Isaiah 10

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

Alas! for them who ordain iniquitous decrees, —And, busy writers, who make a business of writing mischief:

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.

Turning aside from judgment, the poor, And robbing, of justice, the oppressed of my people, —So that, widows, become, their spoil, And of the fatherless, they make 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?

What, then, will ye do for the day of visitation, And for the devastation, which from afar, shall come? Unto whom, will ye flee for help? And where will ye leave your gory?

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.

Without me, one hath bowed under a prisoner Yea under the slain, do they fall! For all this, hath his anger, not turned back, But still, is his hand outstretched.

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

Alas! for Assyria, the rod of mine anger, —Yea, the very staff in their hand, is, my displeasure:

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 irreligious nation, will I send him, Yea against the people with whom I am wroth, will I command him, —To capture spoil And lay hold on prey, And cause them to be trodden down as the mire of the lanes.

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 as for him, not so, doth he deem, And in his heart, not so, doth he think, —For, to destroy, is in his heart, And to cut off nations, not a few;

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

For he saith: —Are not, my generals, all alike, kings?

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

Is not, Calno, like Carchemish? Is not, Hamath, like Arpad? Is not, Samaria, like Damascus?

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

As my hand hath reached unto the kingdoms of idols, —whose images did excel them 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?”

Shall I not as I have done to Samaria and her idols, so, 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.

Wherefore it shall come to pass—When My Lord shall finish his whole work upon Mount Zion and upon Jerusalem, I will bring punishment—Upon the fruit of the greatness of heart of the king of Assyria. And upon the vainglory of his uplifted 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 mine own hand, have I effectually wrought, And by my wisdom—for I have discernment, —That I might remove the bounds of peoples, Yea their treasures, have I plundered That I might lay prostrate as a mighty one the inhabitants;

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 hath found as a nest the wealth of the peoples, And as the gathering of eggs that are forsaken, all the earth, have, I, gathered, —And there was none to flap a wing, or open a mouth or chirp.

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 therewith? Or, the saw, magnify itself, against him that wieldeth it? As if a rod, could wield, them who lift it up! As if a staff, could raise, what 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, shall the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, Send, among his fat ones, leanness, And under his glory, shall he kindle a kindling, like the kindling 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.

So shall, the Light of Israel, become, a fire, And his Holy One, a flame, Which shall burn and consume his thorns and his briars, 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 garden land, both soul and body, shall it bring to an end, —And it shall be like the wasting away of a consumptive.

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

And, the remnant of his forest-trees, few in number, shall become, —yea, a child, might describe 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 the escaped of the house of Jacob Shall, no more again, lean upon him that smote them, —But shall lean upon Yahweh the Holy One of Israel, in truth.

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

A remnant, shall return, The remnant of Jacob, —unto 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, O Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, A [mere] remnant, shall return of them, —A full end decreed, bringeth in, justice, like a flood;

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

For, a full end and that a decreed one, is My Lord Yahweh of hosts executing 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, saith My Lord, Yahweh of hosts, Do not fear O my people dwelling in Zion, because of Assyria, —When with his rod, he would smite thee, And when his staff, he would lift up 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.”

For, yet a very little while, and displeasure shall end, Yea, mine anger, over their 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 Yahweh of hosts, will brandish over him, a scourge—Like the smiting of Midian at the rock Oreb, —And his staff being over the sea, He will lift it up in 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 remove from off thy shoulder, And his yoke from off thy neck, —Yea, the yoke shall be broken because of fatness.

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

He hath come in unto Ayyath, Hath passed through Migron, —At Michmash, storeth his baggage:

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

They have passed over the pass, Geba is his halting-place, —Terror-stricken is Ramah, Gibeah of Saul, hath fled!

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

Make shrill thy voice, O daughter of Gallim! Hearken, O Laishah, Answer, O Anathoth!

31 Madmenah flees; the people of Gebim take refuge.

Madmenah, hath fled, —The inhabitants of Gebim, have gone into safety:

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

While yet to-day, in Nob, he tarrieth, He brandisheth his hand toward 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, Yahweh of hosts, is about to lop off a tree-crown, with a crash, —Then shall, they who are lifted on high, be hewn down, And, the lofty, be laid low;

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

Then will he fell the thickets of the forest with iron, —And, Lebanon by a majestic one shall fall.