Isaiah 10

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

Woe to them that make wicked laws: and when they write, write injustice:

2 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.

To oppress the poor in judgment, and do violence to the cause of the humble of my people: that widows might be their prey, and that they might rob the fatherless.

3 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?

What will you do in the day of visitation, and of the calamity which cometh from afar? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?

4 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.

That you be not bowed down under the bond, and fall with the slain? In all these things his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

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

Woe to the Assyrian, he is the rod and the staff of my anger, and my indignation is in their hands.

6 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.

I will send him to a deceitful nation, and I will give him a charge against the people of my wrath, to take away the spoils, and to lay hold on the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

7 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;

But he shall not take it so, and his heart shall not think so: but his heart shall be set to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few.

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

For he shall say:

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

Are not my princes as so many kings? is not Calano as Charcamis: and Emath as Arphad? is not Samaria as Damascus?

10 As my hand hath reached unto the kingdoms of idols, —whose images did excel them of Jerusalem and Samaria,

As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idol, so also their idols of Jerusalem, and of Samaria.

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

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

12 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,

And it shall come to pass, that when the Lord shall have performed all his works in mount Sion, and in Jerusalem, I will visit the fruit of the proud heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of the haughtiness of his eyes.

13 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;

For he hath said: By the strength of my own hand I have done it, and by my own wisdom I have understood: and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have taken the spoils of the princes, and as a mighty man hath pulled down them that sat on high.

14 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.

And my hand hath found the strength of the people as a nest; and as eggs are gathered, that are left, so have I gathered all the earth: and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or made the least noise.

15 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!

Shall the axe boast itself against him that cutteth with it? or shall the saw exalt itself against him by whom it is drawn? as if a rod should lift itself up against him that lifteth it up, and a staff exalt itself, which is but wood.

16 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;

Therefore the sovereign Lord, the Lord of hosts, shall send leanness among his fat ones: and under his glory shall be kindled a burning, as it were the burning of a fire.

17 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;

And the light of Israel shall be as a fire, and the Holy One thereof as a flame: and his thorns and his briers shall be set on fire, and shall be devoured in one day.

18 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.

And the glory of his forest, and of his beautiful hill, shall be consumed from the soul even to the flesh, and he shall run away through fear.

19 And, the remnant of his forest-trees, few in number, shall become, —yea, a child, might describe them!

And they that remain of the trees of his forest shall be so few, that they shall easily be numbered, and a child shall write them down.

20 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.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and they that shall escape of the house of Jacob, shall lean no more upon him that striketh them: but they shall lean upon the Lord the Holy One of Israel, in truth.

21 A remnant, shall return, The remnant of Jacob, —unto the mighty GOD;

The remnant shall be converted, the remnant, I say, of Jacob, to the mighty God.

22 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;

For if thy people, O Israel, shall be as the sand of the sea, a remnant of them shall be converted, the consumption abridged shall overflow with justice.

23 For, a full end and that a decreed one, is My Lord Yahweh of hosts executing in the midst of all the earth.

For the Lord God of hosts shall make a consumption, and an abridgment in the midst of all the land.

24 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;

Therefore, thus saith the Lord the God of hosts: O my people that dwellest in Sion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall strike thee with his rod, and he shall lift up his staff over thee in the way of Egypt.

25 For, yet a very little while, and displeasure shall end, Yea, mine anger, over their destruction.

For yet a little and a very little while, and my indignation shall cease, and my wrath shall be upon their wickedness.

26 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;

And the Lord of hosts shall raise up a scourge against him, according to the slaughter of Madian in the rock of Oreb, and his rod over the sea, and he shall lift it up in the way of Egypt.

27 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.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall putrify at the presence of the oil.

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

He shall come into Aiath, he shall pass into Magron: at Machmas he shall lay up his carriages.

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

They have passed in haste, Gaba is our lodging: Rama was astonished, Gabaath of Saul fled away.

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

Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim, attend, O Laisa, poor Anathoth.

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

Medemena is removed: ye inhabitants of Gabim, take courage.

32 While yet to-day, in Nob, he tarrieth, He brandisheth his hand toward The mount of the daughter of Zion, The hill of Jerusalem.

It is yet day enough, to remain in Nobe: he shall shake his hand against the mountain of the daughter of Sion, the hill of Jerusalem.

33 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;

Behold the sovereign Lord of hosts shall break the earthen vessel with terror, and the tall of stature shall be cut down, and the lofty shall be humbled.

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

And the thickets of the forest shall be cut down with iron, and Libanus with its high ones shall fall.