Yesaya 30:1-3

Egypt Will Prove Unreliable

30:1 “The rebellious ¹  children are as good as dead,” ²  says the Lord,

“those who make plans without consulting me, ³ 

who form alliances without consulting my Spirit, ⁴ 

and thereby compound their sin. ⁵ 

30:2 They travel down to Egypt

without seeking my will, ⁶ 

seeking Pharaoh’s protection,

and looking for safety in Egypt’s protective shade. ⁷ 

30:3 But Pharaoh’s protection will bring you nothing but shame,

and the safety of Egypt’s protective shade nothing but humiliation.

Yesaya 30:16

30:16 You say, ‘No, we will flee on horses,’

so you will indeed flee.

You say, ‘We will ride on fast horses,’

so your pursuers will be fast.

Yesaya 31:1-3

Egypt Will Disappoint

31:1 Those who go down to Egypt for help are as good as dead, ⁸ 

those who rely on war horses,

and trust in Egypt’s many chariots ⁹ 

and in their many, many horsemen. ¹⁰ 

But they do not rely on the Holy One of Israel ¹¹ 

and do not seek help from the Lord.

31:2 Yet he too is wise ¹²  and he will bring disaster;

he does not retract his decree. ¹³ 

He will attack the wicked nation, ¹⁴ 

and the nation that helps ¹⁵  those who commit sin. ¹⁶ 

31:3 The Egyptians are mere humans, not God;

their horses are made of flesh, not spirit.

The Lord will strike with ¹⁷  his hand;

the one who helps will stumble

and the one being helped will fall.

Together they will perish. ¹⁸ 

Hosea 5:13

5:13 When Ephraim saw ¹⁹  his sickness

and Judah saw his wound,

then Ephraim turned ²⁰  to Assyria,

and begged ²¹  its great king ²²  for help.

But he will not be able to heal you!

He cannot cure your wound! ²³ 

[30:1]  ¹ tn Or “stubborn” (NCV); cf. NIV “obstinate.”

[30:1]  ² tn Heb “Woe [to] rebellious children.”

[30:1]  ³ tn Heb “making a plan, but not from me.”

[30:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “and pouring out a libation, but not [from] my spirit.” This translation assumes that the verb נָסַךְ (nasakh) means “pour out,” and that the cognate noun מַסֵּכָה (massekhah) means “libation.” In this case “pouring out a libation” alludes to a ceremony that formally ratifies an alliance. Another option is to understand the verb נָסַךְ as a homonym meaning “weave,” and the cognate noun מַסֵּכָה as a homonym meaning “covering.” In this case forming an alliance is likened to weaving a garment.

[30:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “consequently adding sin to sin.”

[30:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “those who go to descend to Egypt, but [of] my mouth they do not inquire.”

[30:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “to seek protection in the protection of Pharaoh, and to seek refuge in the shade of Egypt.”

[31:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “Woe [to] those who go down to Egypt for help.”

[31:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “and trust in chariots for they are many.”

[31:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and in horsemen for they are very strong [or “numerous”].”

[31:1]  ¹¹ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[31:2]  ¹² sn This statement appears to have a sarcastic tone. The royal advisers who are advocating an alliance with Egypt think they are wise, but the Lord possesses wisdom as well and will thwart their efforts.

[31:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “and he does not turn aside [i.e., “retract”] his words”; NIV “does not take back his words.”

[31:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and he will arise against the house of the wicked.”

[31:2]  ¹⁵ sn That is, Egypt.

[31:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and against the help of the doers of sin.”

[31:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “will extend”; KJV, ASV, NASB, NCV “stretch out.”

[31:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “together all of them will come to an end.”

[5:13]  ¹⁹ tn Hosea employs three preterites (vayyiqtol forms) in verse 13a-b to describe a past-time situation.

[5:13]  ²⁰ tn Heb “went to” (so NAB, NRSV, TEV); CEV “asked help from.”

[5:13]  ²¹ tn Heb “sent to” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV).

[5:13]  ²² tc The MT reads מֶלֶךְ יָרֵב (melekh yarev, “a contentious king”). This is translated as a proper name (“king Jareb”) by KJV, ASV, NASB. However, the stative adjective יָרֵב (“contentious”) is somewhat awkward. The words should be redivided as an archaic genitive-construct מַלְכִּי רָב (malki rav, “great king”; cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) which preserves the old genitive hireq yod ending. This is the equivalent of the Assyrian royal epithet sarru rabbu (“the great king”). See also the tc note on the same phrase in 10:6.

[5:13]  ²³ tn Heb “your wound will not depart from you.”

[5:13]  sn Hosea personifies Ephraim’s “wound” as if it could depart from the sickly Ephraim (see the formal equivalent rendering in the preceding tn). Ephraim’s sinful action in relying upon an Assyrian treaty for protection will not dispense with its problems.