Isaiah

CHAPTER 30

Oracle on the Futility of an Alliance with Egypt^*

oracle of the LORD,

Who carry out a plan that is not mine,

who make an alliance^* I did not inspire,

thus adding sin upon sin;^a

without asking my counsel,^*

To seek strength in Pharaoh’s protection

and take refuge in Egypt’s shadow.^b

refuge in Egypt’s shadow your disgrace.^c

and his messengers reach Hanes,^d

of a people that gain them nothing,

Neither help nor benefit,

but only shame and reproach.^e

Through the distressed and troubled land^*

of the lioness and roaring lion,

of the viper and flying saraph,

They carry their riches on the backs of donkeys

and their treasures on the humps of camels

To a people good for nothing,

Therefore I call her

“Rahab^* Sit-still.”

inscribe it on a scroll;

That in time to come it may be

an eternal witness.^f

deceitful children,

Children who refuse

to listen to the instruction of the LORD;^g

to the prophets,^* “Do not prophesy truth for us;

speak smooth things to us, see visions that deceive!^h

Let us hear no more

of the Holy One of Israel!”ⁱ

Because you reject this word,

And put your trust in oppression and deceit,

and depend on them,^j

like a descending rift

Bulging out in a high wall

whose crash comes suddenly, in an instant,^k

smashed beyond rescue,

And among its fragments cannot be found

a sherd to scoop fire from the hearth

or dip water from the cistern.^l

the Holy One of Israel:

By waiting and by calm you shall be saved,

in quiet and in trust shall be your strength.

But this you did not will.^m

“Upon horses we will flee.”

Very well, you shall flee!

“Upon swift steeds we will ride.”

Very well, swift shall be your pursuers!ⁿ

if five threaten, you shall flee.

You will then be left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop,

like a flag on a hill.^o

Zion’s Future Deliverance

truly, he shall rise to show you mercy;

For the LORD is a God of justice:

happy are all who wait for him!^p

you shall no longer weep;

He will be most gracious to you when you cry out;

as soon as he hears he will answer you.^q

and water in affliction.

No longer will your Teacher^* hide himself,

but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher,^r

“This is the way; walk in it,”

when you would turn to the right or the left.

and your gold-covered images;

You shall throw them away like filthy rags,

you shall say, “Get out!”^s

you sow in the ground,

And the bread that the soil produces

will be rich and abundant.

On that day your cattle will graze

in broad meadows;^t

will eat silage tossed to them

with shovel and pitchfork.

there will be streams of running water.

On the day of the great slaughter,

when the towers fall,

and the light of the sun will be seven times greater,

like the light of seven days,

On the day the LORD binds up the wounds of his people

and heals the bruises left by his blows.^u

Divine Judgment on Assyria^*

burning with anger, heavy with threat,

His lips filled with fury,

tongue like a consuming fire,^v

that reaches up to the neck!

He will winnow the nations with a destructive winnowing

and bridle the jaws of the peoples to send them astray.^w

as on a night when a feast is observed,

And joy of heart

as when one marches along with a flute

Going to the mountain of the LORD,

to the Rock of Israel.

and reveal his arm coming down

In raging fury and flame of consuming fire,

in tempest, and rainstorm, and hail.^x

as he strikes with the rod;

which the LORD will bring down on him,

Will be accompanied by timbrels and lyres,

while he wages war against him.^y

truly it is prepared for the king;

His firepit made both deep and wide,

with fire and firewood in abundance,

And the breath of the LORD, like a stream of sulfur,

setting it afire.^z

* [30:1–17] Several independent oracles against making an alliance with Egypt have been strung together in this chapter: vv. 1–5, vv. 6–7, and vv. 8–17. That these were originally separate oracles is indicated by the fact that the oracle in vv. 6–7 is still introduced by its own heading: Oracle on the Beasts of the Negeb.

* [30:1] Make an alliance: lit., “pour out a libation,” namely, as part of the ritual of treaty making.

* [30:2] Without asking my counsel: it was a practice to consult God through the prophets or through the priestly oracle before making a major political decision (1 Sm 23:1–12; 1 Kgs 22:5), but Judah’s leadership, in its concern for security, was apparently trying to keep its plan for a treaty with Egypt secret even from the prophets, thus implicitly from God (29:15).

* [30:6] Distressed…land: the wilderness between Judah and Egypt, through which Judahite messengers had to pass, carrying their tribute to Egypt to buy assistance in the struggle against Assyria. Flying saraph: see notes on 6:2; 14:29.

* [30:7] Here as elsewhere (cf. Ps 87:4) Egypt is compared to Rahab, the raging, destructive sea monster (cf. Is 51:9; Jb 26:12; Ps 89:11); yet Egypt, when asked for aid by Judah, becomes silent and “sits still.”

* [30:8] Isaiah will write down his condemnation of the foolish policy pursued so that the truth of his warning of its dire consequences (vv. 12–17) may afterward be recognized.

* [30:10] Seers…prophets: the two terms are synonyms for prophetic figures such as Isaiah (1:1; 2:1; 6:1, 5). There is wordplay between the nouns and their cognate verbs, both of which mean “to see.” The authorities are depicted as forbidding prophets to contradict their secret political and military policies.

* [30:20] Teacher: God, who in the past made the people blind and deaf through the prophetic message (6:9–10) and who in his anger hid his face from the house of Jacob (8:17), shall in the future help them to understand his teaching clearly (cf. Jer 31:34).

* [30:27–33] God’s punishment of Assyria. The name of the LORD: here, God himself; cf. Ps 20:2.

* [30:33] Tophet: a site, near Jerusalem, where children were sacrificed by fire to Molech (2 Kgs 23:10), and where, probably, Ahaz sacrificed his son (2 Kgs 16:3). Here, Isaiah speaks of “his tophet,” the site prepared for burning up the king of Assyria. King: there seems to be a play on words between the Heb. word for king (melek) and the name Molech. This defeat of Assyria becomes the occasion for Israel’s festal rejoicing (v. 32).

a. [30:1] Is 1:4; 5:21; 28:15; 29:15.

b. [30:2] Is 31:1; 36:6.

c. [30:3] Is 20:5; Jer 2:36–37.

d. [30:4] Is 19:11.

e. [30:5] Is 36:6.

f. [30:8] Is 8:1, 16; Jer 36:2; Hb 2:2.

g. [30:9] Is 1:4; 28:12; Jer 7:28.

h. [30:10] Is 29:10; Jer 5:31; 11:21; Am 2:12.

i. [30:11] Jb 21:14–15.

j. [30:12] Is 28:15; Ps 62:11.

k. [30:13] Is 28:17; Ez 13:14.

l. [30:14] Jer 19:11.

m. [30:15] Is 7:4; 8:6; 28:12.

n. [30:16] Is 31:3.

o. [30:17] Is 11:10; Dt 32:30.

p. [30:18] Ex 34:6; Ps 34:9; Jer 17:7.

q. [30:19] Is 25:8; 58:9; 65:24.

r. [30:20] Is 6:9–10; 8:17; 29:18.

s. [30:22] Is 2:20; 27:9; 31:7.

t. [30:23] Lv 26:3–5.

u. [30:26] Is 1:6; Jer 30:17; Hos 6:1.

v. [30:27] Is 10:17; 29:6.

w. [30:28] Is 8:7–8; 37:29.

x. [30:30] Is 10:17; 28:2; 29:6.

y. [30:32] Is 10:24–26; 14:24–27.

z. [30:33] Gn 19:24; Ez 38:22.