoy it,k

and since you rely on it,

13therefore, for you this sin will become

like a breach in a high wall that is about to collapse,

bulging out,

and whose crash comes suddenly—in an instant.

14Its breaking will be like when potters’ vessels are broken,

shattered so ruthlesslyl

that among its fragments not even a broken sliver will be found

for taking fire from a hearth

or scooping water out of a cistern.”

15For this is what the LORDm GOD,n the Holy One of Israel, says:

“In repentance and rest you will be saved;

in staying calm and trusting will be your strength.

But you refused.

16Instead, you said,

‘No! We’ll escape on horses!’

Therefore, you’ll flee away.

And you said,

‘We’ll ride off on swift steeds!’

Therefore your pursuers will be swift.

17A thousand will flee at the threat of one;

and run away, pursued byo five,

until you are left

like a flagpole on a mountaintop,p

like a banner on a hill.”

Restoration is Promised to Israel

18“Nevertheless, the LORD will wait

so he can be gracious to you;

and thus he will rise up to show you mercy.

For the LORD is a God of justice.

How blessed are all those who wait for him.”

19Indeed, you people who live in Zion and in Jerusalem,q your will weep no more. How gracious the LORDs will be to you at the sound of your cry! As soon as he hears it, he will answer you. 20And although the LORD gives you the bread of adversity and the watert of affliction, your teachers won’t hide themselvesu anymore, but your own eyes will see your teachers. 21And whether you turn to the right or turn to the left, your ears will hear a message behind you: “This is the way, walk in it.” 22Then you will defile your carved idols that are overlaid with silver and your images plated with gold. You’ll throw them away like disgusting objectsv and say to them, “Away with you!”

23He will also provide rain for your seed that you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the ground will bew rich and abundant. At that time,x your cattle will graze in broad meadows, 24and oxen and donkeys that work the ground will eat seasonedy fodder that workers will winnow with shovels and forks. 25And on every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks and canalsz running with water on the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.

26Moreover, the light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the sun’s light will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days,aa when the LORD binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.

27See, the name of the LORD comes from far away,

burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke;

his lips are full of fury,

and his tongue is like a devouring fire.

28His breath is like an overflowing torrent,

and it rises right up to the neck,

to shakebb the nations in the sieve of destruction,

and to place in the jaws of the peoples a bit that leads them astray.

29You will have songs as on nights when people celebrate a holy festival,cc and gladness of heart, as when they set out with flutes to go to the LORD’s mountain, to the Rock of Israel.

God’s Judgment on Assyria

30And the LORD will make heard—yes, he will make hearddd —his majestic voice, and make his armee seen descending in raging anger and in a flame of consuming fire, with a cloudburst, thunderstorm and hailstones. 31Indeed, the Assyrians will be shattered at the LORD’s voice, when he strikes them with his scepter. 32And every stroke of his punishing rodff that the LORD brings down on them will be to the sound of tambourines and harps, as he fights against hergg in battle with a brandished arm.

33For the Fire Pithh has long been prepared; truly it is for the king; it will indeed be made ready.ii Andjj its pyre will be deep and wide, with abundant fire and wood. Like a stream of burning sulfur, the breath of the LORD will set it ablaze.