EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Isaiah 30:16
16Instead, you say, ‘No! We will run away on horses and we will escape.’ Yes, you will run away! You say, ‘Our horses will run very fast!’ But your enemies who chase you will also be very fast!
Isaiah 30:16 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.
- New International Version (NIV)You said, ‘No, we will flee on horses.’ Therefore you will flee! You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’ Therefore your pursuers will be swift!
- English Standard Version (ESV)and you said, "No! We will flee upon horses"; therefore you shall flee away; and, "We will ride upon swift steeds"; therefore your pursuers shall be swift.
- New King James Version (NKJV)And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses”— Therefore you shall flee! And, “We will ride on swift horses”— Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift!
Context of Isaiah 30:16
14That wall will break into pieces, like the pieces of a pot. It will be completely broken so that it is all useless. There will be no piece that is big enough to carry coal from a fire, or water from a well.’ 15The Almighty Lord, Israel's Holy God says this: ‘Turn back to me and wait for me to help you. Be quiet and trust in me. Then you will be safe and you will be strong again.’ But you do not want to trust in God. Instead, you say, ‘No! We will run away on horses and we will escape.’ Yes, you will run away! You say, ‘Our horses will run very fast!’ But your enemies who chase you will also be very fast! 17When one soldier from your enemy chases after you, one thousand of your men will run away from him! Five of them will chase away your whole army! Only a few of you will remain, like a stick with a flag on the top of a hill. 18So the Lord is waiting for the right time to be kind to you. He is ready to show his great love for you. The Lord God does what is right and fair. Everyone who waits for him to come and help them is a happy person!
Read all of Isaiah 30Isaiah 30:16 word by word
וַתֹּ֨אמְר֥וּ לֹא־כִ֛י עַל־ס֥וּס נָנ֖וּס עַל־כֵּ֣ן תְּנוּס֑וּן וְעַל־קַ֣ל נִרְכָּ֔ב עַל־כֵּ֖ן יִקַּ֥לּוּ רֹדְפֵיכֶֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Isaiah 30:16
- Isaiah 5:26The Lord will send a message to foreign nations to come and attack. He calls to nations that are far away, and now they are already coming! Their armies march quickly to Jerusalem.
- Isaiah 10:28Assyria's army attacks Aiath! It marches through Migron. They store their things at Michmash.
- Isaiah 31:1It will be very bad for those people who expect that Egypt will help them. They think that Egypt's many horses and chariots will keep them safe. They trust the power of Egypt's strong soldiers who ride on horses. But those people do not trust the Holy God of Israel. They do not ask the Lord to help them.
- Deuteronomy 28:25The Lord will let your enemies knock you down. You will attack them from one direction, but you will run away from them in seven directions. When the people of other nations see what has happened to you, they will see it is a terrible thing.
- 2 Kings 25:5But the soldiers of Babylon's army chased after the king. They caught him on the flat land near Jericho. All King Zedekiah's soldiers ran away from him in many directions.
- Psalms 33:17In war, do not hope that even a strong horse will help you to win. You can not trust it to save you.
- Psalms 147:10If a horse is very strong, that does not please him. If a soldier is brave, that does not make him happy.
- Jeremiah 52:7Then Babylon's army broke down Jerusalem's wall so that they could go into the city. Their soldiers were all around the city. So the king of Judah and all his army tried to escape in the night. They went through the gate that was near the king's garden. The path went between the two walls of the city. They ran towards the Jordan Valley.
- Amos 2:14You might try to run away. But nobody will get free. Even the fastest runner will not get free. The strong people will not be strong enough to stop me. The soldiers will not be able to save their lives.
- Amos 9:1Then I saw a vision of the Lord. He was standing beside the altar in the temple. The Lord said, ‘Hit the tops of the pillars so that the whole foundation shakes! Cause the building to fall on the heads of all the people. If anyone is still alive after that, I will cause them to die in battle. Nobody will escape!
- Micah 1:13You people who live in Lachish, get your chariots and horses ready to go! You were the first people in Judah to do what is wrong. You are exactly like Israel's people, because, like them, you refused to obey God.
- Deuteronomy 28:49The Lord will bring a nation from far away in the world to attack you. You will not understand their language. They will come quickly to attack you, like an eagle that comes down from the sky.
- Jeremiah 4:13Look! The enemy army is coming like dark clouds! Their chariots make the noise of a storm. Their horses move faster than eagles in the sky. Terrible trouble has come. We will all die!
- Lamentations 4:19The enemy was quicker than big birds that fly in the air. They followed us so that they could catch us out on the mountains. They hid and they waited for us in the desert.
- Habakkuk 1:8Their horses run faster than leopards. They are more cruel than wolves that attack in the evening. Their riders come on fast horses from places that are far away. They quickly attack their enemies, like hungry eagles that fly down to catch chickens.
Commentaries on Isaiah 30:16
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16But ye said, No - Ye who proposed an alliance with Egypt. For we will flee upon horses - The word flee‘ (נוּס nûc ), usually signifies to flee before or from any person or thing. But here it seems to have the notion of making a rapid motion in general, and not to refer to the fact that they expected to flee “from” their enemy, for it does not seem to have been a part of their expectation. The idea seems to be that by their alliance with Egypt they would…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 8-18Verses 8-18 The Jews were the only professing people God then had in the world, yet many among them were rebellious. They had the light, but they loved darkness rather. The prophets checked them in their sinful pursuits, so that they could not proceed without fear; this they took amiss. But faithful ministers will not be driven from seeking to awaken sinners. God is the Holy One of Israel, and so they shall find him. They did not like to hear of his holy…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 16Judah relied on Egypt for fast horses (see Psalm 33:17), rejecting God's help and risking its downfall.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. flee--not as fugitives, but we will speed our course; namely, against the Assyrians, by the help of cavalry supplied by Egypt (Is 31:1). This was expressly against the Mosaic law (De 17:16; see on Is 2:7; Ho 14:3). shall ... flee--literally, "before your enemies"; their sin and its punishment correspond.Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 30:16
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 30
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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