Isaiah 10

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

Woe to those who make unfair laws, and who, when writing, write injustice:

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.

in order to oppress the poor in judgment, and to do violence to the case of the humble of my people, in order that widows may be their prey, and that they might plunder the orphan.

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?

What will you do on the day of visitation and calamity which is approaching from afar? To whom will you flee for assistance? And where will you leave behind your own 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.

so that you may not be bowed down under the chains, and fall with the slain? Concerning all this, his fury was not turned away; instead, his hand was still extended.

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

Woe to Assur! He is the rod and the staff of my fury, and my indignation is in their hands.

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 to a deceitful nation, and I will order him against the people of my fury, so that he may take away the plunder, and tear apart the prey, and place it to be trampled like the mud 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.

But he will not consider it to be so, and his heart will not suppose it to be this way. Instead, his heart will be set to crush and to exterminate more than a few nations.

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

For he will say:

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

“Are not my princes like many kings? Is not Calno like Carchemish, and Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus?

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

In the same manner as my hand reached the kingdoms of the idol, so also will it reach their false images, 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?”

Should I not do to Jerusalem and her false images, just as I have done to Samaria 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.

And this shall be: when the Lord will have completed each of his works on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, I will act against the fruit of the exalted heart of king Assur, and against the glory of the haughtiness of his eyes.

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: “I have acted with the strength of my own hand, and I have understood with my own wisdom, and I have removed the limits of the people, and I have plundered their leaders, and, like one with power, I have pulled down those residing on high.

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 reached to the strength of the people, as to a nest. And, just as the eggs which have been left behind are gathered, so have I gathered the entire earth. And there was no one who moved a wing, or opened a mouth, or uttered a snarl.”

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!

Should the axe glorify itself over him who wields it? Or can the saw exalt itself over him who pulls it? How can a rod lift itself up against him who wields it, or a staff exalt itself, though it is only 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.

Because of this, the sovereign Lord, the Lord of hosts, will send leanness among his fat ones. And under the influence of his glory, a burning ardor will rage, like a consuming 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 like a fire, and the Holy One of Israel will be like a flame. And his thorns and briers will be set ablaze and devoured, 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 the glory of his forest and of his beautiful hill will be consumed, from the soul even to the flesh. And he will flee away in terror.

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

And what remains of the trees of his forest will be so few, and so easily numbered, that even a child could write them down.

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 this shall be in that day: those not added to the remnant of Israel, and those who escape of the house of Jacob, will not lean upon him who strikes them. Instead, they will lean upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.

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

The remnant of Jacob, again I say the remnant, will be converted 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 your people, O Israel, will be like the sand of the sea, yet only a remnant of them will be converted. The consummation, having been shortened, will be inundated with justice.

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

For the Lord, the God of hosts, will accomplish an abbreviation and a consummation, 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.

For this reason, the Lord, the God of hosts, says this: “My people, who inhabit Zion: do not be afraid of Assur. He will strike you with his rod, and he will lift up his staff over you, on the way of Egypt.

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

But after a little while and a brief time, my indignation will be consumed, and my fury will turn to their wickedness.”

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 the Lord of hosts will raise up a scourge over him, like the scourge of Midian at the rock of Oreb, and he will raise up his rod over the sea, and he will lift it up against the way 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 this shall be in that day: his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, and his yoke will be taken away from your neck, and the yoke will decay at the appearance of the oil.

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

He will approach Aiath; he will cross into Migron; he will entrust his vessels to Michmash.

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

They have passed through in haste; Geba is our seat; Ramah was stupefied; Gibeah of Saul fled.

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

Neigh with your voice, daughter of Gallim; pay attention, Laishah, impoverished woman of Anathoth.

31 Madmenah flees; the people of Gebim take refuge.

Madmenah has moved away; be strengthened, you inhabitants of Gebim.

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

It is still daylight, so stand at Nob. He will shake his hand against the mountain 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 sovereign Lord of hosts will crush the little bottle of wine with terror, and the exalted in stature will be cut down, and the lofty will be brought low.

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

And the dense forest will be overturned with iron. And Lebanon, with its exalted ones, will fall.