Isaiah 9:18–10:4

18  For wickedness burns like ra fire;

it consumes briers and thorns;

it kindles the thickets of the forest,

and they roll upward in a column of smoke.

19  Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts

the land is scorched,

and sthe people are like fuel for the fire;

tno one spares another.

20  uThey slice meat on the right, but are still hungry,

and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied;

veach devours the flesh of his own arm,

21  Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim devours Manasseh;

together they are wagainst Judah.

xFor all this his anger has not turned away,

and his hand is stretched out still.

10 Woe to those who ydecree iniquitous decrees,

and the writers who zkeep writing oppression,

2  to 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!

3  What 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?

4  Nothing 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.