Isaiah 10

1 Woe [to] those decreeing decrees of iniquity, And writers who have prescribed perverseness.

Woe to those who enact unjust statutes and issue oppressive decrees,

2 To turn aside from judgment the poor, And to take violently away the judgment Of the afflicted of My people, That widows may be their prey, That the fatherless they may spoil.

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 And what do ye at a day of inspection? And at desolation? — from afar it cometh. Near whom do ye flee for help? And where do ye leave your honour?

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 Without Me it hath bowed down In the place of a bound one, And in the place of the slain they fall. With all this not turned back hath His anger, And still His hand is 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] Asshur, a rod of Mine anger, And a staff in their hand [is] Mine indignation.

Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger; the staff in their hands is My wrath.

6 Against a profane nation I send him, 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.

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 And he — he thinketh not so, And his heart reckoneth not so, For — to destroy [is] in his heart, And to cut off nations not a few.

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 saith, 'Are not my princes altogether kings?

“Are not all my commanders kings?” he says.

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

“Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus?

10 As my hand hath got to the kingdoms of a worthless thing, and their graven images, [Greater] than Jerusalem and than Samaria,

As my hand seized the idolatrous kingdoms whose images surpassed those of Jerusalem and Samaria,

11 Do I not — as I have done to Samaria, And to her worthless things, So do to Jerusalem and to her grievous things?

and as I have done to Samaria and its idols, will I not also do to Jerusalem and her idols?”

12 And it hath come to pass, When the Lord doth fulfil 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.

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 hath said, 'By the power of my hand I have wrought, And by my wisdom, for I have been intelligent, And I remove borders of the peoples, And their chief ones I have spoiled, And I put down as a mighty one 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 And my hand as to a nest Getteth to the wealth of the peoples, And as a gathering of forsaken eggs All the earth I — I have gathered, And there hath not been one moving wing, Or opening mouth, or whispering.'

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 — Doth the axe glorify itself Against him who is hewing with it? Doth 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!

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 doth the Lord, the Lord of Hosts, Send among his fat ones leanness, And under his honour He kindleth a burning As the burning of a 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 And the light of Israel hath been for a fire, And his Holy One for a flame, And it hath burned, and devoured his thorn And his brier 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 And the honour of his forest, and his fruitful field, From soul even unto flesh He doth consume, And it hath been as the fainting of a standard-bearer.

The splendor of its forests and orchards, both soul and body, it will completely destroy, as a sickness consumes a man.

19 And the rest of the trees of his forest [are] few, And a youth doth write them.

The remaining trees of its forests will be so few that a child could count them.

20 And it hath come to pass, in that day, The remnant of Israel, And the escaped of the house of Jacob, Do not add any more to lean on its smiter, And have leant on Jehovah, The Holy One of Israel, in truth.

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 returneth — a remnant of Jacob, Unto the Mighty God.

A remnant will return —a remnant of Jacob— to the Mighty God.

22 For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, A remnant doth return of it, A consumption determined, Overflowing [with] righteousness.

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 a consumption that is determined, The Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, Is making in the midst of all the land.

For the Lord GOD of Hosts will carry out the destruction decreed upon the whole land.

24 Therefore, thus said the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, 'Be not afraid, my people, inhabiting Zion, because of Asshur, With a rod he doth smite thee, And his staff lifteth up against thee, in the way of Egypt.

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 For yet a very little, And the indignation hath been completed, And Mine anger by their wearing out.

For in just a little while My fury against you will subside, and My anger will turn to their destruction.”

26 And awaking for him is Jehovah of Hosts, A scourge like the smiting of Midian at the rock Oreb, And his rod [is] over the sea, And he hath lifted it in the way of 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 And it hath come to pass, in that day, Turned is his burden from off thy shoulder, And his yoke from off thy neck, And destroyed hath been the yoke, because of prosperity.

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 He hath come in against Aiath, He hath passed over into Migron, At Michmash he looketh after his vessels.

Assyria has entered Aiath and passed through Migron, storing their supplies at Michmash.

29 They have gone over the passage, Geba they have made a lodging place, Trembled hath Rama, Gibeah of Saul fled.

They have crossed at the ford: “We will spend the night at Geba.” Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul flees.

30 Cry aloud [with] thy voice, daughter of Gallim, Give attention, Laish! answer her, Anathoth.

Cry aloud, O Daughter of Gallim! Listen, O Laishah! O wretched Anathoth!

31 Fled away hath Madmenah, The inhabitants of the high places have hardened themselves.

Madmenah flees; the people of Gebim take refuge.

32 Yet to-day in Nob to remain, Wave its hand doth the mount 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 Lo, the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, Is lopping a branch with violence, And the high of stature are cut down, And the lofty are become 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 And He hath gone round the thickets of the forest with iron, And Lebanon by a mighty one falleth!

He will clear the forest thickets with an axe, and Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One.