| New International Version | NET Bible |
| 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; | 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. |
| 2who go down to Egypt without consulting me; who look for help to Pharaoh's protection, to Egypt's shade for refuge. | 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 be to your shame, Egypt's shade will bring you disgrace. | 3But Pharaoh's protection will bring you nothing but shame, and the safety of Egypt's protective shade nothing but humiliation. |
| 4Though they have officials in Zoan and their envoys have arrived in Hanes, | 4Though his officials are in Zoan and his messengers arrive at 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." | 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." |
| 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, | 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, whose help is utterly useless. Therefore I call her Rahab the Do-Nothing. | 7Egypt is totally incapable of helping. For this reason I call her 'Proud one who is silenced.'" |
| 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. | 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 these are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to 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, "See no more visions!" and to the prophets, "Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant 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. |
| 11Leave this way, get off this 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 have rejected this message, relied on oppression and depended on deceit, | 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. |
| 13this sin will become for you like a high wall, cracked and bulging, that collapses 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. |
| 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." | 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." |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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! | 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; 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." | 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." |
| 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! | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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." | 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 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!" | 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 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. | 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. |
| 24The oxen and donkeys that work the soil will eat fodder and mash, spread out with fork and shovel. | 24The oxen and donkeys used in plowing will eat seasoned feed winnowed with a shovel and pitchfork. |
| 25In the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall, streams of water will flow on every high mountain and every lofty hill. | 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. |
| 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. | 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 afar, with burning anger and dense clouds of smoke; his lips are full of wrath, and his tongue is a consuming 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 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 30The LORD will give a mighty shout and intervene in power, with furious anger and flaming, destructive fire, with a driving rainstorm and hailstones. |
| 31The voice of the LORD will shatter Assyria; with his rod he will strike them down. | 31Indeed, the LORD's shout will shatter Assyria; he will beat them with a club. |
| 32Every stroke the LORD lays on them with his punishing club will be to the music of timbrels and harps, as he fights them in battle with the blows of his 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. |
| 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 sulfur, sets 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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