Isaiah 10
1 Woe vnto them that decree wicked decrees, and write grieuous things,
Woe to those who enact unjust statutes and issue oppressive decrees,
2 To keepe backe ye poore from iudgement, and to take away the iudgement of the poore of my people, that widowes may be their pray, and that they may spoyle the fatherlesse.
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.
3 What will ye doe nowe in the day of visitation, and of destruction, which shall come from farre? to whom will ye flee for helpe? and where will ye leaue your glorie?
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?
4 Without me euery one shall fall among them that are bound, and they shall fall downe among the slayne: yet for all this his wrath is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
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.
5 O Asshur, the rodde of my wrath: and the staffe in their hands is mine indignation.
Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger; the staff in their hands is My wrath.
6 I will sende him to a dissembling nation, and I will giue him a charge against the people of my wrath to take the spoyle and to take the pray, and to treade them vnder feete like the mire in the streete.
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.
7 But he thinketh not so, neither doeth his heart esteeme it so: but he imagineth to destroy and to cut off not a fewe nations.
But this is not his intention; this is not his plan. For it is in his heart to destroy and cut off many nations.
8 For he sayeth, Are not my princes altogether Kings?
“Are not all my commanders kings?” he says.
9 Is not Calno as Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria as Damascus?
“Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus?
10 Like as mine hand hath founde the kingdomes of the idoles, seeing their idoles were aboue Ierusalem, and aboue Samaria:
As my hand seized the idolatrous kingdoms whose images surpassed those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11 Shall not I, as I haue done to Samaria, and to the idoles thereof, so doe to Ierusalem and to the idoles thereof?
and as I have done to Samaria and its idols, will I not also do to Jerusalem and her idols?”
12 But when the Lord hath accomplished all his worke vpon mount Zion and Ierusalem, I will visite the fruite of the proude heart of the King of Asshur, and his glorious and proud lookes,
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.
13 Because he said, By ye power of mine owne hand haue I done it, and by my wisdome, because I am wise: therefore I haue remooued the borders of the people, and haue spoyled their treasures, and haue pulled downe the inhabitants like a valiant man.
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.
14 And mine hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people, and as one gathereth egges that are left, so haue I gathered all the earth: and there was none to mooue the wing or to open the mouth, or to whisper.
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.’”
15 Shall the axe boast it selfe against him that heweth therewith? or shall the sawe exalt it selfe against him that moueth it? as if the rod shoulde lift vp it selfe against him that taketh it vp, or the staffe should exalt it selfe, as it were no wood.
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!
16 Therefore shall the Lord God of hostes send amog his fat men, leannes, and vnder his glorie he shall kindle a burning, like the burning of fire.
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.
17 And the light of Israel shalbe as a fire, and the Holy one thereof as a flame, and it shall burne, and deuoure his thornes and his briers in one day:
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.
18 And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitfull fieldes both soule and flesh: and he shalbe as ye fainting of a standard bearer.
The splendor of its forests and orchards, both soul and body, it will completely destroy, as a sickness consumes a man.
19 And the rest of the trees of his forest shalbe fewe, that a childe may tell them.
The remaining trees of its forests will be so few that a child could count them.
20 And at that day shall the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Iaakob, stay no more vpon him that smote them, but shall stay vpon ye Lord, ye Holy one of Israel in trueth.
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.
21 The remnant shall returne, euen the remnant of Iaakob vnto the mightie God.
A remnant will return —a remnant of Jacob— to the Mighty God.
22 For though thy people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea, yet shall the remnant of them returne. The consumption decreed shall ouerflow with righteousnesse.
Though your people, O Israel, be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant will return. Destruction has been decreed, overflowing with righteousness.
23 For the Lord God of hostes shall make the consumption, euen determined, in the middes of all the land.
For the Lord GOD of Hosts will carry out the destruction decreed upon the whole land.
24 Therefore thus saith ye Lord God of hostes, O my people, that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of Asshur: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift vp his staffe against thee after the maner of Egypt:
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.
25 But yet a very litle time, and the wrath shall be consumed, and mine anger in their destruction.
For in just a little while My fury against you will subside, and My anger will turn to their destruction.”
26 And ye Lord of hostes shall raise vp a scourge for him, according to the plague of Midian in the rocke Oreb: and as his staffe was vpon the Sea, so he will lift it vp after the maner of Egypt.
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.
27 And at that day shall his burden be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy necke: and the yoke shalbe destroied because of the anoynting.
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.
28 He is come to Aiath: he is passed into Migron: at Michmash shall he lay vp his armour.
Assyria has entered Aiath and passed through Migron, storing their supplies at Michmash.
29 They haue gone ouer the foorde: they lodged in the lodging at Geba: Ramah is afraide: Gibeah of Saul is fled away.
They have crossed at the ford: “We will spend the night at Geba.” Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul flees.
30 Lift vp thy voyce, O daughter Gallim, cause Laish to heare, O poore Anathoth.
Cry aloud, O Daughter of Gallim! Listen, O Laishah! O wretched Anathoth!
31 Madmenah is remoued: the inhabitants of Gebim haue gathered themselues together.
Madmenah flees; the people of Gebim take refuge.
32 Yet there is a time that he will stay at Nob: he shall lift vp his hand towarde the mount of the daughter Zion, the hill of Ierusalem.
Yet today they will halt at Nob, shaking a fist at the mount of Daughter Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem.
33 Beholde, the Lord God of hostes shall cut off the bough with feare, and they of high stature shalbe cut off, and the hie shalbe humbled.
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.
34 And he shall cut away the thicke places of the forest with yron, and Lebanon shall haue a mightie fall.
He will clear the forest thickets with an axe, and Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One.
