Isaiah 31

Berean Standard Bible

Chapter summary

The prophet warns those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses and chariots instead of seeking the Lord. He states that the Egyptians are merely men and flesh, and when the Lord stretches out His hand, both the helper and the helped will fall together. The Lord compares Himself to a roaring lion that is not terrified by shepherds, and declares that He will come down to fight on Mount Zion and protect Jerusalem like hovering birds. The children of Israel are called to return to the One against whom they rebelled, leading them to reject their silver and gold idols on that day. Finally, the Lord declares that Assyria will fall not by the sword of mortal men, and their princes will panic at the sight of the battle standard.

Summary automatically generated from the Bible text.

Words of Jesus in red

¹Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in their abundance of chariots and in their multitude of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy One of Israel; they do not seek the LORD. ²Yet He too is wise and brings disaster; He does not call back His words. He will rise up against the house of the wicked and against the allies of evildoers. ³But the Egyptians are men, not God; their horses are flesh, not spirit. When the LORD stretches out His hand, the helper will stumble, and the one he helps will fall; both will perish together. ⁴For this is what the LORD has said to me: “Like a lion roaring or a young lion over its prey— and though a band of shepherds is called out against it, it is not terrified by their shouting or subdued by their clamor— so the LORD of Hosts will come down to do battle on Mount Zion and its heights. ⁵Like birds hovering overhead, so the LORD of Hosts will protect Jerusalem. He will shield it and deliver it; He will pass over it and preserve it.” ⁶Return to the One against whom you have so blatantly rebelled, O children of Israel. ⁷For on that day, every one of you will reject the idols of silver and gold that your own hands have sinfully made. ⁸“Then Assyria will fall, but not by the sword of man; a sword will devour them, but not one made by mortals. They will flee before the sword, and their young men will be put to forced labor. ⁹Their rock will pass away for fear, and their princes will panic at the sight of the battle standard,” declares the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, whose furnace is in Jerusalem.

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Louis Segond 1910 and Berean Standard Bible: public domain. Cross references: open-cross-ref, Creative Commons BY 4.0.