Isaiah 10–11

10Woe to those who ^ydecree iniquitous decrees,

and the writers who ^zkeep writing oppression,

²to turn aside the needy from justice

and ^ato rob the poor of my people of their right,

that widows may be their spoil,

and that they may make the fatherless their prey!

³What will you do on ^bthe day of punishment,

in the ruin that will come ^cfrom afar?

To whom will you flee for help,

and where will you leave your wealth?

⁴Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners

or fall among the slain.

^dFor all this his anger has not turned away,

and his hand is stretched out still.

Judgment on Arrogant Assyria

⁵Woe to Assyria, ^ethe rod of my anger;

the staff in their hands is my fury!

⁶Against a ^fgodless nation I send him,

and against the people of my wrath I command him,

to take ^gspoil and seize plunder,

and to ^htread them down like the mire of the streets.

⁷But he ⁱdoes not so intend,

and his heart does not so think;

but it is in his heart to destroy,

and to cut off nations not a few;

⁸for he says:

^j“Are not my commanders all kings?

^9kIs not ^lCalno like ^mCarchemish?

Is not ⁿHamath like ^oArpad?

^pIs not ^qSamaria like Damascus?

¹⁰As my hand has reached to ^rthe kingdoms of the idols,

whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,

¹¹shall I not do to Jerusalem and ^sher idols

^tas I have done to Samaria and her images?”

^12uWhen the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, ^vhe¹ will punish the speech² of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes. ^13wFor he says:

“By the strength of my hand I have done it,

and by my wisdom, for I have understanding;

I remove the boundaries of peoples,

and plunder their treasures;

like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones.

¹⁴My hand has found like a nest

the wealth of the peoples;

and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken,

so I have gathered all the earth;

and there was none that moved a wing

or opened the mouth or chirped.”

¹⁵Shall ^xthe axe boast over him who hews with it,

or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it?

As if a rod should wield him who lifts it,

or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!

¹⁶Therefore the Lord God of hosts

will send wasting sickness among his ^ystout warriors,

and under his glory ^za burning will be kindled,

like the burning of fire.

^17aThe light of Israel will become a fire,

and ^bhis Holy One a flame,

and ^cit will burn and devour

his thorns and briers ^din one day.

¹⁸The glory of ^ehis forest and of his ^ffruitful land

the Lord will destroy, both soul and body,

and it will be as when a sick man wastes away.

¹⁹The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few

that a child can write them down.

The Remnant of Israel Will Return

^20gIn that day ^hthe remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more ⁱlean on him who struck them, but ^jwill lean on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. ²¹A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, ^kto the mighty God. ^22lFor though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, ^monly a remnant of them will return. ⁿDestruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness. ²³For the Lord God of hosts will make a full end, as decreed, in the midst of all the earth.

²⁴Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: “O my people, ^owho dwell in Zion, ^pbe not afraid of the Assyrians when they strike with the rod and lift up their staff against you as ^qthe Egyptians did. ²⁵For ^rin a very little while my fury will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction. ²⁶And ^sthe Lord of hosts will wield against them a whip, as when he struck ^tMidian ^uat the rock of Oreb. And his staff will be over the sea, and he will lift it ^vas he did in Egypt. ²⁷And in that day ^whis burden will depart from your shoulder, and ^xhis yoke from your neck; and the yoke will be broken because of the fat.”³

²⁸He has come to Aiath;

he has passed through ^yMigron;

at Michmash he stores ^zhis baggage;

²⁹they have crossed over ^athe pass;

at ^bGeba they lodge for the night;

^cRamah trembles;

^dGibeah of Saul has fled.

³⁰Cry aloud, O daughter of ^eGallim!

Give attention, O Laishah!

O poor ^fAnathoth!

³¹Madmenah is in flight;

the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety.

³²This very day he will halt at ^gNob;

he will shake his fist

at the mount of ^hthe daughter of Zion,

the hill of Jerusalem.

³³Behold, the Lord God of hosts

ⁱwill lop ^jthe boughs with terrifying power;

the great in height will be hewn down,

and the lofty will be brought low.

³⁴He will cut down ^jthe thickets of the forest with an axe,

and ^kLebanon will fall by the Majestic One.

The Righteous Reign of the Branch

11There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of ^lJesse,

and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

²And ^mthe Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,

the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and might,

the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

³And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

ⁿHe shall not judge by ^owhat his eyes see,

or decide disputes by ^owhat his ears hear,

⁴but ^pwith righteousness he shall judge the poor,

and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;

and he shall ^qstrike the earth with the rod of his mouth,

and ^rwith the breath of his lips ^she shall kill the wicked.

⁵Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,

and ^tfaithfulness the belt of his loins.

^6uThe wolf shall dwell with the lamb,

and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,

and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;

and a little child shall lead them.

⁷The cow and the bear shall graze;

their young shall lie down together;

and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

⁸The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,

and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.

^9uThey shall not hurt or destroy

in all ^vmy holy mountain;

^wfor the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord

as the waters cover the sea.

¹⁰In that day ^xthe root of ^yJesse, who shall stand as ^za signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

^11aIn that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people, ^bfrom Assyria, ^bfrom Egypt, from ^cPathros, from ^dCush,¹ from ^eElam, from ^fShinar, from ^gHamath, and from ^hthe coastlands of the sea.

¹²He will raise ^za signal for the nations

and will assemble ⁱthe banished of Israel,

and gather the dispersed of Judah

from the four corners of the earth.

^13jThe jealousy of Ephraim shall depart,

and those who harass Judah shall be cut off;

Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah,

and Judah shall not harass Ephraim.

^14kBut they shall swoop down on the shoulder of the Philistines in the west,

and together they shall plunder ^lthe people of the east.

They shall put out their hand ^magainst ⁿEdom and ^oMoab,

and ^pthe Ammonites shall obey them.

¹⁵And the Lord will utterly destroy²

^qthe tongue of the Sea of Egypt,

and will wave his hand over ^rthe River³

with his scorching breath,⁴

and strike it into seven channels,

and he will lead people across in sandals.

¹⁶And there will be ^sa highway from Assyria

for the remnant that remains of his people,

^tas there was for Israel

when they came up from the land of Egypt.