Isaiah 10
1 Woe [to] those decreeing decrees of iniquity, And writers who have prescribed perverseness.
Tragedy is coming to those who pass evil decrees and who write laws to harm people.
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.
They pervert the legal rights of the needy, and rob justice from the poor of my people. They steal from widows and cheat orphans.
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 are you going to do on the day you're punished, when disaster falls on you from far away? Who are you going to run to so you can get help? Where are you going to leave all 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.
All you'll be able to do is to bow down as prisoners, or lie among the dead! In all of this he is still angry and his hand is still raised.
5 Woe [to] Asshur, a rod of Mine anger, And a staff in their hand [is] Mine indignation.
Tragedy is coming to the Assyrians, even though the rod they use represents my anger and the stick they hold in their hands represents my fury!
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 am sending the Assyrians against a nation that has given up on its God, against a people that make me angry. I order the Assyrians to loot them, to take their possessions, and to trample them down like mud in the street.
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 isn't what is behind the thinking of the king of Assyria. This isn't the plan he has in mind. What he wants to do is to destroy and eliminate many nations.
8 For he saith, 'Are not my princes altogether kings?
He says: “All my commanders are kings!
9 Is not Calno as Carchemish? Is not Hamath as Arpad? Is not Samaria as Damascus?
We conquered Calno like we did Carchemish; Hamath like Arpad; 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,
I was the one who conquered these kingdoms along with the idols of their gods. These kingdoms had images of their gods that were better than 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?
Why shouldn't I do to Jerusalem and her idols just what I did to Samaria 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.
Once the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will punish the king of Assyria for his terrible arrogance and for the conceited 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 the king of Assyria says: “I have done this in my own strength. It was through my wisdom, because I'm clever. I have wiped out the boundaries of nations and looted their treasures. Like a bull I knocked their rulers off their thrones.
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.'
Like robbing a bird's nest, I took the wealth of the nations. Like collecting abandoned eggs, I collected the whole the earth. There wasn't a fluttering wing or an open beak, not even a chirp!”
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 ax say it's more important than the person swinging it? Does a saw boast that it's greater than the person sawing with it? It would be as if a rod waved the person holding it, or a walking stick lifted up a person—who certainly wasn't 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.
So the Lord, the Lord Almighty, will send a disease on the king of Assyria's strong warriors that will make them waste away; a flaming fire will be set under everything he's so proud of.
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.
Israel's light will become a fire, and his Holy One will become a flame. It will burn up his thorns and brambles in just one day.
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.
It will totally destroy its splendid forests and orchards. Assyria will waste away, staggering off like someone sick.
19 And the rest of the trees of his forest [are] few, And a youth doth write them.
The trees left in 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.
At that time those who are left in Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer trust in those who turn on them, but they will truly trust in 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 will come back 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.
Israel, even though your people are as numerous as sand on the seashore, only a remnant will return. The Lord has rightly decided to destroy his people.
23 For a consumption that is determined, The Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, Is making in the midst of all the land.
The Lord God Almighty has rightly decided to bring destruction throughout the whole country.
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.
So this is what the Lord, the Lord Almighty, says, My people living in Zion, don't be afraid of the Assyrians who beat you with rods and hit you with clubs, just like the Egyptians did.
25 For yet a very little, And the indignation hath been completed, And Mine anger by their wearing out.
Very shortly I will stop being angry with you. Then I will turn my anger on them and I will destroy them.
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.
The Lord Almighty will lash them with a whip, just as he did when he attacked the Midianites at the rock of Oreb. He will hold up his rod over the sea, just 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.
At that time he will remove the burden from your shoulders and the yoke from your neck. The yoke will be broken because of the anointing with oil.
28 He hath come in against Aiath, He hath passed over into Migron, At Michmash he looketh after his vessels.
The Assyrians came to Aiath, passed through Migron, and stored 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 cross the pass, saying, “We'll stay overnight at Geba.” The people of Ramah tremble in fear; the inhabitants of Gibeah of Saul run away.
30 Cry aloud [with] thy voice, daughter of Gallim, Give attention, Laish! answer her, Anathoth.
Shout out a warning, people of Gallim! Pay attention, those living in Laishah! You poor people of Anathoth!
31 Fled away hath Madmenah, The inhabitants of the high places have hardened themselves.
The people of Madmenah, are all running away. The inhabitants of Gebim are looking for somewhere safe.
32 Yet to-day in Nob to remain, Wave its hand doth the mount of the daughter of Zion, The hill of Jerusalem.
Today the invaders stop at Nob, shaking their fists at the mountain of the Daughter of 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,
Look how the Lord Almighty is going to chop off the branches with great force. The tall trees will be cut down, the proud trees will be brought crashing down.
34 And He hath gone round the thickets of the forest with iron, And Lebanon by a mighty one falleth!
He will cut down the thick forest with an ax, and Lebanon will fall at the hand of the Mighty One.
