The Worthless Treaty with Egypt

1Woe 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;

2who 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!

3For to you the protection of Pharaoh shall be a shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt a confusion.

4For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes.

5They 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,

7For Egypt shall help in vain, and to no purpose; therefore have I named her, Arrogance, that doeth nothing.

A Warning to a Rebellious People

8Now 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,

9that this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of Jehovah;

10who say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things; speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits;

11get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us!

12Therefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel: Because ye reject this word, and confide in oppression and wilfulness, and depend thereon,

13therefore 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.

14And 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.

15For 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.

16And 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.

17One 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.

God's Mercies

18And 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.

19For 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. 20And 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. 21And 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. 22And 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.

23And 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; 24and the oxen and the asses that till the ground shall eat salted provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan. 25And 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. 26And 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.

27Behold, 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;

28and 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.

29Ye 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.

30And 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.

31For through the voice of Jehovah shall the Assyrian be broken down: he will smite [him] with the rod.

32And 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.

33For 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.