CHAPTER 30
Woe
to the rebellious
children,
declares
the LORD,
to those who carry out
a plan,
but not
Mine,
who form
an alliance,
but against
My will,
heaping up
sin
upon
sin.
They set out
to go down
to Egypt
without
asking
My advice,
to seek shelter
under Pharaoh’s
protection
and take refuge
in the shade
of Egypt.
everyone
will be put to shame
because of
a people
useless
to them.
They cannot
be of help;
they are good
for nothing
but
shame
and reproach.
This is an oracle
concerning the animals
of the Negev:
Through a land
of hardship
and distress,
of lioness
and lion,
of viper
and flying
serpent,
they carry
their wealth
on
the backs
of donkeys
and their treasures
on
the humps
of camels,
to
a people
of no
profit to them.
Go
now,
write
it on
a tablet
in their presence
and inscribe
it on
a scroll;
it will be
for the days
to come,
a witness
forever
and ever.
These
are a rebellious
people,
deceitful
children,
children
unwilling
to obey
the LORD’s
instruction.
They
say
to the seers,
“No more
visions,”
and to the prophets,
“Do not
prophesy
to us
the truth.
Speak
to us
pleasant words;
prophesy
illusions.
Therefore
this is what
the Holy
One of Israel
says:
“Because
you have rejected
this
message,
trusting
in oppression,
and relying
on deceit,
this
iniquity
of yours
is like
a breach
about to fall,
a bulge
in a high
wall,
whose collapse
will come
suddenly—
in an instant!
It will break
in pieces
like a potter’s
jar,
shattered
so that no fragment
can be found.
Not a shard
will be found
in the dust
large enough to scoop
the coals
from a hearth
or to skim
the water
from a cistern.”
For
the Lord
GOD,
the Holy
One of Israel,
has said:
“By repentance
and rest
you would be saved;
your strength
would lie
in quiet
confidence—
but you were not
willing.”
“No,”
you say,
“we will flee
on
horses.”
Therefore
you will flee!
“We will ride
swift horses,”
but your pursuers
will be faster.
A
thousand
will take flight at
the threat
of one,
at
the threat
of five
you will flee,
until
you are left alone
like a lone pole
on
a mountaintop,
like a banner
on
a hill.
Therefore
the LORD
longs
to be gracious to you;
therefore
He rises
to show you compassion,
for
the LORD
is a just
God.
Blessed are
all
who wait
for Him.
O people
in Zion,
who dwell
in Jerusalem,
you will weep
no
more.
He will surely
be gracious
at the sound
of your cry;
when He hears,
He will answer you.
The Lord
will give
you
the bread
of adversity
and the water
of affliction,
but your Teacher
will no longer
hide
Himself—
with your own eyes
you will see
Him.
And whether
you turn to the right
or to the left,
your ears
will hear
this command
behind you:
“This
is the way.
Walk in it.”
So you will desecrate
your silver-plated
idols
and your gold-plated
images.
You will throw them away
like
menstrual cloths,
saying,
“Be gone!”
Then He will send
rain
for the seed
that
you have sown
in the ground,
and the food
that comes
from your land
will be
rich
and plentiful.
On that
day
your cattle
will graze
in open
pastures.
The oxen
and donkeys
that work
the ground
will eat
salted
fodder
that has been winnowed
with the shovel
and pitchfork.
And from
every
high
mountain
and every
raised
hill,
streams
of water
will flow
in the day
of great
slaughter,
when the towers
fall.
The light of the moon
will be
as bright as the sun,
and the light
of the sun
will be
seven times brighter—
like the light
of seven
days—
on the day
that the LORD
binds up
the brokenness
of His people
and heals
the wounds
He inflicted.
Behold,
the Name
of the LORD
comes
from afar,
with burning
anger
and dense
smoke.
His lips
are full of
fury,
and His tongue
is like a consuming
fire.
His breath
is like a rushing
torrent
that rises
to
the neck.
He comes to sift
the nations
in a sieve
of destruction;
He bridles
the jaws
of the peoples
to lead them astray.
You will sing
as on the night
of a holy
festival,
and your heart
will rejoice
like one who walks
to the music of a flute,
going up
to the mountain
of the LORD,
to
the Rock
of Israel.
And the LORD will cause
His majestic
voice
to be heard
and His mighty arm
revealed,
striking
in angry
wrath,
with a flame
of consuming
fire,
and with cloudburst,
storm,
and hailstones.
And with
every
stroke
of the appointed
staff
that
the LORD
brings down,
the tambourines
and lyres will sound
as He battles
with weapons
brandished.
For
Topheth
has long
been prepared;
it has been made ready
for the king.
Its funeral pyre
is deep
and wide,
with plenty of
fire
and wood.
The breath
of the LORD,
like a torrent
of brimstone,
sets it ablaze.