Isaiah 30:18-33

The Lord Will Be Gracious

18 Therefore the LORD 1waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he 2exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; 3blessed are all those who wait for him.
19 For a people shall dwell 4in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you.
20 And though the Lord give you the 5bread of adversity and the 6water of affliction, 7yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher.
21 8And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is 9the way, walk in it," when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.
22 Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. 10You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, "Be gone!"
23 11And he will give 12rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and bread, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous. 13In that day your livestock will graze in large pastures,
24 and 14the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork.
25 And 15on every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water, in the day of the great slaughter, 16when the towers fall.
26 17Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when 18the LORD binds up 19the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD comes from afar, burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke;[a] his lips are full of fury, and his tongue is like a devouring fire;
28 20his breath is 21like an overflowing stream that reaches up to the neck; to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction, and to place on the jaws of the peoples 22a bridle that leads astray.
29 You shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept, and gladness of heart, 23as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to 24the mountain of the LORD, to 25the Rock of Israel.
30 And the LORD 26 will cause his majestic voice to be heard and the descending blow of his arm to be seen, in furious anger 27and a flame of devouring fire, with a cloudburst 28and storm and hailstones.
31 The Assyrians will be terror-stricken at the voice of the LORD, 29when he strikes with his rod.
32 And every stroke of the appointed staff that the LORD lays on them 30will be to the sound of tambourines and lyres. 31Battling with brandished arm, he will fight with them.
33 For 32a burning place[b] has long been prepared; indeed, for the king it is made ready, 33its pyre made deep and wide, with fire and wood in abundance; 34the breath of the LORD, like a stream of sulfur, kindles it.

Isaiah 30:18-33 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 30

This chapter contains a complaint of the Jews for their sins and transgressions; a prophecy of their destruction for them; a promise of grace and mercy, and of happy times, to the saints; and a threatening of utter and dreadful ruin to the wicked. The Jews are complained of for their rebellion against God, their slighting his counsel and protection, their trust in Egypt, and application there for help; whither they went with their riches for safety, but in vain, it being contrary to the will and counsel of God, Isa 30:1-7 next follows a denunciation of ruin and destruction for these things, rebellion, and lying, and vain confidence, as well as for contempt of the word of God, which, that it might appear sure and certain, is ordered to be written in a book, Isa 30:8-12 and this ruin is signified by the sudden falling of a wall, and by the breaking of a potter's vessel into pieces, which can never be used more, Isa 30:13,14 and seeing they rejected the way of salvation proposed by the Lord, and took their own way, first destruction is threatened them, which should be very easily brought about, and become so general, that few should escape it, Isa 30:15-17 and then promises of grace and mercy are made to them that wait for the Lord, Isa 30:18 such as a dwelling place in Zion, hearing their prayers, granting them teachers to instruct them, and the riddance of idolatry from them, Isa 30:19-22 and also many outward blessings, as seasonable rain, good bread corn, fat pastures, good food for cattle, and fruitfulness of mountains and hills, Isa 30:23-25 likewise an amazing degree of spiritual light and glory, and healing of the Lord's people, Isa 30:26 and the chapter is concluded with a threatening Of God's wrath upon the Assyrian, expressed by various similes, as of an angry man, an overflowing torrent, a tempest of thunder, lightning, and hail, and the fire of Tophet, Isa 30:27-33.

Cross References 34

  • 1. [Habakkuk 2:3]
  • 2. Isaiah 5:16
  • 3. Psalms 2:12; Psalms 34:8; Proverbs 16:20; Jeremiah 17:7
  • 4. [Isaiah 14:32]
  • 5. 1 Kings 22:27; Psalms 127:2; [Ezekiel 4:10, 11]
  • 6. 1 Kings 22:27; Psalms 127:2; [Ezekiel 4:10, 11]
  • 7. [Isaiah 3:1, 2]
  • 8. [Jeremiah 31:33, 34]
  • 9. Isaiah 35:8; [Acts 9:2]
  • 10. Isaiah 2:20; Isaiah 31:7; [Hosea 14:8]
  • 11. [Isaiah 32:20; Psalms 144:13, 14]
  • 12. [Jeremiah 5:24]
  • 13. [Psalms 65:13]
  • 14. See Genesis 45:6
  • 15. [Isaiah 33:21; Psalms 107:35; Joel 3:18]
  • 16. Isaiah 32:19; [Isaiah 2:15]
  • 17. Isaiah 60:19, 20
  • 18. [Hosea 6:1]
  • 19. [Isaiah 1:5, 6]
  • 20. Isaiah 11:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:8
  • 21. [Isaiah 8:8; Nahum 1:8]
  • 22. Isaiah 37:29
  • 23. 1 Samuel 10:5; 1 Kings 1:40
  • 24. Isaiah 2:3
  • 25. Isaiah 26:4; Isaiah 44:8; Deuteronomy 32:18
  • 26. Psalms 18:13
  • 27. Isaiah 29:6
  • 28. Isaiah 28:2; [Joshua 10:11]
  • 29. Isaiah 9:4; [Micah 6:9]
  • 30. Exodus 15:1
  • 31. Isaiah 11:15; Isaiah 19:16; [Isaiah 2:19]
  • 32. 2 Kings 23:10; Jeremiah 7:31
  • 33. Ezekiel 24:9, 10
  • 34. Psalms 18:8; Ezekiel 20:48

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Hebrew in weight of uplifted clouds
  • [b]. Or For Topheth
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.