Isaiah 10

1 Tragedy is coming to those who pass evil decrees and who write laws to harm people.

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

2 They pervert the legal rights of the needy, and rob justice from the poor of my people. They steal from widows and cheat orphans.

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

3 What are you going to do on the day you're punished, when disaster falls on you from far away? Who are you going to run to so you can get help? Where are you going to leave all your wealth?

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 All you'll be able to do is to bow down as prisoners, or lie among the dead! In all of this he is still angry and his hand is still raised.

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 Tragedy is coming to the Assyrians, even though the rod they use represents my anger and the stick they hold in their hands represents my fury!

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

6 I am sending the Assyrians against a nation that has given up on its God, against a people that make me angry. I order the Assyrians to loot them, to take their possessions, and to trample them down like mud in the street.

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 this isn't what is behind the thinking of the king of Assyria. This isn't the plan he has in mind. What he wants to do is to destroy and eliminate many nations.

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 He says: “All my commanders are kings!

For he says, Are my princes not altogether kings?

9 We conquered Calno like we did Carchemish; Hamath like Arpad; Samaria like Damascus.

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

10 I was the one who conquered these kingdoms along with the idols of their gods. These kingdoms had images of their gods that were better than those of Jerusalem and Samaria.

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

11 Why shouldn't I do to Jerusalem and her idols just what I did to Samaria 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 Once the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will punish the king of Assyria for his terrible arrogance and for the conceited look in 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 the king of Assyria says: “I have done this in my own strength. It was through my wisdom, because I'm clever. I have wiped out the boundaries of nations and looted their treasures. Like a bull I knocked their rulers off their thrones.

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 Like robbing a bird's nest, I took the wealth of the nations. Like collecting abandoned eggs, I collected the whole the earth. There wasn't a fluttering wing or an open beak, not even a chirp!”

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 Does an ax say it's more important than the person swinging it? Does a saw boast that it's greater than the person sawing with it? It would be as if a rod waved the person holding it, or a walking stick lifted up a person—who certainly wasn't wood!

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 So the Lord, the Lord Almighty, will send a disease on the king of Assyria's strong warriors that will make them waste away; a flaming fire will be set under everything he's so proud of.

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 Israel's light will become a fire, and his Holy One will become a flame. It will burn up his thorns and brambles in just one day.

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 It will totally destroy its splendid forests and orchards. Assyria will waste away, staggering off like someone sick.

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 The trees left in its forests will be so few that a child could count them.

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

20 At that time those who are left in Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer trust in those who turn on them, but they will truly trust in the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.

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 A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob will come back to the Mighty God.

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

22 Israel, even though your people are as numerous as sand on the seashore, only a remnant will return. The Lord has rightly decided to destroy his people.

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

23 The Lord God Almighty has rightly decided to bring destruction throughout the whole country.

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

24 So this is what the Lord, the Lord Almighty, says, My people living in Zion, don't be afraid of the Assyrians who beat you with rods and hit you with clubs, just like the Egyptians did.

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 Very shortly I will stop being angry with you. Then I will turn my anger on them and I will destroy them.

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

26 The Lord Almighty will lash them with a whip, just as he did when he attacked the Midianites at the rock of Oreb. He will hold up his rod over the sea, just as he did in 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 At that time he will remove the burden from your shoulders and the yoke from your neck. The yoke will be broken because of the anointing with oil.

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 The Assyrians came to Aiath, passed through Migron, and stored their supplies at Michmash.

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

29 They cross the pass, saying, “We'll stay overnight at Geba.” The people of Ramah tremble in fear; the inhabitants of Gibeah of Saul run away.

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

30 Shout out a warning, people of Gallim! Pay attention, those living in Laishah! You poor people of Anathoth!

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

31 The people of Madmenah, are all running away. The inhabitants of Gebim are looking for somewhere safe.

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

32 Today the invaders stop at Nob, shaking their fists at the mountain of the Daughter of Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem.

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

33 Look how the Lord Almighty is going to chop off the branches with great force. The tall trees will be cut down, the proud trees will be brought crashing down.

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 He will cut down the thick forest with an ax, and Lebanon will fall at the hand of the Mighty One.

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