Isaías 30

ARC · Chapter 30/66

1Ai dos filhos que se rebellam, diz o Senhor, que tomaram conselho, mas não de mim; e que se cobriram com cobertura, mas não que venha do meu espirito; para assim accrescentarem peccado sobre peccado.

2Que vão descer ao Egypto, e não perguntam á minha bocca; para se fortificarem com a força de Pharaó, e para confiarem na sombra do Egypto.

3Porque a força de Pharaó se vos tornará em vergonha, e a confiança na sombra do Egypto em confusão.

4Havendo estado os seus principes em Zoan, e havendo chegado os seus embaixadores a Hanes,

5Então todos se envergonharão de um povo que de nada lhes aproveitará nem d'ajuda, nem de proveito, antes de vergonha, e até d'opprobrio, lhes servirá.

6Peso das bestas do sul. Para a terra d'afflicção e de angustia (d'onde vem a leôa e o leão, o basilisco, e o aspide ardente voador) levarão ás costas de jumentinhos as suas fazendas, e sobre as corcovas de camelos os seus thesouros, a um povo que de nada lhes aproveitará.

7Porque o Egypto os ajudará em vão, e por demais: pelo que clamei ácerca d'isto: No estarem quietos será a sua força.

8Vae pois agora, escreve isto n'uma taboa perante elles, e aponta-o n'um livro; para que fique firme até ao dia ultimo, para sempre e perpetuamente.

9Porque um povo rebelde é este, são filhos mentirosos, filhos que não querem ouvir a lei do Senhor.

10Que dizem aos videntes: Não vejaes; e aos que attentam: Não attenteis para nós no que é recto: dizei-nos coisas apraziveis, e vede para nós enganadoras lisonjas.

11Desviae-vos do caminho, apartae-vos da vereda: fazei que cesse o Sancto de Israel de vir perante nós.

12Pelo que assim diz o Sancto de Israel: Porquanto rejeitaes esta palavra, e confiaes na oppressão e perversidade, e sobre isso vos estribaes,

13Por isso esta maldade vos será como a parede fendida, que vae caindo e já fórma barriga desde o mais alto muro, cuja queda virá subitamente n'um momento.

14E os quebrará como quebram o vaso do oleiro, e, quebrando-os, não se compadecerá d'elles: nem ainda um se achará entre os seus pedaços para tomar fogo do lar, ou tirar agua da poça

15Porque assim diz o Senhor Jehovah, o Sancto d'Israel: Tornando-vos e descançando, ficarieis livres, e no socego e na confiança estaria a vossa força, porém não quizestes.

16E dizeis: Não; antes sobre cavallos fugiremos; mas por isso mesmo fugireis; e, Sobre cavallos ligeiros cavalgaremos; por isso os vossos perseguidores tambem serão ligeiros.

17Mil homens fugirão ao grito d'um, e ao grito de cinco todos vós fugireis, até que sejaes deixados como o mastro no cume do monte, e como a bandeira no outeiro.

18Por isso pois o Senhor esperará, para ter misericordia de vós; e por isso será exalçado, para se compadecer de vós, porque o Senhor é um Deus de equidade: bemaventurados todos os que o esperam.

19Porque o povo em Sião habitará, em Jerusalem: não chorarás de nenhuma sorte; certamente se compadecerá de ti, á voz do teu clamor, e, ouvindo-a, te responderá.

20Bem vos dará o Senhor, pão d'angustia e agua d'aperto, mas os teus doutores nunca mais fugirão de ti, como voando com azas; antes os teus olhos verão a todos os teus mestres.

21E os teus ouvidos ouvirão a palavra do que está por detraz de ti, dizendo: Este é o caminho, andae n'elle, sem vos desviardes nem para a direita nem para a esquerda.

22E terás por contaminadas as coberturas das tuas esculpturas de prata, e a coberta das tuas esculpturas fundidas d'oiro; e as lançarás fóra como um panno immundo, e dirás a cada uma d'ellas: Fóra d'aqui.

23Então te dará chuva sobre a tua semente, com que semeares a terra, como tambem pão da novidade da terra; e esta será fertil e cheia: n'aquelle dia tambem o teu gado pastará em logares largos de pasto.

24E os bois e os jumentinhos que lavram a terra, comerão grão puro, que fôr padejado com a pá, e cirandado com a ciranda.

25E haverá em todo o monte alto, e em todo o outeiro levantado, ribeiros e correntes d'aguas, no dia da grande matança, quando cairem as torres.

26E será a luz da lua como a luz do sol, e a luz do sol sete vezes maior, como a luz de sete dias, no dia em que o Senhor soldar a quebradura do seu povo, e curar a chaga da sua ferida.

27Eis que o nome do Senhor vem de longe, a sua ira está ardendo, e a carga é pesada: os seus labios estão cheios de indignação, e a sua lingua como um fogo consumidor.

28E o seu assopro como o ribeiro trasbordando, que chega até ao pescoço: para sacudir as nações com sacudidura de vaidade, e como um freio de fazer errar nas queixadas dos povos.

29Um cantico haverá entre vós, como na noite em que se sanctifica a festa; e alegria de coração, como aquelle que anda com gaita, para vir ao monte do Senhor, á Rocha d'Israel.

30E o Senhor fará ouvir a gloria da sua voz, e fará ver o abaixamento do seu braço, com indignação de ira, e labareda de fogo consumidor, raios e diluvio e pedra de saraiva.

31Porque com a voz do Senhor será desfeita em pedaços Assyria, que feriu com a vara.

32E será, em todas as partes por onde passar o bordão affincado, que, sobre aquelle que o Senhor o puzer, ali estarão com tamboris e harpas; porque com combates de agitação combaterá contra elles

33Porque já Tophet está preparada desde hontem, e já está preparada para o rei, já a afundou e alargou: a sua facha é de fogo, e tem muita lenha; o assopro do Senhor como a torrente de enxofre a accenderá.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Isaiah rebukes the leaders of Judah for seeking military help from Egypt without consulting God, warning that this alliance will fail and bring shame. Even so, he promises that God waits patiently to show mercy and to guide his people with a clear voice: 'this is the way, walk in it.'

Explanation

During this period (likely around 705-701 BC, during the reign of Hezekiah), there was a political faction in Judah that favored allying with Egypt against the Assyrian threat, going against Isaiah's counsel to trust in God alone. The image of a wall that cracks and suddenly collapses describes how wrong decisions, even when they seem safe at the moment, can lead to sudden collapse. One of the most beautiful verses in the chapter promises that, even after correction, the people will hear a voice guiding them, 'this is the way, walk in it,' suggesting clear direction from God for those who turn back to him. The practical application today is that seeking quick fixes and convenient alliances, while ignoring wise counsel, often causes more problems than it solves.

Fun facts

  • The expression 'sitting still shall be your strength' (v. 7, per one rendering) describes how trusting God often means waiting calmly instead of acting frantically out of fear — a concept repeated in several psalms.
  • 'Topheth' (v. 33), mentioned at the end as a place of fire prepared for the king of Assyria, was a real location in the Valley of Hinnom near Jerusalem, later associated with pagan rituals and used symbolically as an image of judgment.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Isaías 30:1This first "woe," rendered in the KJV simply as Woe, targets the rebellious children who make decisions on their own, without consulting God, and seek protection that does not come from His spirit — adding sin to sin by acting this way.
  2. Isaías 30:2The specific sin is described: going down to Egypt in search of military help, without even asking God, trusting in the strength of Pharaoh as though it were a protective shadow.
  3. Isaías 30:3But that confidence will turn to shame: the strength of Pharaoh will not help, and the protection expected from Egypt will become a cause for humiliation.
  4. Isaías 30:4The real diplomatic effort behind this criticism is described: ambassadors of Judah had already gone to Zoan and Hanes, Egyptian cities, seeking this political and military alliance.
  5. Isaías 30:5All this diplomatic effort will end in shame, because the people they sought as an ally will bring no real help, only humiliation and reproach.
  6. Isaías 30:6The "beasts of the south" describe the dangerous route through the desert south of Judah, full of lions and venomous serpents, that messengers braved to carry tribute to Egypt. The whole effort is called useless, since the alliance would not help at all.
  7. Isaías 30:7It reinforces that Egypt's help will be useless and worthless — the KJV renders God's verdict simply as their strength is to sit still, though the underlying Hebrew wordplay names Egypt "Rahab," an ironic nickname for a mythical chaos monster that in practice does nothing.
  8. Isaías 30:8Writing on a tablet and recording it in a book was an ancient way of leaving a permanent, public testimony of a prophecy. It was a way of ensuring that, when the warning came true, no one could say they had not been warned.
  9. Isaías 30:9It explains why God speaks this way: because this is a rebellious people, lying children who refuse to hear the law of the Lord.
  10. Isaías 30:10This rebellion is described in detail: they ask the seers not to see the truth, and the prophets not to tell them what is right, preferring to hear only pleasant things and comfortable deceits.
  11. Isaías 30:11The rebellious people's words continue: they ask the prophets to turn aside from the right path and stop mentioning the Holy One of Israel in front of them — a direct, conscious refusal of the truth.
  12. Isaías 30:12Because of this rejection, the Holy One of Israel announces judgment: they chose to trust in oppression and cunning instead of the word of God.
  13. Isaías 30:13This wickedness is compared to a crack in a high wall, which grows little by little until the wall collapses suddenly, in a single moment — the sudden collapse that follows a problem ignored for a long time.
  14. Isaías 30:14The fall will be as complete as a potter's vessel breaking into pieces so small that not even a shard is left large enough to take fire from the hearth or water from a pit.
  15. Isaías 30:15The promise that in returning and rest the people would be saved sums up Isaiah's central counsel to Judah. Instead of seeking military alliances with Egypt, true security would be found in quietness and confidence — counsel that Hezekiah's court, in this chapter, ends up rejecting.
  16. Isaías 30:16The people's stubborn response is described: they would rather flee on swift horses than trust in God — but that very choice will make their pursuers just as swift, making the flight useless.
  17. Isaías 30:17As a consequence, a thousand men will flee at the threat of just one enemy, and the whole army will flee before only five — until as few are left as a beacon on the top of a mountain.
  18. Isaías 30:18In spite of all this, God waits patiently to be gracious, because He is a God of judgment — and all who wait for Him will be blessed in the end.
  19. Isaías 30:19It promises that the people will finally dwell securely in Zion and Jerusalem, weeping no more, because God will answer at the very sound of their cry for help.
  20. Isaías 30:20Even if the people go through hardship, called here the "bread of adversity and water of affliction," their true spiritual teachers will no longer hide — the people will be able to see and hear their teachers clearly.
  21. Isaías 30:21They will hear a voice behind them guiding the right way, saying not to turn aside to the right hand or to the left — clear, constant guidance, unlike the earlier confusion.
  22. Isaías 30:22As a sign of this change of heart, the people will reject their idols of silver and gold as something unclean, casting them away like a filthy cloth — a definitive rejection of idolatry.
  23. Isaías 30:23It promises real agricultural prosperity: rain for the seed that is sown, abundant bread from the earth, and cattle feeding in large pastures — the material restoration that accompanies spiritual restoration.
  24. Isaías 30:24Even the working animals, oxen and donkeys, will eat good, well-winnowed grain — a sign of abundance reaching all the way down to the animals of the field.
  25. Isaías 30:25On the day of the great final slaughter, when towers fall, even the highest mountains will have streams and rivers of water — abundance reaching places that were once dry.
  26. Isaías 30:26The light of the moon will shine like the sun, and the light of the sun will become sevenfold, on the day the Lord binds up the breach of His people and heals the stroke of their wound — an exaggerated image of total restoration.
  27. Isaías 30:27It describes the Lord coming from far away to judge, burning with anger and indignation, His tongue compared to a devouring fire — a powerful manifestation of judgment.
  28. Isaías 30:28His breath is like an overflowing stream reaching to the neck, sifting the nations as with a useless sieve, and acting like a bridle that causes the peoples to err — images of total control over the nations.
  29. Isaías 30:29In contrast with the judgment of the nations, God's people will sing as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept, with the gladness of one who goes up to the mountain of the Lord with a pipe — personal celebration in the midst of general judgment.
  30. Isaías 30:30The Lord will cause His glorious voice to be heard and show the might of His arm with indignation, a devouring fire, storm, tempest, and hailstones — the same force used both to protect His people and to destroy their enemies.
  31. Isaías 30:31By the very voice of the Lord, Assyria will be beaten down — the same power that struck Judah with the "rod," as the KJV puts it, will itself be broken.
  32. Isaías 30:32Wherever the "grounded staff" of God's punishment falls upon Assyria, the people will celebrate with tabrets and harps, because God will be actively fighting the enemies in real battles.
  33. Isaías 30:33Tophet was a real place in the Valley of Hinnom, near Jerusalem, associated with ritual burning. Here it becomes an image of the fiery fate prepared for the king of Assyria, using a concrete, well-known place to describe the punishment.

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