The Futility of Reliance on Egypt

301 Woe to the rebellious children, saith Jehovah, who take counsel, but not of me, and who make leagues, but not by my Spirit, that they may heap sin upon sin; 2 who walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked of my mouth,—to take refuge under the protection of Pharaoh, and trust in the shadow of Egypt! 3 For to you the protection of Pharaoh shall be a shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt a confusion. 4 For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes. 5 They were all ashamed of a people [that] did not profit them, nor were a help or profit, but a shame, and also a reproach. 6 —The burden of the beasts of the south: Through a land of trouble and anguish, whence come the lioness and lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they carry their riches upon the shoulders of asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to the people that shall not profit [them]. 7 For Egypt shall help in vain, and to no purpose; therefore have I named her, Arrogance, that doeth nothing.

8 Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and record it in a book, that it may be for the time to come, as a witness for ever, 9 that this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of Jehovah; 10 who say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things; speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits; 11 get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us! 12 Therefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel: Because ye reject this word, and confide in oppression and wilfulness, and depend thereon, 13 therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a towering wall, whose breaking shall come suddenly in an instant. 14 And he shall break it as the breaking of a potter's vessel, that is broken in pieces unsparingly; and in the pieces of it there shall not be found a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to scoop water out of the cistern. 15 For thus saith the Lord Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel: In returning and rest shall ye be saved, in quietness and confidence shall be your strength; but ye would not. 16 And ye said, No, but we will flee upon horses,—therefore shall ye flee; and, We will ride upon the swift,—therefore shall they that pursue you be swift. 17 One thousand [shall flee] at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as a banner on a hill.

The Promise of God's Grace to Israel

18 And therefore will Jehovah wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he lift himself up, that he may have mercy upon you; for Jehovah is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him. 19 For the people shall dwell in Zion, at Jerusalem. Thou shalt weep no more; he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; as he heareth it, he will answer thee. 20 And the Lord will give you the bread of adversity, and the water of oppression; yet thy teachers shall not be hidden any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers. 21 And when ye turn to the right hand or when ye turn to the left, thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it. 22 And ye shall defile the silver covering of your graven images, and the gold overlaying of your molten images; thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth: Out! shalt thou say unto it. 23 And he will give the rain of thy seed with which thou shalt sow the ground; and bread, the produce of the ground, and it shall be fat and rich. In that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures; 24 and the oxen and the asses that till the ground shall eat salted provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan. 25 And there shall be upon every high mountain and upon every hill that is lifted up, brooks [and] water-courses, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. 26 And 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 Jehovah bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the wound of their stroke.

The LORD's Judgment on Assyria

27 Behold, the name of Jehovah cometh from far, burning [with] his anger—a grievous conflagration; his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a consuming fire; 28 and his breath as an overflowing torrent, which reacheth even to the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction, and [to put] a bridle into the jaws of the peoples, that causeth them to go astray. 29 Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a feast is sanctified; and joy of heart, as of one who goeth with a pipe to come unto the mountain of Jehovah, to the Rock of Israel. 30 And Jehovah will cause the majesty of his voice to be heard, and will shew the lighting down of his arm with indignation of anger, and a flame of consuming fire, with waterflood and storm and hailstones. 31 For through the voice of Jehovah shall the Assyrian be broken down: he will smite [him] with the rod. 32 And wherever shall pass the appointed staff, which Jehovah shall lay upon him, it shall be with tambours and harps; and with tumultuous battles will he fight with it. 33 For Topheth is prepared of old; for the king also it is prepared: he hath made it deep and large; its pile is fire and much wood; the breath of Jehovah, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.

The LORD's Judgment on Judah and Jerusalem

31 For behold, the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, will take away from Jerusalem and from Judah stay and staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water, 2 the mighty man and the man of war, the judge and the prophet, and the diviner and the elder, 3 the captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the clever among artificers, and the one versed in enchantments. 4 And I will appoint youths as their princes, and children shall rule over them. 5 And the people shall be oppressed one by the other, and each by his neighbour; the child will be insolent against the elder, and the base against the honourable. 6 When a man shall take hold of his brother, in his father's house, [and shall say:] Thou hast clothing; be our chief, and let this ruin be under thy hand; 7 he will lift up [his hand] in that day, saying, I cannot be a healer, and in my house there is neither bread nor clothing; ye shall not make me a chief of the people. 8 For Jerusalem stumbleth and Judah falleth, because their tongue and their doings are against Jehovah, to provoke the eyes of his glory.

9 The look of their face doth witness against them, and they declare their sin as Sodom: they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have brought evil upon themselves. 10 Say ye of the righteous that it shall be well [with him], for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. 11 Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill [with him], because the desert of his hands shall be rendered unto him. 12 [As for] my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. My people! they that guide thee mislead [thee], and destroy the way of thy paths. 13 Jehovah setteth himself to plead, and standeth to judge the peoples. 14 Jehovah will enter into judgment with the elders of his people and their princes, [saying:] It is ye that have eaten up the vineyard: the spoil of the poor is in your houses. 15 What mean ye that ye crush my people, and grind the faces of the afflicted? saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts.

Judgment on the Daughters of Zion

16 And Jehovah said, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched-out neck and wanton eyes, and go along mincing, and making a tinkling with their feet; 17 therefore the Lord will make bald the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and Jehovah will lay bare their secret parts. 18 In that day the Lord will take away the ornament of anklets, and the little suns and crescents, 19 the pearl-drops, and the bracelets, and the veils, 20 the head-dresses, and the stepping chains, and the girdles, and the scent-boxes, and the amulets; 21 the finger-rings, and the nose-rings; 22 the festival-robes, and the tunics, and the mantles, and the wallets; 23 the mirrors, and the fine linen bodices, and the turbans, and the flowing veils. 24 And it shall come to pass, instead of perfume there shall be rottenness; and instead of a girdle, a rope; and instead of well-set hair, baldness; and instead of a robe of display, a girding of sackcloth; brand instead of beauty. 25 Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the fight; 26 and her gates shall lament and mourn; and, stripped, she shall sit upon the ground.