Isaiah 30:16 ““No,” you say, “we will flee on horses.” Therefore you will flee! “We…”

Isaiah 30:16

“No,” you say, “we will flee on horses.” Therefore you will flee! “We will ride swift horses,” but your pursuers will be faster.

Berean Standard Bible

Other translations

King James Version

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.

World English Bible

but you said, “No, for we will flee on horses;” therefore you will flee; and, “We will ride on the swift;” therefore those who pursue you will be swift.

American Standard Version

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.

Geneva Bible 1599

For ye haue sayd, No, but we wil flee away vpon horses. Therefore shall ye flee. We will ride vpon the swiftest. Therefore shall your persecuters be swifter.

Darby Translation

And ye said, No, but we will flee upon horses, — therefore shall ye flee; and, We will ride upon the swift, — therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.

Young's Literal Translation

And ye say, No, for on a horse we flee? Therefore ye flee, And on the swift we ride! Therefore swift are your pursuers.

Bible in Basic English

Saying, No, for we will go in flight on horses; so you will certainly go in flight: and, We will go on the backs of quick-running beasts; so those who go after you will be quick-footed.

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Cross references

“for we will”

Isaiah 31:1 Deuteronomy 28:25 Psalm 33:17 Amos 9:1 Isaiah 5:26–30 Isaiah 10:28–32

Isaiah 31:1 · BSB

Woe 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.

Deuteronomy 28:25 · BSB

The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will march out against them in one direction but flee from them in seven. You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

Psalm 33:17 · BSB

A horse is a vain hope for salvation; even its great strength cannot save.

Amos 9:1 · BSB

I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said: “Strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds shake. Topple them on the heads of all the people, and I will kill the rest with the sword. None of those who…

Isaiah 5:26–30 · BSB

He lifts a banner for the distant nations and whistles for those at the ends of the earth. Behold—how speedily and swiftly they come!

Isaiah 10:28–32 · BSB

Assyria has entered Aiath and passed through Migron, storing their supplies at Michmash.

“therefore”

Jeremiah 4:13 Deuteronomy 28:49 Lamentations 4:19 Habakkuk 1:8

Jeremiah 4:13 · BSB

Behold, he advances like the clouds, his chariots like the whirlwind. His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are ruined!

Deuteronomy 28:49 · BSB

The LORD will bring a nation from afar, from the ends of the earth, to swoop down upon you like an eagle—a nation whose language you will not understand,

Lamentations 4:19 · BSB

Those who chased us were swifter than the eagles in the sky; they pursued us over the mountains and ambushed us in the wilderness.

Habakkuk 1:8 · BSB

Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves of the night. Their horsemen charge ahead, and their cavalry comes from afar. They fly like a vulture, swooping down to devour.

Also

Isaiah 31:3

Isaiah 31:3 · BSB

But 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.

Cross references adapted from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0) and the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

In context

15For the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said: “By repentance and rest you would be saved; your strength would lie in quiet confidence— but you were not willing.”

17A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee, until you are left alone like a pole on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill.

Read Isaiah 30