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13 So 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.[a]
14 It shatters in pieces like a clay jar,
so shattered to bits that none of it can be salvaged.[b]
Among its fragments one cannot find a shard large enough[c]
to scoop a hot coal from a fire[d]
or to skim off water from a cistern.”[e]

15 For this is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel says:

“If you repented and patiently waited for me, you would be delivered;[f]
if you calmly trusted in me, you would find strength,[g]
but you are unwilling.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 30:13 tn The verse reads literally, “So this sin will become for you like a breach ready to fall, bulging on a high wall, the breaking of which comes suddenly, in a flash.” Their sin produces guilt and will result in judgment. Like a wall that collapses their fall will be swift and sudden.
  2. Isaiah 30:14 tn Heb “Its shattering is like the shattering of a jug of [i.e., “made by”] potters, [so] shattered one cannot save [any of it].”
  3. Isaiah 30:14 tn The words “large enough” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
  4. Isaiah 30:14 tn Heb “to remove fire from the place of kindling.”
  5. Isaiah 30:14 tn On the meaning of גֶבֶא (geveh, “cistern”) see HALOT 170 s.v.
  6. Isaiah 30:15 tn Heb “in returning and in quietness you will be delivered.” Many English versions render the last phrase “shall be saved” or something similar (e.g., NAB, NASB, NRSV).
  7. Isaiah 30:15 tn Heb “in quietness and in trust is your strength” (NASB and NRSV both similar).