1Woe to the rebellious children , saith Jehovah , that take counsel , but not of me ; and that make a league, but not of my Spirit , that they may add sin to sin , 2that set out to go down into Egypt , and have not asked at my mouth ; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh , and to take refuge in the shadow of Egypt ! 3Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame , and the refuge in the shadow of Egypt your confusion . 4For their princes are at Zoan , and their ambassadors are come to Hanes . 5They shall all be ashamed because of a people that cannot profit them , that are not a help nor profit , but a shame , and also a reproach .
God's Promise of Deliverance
6The burden of the beasts of the South . Through the land of trouble and anguish , from whence come the lioness and the lion , the viper and fiery flying serpent , they carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses , and their treasures upon the humps of camels , to a people that shall not profit them . 7For Egypt helpeth in vain , and to no purpose : therefore have I called her Rahab that sitteth still . 8Now go , write it before them on a tablet , and inscribe it in a book , that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever . 9For it is a rebellious people , lying children , children that will not hear the law of Jehovah ; 10that 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 . 12Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel , Because ye despise this word , and trust in oppression and perverseness , and rely thereon ; 13therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall , swelling out in a high wall , whose breaking cometh suddenly in an instant . 14And he shall break it as a potter ’s vessel is broken , breaking it in pieces without sparing ; so that there shall not be found among the pieces thereof a sherd wherewith to take fire from the hearth , or to dip up water out of the cistern . 15For thus said the Lord Jehovah , the Holy One of Israel , In returning and rest shall ye be saved ; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength . And ye would not : 16but 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 swift . 17One thousand shall flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five shall ye flee : till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain , and as an ensign on a hill . 18And therefore will Jehovah wait , that he may be gracious unto you ; and therefore will he be exalted , that he may have mercy upon you : for Jehovah is a God of justice ; blessed are all they that wait for him .
The Consequences of Rejection
19For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem ; thou shalt weep no more ; he will surely be gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry ; when he shall hear , he will answer thee . 20And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction , yet shall not thy teachers be hidden anymore , but thine eyes shall see thy teachers ; 21and thine ears shall hear a word behind thee , saying , This is the way , walk ye in it ; when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left . 22And ye shall defile the overlaying of thy graven images of silver , and the plating of thy molten images of gold : thou shalt cast them away as an unclean thing ; thou shalt say unto it , Get thee hence . 23And he will give the rain for thy seed , wherewith thou shalt sow the ground; and bread of the increase of the ground, and it shall be fat and plenteous . In that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures ; 24the oxen likewise and the young asses that till the ground shall eat savory provender , which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fork . 25And there shall be upon every lofty mountain , and upon every high hill , brooks and streams of waters , in the day of the great slaughter , when the towers fall . 26Moreover 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 hurt of his people , and healeth the stroke of their wound .
Restoration and Hope
27Behold , the name of Jehovah cometh from far , burning with his anger , and in thick rising smoke : his lips are full of indignation , and his tongue is as a devouring fire; 28and his breath is as an overflowing stream , that reacheth even unto the neck , to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction: and a bridle that causeth to err shall be in the jaws of the peoples . 29Ye shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept ; and gladness of heart , as when one goeth with a pipe to come unto the mountain of Jehovah , to the Rock of Israel . 30And Jehovah will cause his glorious voice to be heard , and will show the lighting down of his arm , with the indignation of his anger, and the flame of a devouring fire, with a blast, and tempest , and hailstones . 31For through the voice of Jehovah shall the Assyrian be dismayed ; with his rod will he smite him . 32And every stroke of the appointed staff , which Jehovah shall lay upon him , shall be with the sound of tabrets and harps ; and in battles with the brandishing of his arm will he fight with them . 33For a Topheth is prepared of old; yea , for the king it is made ready ; he hath made it deep and large ; the pile thereof is fire and much wood ; the breath of Jehovah , like a stream of brimstone , doth kindle it .