New International Version | New Living Translation |
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“What sorrow awaits my rebellious children,” says the LORD. “You make plans that are contrary to mine. You make alliances not directed by my Spirit, thus piling up your sins. |
2who go down to Egypt without consulting me; who look for help to Pharaoh's protection, to Egypt's shade for refuge. | 2For without consulting me, you have gone down to Egypt for help. You have put your trust in Pharaoh’s protection. You have tried to hide in his shade. |
3But Pharaoh's protection will be to your shame, Egypt's shade will bring you disgrace. | 3But by trusting Pharaoh, you will be humiliated, and by depending on him, you will be disgraced. |
4Though they have officials in Zoan and their envoys have arrived in Hanes, | 4For though his power extends to Zoan and his officials have arrived in 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 who trust in him will be ashamed. He will not help you. Instead, he will disgrace you.” |
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 message came to me concerning the animals in the Negev: The caravan moves slowly across the terrible desert to Egypt— donkeys weighed down with riches and camels loaded with treasure— all to pay for Egypt’s protection. They travel through the wilderness, a place of lionesses and lions, a place where vipers and poisonous snakes live. All this, and Egypt will give you nothing in return. |
7to Egypt, whose help is utterly useless. Therefore I call her Rahab the Do-Nothing. | 7Egypt’s promises are worthless! Therefore, I call her Rahab— the Harmless Dragon. A Warning for Rebellious Judah |
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 and write down these words. Write them in a book. They will stand until the end of time as a witness |
9For these are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to the LORD's instruction. | 9that these people are stubborn rebels who refuse to pay attention to the LORD’s instructions. |
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 tell the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” They tell the prophets, “Don’t tell us what is right. Tell us nice things. Tell us lies. |
11Leave this way, get off this path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!" | 11Forget all this gloom. Get off your narrow path. Stop telling us about your ‘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, | 12This is the reply of the Holy One of Israel: “Because you despise what I tell you and trust instead in oppression and lies, |
13this sin will become for you like a high wall, cracked and bulging, that collapses suddenly, in an instant. | 13calamity will come upon you suddenly— like a bulging wall that bursts and falls. In an instant it will collapse and come crashing down. |
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." | 14You will be smashed like a piece of pottery— shattered so completely that there won’t be a piece big enough to carry coals from a fireplace or a little water from the well.” |
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. | 15This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it. |
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 said, ‘No, we will get our help from Egypt. They will give us swift horses for riding into battle.’ But the only swiftness you are going to see is the swiftness of your enemies chasing you! |
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 of them will chase a thousand of you. Five of them will make all of you flee. You will be left like a lonely flagpole on a hill or a tattered banner on a distant mountaintop.” Blessings for the LORD’s People |
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! | 18So the LORD must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion. For the LORD is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for his help. |
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. | 19O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. He will be gracious if you ask for help. He will surely respond to the sound of your cries. |
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. | 20Though the Lord gave you adversity for food and suffering for drink, he will still be with you to teach you. You will see your teacher with your own eyes. |
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." | 21Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, “This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to 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!" | 22Then you will destroy all your silver idols and your precious gold images. You will throw them out like filthy rags, saying to them, “Good riddance!” |
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. | 23Then the LORD will bless you with rain at planting time. There will be wonderful harvests and plenty of pastureland for your livestock. |
24The oxen and donkeys that work the soil will eat fodder and mash, spread out with fork and shovel. | 24The oxen and donkeys that till the ground will eat good grain, its chaff blown away by the wind. |
25In the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall, streams of water will flow on every high mountain and every lofty hill. | 25In that day, when your enemies are slaughtered and the towers fall, there will be streams of water flowing down every mountain and hill. |
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 moon will be as bright as the sun, and the sun will be seven times brighter—like the light of seven days in one! So it will be when the LORD begins to heal his people and cure the wounds he gave them. |
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 LORD is coming from far away, burning with anger, surrounded by thick, rising smoke. His lips are filled with fury; his words consume like 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 hot breath pours out like a flood up to the neck of his enemies. He will sift out the proud nations for destruction. He will bridle them and lead them away to ruin. |
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. | 29But the people of God will sing a song of joy, like the songs at the holy festivals. You will be filled with joy, as when a flutist leads a group of pilgrims to Jerusalem, the mountain of the LORD— to the Rock of 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. | 30And the LORD will make his majestic voice heard. He will display the strength of his mighty arm. It will descend with devouring flames, with cloudbursts, thunderstorms, and huge hailstones. |
31The voice of the LORD will shatter Assyria; with his rod he will strike them down. | 31At the LORD’s command, the Assyrians will be shattered. He will strike them down with his royal scepter. |
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. | 32And as the LORD strikes them with his rod of punishment, his people will celebrate with tambourines and harps. Lifting his mighty arm, he will fight the Assyrians. |
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. | 33Topheth—the place of burning— has long been ready for the Assyrian king; the pyre is piled high with wood. The breath of the LORD, like fire from a volcano, will set it ablaze. |
New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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