Isaiah 10
1 Woe to those who enact unjust laws and write unfair decrees.
Woe to those who enact unjust statutes and issue oppressive decrees,
2 They deprive the needy of justice, rob the poor of my people of their rights, plunder widows, and make the fatherless their prey!
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 you do on judgment day when the destruction comes from far away? To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your wealth?
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 Nothing remains, and you crouch among the prisoners or fall among the killed. In all these things, his anger does not subside; instead, his hand is still stretched out.
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 Woe to the Assyrian, the club of my anger, the rod by whom I wield my fury!
Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger; the staff in their hands is My wrath.
6 I send him against an arrogant nation and against the people who bear my overflowing wrath. I order him to take the spoil, to take the prey, and to trample them like mud in the streets.
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 this is not what he intends, nor does he think this way. It is in his heart to destroy and eliminate many 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 says, “Are not all my princes kings?
“Are not all my commanders kings?” he says.
9 Is not Kalno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus?
“Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus?
10 As my hand has overcome idolatrous kingdoms, whose carved figures were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
As my hand seized the idolatrous kingdoms whose images surpassed those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11 just as I did to Samaria and her worthless idols, will I not also do the same to Jerusalem and to her idols?”
and as I have done to Samaria and its idols, will I not also do to Jerusalem and her idols?”
12 When the Lord has finished his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the speech of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and his prideful looks.
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 For he says, “By my strength and by my wisdom I acted. I have understanding, and I have removed the boundaries of the peoples. I have stolen their treasures, and like a bull I have brought down the inhabitants.
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 My hand has seized, as from a nest, the wealth of nations, and as one gathers abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth. None fluttered their wings or opened their mouth or chirped.”
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 Will the ax boast about itself against the one who wields it? Will the saw praise itself more than the one who cuts with it? It is as if a rod could lift up those who raise it, or as if a wooden club could lift up a person.
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 the Lord Yahweh of hosts will send emaciation among his elite warriors; and under his glory there will be kindled a burning like 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 The light of Israel will become a fire, and his Holy One a flame; it will burn and devour his thorns and 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 Yahweh will consume the glory of his forest and of his fruitful land, both soul and body; it will be like when a sick man's life wastes away.
The splendor of its forests and orchards, both soul and body, it will completely destroy, as a sickness consumes a man.
19 The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few, that a child could count them.
The remaining trees of its forests will be so few that a child could count them.
20 On that day, the remnant of Israel, the family of Jacob that has escaped, will no longer rely on the one who defeated them, but will indeed depend on Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel.
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 A remnant of Jacob will return to the mighty God.
A remnant will return —a remnant of Jacob— to the Mighty God.
22 For though your people, Israel, are like the sand of the seashore, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed, as overflowing righteousness demands.
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 Yahweh of hosts, is about to carry out the destruction determined throughout the land.
For the Lord GOD of Hosts will carry out the destruction decreed upon the whole land.
24 Therefore the Lord Yahweh of hosts says, “My people who live in Zion, do not fear the Assyrian. He will strike you with the rod and raise his staff against you, as the Egyptians did.
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 Do not fear him, for in a very short time my anger against you will end, and my anger will lead to his destruction.”
For in just a little while My fury against you will subside, and My anger will turn to their destruction.”
26 Then Yahweh of hosts will wield a whip against them, as when he defeated Midian at the rock of Oreb. He will raise his rod over the sea and lift it up as he did in 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 On that day, his burden is lifted from your shoulder and his yoke from off your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed because of fatness.
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 The enemy has come to Aiath and has passed through Migron; at Michmash he has stored his provisions.
Assyria has entered Aiath and passed through Migron, storing their supplies at Michmash.
29 They have crossed over the pass and they lodge at Geba. Ramah trembles and Gibeah of Saul has fled.
They have crossed at the ford: “We will spend the night at Geba.” Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul flees.
30 Cry aloud, daughter of Gallim! Give attention, Laishah! You poor Anathoth!
Cry aloud, O Daughter of Gallim! Listen, O Laishah! O wretched Anathoth!
31 Madmenah is fleeing, and the inhabitants of Gebim run for safety.
Madmenah flees; the people of Gebim take refuge.
32 This very day he will halt at Nob and shake his fist at the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.
Yet today they will halt at Nob, shaking a fist at the mount of Daughter Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem.
33 Behold, the Lord Yahweh of hosts will lop off the boughs with a terrifying crash; the tallest trees will be cut down, and the lofty will be brought low.
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 He will chop down the thickets of the forest with an ax, and Lebanon in his majesty will fall.
He will clear the forest thickets with an axe, and Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One.
