Esias 10

1 Woe to them that write wickedness; for when they write they do write wickedness,

“Woe [to] those decreeing decrees of iniquity, And writers who have prescribed perverseness,

2 perverting the cause of the poor, violently wresting the judgment of the needy ones of my people, that the widow may be a prey to them, and the orphan a spoil.

Of My people, That widows may be their prey, That they may spoil the fatherless.

3 And what will they do in the day of visitation? for affliction shall come to you from afar: and to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory,

And what do you do at a day of inspection? And at desolation that comes from afar? Near whom do you flee for help? And where do you leave your glory?

4 that ye may not fall into captivity? For all this [his] wrath is not turned away, but [his] hand is yet exalted.

It has bowed down without Me In the place of a bound one, And they fall in the place of the slain.” With all this His anger has not turned back, And His hand is still stretched out.

5 Woe to the Assyrians; the rod of my wrath, and anger are in their hands.

“Woe [to] Asshur, a rod of My anger, And My indignation [is] a staff in their hand.

6 I will send my wrath against a sinful nation, and I will charge my people to take plunder and spoil, and to trample the cities, and to make them dust.

I send him against a profane nation, And concerning a people of My wrath I charge him, To spoil spoil, and to seize prey, And to make it a treading-place as the clay of out places.

7 But he meant not thus, neither did he devise thus in his soul: but his mind shall change, and [that] to destroy nations not a few.

And he does not think [it] so, And his heart does not reckon [it] so, For—to destroy [is] in his heart, And to cut off nations—not a few.

8 And if they should say to him, Thou alone art ruler;

For he says, Are my princes not altogether kings?

9 then shall he say, Have I not taken the country above Babylon and Chalanes, where the tower was built? and have I [not] taken Arabia, and Damascus, and Samaria?

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

10 As I have taken them, I will also take all the kingdoms: howl, ye idols in Jerusalem, and in Samaria.

As my hand has gotten to the kingdoms of a worthless thing, and their carved images, [Greater] than Jerusalem and than Samaria,

11 For as I did to Samaria and her idols, so will I do also to Jerusalem and her idols.

Do I not—as I have done to Samaria, And to her worthless things, So do to Jerusalem and to her grievous things?”

12 And it shall come to pass, when the Lord shall have finished doing all things on Mount Sion and Jerusalem, [that] I will visit upon the proud heart, [even] upon the ruler of the Assyrians, and upon the boastful haughtiness of his eyes.

And it has come to pass, When the Lord fulfills all His work In Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, I see concerning the fruit of the greatness Of the heart of the king of Asshur, And concerning the glory of the height of his eyes.

13 For he said, I will act in strength, and in the wisdom of [my] understanding I will remove the boundaries of nations, and will spoil their strength.

For he has said, “I have worked by the power of my hand, And by my wisdom, for I have been intelligent, And I remove borders of the peoples, And I have spoiled their chief ones, And I put down the inhabitants as a mighty one,

14 And I will shake the inhabited cities: and I will take with my hand all the world as a nest: and I will even take them as eggs that have been left; and there is none that shall escape me, or contradict me.

And my hand gets to the wealth of the peoples as to a nest, And as a gathering of forsaken eggs I have gathered all the earth, And there has not been one moving wing, Or opening mouth, or whispering.”

15 Shall the axe glorify itself without him that hews with it? or shall the saw lift up itself without him that uses it, as if one should lift a rod or staff? but it shall not be so;

Does the axe glorify itself Against him who is hewing with it? Does the saw magnify itself Against him who is shaking it? As a rod waving those lifting it up! As a staff lifting up that which is not wood!

16 but the Lord of hosts shall send dishonour upon thine honour, and burning fire shall be kindled upon thy glory.

Therefore the Lord, the Lord of Hosts, Sends leanness among his fat ones, And under his glory He kindles a burning As the burning of a fire.

17 And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and he shall sanctify him with burning fire, and it shall devour the wood as grass.

And the light of Israel has been for a fire, And his Holy One for a flame, And it has burned, and devoured his thorn And his brier in one day.

18 In that day the mountains shall be consumed, and the hills, and the forests, and [fire] shall devour [both] soul and body: and he that flees shall be as one fleeing from burning flame.

And the glory of his forest, and his fruitful field, He consumes from soul even to flesh, And it has been as the fainting of a standard-bearer.

19 And they that are left of them shall be a [small] number, and a child shall write them.

And the rest of the trees of his forest [are] few, And a youth writes them.

20 And it shall come to pass in that day [that] the remnant of Israel shall no more join themselves with, and the saved of Jacob shall no more trust in, them that injured them; but they shall trust in the Holy God of Israel, in truth.

And it has come to pass in that day, The remnant of Israel, And the escaped of the house of Jacob, Do not add anymore to lean on its striker, And have leaned on YHWH, The Holy One of Israel, in truth.

21 And the remnant of Jacob shall [trust] on the mighty God.

A remnant returns—a remnant of Jacob, To the Mighty God.

22 And though the people of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant of them shall be saved.

For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, A remnant of it returns, A consumption determined, Overflowing [with] righteousness.

23 He will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because the Lord will make a short work in all the world.

For a consumption that is determined, The Lord, YHWH of Hosts, Is making in the midst of all the land.

24 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, Be not afraid, my people who dwell in Sion, of the Assyrians, because he shall smite thee with a rod: for I am bringing a stroke upon thee, that [thou] mayest see the way of Egypt.

Therefore, thus said the Lord, YHWH of Hosts: “Do not be afraid, My people, inhabiting Zion, because of Asshur, He strikes you with a rod, And his staff lifts up against you, in the way of Egypt.

25 For yet a little while, and the indignation shall cease: but my wrath shall be against their council.

For yet a very little [while], And the indignation has been completed, And My anger by their wearing out.”

26 And God will stir up [enemies] against them, according to the stroke of Madiam in the place of affliction: and his wrath shall be by the way of the sea, [even] to the way that leads to Egypt.

And YHWH of Hosts is awaking for him, A scourge like the striking of Midian at the rock Oreb, And his rod [is] over the sea, And he has lifted it in the way of Egypt.

27 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] his yoke shall be taken away from thy shoulder, and his fear from thee, and the yoke shall be destroyed from off your shoulders.

And it has come to pass in that day, His burden is turned from off your shoulder, And his yoke from off your neck, And the yoke has been destroyed, because of prosperity.

28 For he shall arrive at the city of Angai, and shall pass on to Maggedo, and shall lay up his stores in Machmas.

He has come in against Aiath, He has passed over into Migron, At Michmash he looks after his vessels.

29 And he shall pass by the valley, and shall arrive at Angai: fear shall seize upon Rama, the city of Saul.

They have gone over the passage, They have made Geba a lodging place, Rama has trembled, Gibeah of Saul fled.

30 The daughter of Gallim shall flee; Laisa shall hear; one shall hear in Anathoth.

Cry aloud [with] your voice, daughter of Gallim, Give attention, Laish! Answer her, Anathoth.

31 Madebena also is amazed, and the inhabitants of Gibbir.

Madmenah has fled away, The inhabitants of the high places have hardened themselves.

32 Exhort ye [them] to-day to remain in the way: exhort ye [beckoning] with the hand the mountain, the daughter of Sion, even ye hills that are in Jerusalem.

Yet today to remain in Nob, The mountain of the daughter of Zion waves its hand, The hill of Jerusalem.

33 Behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, will mightily confound the glorious ones; and the haughty in pride shall be crushed, and the lofty shall be brought low:

Behold, the Lord, YHWH of Hosts, Is lopping a branch with violence, And the high of stature are cut down, And the lofty have become low,

34 and the lofty ones shall fall by the sword, and the Libanus shall fall with his lofty ones.

And He has gone around the thickets of the forest with iron, And Lebanon falls by a mighty one!