Isaiah 10

1 Woe to those who enact unjust laws and write unfair decrees.

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

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 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 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 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 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.

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 Woe to the Assyrian, the club of my anger, the rod by whom I wield my fury!

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

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 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 this is not what he intends, nor does he think this way. It is in his heart to destroy and eliminate many nations.

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 says, “Are not all my princes kings?

For he shall say:

9 Is not Kalno 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 has overcome idolatrous kingdoms, whose carved figures were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,

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

Shall I not, as I have done to Samaria and her idols, so 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.

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 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 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 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.”

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 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.

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 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 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 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 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 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.

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 The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few, that a child could count 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 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.

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 of Jacob will return to the mighty God.

The remnant shall be converted, the remnant, I say, 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.

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 the Lord Yahweh of hosts, is about to carry out the destruction determined throughout the land.

For the Lord God of hosts shall make a consumption, and an abridgment in the midst of all the 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, 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 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 yet a little and a very little while, and my indignation shall cease, and my wrath shall be upon their wickedness.

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 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 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.

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 The enemy has come to Aiath and has passed through Migron; at Michmash he has stored his provisions.

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

29 They have crossed over the pass and they lodge at Geba. Ramah trembles and Gibeah of Saul has fled.

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

30 Cry aloud, daughter of Gallim! Give attention, Laishah! You poor Anathoth!

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

31 Madmenah is fleeing, and the inhabitants of Gebim run for safety.

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

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.

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 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 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 He will chop down the thickets of the forest with an ax, and Lebanon in his majesty will fall.

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