Isaiah 9:8–10:4

The Will Punish Israel

⁸The Lord has pronounced judgement on the kingdom of Israel, on the descendants of Jacob. ⁹All the people of Israel, everyone who lives in the city of Samaria, will know that he has done this. Now they are proud and arrogant. They say, ¹⁰“The brick buildings have fallen down, but we will replace them with stone buildings. The beams of sycomore wood have been cut down, but we will replace them with the finest cedar.”

¹¹The Lord has stirred up their enemies^u to attack them. ¹²Syria on the east and Philistia on the west have opened their mouths to devour Israel. Yet even so the Lord’s anger is not ended; his hand is still stretched out to punish.

¹³The people of Israel have not repented; even though the Lord Almighty has punished them, they have not returned to him. ¹⁴In a single day the Lord will punish Israel’s leaders and its people; he will cut them off, head and tail. ¹⁵The old and honourable men are the head—and the tail is the prophets whose teachings are lies! ¹⁶Those who lead these people have misled them and totally confused them. ¹⁷And so the Lord will not let any of the young men escape, and he will not show pity to any of the widows and orphans, because all the people are godless and wicked and everything they say is evil. Yet even so the Lord’s anger will not be ended, but his hand will still be stretched out to punish.

¹⁸The wickedness of the people burns like a fire that destroys thorn bushes and thistles. It burns like a forest fire that sends up columns of smoke. ¹⁹Because the Lord Almighty is angry, his punishment burns like a fire throughout the land and destroys the people, and it is everyone for himself. ²⁰Everywhere in the country people snatch and eat any bit of food they can find, but their hunger is never satisfied. They even eat their own children! ²¹The people of Manasseh and the people of Ephraim attack each other, and together they attack Judah. Yet even so the Lord’s anger is not ended; his hand is still stretched out to punish.

10You are doomed! You make unjust laws that oppress my people. ²That is how you prevent the poor from having their rights and from getting justice. That is how you take the property that belongs to widows and orphans. ³What will you do when God punishes you? What will you do when he brings disaster on you from a distant country? Where will you run to find help? Where will you hide your wealth? ⁴You will be killed in battle or dragged off as prisoners. Yet even so the Lord’s anger will not be ended; his hand will still be stretched out to punish.