| International Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 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. | 1"The rebellious children are as good as dead," says the LORD, "those who make plans without consulting me, who form alliances without consulting my Spirit, and thereby compound their 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. | 2They travel down to Egypt without seeking my will, seeking Pharaoh's protection, and looking for safety in Egypt's protective shade. |
| 3But Pharaoh's protection will become your shame, and sheltering in Egypt's shadow your longing. | 3But Pharaoh's protection will bring you nothing but shame, and the safety of Egypt's protective shade nothing but humiliation. |
| 4And it will turn out that his officials are at Zoan, and his envoys will reach Hanes. | 4Though his officials are in Zoan and his messengers arrive at Hanes, |
| 5There is only loathsome destruction through a people that cannot benefit them, who bring neither help nor profit, but only shame and disgrace." | 5all will be put to shame because of a nation that cannot help them, who cannot give them aid or help, but only shame and disgrace." |
| 6An oracle about the animals of the Negev: "Through a land of trouble, dryness, and distress, of lionesses and roaring lions, where there is no water, a land of vipers and darting snakes, he carries their riches on donkeys' backs, and their treasures on the humps of camels, to a nation that cannot benefit them, | 6This is a message about the animals in the Negev: Through a land of distress and danger, inhabited by lionesses and roaring lions, by snakes and darting adders, they transport their wealth on the backs of donkeys, their riches on the humps of camels, to a nation that cannot help them. |
| 7to Egypt, which gives help that is worthless and useless. Therefore I call her, 'Rahab, who just sits still.'" | 7Egypt is totally incapable of helping. For this reason I call her 'Proud one who is silenced.'" |
| 8"Go now, and write it down on a tablet in their presence, inscribing it in a book, so that for times to come it may be an everlasting witness. | 8Now go, write it down on a tablet in their presence, inscribe it on a scroll, so that it might be preserved for a future time as an enduring witness. |
| 9For they are a rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to hear the LORD's instruction. | 9For these are rebellious people--they are lying children, children unwilling to obey the LORD's law. |
| 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, | 10They say to the visionaries, "See no more visions!" and to the seers, "Don't relate messages to us about what is right! Tell us nice things, relate deceptive messages. |
| 11get out of the way, turn aside from the path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel." | 11Turn aside from the way, stray off the path. Remove from our presence the Holy One of Israel." |
| 12Therefore, this is what the Holy One of Israel says: "Because you reject this message, and put your trust in oppression and enjoy it, and since you rely on it, | 12For this reason this is what the Holy One of Israel says: "You have rejected this message; you trust instead in your ability to oppress and trick, and rely on that kind of behavior. |
| 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. | 13So this sin will become your downfall. You will be like a high wall that bulges and cracks and is ready to collapse; it crumbles suddenly, in a flash. |
| 14Its breaking will be like when potters' vessels are broken, shattered so ruthlessly 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." | 14It shatters in pieces like a clay jar, so shattered to bits that none of it can be salvaged. Among its fragments one cannot find a shard large enough to scoop a hot coal from a fire or to skim off water from a cistern." |
| 15For this is what the LORD GOD, 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. | 15For this is what the master, the LORD, the Holy One of Israel says: "If you repented and patiently waited for me, you would be delivered; if you calmly trusted in me you would find strength, but you are unwilling. |
| 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. | 16You say, 'No, we will flee on horses,' so you will indeed flee. You say, 'We will ride on fast horses,' so your pursuers will be fast. |
| 17A thousand will flee at the threat of one; and run away, pursued by five, until you are left like a flagpole on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill." | 17One thousand will scurry at the battle cry of one enemy soldier; at the battle cry of five enemy soldiers you will all run away, until the remaining few are as isolated as a flagpole on a mountaintop or a signal flag on a hill." |
| 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." | 18For this reason the LORD is ready to show you mercy; he sits on his throne, ready to have compassion on you. Indeed, the LORD is a just God; all who wait for him in faith will be blessed. |
| 19Indeed, you people who live in Zion and in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious the LORD will be to you at the sound of your cry! As soon as he hears it, he will answer you. | 19For people will live in Zion; in Jerusalem you will weep no more. When he hears your cry of despair, he will indeed show you mercy; when he hears it, he will respond to you. |
| 20And although the LORD gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers won't hide themselves anymore, but your own eyes will see your teachers. | 20The sovereign master will give you distress to eat and suffering to drink; but your teachers will no longer be hidden; your eyes will see them. |
| 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." | 21You will hear a word spoken behind you, saying, "This is the correct way, walk in it," whether you are heading to the right or the left. |
| 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 objects and say to them, "Away with you!" | 22You will desecrate your silver-plated idols and your gold-plated images. You will throw them away as if they were a menstrual rag, saying to them, "Get out!" |
| 23He will also provide rain for your seed that you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the ground will be rich and abundant. At that time, your cattle will graze in broad meadows, | 23He will water the seed you plant in the ground, and the ground will produce crops in abundance. At that time your cattle will graze in wide pastures. |
| 24and oxen and donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder that workers will winnow with shovels and forks. | 24The oxen and donkeys used in plowing will eat seasoned feed winnowed with a shovel and pitchfork. |
| 25And on every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks and canals running with water on the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. | 25On every high mountain and every high hill there will be streams flowing with water, at the time of great slaughter when the fortified towers collapse. |
| 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, when the LORD binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow. | 26The light of the full moon will be like the sun's glare and the sun's glare will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, when the LORD binds up his people's fractured bones and heals their severe wound. |
| 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. | 27Look, the name of the LORD comes from a distant place in raging anger and awesome splendor. He speaks angrily and his word is like destructive fire. |
| 28His breath is like an overflowing torrent, and it rises right up to the neck, to shake the nations in the sieve of destruction, and to place in the jaws of the peoples a bit that leads them astray. | 28His battle cry overwhelms like a flooding river that reaches one's neck. He shakes the nations in a sieve that isolates the chaff; he puts a bit into the mouth of the nations and leads them to destruction. |
| 29You will have songs as on nights when people celebrate a holy festival, and gladness of heart, as when they set out with flutes to go to the LORD's mountain, to the Rock of Israel. | 29You will sing as you do in the evening when you are celebrating a festival. You will be happy like one who plays a flute as he goes to the mountain of the LORD, the Rock who shelters Israel. |
| 30And the LORD will make heard—yes, he will make heard —his majestic voice, and make his arm seen descending in raging anger and in a flame of consuming fire, with a cloudburst, thunderstorm and hailstones. | 30The LORD will give a mighty shout and intervene in power, with furious anger and flaming, destructive fire, with a driving rainstorm and hailstones. |
| 31Indeed, the Assyrians will be shattered at the LORD's voice, when he strikes them with his scepter. | 31Indeed, the LORD's shout will shatter Assyria; he will beat them with a club. |
| 32And every stroke of his punishing rod that the LORD brings down on them will be to the sound of tambourines and harps, as he fights against her in battle with a brandished arm. | 32Every blow from his punishing cudgel, with which the LORD will beat them, will be accompanied by music from the tambourine and harp, and he will attack them with his weapons. |
| 33For the Fire Pit has long been prepared; truly it is for the king; it will indeed be made ready. And 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. | 33For the burial place is already prepared; it has been made deep and wide for the king. The firewood is piled high on it. The LORD's breath, like a stream flowing with brimstone, will ignite it. |
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