Isaiah 30:6-17 - Oracle Regarding The Negev
6 The Oracle on the Beasts of the South, - Through a land of distress and oppression - Lioness and lion coming therefrom, Viper and fiery flying serpent, They would carry, on the shoulders of young asses their wealth And on the humps of camels their treasures Unto a people that cannot serve them. 7 But, the Egyptians, with vanity and emptiness, would help, - Therefore have I proclaimed concerning this, Insolent, they sit still!
8 Now, enter - Write it upon a tablet before them And upon a scroll, inscribe it, - That it may serve for a later day, For futurity, unto times age-abiding: - 9 That it is, a rebellious people, Sons apt at deceiving, - Sons unwilling to hear the law of Yahweh: 10 Who have said to the seers, Ye must not see! To the prophets, Ye must not prophesy to us reproofs! Speak to us smooth things, Prophesy delusions: 11 Depart ye from the way, Turn aside from the path, - Desist from setting before us the Holy One of Israel. 12 Therefore - Thus, saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye have rejected this word, - And have trusted in oppression and perverseness, And have relied thereon, 13 Therefore, shall this iniquity become to you As a breach ready to fall, A bulging in a high wall, - Whose breaking down cometh, suddenly in a twinkling. 14 Yea he will break it - as the breaking of the pitcher of a potter, crushed, he will not spare; So that there shall not be found when it is smashed, A sherd wherewith to snatch fire from a hearth, Or to skim off water out of a cistern. 15 For thus, said my Lord Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel - By returning and resting, shall ye be saved, In keeping quiet and trusting, shall be your strength, - Howbeit ye would not! 16 But ye said, - Nay! but on horses, will we flee For this cause, shall ye indeed flee, - And on the swift, will we ride, For this cause, swift, shall be your pursuers: 17 One thousand, before the war-cry of one - before the war-cry of five, shall ye flee, - Until ye have been left, As a pole on the top of a mountain, And as an ensign upon a hill.