The Folly of Not Trusting God

31 Woe to those (A)who go down to Egypt for help,
And (B)rely on horses,
Who trust in chariots because they are many,
And in horsemen because they are very strong,
But who do not look to the Holy One of Israel,
(C)Nor seek the Lord!

Read full chapter

Woe to Those Who Rely on Egypt

31 Woe(A) to those who go down to Egypt(B) for help,
    who rely on horses,(C)
who trust in the multitude of their chariots(D)
    and in the great strength of their horsemen,
but do not look to the Holy One(E) of Israel,
    or seek help from the Lord.(F)

Read full chapter

Some trust in chariots, and some in (A)horses;
But we will remember the name of the Lord our God.

Read full chapter

Some trust in chariots(A) and some in horses,(B)
    but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.(C)

Read full chapter

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!

Read full chapter

16 You said, ‘No, we will flee(A) on horses.’(B)
    Therefore you will flee!
You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’
    Therefore your pursuers will be swift!

Read full chapter

16 But he shall not multiply (A)horses for himself, nor cause the people (B)to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for (C)the Lord has said to you, (D)‘You shall not return that way again.’

Read full chapter

16 The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses(A) for himself(B) or make the people return to Egypt(C) to get more of them,(D) for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.”(E)

Read full chapter

A Call to Repentance

For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel:

(A)“Seek Me (B)and live;
But do not seek (C)Bethel,
Nor enter Gilgal,
Nor pass over to (D)Beersheba;
For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity,
And (E)Bethel shall come to nothing.
(F)Seek the Lord and live,
Lest He break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
And devour it,
With no one to quench it in Bethel—
You who (G)turn justice to wormwood,
And lay righteousness to rest in the earth!”

He made the (H)Pleiades and Orion;
He turns the shadow of death into morning
(I)And makes the day dark as night;
He (J)calls for the waters of the sea
And pours them out on the face of the earth;
(K)The Lord is His name.

Read full chapter

This is what the Lord says to Israel:

“Seek(A) me and live;(B)
    do not seek Bethel,
do not go to Gilgal,(C)
    do not journey to Beersheba.(D)
For Gilgal will surely go into exile,
    and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.[a](E)
Seek(F) the Lord and live,(G)
    or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire;(H)
it will devour them,
    and Bethel(I) will have no one to quench it.(J)

There are those who turn justice into bitterness(K)
    and cast righteousness(L) to the ground.(M)

He who made the Pleiades and Orion,(N)
    who turns midnight into dawn(O)
    and darkens day into night,(P)
who calls for the waters of the sea
    and pours them out over the face of the land—
    the Lord is his name.(Q)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Amos 5:5 Hebrew aven, a reference to Beth Aven (a derogatory name for Bethel); see Hosea 4:15.

13 (A)“As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; (B)yet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth.

Read full chapter

13 Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord(A) our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth.(B)

Read full chapter

Thus says the Lord:

(A)“Cursed is the man who trusts in man
And makes (B)flesh his [a]strength,
Whose heart departs from the Lord.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 17:5 Lit. arm

This is what the Lord says:

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,(A)
    who draws strength from mere flesh
    and whose heart turns away from the Lord.(B)

Read full chapter

How then will you repel one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put your trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen?

Read full chapter

How then can you repulse one officer of the least of my master’s officials, even though you are depending on Egypt(A) for chariots(B) and horsemen[a]?(C)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 36:9 Or charioteers

Look! You are trusting in the (A)staff of this broken reed, Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who (B)trust in him.

Read full chapter

Look, I know you are depending(A) on Egypt,(B) that splintered reed(C) of a staff, which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him.

Read full chapter

Assyria shall (A)not save us,
(B)We will not ride on horses,
Nor will we say anymore to the work of our hands, ‘You are our gods.’
(C)For in You the fatherless finds mercy.”

Read full chapter

Assyria cannot save us;(A)
    we will not mount warhorses.(B)
We will never again say ‘Our gods’(C)
    to what our own hands have made,(D)
    for in you the fatherless(E) find compassion.”

Read full chapter

15 But (A)he rebelled against him by sending his ambassadors to Egypt, (B)that they might give him horses and many people. (C)Will he prosper? Will he who does such things escape? Can he break a covenant and still be delivered?

Read full chapter

15 But the king rebelled(A) against him by sending his envoys to Egypt(B) to get horses and a large army.(C) Will he succeed? Will he who does such things escape? Will he break the treaty and yet escape?(D)

Read full chapter

13 “For My people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken Me, the (A)fountain of living waters,
And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.

Read full chapter

13 “My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken(A) me,
    the spring of living water,(B)
and have dug their own cisterns,
    broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

Read full chapter

Futile Confidence in Egypt

30 “Woe to the rebellious children,” says the Lord,
(A)“Who take counsel, but not of Me,
And who [a]devise plans, but not of My Spirit,
(B)That they may add sin to sin;
(C)Who walk to go down to Egypt,
And (D)have not asked My advice,
To strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh,
And to trust in the shadow of Egypt!
(E)Therefore the strength of Pharaoh
Shall be your shame,
And trust in the shadow of Egypt
Shall be your humiliation.
For his princes were at (F)Zoan,
And his ambassadors came to Hanes.
(G)They were all ashamed of a people who could not benefit them,
Or be help or benefit,
But a shame and also a reproach.”

(H)The [b]burden against the beasts of the South.

Through a land of trouble and anguish,
From which came the lioness and lion,
(I)The 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;
(J)For the Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose.
Therefore I have called her
[c]Rahab-Hem-Shebeth.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 30:1 Lit. weave a web
  2. Isaiah 30:6 oracle, prophecy
  3. Isaiah 30:7 Lit. Rahab Sits Idle

Woe to the Obstinate Nation

30 “Woe(A) to the obstinate children,”(B)
    declares the Lord,
“to those who carry out plans that are not mine,
    forming an alliance,(C) but not by my Spirit,
    heaping sin upon sin;
who go down to Egypt(D)
    without consulting(E) me;
who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection,(F)
    to Egypt’s shade for refuge.(G)
But Pharaoh’s protection will be to your shame,
    Egypt’s shade(H) will bring you disgrace.(I)
Though they have officials in Zoan(J)
    and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,
everyone will be put to shame
    because of a people(K) useless(L) to them,
who bring neither help(M) nor advantage,
    but only shame and disgrace.(N)

A prophecy(O) concerning the animals of the Negev:(P)

Through a land of hardship and distress,(Q)
    of lions(R) and lionesses,
    of adders and darting snakes,(S)
the envoys carry their riches on donkeys’(T) backs,
    their treasures(U) on the humps of camels,
to that unprofitable nation,
    to Egypt, whose help is utterly useless.(V)
Therefore I call her
    Rahab(W) the Do-Nothing.

Read full chapter