Isaiah 9:8–10:4

God Answered Fire with Fire

^8–10The Master sent a message against Jacob.

It landed right on Israel’s doorstep.

All the people soon heard the message,

Ephraim and the citizens of Samaria.

But they were a proud and arrogant bunch.

They dismissed the message, saying,

“Things aren’t that bad.

We can handle anything that comes.

If our buildings are knocked down,

we’ll rebuild them bigger and finer.

If our forests are cut down,

we’ll replant them with finer trees.”

^11–12So God incited their adversaries against them,

stirred up their enemies to attack:

From the east, Arameans; from the west, Philistines.

They made hash of Israel.

But even after that, he was still angry,

his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.

^13–17But the people paid no mind to him who hit them,

didn’t seek God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

So God hacked off Israel’s head and tail,

palm branch and reed, both on the same day.

The big-head elders were the head,

the lying prophets were the tail.

Those who were supposed to lead this people

led them down blind alleys,

And those who followed the leaders

ended up lost and confused.

That’s why the Master lost interest in the young men,

had no feeling for their orphans and widows.

All of them were godless and evil,

talking filth and folly.

And even after that, he was still angry,

his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.

^18–21Their wicked lives raged like an out-of-control fire,

the kind that burns everything in its path—

Trees and bushes, weeds and grasses—

filling the skies with smoke.

God-of-the-Angel-Armies answered fire with fire,

set the whole country on fire,

Turned the people into consuming fires,

consuming one another in their lusts—

Appetites insatiable, stuffing and gorging

themselves left and right with people and things.

But still they starved. Not even their children

were safe from their rapacious hunger.

Manasseh ate Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh,

and then the two ganged up against Judah.

And after that, he was still angry,

his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.

You Who Legislate Evil

^1–410Doom to you who legislate evil,

who make laws that make victims—

Laws that make misery for the poor,

that rob my destitute people of dignity,

Exploiting defenseless widows,

taking advantage of homeless children.

What will you have to say on Judgment Day,

when Doomsday arrives out of the blue?

Who will you get to help you?

What good will your money do you?

A sorry sight you’ll be then, huddled with the prisoners,

or just some corpses stacked in the street.

Even after all this, God is still angry,

his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.