Isaiah 31:1

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.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The prophet Isaiah addresses Judah during a period of political crisis when the nation is actively seeking military alliances. The speaker identifies the audience as those who have turned their attention away from divine protection toward foreign powers.

The words — The text highlights יִשָּׁעֵ֑נוּ (yi.sha.'E.nu), translated literally as "they depend," and וַ/יִּבְטְח֨וּ (va/i.yiv.te.Chu), meaning "and they have relied." These terms describe the active posture of placing confidence in military strength rather than in God.

The thread — This theme of misplaced trust in chariots and horses appears in Psalms 20:7 and Jeremiah 17:5, which contrast human reliance with trust in the name of the LORD. Deuteronomy 17:16 similarly prohibits kings from acquiring horses or sending people back to Egypt for them.

Why it lands — The verse commands readers to examine the foundation of their security and recognize that seeking aid from human systems constitutes a failure to seek the LORD. It demands a conscious choice to direct dependence toward God rather than toward material or military resources.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

King James Version

Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord!

Cross-references

Psalms 20:7 Some trust in chariots and others in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
Jeremiah 17:5 This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, who makes mere flesh his strength and turns his heart from the LORD.
Deuteronomy 17:16 But the king must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire more horses, for the LORD has said, ‘You are never to go back that way again.’
Jeremiah 2:13 “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
Isaiah 36:9 For how can you repel a single officer among the least of my master’s servants when you depend on Egypt for chariots and horsemen?
Psalms 33:16 No king is saved by his vast army; no warrior is delivered by his great strength.
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.
Daniel 9:13 Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our iniquities and giving attention to Your truth.
Isaiah 30:1 “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.
Amos 5:4 For this is what the LORD says to the house of Israel: “Seek Me and live!