Isaiah 10

1 Woe to those who enact unjust statutes and issue oppressive decrees,

Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, and to the writers who write perverseness,

2 to deprive the poor of fair treatment and withhold justice from the oppressed of My people, to make widows their prey and orphans their plunder.

to turn aside the needy from justice, and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey!

3 What will you do on the day of reckoning when devastation comes from afar? To whom will you flee for help? Where will you leave your wealth?

And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? To whom will ye flee for help? And where will ye leave your glory?

4 Nothing will remain but to crouch among the captives or fall among the slain. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.

They shall only bow down under the prisoners, and shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

5 Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger; the staff in their hands is My wrath.

Ho, Assyrian, the rod of my anger, the staff in whose hand is my indignation!

6 I will send him against a godless nation; I will dispatch him against a people destined for My rage, to take spoils and seize plunder, and to trample them down like clay in the streets.

I will send him against a profane nation, and against the people of my wrath. I will give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

7 But this is not his intention; this is not his plan. For it is in his heart to destroy and cut off many nations.

However he does not so reason, nor does his heart so think, but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few.

8 “Are not all my commanders kings?” he says.

For he says, Are not my rulers all of them kings?

9 “Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus?

Is not Calno as Carchemish? Is not Hamath as Arpad? Is not Samaria as Damascus?

10 As my hand seized the idolatrous kingdoms whose images surpassed those of Jerusalem and Samaria,

As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols, whose graven images excelled those of Jerusalem and of Samaria,

11 and as I have done to Samaria and its idols, will I not also do to Jerusalem and her idols?”

shall I not, as I have done to Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?

12 So when the Lord has completed all His work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the fruit of his arrogant heart and the proud look in his eyes.

Therefore it shall come to pass, that, when the Lord has performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.

13 For he says: ‘By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, for I am clever. I have removed the boundaries of nations and plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their rulers.

For he has said, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding. And I have removed the bounds of the peoples, and have robbed their treasures. And like a valiant man I have brought down those who sit on thrones.

14 My hand reached as into a nest to seize the wealth of the nations. Like one gathering abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth. No wing fluttered, no beak opened or chirped.’”

And my hand has found as a nest the riches of the peoples. And like a gathering of eggs that are forsaken, I have gathered all the earth. And there was none that moved the wing, or that opened the mouth, or chirped.

15 Does an axe raise itself above the one who swings it? Does a saw boast over him who saws with it? It would be like a rod waving the one who lifts it, or a staff lifting him who is not wood!

Shall the axe boast itself against him who hews with it? Shall the saw magnify itself against him who wields it? As if a rod should wield those who lift it up, or as if a staff should lift up him who is not wood.

16 Therefore the Lord GOD of Hosts will send a wasting disease among Assyria’s stout warriors, and under his pomp will be kindled a fire like a burning flame.

Therefore will the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, send among his fat ones, leanness, and under his glory there shall be kindled a burning like the burning of fire.

17 And the Light of Israel will become a fire, and its Holy One a flame. In a single day it will burn and devour Assyria’s thorns and thistles.

And the light of Israel will be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame, and it will burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day.

18 The splendor of its forests and orchards, both soul and body, it will completely destroy, as a sickness consumes a man.

And he will consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body. And it shall be as when a standard-bearer faints.

19 The remaining trees of its forests will be so few that a child could count them.

And the remnant of the trees of his forest shall be few, so that a child may write them.

20 On that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer depend on him who struck them, but they will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and those who are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again lean upon him who smote them, but shall lean upon Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.

21 A remnant will return —a remnant of Jacob— to the Mighty God.

A remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.

22 Though your people, O Israel, be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant will return. Destruction has been decreed, overflowing with righteousness.

For though thy people, Israel, be as the sand of the sea, a remnant of them shall return. A destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness.

23 For the Lord GOD of Hosts will carry out the destruction decreed upon the whole land.

For a full end, and that determined, the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, will make in the midst of all the earth.

24 Therefore this is what the Lord GOD of Hosts says: “O My people who dwell in Zion, do not fear Assyria, who strikes you with a rod and lifts his staff against you as the Egyptians did.

Therefore thus says the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, O my people who dwell in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian, though he smites thee with the rod, and lifts up his staff against thee, according to the manner of Egypt.

25 For in just a little while My fury against you will subside, and My anger will turn to their destruction.”

For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall be accomplished, and my anger is to his destruction.

26 And the LORD of Hosts will brandish a whip against them, as when He struck Midian at the rock of Oreb. He will raise His staff over the sea, as He did in Egypt.

And Jehovah of hosts will stir up against him a scourge as in the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb. And his rod will be over the sea, and he will lift it up according to the manner of Egypt.

27 On that day the burden will be lifted from your shoulders, and the yoke from your neck. The yoke will be broken because your neck will be too large.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall depart from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of fatness.

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

He has come to Aiath. He has passed through Migron. At Michmash he lays up his baggage.

29 They have crossed at the ford: “We will spend the night at Geba.” Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul flees.

They have gone over the pass. They have taken up their lodging at Geba. Ramah trembles. Gibeah of Saul has fled.

30 Cry aloud, O Daughter of Gallim! Listen, O Laishah! O wretched Anathoth!

Cry aloud with thy voice, O daughter of Gallim! Hearken, O Laishah! O thou poor Anathoth!

31 Madmenah flees; the people of Gebim take refuge.

Madmenah is a fugitive. The inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety.

32 Yet today they will halt at Nob, shaking a fist at the mount of Daughter Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem.

This very day he shall halt at Nob. He shakes his hand at the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.

33 Behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts will lop off the branches with terrifying power. The tall trees will be cut down, the lofty ones will be felled.

Behold, the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, will lop off the boughs with terror. And the high of stature shall be hewn down, and the lofty shall be brought low.

34 He will clear the forest thickets with an axe, and Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One.

And he will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.