Isaiah 10

CHAPTER 10

¹Woe to those who ^aenact evil statutes

And to those who constantly record ¹mischief,

²So as ^ato turn the poor away from their cause

And rob the afflicted of My people of their justice,

So ^bthat widows may be their spoil

And that they may plunder the ¹orphans.

³Now ^awhat will you do in the ^bday of visitation,

And in the devastation which will come ^cfrom afar?

^dTo whom will you flee for help?

And where will you leave your ¹glory?

⁴Nothing remains but to crouch ¹among the ^acaptives

Or fall ²among those ^bkilled.

^cIn spite of all this, His anger does not turn back

And His hand is still stretched out.

Yahweh’s Anger with Assyria’s Arrogance

⁵Woe to ^aAssyria, the ^brod of My anger

And the staff in whose hands is ^cMy indignation,

⁶I send it against a ^agodless nation

And command it against the ^bpeople of My fury

To capture spoil and ^cto seize plunder,

And to ¹trample them down like ^dmud in the streets.

⁷But it ^adoes not intend to act in this way,

And it does not think in its heart in this way,

Rather, what is in its heart is to destroy

And to cut off ¹many nations.

⁸For it says, “Are not my princes ¹all kings?

⁹“Is not ^aCalno like ^bCarchemish,

Or ^cHamath like Arpad,

Or ^dSamaria like ^eDamascus?

¹⁰“As my hand has reached to the ^akingdoms of the idols,

Whose graven images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,

¹¹Shall I not ¹do to Jerusalem and her images

Just as I have done to Samaria and ^aher idols?”

¹²So it will be that when the Lord has completed all His ^awork on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, “I will ¹punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and ^bthe pomp of his eyes which are raised high.”

¹³For ^ahe has said,

“By the power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this,

For I have understanding;

And I ^bremoved the boundaries of the peoples

And plundered their treasures,

And like a mighty man I brought down ¹their inhabitants,

¹⁴And my hand reached for the wealth of the peoples like a ^anest,

And as one gathers abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth;

And there was not one that flapped its wing or opened its beak or chirped.”

¹⁵Is the ^aaxe to ^bboast itself over the one who chops with it?

Is the saw to magnify itself over the one who wields it?

That would be like ^ca rod wielding those who lift it,

Or like ^da staff lifting him who is not wood.

¹⁶Therefore the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, will send a ^awasting disease among his ^bstout warriors;

And under his ^cglory a fire will be kindled like a burning flame.

¹⁷And the ^alight of Israel will become a fire and his ^bHoly One a flame,

And it will ^cburn and devour his thorns and his briars in a single day.

¹⁸And He will ^abring to an end the glory of his forest and of his fruitful orchard, both soul and body,

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

¹⁹And the ^arest of the trees of his forest will be so small in number

That a child could write them down.

A Remnant Will Return

²⁰Now it will be in that day, that the ^aremnant of Israel and those of the house of Jacob ^bwho have escaped, will never again rely on the one who struck them, but will truly ^crely on Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel.

²¹A ^aremnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the ^bmighty God.

²²For ^athough your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea,

Only a remnant within them will return;

A ^bdestructive end is decreed, overflowing with righteousness.

²³For a complete destruction, one that is decreed, ^aLord Yahweh of hosts will do in the midst of the whole land.

²⁴Therefore thus says Lord Yahweh of hosts, “O My people who inhabit ^aZion, ^bdo not fear the Assyrian ¹who ^cstrikes you with the rod and lifts up his staff against you, the way Egypt did.

²⁵“For in a very ^alittle while ^bMy indignation against you will end and My anger will be directed to their destruction.”

²⁶And Yahweh of hosts will ^awaken a scourge against him like the slaughter of ^bMidian at the rock of Oreb; and His ^cstaff will be over the sea and He will lift it up ^dthe way He did in Egypt.

²⁷So it will be in that day, that ¹his ^aburden will be removed from your shoulders and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be broken because ^bof fatness.

²⁸He has come against Aiath,

He has passed through ^aMigron;

At ^bMichmash he deposited his ^cbaggage.

²⁹They have gone through ^athe pass, saying,

“^bGeba will be our lodging place.”

^cRamah trembles, and ^dGibeah of Saul has fled away.

³⁰Cry aloud with your voice, O daughter of ^aGallim!

Pay attention, Laishah and ¹afflicted ^bAnathoth!

³¹Madmenah has fled.

The inhabitants of Gebim have sought refuge.

³²Yet today he will stand at ^aNob;

He ^bshakes his fist at the mountain of the ^1cdaughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.

³³Behold, the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, will lop off the boughs with a terrible crash;

Those also who are ^ahigh in stature will be cut in pieces

And those who are lofty will be made low.

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

And ^aLebanon will fall ¹by the Mighty One.