1 “ Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the Lord, “Who execute a plan, but not Mine, And make an alliance, but not of My Spirit, In order to add sin to sin;

¶ Woe to the sons that leave, saith the LORD, to make counsel, but not of me; to cover themselves with a covering, and not by my spirit, adding sin unto sin!

2 W ho proceed down to Egypt Without consulting Me, To take refuge in the safety of Pharaoh And to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!

They leave to descend into Egypt and have not asked for a word from my mouth, to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh and to place their hope in the shadow of Egypt.

3 “ Therefore the safety of Pharaoh will be your shame And the shelter in the shadow of Egypt, your humiliation.

But the strength of Pharaoh shall become your shame, and the hope in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.

4 “ For their princes are at Zoan And their ambassadors arrive at Hanes.

When his princes shall be in Zoan, and his ambassadors have come to Hanes,

5 “ Everyone will be ashamed because of a people who cannot profit them, Who are not for help or profit, but for shame and also for reproach.”

all shall be ashamed of the people that shall not profit them, nor be a help, nor bring them increase, but a shame, and also a reproach.

6 T he oracle concerning the beasts of the Negev. Through a land of distress and anguish, From where come lioness and lion, viper and flying serpent, They carry their riches on the backs of young donkeys And their treasures on camels’ humps, To a people who cannot profit them;

The burden of the beasts of the south: into the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent; they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit them.

7 E ven Egypt, whose help is vain and empty. Therefore, I have called her “ Rahab who has been exterminated.”

For the Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose; therefore I have cried out concerning this that your strength should be to sit still.

8 N ow go, write it on a tablet before them And inscribe it on a scroll, That it may serve in the time to come As a witness forever.

¶ Now go, write this vision before them on a tablet and note it in a book that it may remain unto the last day, for ever, unto all ages.

9 F or this is a rebellious people, false sons, Sons who refuse to listen To the instruction of the Lord;

That this is a rebellious people, lying sons, sons that did not desire to hear the law of the LORD:

10 W ho say to the seers, “You must not see visions ”; And to the prophets, “You must not prophesy to us what is right, Speak to us pleasant words, Prophesy illusions.

Who say to those that see, See not; and to the prophets, Do not prophesy right things unto us, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:

11 “ Get out of the way, turn aside from the path, Let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.”

Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to leave our presence.

12 T herefore thus says the Holy One of Israel, “ Since you have rejected this word And have put your trust in oppression and guile, and have relied on them,

Therefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in violence and perversity and build upon this:

13 T herefore this iniquity will be to you Like a breach about to fall, A bulge in a high wall, Whose collapse comes suddenly in an instant,

Therefore this sin shall be to you as an open wall ready to fall and as a breach in a high defence, whose breaking comes suddenly at an instant.

14 W hose collapse is like the smashing of a potter’s jar, So ruthlessly shattered That a sherd will not be found among its pieces To take fire from a hearth Or to scoop water from a cistern.”

And your destruction shall be as the breaking of a potter’s vessel that without mercy is broken to pieces so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it even a shard to take fire from the hearth or to take water from the well.

15 F or thus the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said, “In repentance and rest you will be saved, In quietness and trust is your strength.” But you were not willing,

For the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel has said; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.

16 A nd 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.

But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be even more swift.

17 O ne thousand will flee at the threat of one man; You will flee at the threat of five, Until you are left as a flag on a mountain top And as a signal on a hill. God Is Gracious and Just

One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five ye shall all flee: until ye are left as a mast upon the top of a mountain and as a banner of example on a hill.

18 T herefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him.

¶ And therefore will the LORD wait for you, that he may have mercy on you, and therefore will he be exalted having mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all those that wait for him.

19 O people in Zion, inhabitant in Jerusalem, you will weep no longer. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you.

For the people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he who has mercy shall show mercy unto thee; at the voice of thy cry when he shall hear it, he will answer thee.

20 A lthough the Lord has given you bread of privation and water of oppression, He, your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher.

But the Lord shall give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction; thy rain shall never more be taken away, but thine eyes shall see thy rain:

21 Y our ears will hear a word behind you, “ This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left.

Then thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, that ye not turn to the right hand and that ye not turn to the left hand.

22 A nd you will defile your graven images overlaid with silver, and your molten images plated with gold. You will scatter them as an impure thing, and say to them, “ Be gone!”

Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver and the protection of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it, Go away from here.

23 T hen He will give you rain for the seed which you will sow in the ground, and bread from the yield of the ground, and it will be rich and plenteous; on that day your livestock will graze in a roomy pasture.

Then he shall give the rain unto thy planting when thou shalt sow the ground; and bread of the fruit of the earth, and it shall be fat and fertile: in that day thy cattle shall feed in large pastures.

24 A lso the oxen and the donkeys which work the ground will eat salted fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork.

Thine oxen and thine asses that work the ground shall eat clean grain, which has been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan.

25 O n every lofty mountain and on every high hill there will be streams running with water on the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.

And there shall be upon every high mountain and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers shall fall.

26 T he light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, on the day the Lord binds up the fracture of His people and heals the bruise He has inflicted.

Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD binds up the breach of his people and heals the stroke of their wound.

27 B ehold, the name of the Lord comes from a remote place; Burning is His anger and dense is His smoke; His lips are filled with indignation And His tongue is like a consuming fire;

¶ Behold, the name of the LORD comes from afar; his face is blazing and difficult to gaze upon: his lips are full of indignation and his tongue as a devouring fire:

28 H is breath is like an overflowing torrent, Which reaches to the neck, To shake the nations back and forth in a sieve, And to put in the jaws of the peoples the bridle which leads to ruin.

And his Spirit, as an overflowing stream, shall break even unto the neck to sift the Gentiles with the sieve of vanity and to put a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err.

29 Y ou will have songs as in the night when you keep the festival, And gladness of heart as when one marches to the sound of the flute, To go to the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel.

Ye shall have a song, as in the night in which the Passover is kept and gladness of heart as when one goes with a flute to come into the mountain of the LORD to the mighty One of Israel.

30 A nd the Lord will cause His voice of authority to be heard, And the descending of His arm to be seen in fierce anger, And in the flame of a consuming fire In cloudburst, downpour and hailstones.

And the LORD shall cause the power of his voice to be heard and shall cause the lighting down of his arm to be seen, with the indignation of his countenance and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering and tempest and hailstones.

31 F or at the voice of the Lord Assyria will be terrified, When He strikes with the rod.

For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod.

32 A nd every blow of the rod of punishment, Which the Lord will lay on him, Will be with the music of tambourines and lyres; And in battles, brandishing weapons, He will fight them.

And in every evil place there shall be a staff that the LORD shall cause to lay upon him with tambourines and harps: and with the strength of heaven he will fight against her.

33 F or Topheth has long been ready, Indeed, it has been prepared for the king. He has made it deep and large, A pyre of fire with plenty of wood; The breath of the Lord, like a torrent of brimstone, sets it afire.

For Tophet is ordained of yesterday for the king of Babylon, it is also prepared; he has deepened and enlarged the pile of her fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD like a stream of brimstone kindles it.