Isaiah 10

1 Terrible things will happen to you judges who are unjust and who make unfair laws.

Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, and to the writers who write perverseness,

2 You refuse to help poor people, and you do not allow them to get the things that they should get. You [allow people to] steal things from widows and do unfair things to orphans.

to turn aside the needy from justice, and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey!

3 When I punish you by sending people from distant lands to cause you to experience disasters, (to whom will you run to get help?/there will be no one who can help you.) [RHQ] Your valuable possessions will certainly [not be safe] [RHQ] anywhere.

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

4 You will be able only to stumble along as you are taken away with other prisoners, or [else] your corpses will lie on the ground with others who have been killed. But even after that happens, Yahweh will still be very angry with you. He will still be ready to strike you again with his fist.

They shall only bow down under the prisoners, and shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

5 [Yahweh says], “Terrible things will happen to Assyria. [It is true that their army] is like a rod/club [DOU] with which I [punish other nations] because I am very angry with those nations [DOU].

Ho, Assyrian, the rod of my anger, the staff in whose hand is my indignation!

6 [Sometimes] I send the armies of Assyria to attack a godless nation, to fight against [other] people who have caused me to be angry. I send them to capture people and to seize and take away their possessions, and to trample them like [SIM] people walk on mud in the streets.

I will send him against a profane nation, and against the people of my wrath. I will give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

7 But the [king of Assyria] does not understand, he does not realize [that he is only like a weapon in my hand]. He wants [only] to destroy people, to get rid of many nations.

However he does not so reason, nor does his heart so think, but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few.

8 He says, ‘All of my army commanders will soon be kings [of these nations that I conquer]!

For he says, Are not my rulers all of them kings?

9 We destroyed Calno [city] like we destroyed Carchemish [city], We destroyed Hamath [city] like we destroyed Arpad [city]; we destroyed Samaria just like we destroyed Damascus.

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

10 We were able to destroy [all] those kingdoms [that were full] of idols, kingdoms whose idols were greater than the idols in Jerusalem and Samaria.

As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols, whose graven images excelled those of Jerusalem and of Samaria,

11 So we will defeat Jerusalem and destroy the idols that are there, just like we destroyed Samaria and the idols that were there!’

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

12 [But, I, Yahweh, say that] after I [have used Assyria to] finish what I want to do to punish the people in Jerusalem [DOU], I will punish the king of Assyria because he has been very proud and arrogant/boastful [DOU].

Therefore it shall come to pass, that, when the Lord has 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 high looks.

13 He says, ‘By my own great power [MTY] I have done these things. I have been able to do them because I am very wise and very intelligent. My army removed the barriers [at the borders] of nations and carried away all their valuable things. My army has knocked down their kings like [SIM] a ferocious bull would.

For he has said, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding. And I have removed the bounds of the peoples, and have robbed their treasures. And like a valiant man I have brought down those who sit on thrones.

14 Like [MET] a farmer reaches into a bird’s nest [to take away the eggs], we have taken away the treasures of other countries [DOU]. The people were not like birds that would flap their wings or chirp loudly [to protest about their eggs being stolen]; the people did not object at all [to their treasures being stolen].’

And my hand has found as a nest the riches of the peoples. And like a gathering of eggs that are forsaken, I have gathered all the earth. And there was none that moved the wing, or that opened the mouth, or chirped.

15 [But I, Yahweh, say that] an axe certainly cannot [RHQ] boast about being stronger than the person who uses it, and a saw is not greater than the person who uses it. A rod cannot control the one who holds it [RHQ], and a wooden club cannot lift up a person [RHQ]. [So the king of Assyria should not boast that he has done these things with his own wisdom and strength].

Shall the axe boast itself against him who hews with it? Shall the saw magnify itself against him who wields it? As if a rod should wield those who lift it up, or as if a staff should lift up him who is not wood.

16 And [I], the Commander of the armies of angels, will send a plague among the proud soldiers of Assyria; it will be like [MET] a fire that will kill them and get rid of their glory/wealth.

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

17 [I], Yahweh, who am like [MET] a light for the people of Israel, will be the fire; [I], the Holy One, will be like a flame. [The soldiers of Assyria are like] [MET] thorns and briers, and I will burn them up in one night.

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

18 There are glorious forests and fertile farmlands in Assyria, but I will completely destroy them; they will be like [SIM] a [very] sick person who shrivels up and then dies.

And he will consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body. And it shall be as when a standard-bearer faints.

19 There will be very few trees left in those forests; even a child will be able to count them.”

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

20 In the future there will be only a few people left in Israel; not many descendants of Jacob will still be alive. [But] they will no longer rely on [the king of Assyria], [the king of the nation] that tried to destroy them. Instead, they will faithfully/sincerely trust in Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and those who are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again lean upon him who smote them, but shall lean upon Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.

21 Those Israelis will return to their mighty God.

A remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.

22 [Now], the people of Israel are as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore, but only a few of them will return [from the countries to which they were exiled]. Yahweh has decided to destroy [most of the Israelis] and that is what [he must do because he is completely] just/righteous.

For though thy people, Israel, be as the sand of the sea, a remnant of them shall return. A destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness.

23 [Yes, ] the Commander of the armies of angels has [already] decided to destroy the entire land [of Israel].

For a full end, and that determined, the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, will make in the midst of all the earth.

24 This is what the Commander of the armies of angels says: “My people in Jerusalem, do not be afraid of the army of Assyria when they beat you with rods and clubs, like the men of Egypt did [to your ancestors long ago].

Therefore thus says the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, O my people who dwell in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian, though he smites thee with the rod, and lifts up his staff against thee, according to the manner of Egypt.

25 Soon I will no longer be angry with you, and [then] I will be angry with the people of Assyria and destroy them!”

For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall be accomplished, and my anger is to his destruction.

26 The Commander of the armies of angels will whip them. He will do to them like he did when he helped Gideon [and his 300 soldiers] to defeat the [army of the] Midian people-group, and like he did when he showed his mighty power [MTY] [by causing the army of Egypt to drown] in the [Red] Sea.

And Jehovah of hosts will stir up against him a scourge as in the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb. And his rod will be over the sea, and he will lift it up according to the manner of Egypt.

27 Some day, Yahweh will cause the army of Assyria to stop oppressing you, [his people]; he will end your suffering and your being slaves of the people of Assyria [MET]; he will take away the load that you people of Judah have been carrying, and cause things to go well for you.

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 because of fatness.

28 [The army of Assyria will enter northern Judah] near Aiath [town], they will go through Migron [town] and store their supplies at Micmash [town north of Jerusalem].

He has come to Aiath. He has passed through Migron. At Michmash he lays up his baggage.

29 They will cross through a mountain pass and set up their tents at Geba [town]. [People in] Ramah [town] will tremble [because of being afraid]. [The people of] Gibeah [town], where King Saul [was born], will [all] run away.

They have gone over the pass. They have taken up their lodging at Geba. Ramah trembles. Gibeah of Saul has fled.

30 You people of Gallim [town] will cry out [for help]. You will shout to [the people of] Laish [city near Jerusalem] to warn them! [The people of] Anathoth [town] will suffer a lot.

Cry aloud with thy voice, O daughter of Gallim! Hearken, O Laishah! O thou poor Anathoth!

31 [The people of] Madmenah [town north of Jerusalem will all] be running away, and [the people of] Gebim [town close to Jerusalem] will be trying to hide.

Madmenah is a fugitive. The inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety.

32 The soldiers of Assyria will stop at Nob [city outside Jerusalem]. They will shake their fists [as they threaten the people] on Zion Hill in Jerusalem.

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

33 But listen to this! The Commander of the armies of angels with his great power will destroy [MET] the mighty army of Assyria. [It is as though they are] a huge tree [MET] that he will cut down.

Behold, the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, will lop off the boughs with terror. And the high of stature shall be hewn down, and the lofty shall be brought low.

34 He will destroy the [soldiers of Assyria] like men use big axes to cut down the tall trees in the forests of Lebanon.

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