Isaiah 10
1 Woe to those who enact unjust laws and write unfair decrees.
“Woe [to] those decreeing decrees of iniquity, And writers who have prescribed perverseness,
2 They deprive the needy of justice, rob the poor of my people of their rights, plunder widows, and make the fatherless their prey!
Of My people, That widows may be their prey, That they may spoil 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?
And what do you do at a day of inspection? And at desolation that comes from afar? Near whom do you flee for help? And where do you 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.
It has bowed down without Me In the place of a bound one, And they fall in the place of the slain.” With all this His anger has not turned back, And His hand is still stretched out.
5 Woe to the Assyrian, the club of my anger, the rod by whom I wield my fury!
“Woe [to] Asshur, a rod of My anger, And My indignation [is] a staff in their hand.
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 send him against a profane nation, And concerning a people of My wrath I charge him, To spoil spoil, and to seize prey, And to make it a treading-place as the clay of out places.
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.
And he does not think [it] so, And his heart does not reckon [it] so, For—to destroy [is] in his heart, And to cut off nations—not a few.
8 For he says, “Are not all my princes kings?
For he says, Are my princes not altogether kings?
9 Is not Kalno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus?
Is not Calno as Carchemish? Is not Hamath as Arpad? 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 has gotten to the kingdoms of a worthless thing, and their carved images, [Greater] than Jerusalem and than 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?”
Do I not—as I have done to Samaria, And to her worthless things, So do to Jerusalem and to her grievous things?”
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 has come to pass, When the Lord fulfills all His work In Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, I see concerning the fruit of the greatness Of the heart of the king of Asshur, And concerning the glory of the height 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 has said, “I have worked by the power of my hand, And by my wisdom, for I have been intelligent, And I remove borders of the peoples, And I have spoiled their chief ones, And I put down the inhabitants as a mighty one,
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 gets to the wealth of the peoples as to a nest, And as a gathering of forsaken eggs I have gathered all the earth, And there has not been one moving wing, Or opening mouth, or whispering.”
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 the axe glorify itself Against him who is hewing with it? Does the saw magnify itself Against him who is shaking it? As a rod waving those lifting it up! As a staff lifting up that which 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, the Lord of Hosts, Sends leanness among his fat ones, And under his glory He kindles a burning As 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 has been for a fire, And his Holy One for a flame, And it has burned, and devoured his thorn And his brier 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 his fruitful field, He consumes from soul even to flesh, And it has been as the fainting of a standard-bearer.
19 The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few, that a child could count them.
And the rest of the trees of his forest [are] few, And a youth writes 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.
And it has come to pass in that day, The remnant of Israel, And the escaped of the house of Jacob, Do not add anymore to lean on its striker, And have leaned on YHWH, The Holy One of Israel, in truth.
21 A remnant of Jacob will return to the mighty God.
A remnant returns—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.
For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, A remnant of it returns, A consumption determined, Overflowing [with] righteousness.
23 For the Lord Yahweh of hosts, is about to carry out the destruction determined throughout the land.
For a consumption that is determined, The Lord, YHWH of Hosts, Is making 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 said the Lord, YHWH of Hosts: “Do not be afraid, My people, inhabiting Zion, because of Asshur, He strikes you with a rod, And his staff lifts up against you, 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 very little [while], And the indignation has been completed, And My anger by their wearing out.”
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 YHWH of Hosts is awaking for him, A scourge like the striking of Midian at the rock Oreb, And his rod [is] over the sea, And he has lifted it 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 has come to pass in that day, His burden is turned from off your shoulder, And his yoke from off your neck, And the yoke has been destroyed, because of prosperity.
28 The enemy has come to Aiath and has passed through Migron; at Michmash he has stored his provisions.
He has come in against Aiath, He has passed over into Migron, At Michmash he looks after his vessels.
29 They have crossed over the pass and they lodge at Geba. Ramah trembles and Gibeah of Saul has fled.
They have gone over the passage, They have made Geba a lodging place, Rama has trembled, Gibeah of Saul fled.
30 Cry aloud, daughter of Gallim! Give attention, Laishah! You poor Anathoth!
Cry aloud [with] your voice, daughter of Gallim, Give attention, Laish! Answer her, Anathoth.
31 Madmenah is fleeing, and the inhabitants of Gebim run for safety.
Madmenah has fled away, The inhabitants of the high places have hardened themselves.
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 to remain in Nob, The mountain of the daughter of Zion waves its hand, 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, YHWH of Hosts, Is lopping a branch with violence, And the high of stature are cut down, And the lofty have become low,
34 He will chop down the thickets of the forest with an ax, and Lebanon in his majesty will fall.
And He has gone around the thickets of the forest with iron, And Lebanon falls by a mighty one!
