Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.
Parallel translations
- WEB Therefore the strength of Pharaoh will be your shame, and the refuge in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.
- BSB But Pharaoh’s protection will become your shame, and the refuge of Egypt’s shade your disgrace.
- NKJV Therefore the strength of Pharaoh Shall be your shame, And trust in the shadow of Egypt Shall be your humiliation.
- NASB “Therefore the safety of Pharaoh will be your shame, And the shelter in the shadow of Egypt, your humiliation.
- NLT But by trusting Pharaoh, you will be humiliated, and by depending on him, you will be disgraced.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Pharaoh's strength will become Judah's shame, and Egypt's shelter their humiliation. It matters because misplaced trust ends in disgrace, not safety.
Overview
God declares that the very alliance Judah counts on will betray them. The 'strength' and 'shadow' they sought become sources of shame and confusion. This reversal underscores a recurring biblical principle: those who trust in created things rather than the Creator are put to shame, while those who trust in the LORD will never be ashamed.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Isa 20:5And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory.
- Jer 17:5–6Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.
- Rom 10:11For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
- Rom 5:5And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
- Isa 36:6Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him.
- Jer 37:5–10Then Pharaoh’s army was come forth out of Egypt: and when the Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem heard tidings of them, they departed from Jerusalem.
- Isa 30:5–7They were all ashamed of a people that could not profit them, nor be an help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach.
- Isa 45:16–17They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 30:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.