Isaiah 30:2

¹ “Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the LORD, “to those who carry out a plan that is not Mine, who form an alliance, but against My will, heaping up sin upon sin.

They set out to go down to Egypt without asking My advice, to seek shelter under Pharaoh’s protection and take refuge in Egypt’s shade.

³ But Pharaoh’s protection will become your shame, and the refuge of Egypt’s shade your disgrace.

⁴ For though their princes are at Zoan and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,

This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: They set out to go down to Egypt without asking My advice, to seek shelter under Pharaoh’s protection and take refuge in Egypt’s shade.
KJV: That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt!
WEB: who set out to go down into Egypt without asking for my advice, to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to take refuge in the shadow of Egypt!
ASV: that set out to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to take refuge in the shadow of Egypt!
DARBY: who walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked of my mouth, to take refuge under the protection of Pharaoh, and trust in the shadow of Egypt!
BLB: those going down to Egypt (and they have not asked My mouth) to take refuge in the stronghold of Pharaoh and to take refuge in the shadow of Egypt!

ÅB: de som drar ned til Egypt, uten at de har rådspurt meg, for å finne vern hos Farao og søke ly i Egypts skygge!
OTB: som drar ned til Egypt uten å rådføre seg med meg, søker tilflukt i faraos beskyttelse og ly i Egypts skygge.
B1930: de som drar ned til Egypten, uten at de har rådspurt mig, for å finne vern hos Farao og søke ly i Egyptens skygge!

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Isaiah 36:6
Look now, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.
Read in context
Numbers 27:21
He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who will seek counsel for him before the LORD by the judgment of the Urim. At his command, he and all the Israelites with him—the entire congregation—will go out and come in.”
Read in context
Lamentations 4:20
The LORD’s anointed, the breath of our life, was captured in their pits. We had said of him, “Under his shadow we will live among the nations.”
Read in context
Jeremiah 43:7
So they entered the land of Egypt because they did not obey the voice of the LORD, and they went as far as Tahpanhes.
Read in context
Ezekiel 29:6–7
Then all the people of Egypt will know that I am the LORD. For you were only a staff of reeds to the house of Israel.
Read in context
Deuteronomy 28:68
The LORD will return you to Egypt in ships by a route that I said you should never see again. There you will sell yourselves to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.”
Read in context
Jeremiah 42:20
For you have deceived yourselves by sending me to the LORD your God, saying, ‘Pray to the LORD our God on our behalf, and as for all that the LORD our God says, tell it to us and we will do it.’
Read in context
Jeremiah 37:5
Pharaoh’s army had left Egypt, and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report, they withdrew from Jerusalem.
Read in context