Isaiah 10
1 Woe to those who enact unjust statutes and issue oppressive decrees,
Woe to them that make unrighteous decrees, That write oppressive decisions,
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 away the needy from judgment, And rob the poor of my people of their right; That the widows may become their prey, And that they may plunder the orphans.
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 ye do in the day of visitation, And in the desolation which cometh from afar? 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.
Forsaken by me, they shall sink down among the prisoners, And fall among 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.
Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, The staff in whose hands is the instrument of 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.
Against an impious nation I will send him, And against a people under my wrath I will give him a charge To gather the spoil, and seize the prey, And to trample them under foot 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.
But he doth not so purpose, And his heart doth not so intend; But to destroy is in his heart, And to cut off a multitude of nations.
8 “Are not all my commanders kings?” he says.
For he saith, “Are not my princes altogether 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 hath seized the kingdoms of the idols, Whose graven images were more numerous than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11 and as I have done to Samaria and its idols, will I not also do to Jerusalem and her idols?”
Behold! as I have done to Samaria and her idols, So will I do to Jerusalem and her images.”
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.
But when the Lord hath accomplished his whole work upon Mount Zion and Jerusalem, Then will he punish the fruit of the proud heart of the king of Assyria, And the arrogance of his lofty 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 hath said: “By the strength of my hand I have done it, And by my wisdom; for I am wise; I have removed the bounds of nations, I have plundered their treasures; As a hero have I brought down them that sat upon 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.’”
The riches of the nations hath my hand seized, as a nest; As one gathereth eggs that have been left, So have I gathered the whole world. And there was none that moved the wing, Or that opened the beak, or that 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 that heweth with it? Or shall the saw magnify itself against him that moveth it? As if the rod should wield him that lifteth it! As if the staff should lift up him that 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.
Wherefore the Lord, the Lord of hosts, shall send upon his fat ones leanness, And under his glory shall he kindle a burning, like the burning of a 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.
The light of Israel shall be a fire, And his Holy One a flame, Which shall burn and devour his thorns and 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.
The glory of his forest and of his fruitful field From the spirit even to the flesh shall he consume; It shall be with them as when a sick man fainteth.
19 The remaining trees of its forests will be so few that a child could count them.
The remaining trees of the forest shall be few, So that a child may 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.
In that day shall the remnant of Israel, and they that have escaped of the house of Jacob, no more lean upon him that smote them; They shall lean upon Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
21 A remnant will return —a remnant of Jacob— to the Mighty God.
The remnant shall return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty Potentate;
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, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea, Only a remnant of them shall return. The devastation is decreed; It shall overflow with righteousness.
23 For the Lord GOD of Hosts will carry out the destruction decreed upon the whole land.
For devastation and punishment doth the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, execute in the midst of the whole land,
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.
Yet thus saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts: Fear not, O my people, that dwellest in Zion, because of the Assyrian! With his rod indeed shall he smite thee, And lift up his staff against thee in 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.”
But yet a very little while, and my indignation shall have past, And my anger shall destroy them.
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.
Jehovah of hosts shall raise up against him a scourge, As he smote Midian at the rock of Horeb, And as he lifted up the rod against the sea; Yea, he shall lift it up, as in 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.
In that day shall his burden be removed from thy shoulder, And his yoke from thy neck; Yea, thy yoke shall be broken, as that of a fat steer.
28 Assyria has entered Aiath and passed through Migron, storing their supplies at Michmash.
He is come to Aiath; he passeth through Migron; In Michmash he leaveth his baggage;
29 They have crossed at the ford: “We will spend the night at Geba.” Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul flees.
They pass the strait; At Geba they make their night-quarters; Ramah trembleth; Gibeah of Saul fleeth.
30 Cry aloud, O Daughter of Gallim! Listen, O Laishah! O wretched Anathoth!
Cry aloud, O daughter of Gallim! Hear, O Laish! Alas, poor Anathoth!
31 Madmenah flees; the people of Gebim take refuge.
Madmenah hasteth away; The inhabitants of Gebim take to flight.
32 Yet today they will halt at Nob, shaking a fist at the mount of Daughter Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem.
Yet one day shall he rest at Nob, Then shall he shake his hand against 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.
But behold! the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, shall lop the branches with fearful force, And the high of stature shall be cut 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.
He shall hew the thickets of the forest with iron, And Lebanon shall fall by a mighty hand.
