Isaiah 10

1 Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and to the writers that write iniquity;

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

2 To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right of the poor of My people, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey!

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

3 And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the ruin which shall come from far? To whom will ye flee for help? And where will ye leave your glory?

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

4 They can do nought except crouch under the captives, and fall under the slain. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still.

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

5 O Asshur, the rod of Mine anger, in whose hand as a staff is Mine indignation!

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

6 I do send him against an ungodly nation, and against the people of My wrath do I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

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.

7 Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few.

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.

8 For he saith: 'Are not my princes all of them kings?

And if they should say to him, You alone are ruler;

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

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?

10 As my hand hath reached the kingdoms of the idols, whose graven images did exceed them of Jerusalem and of Samaria;

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

11 Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?'

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

12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed His whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty looks.

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.

13 For he hath said: by the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I am prudent; in that I have removed the bounds of the peoples, and have robbed their treasures, and have brought down as one mighty the inhabitants;

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.

14 And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the peoples; and as one gathereth eggs that are forsaken, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or that opened the mouth, or chirped.

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.

15 Should the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? Should the saw magnify itself against him that moveth it? as if a rod should move them that lift it up, or as if a staff should lift up him that is not wood.

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;

16 Therefore will the Lord, the LORD of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory there shall be kindled a burning like the burning of fire.

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

17 And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame; and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day.

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.

18 And the glory of his forest and of his fruitful field, he will consume both soul and body; and it shall be as when a sick man wasteth away.

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.

19 And the remnant of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child may write them down.

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

20 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and they that are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.

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.

21 A remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto God the Mighty.

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

22 For though thy people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them shall return; an extermination is determined, overflowing with righteousness.

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

23 For an extermination wholly determined shall the Lord, the GOD of hosts, make in the midst of all the earth.

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

24 Therefore thus saith the Lord, the GOD of hosts: O My people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of Asshur, though he smite thee with the rod, and lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt.

Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, Be not afraid, my people who dwell in Sion, of the Assyrians, because he shall strike you with a rod: for I am bringing a stroke upon you, that [you] may see the way of Egypt.

25 For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall be accomplished, and Mine anger shall be to their destruction.

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

26 And the LORD of hosts shall stir up against him a scourge, as in the slaughter of Midian at the Rock of Oreb; and as His rod was over the sea, so shall He lift it up after the manner of Egypt.

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.

27 And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall depart from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed by reason of fatness.

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

28 He is come to Aiath, he is passed through Migron; at Michmas he layeth up his baggage;

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

29 They are gone over the pass; they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramah trembleth; Gibeath-shaul is fled.

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

30 Cry thou with a shrill voice, O daughter of Gallim! Hearken, O Laish! O thou poor Anathoth!

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

31 Madmenah is in mad flight; the inhabitants of Gebim flee to cover.

Madebena also is amazed, and the inhabitants of Gibbir.

32 This very day shall he halt at Nob, shaking his hand at the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.

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

33 Behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, shall lop the boughs with terror; and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the lofty shall be laid low.

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:

34 And He shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.

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