Isaiah 10

Chapter 10

Assyria Is God’s Instrument

¹Woe to those who ^aenact evil statutes

And to those who constantly record ¹unjust decisions,

²So as ^ato ¹deprive the needy of justice

And rob the poor of My people of their rights,

So ^bthat widows may be their spoil

And that they may plunder the ²orphans.

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

And in the devastation which will come ^cfrom afar?

^dTo whom will you flee for help?

And where will you leave your ¹wealth?

⁴Nothing remains but to crouch ¹among the ^acaptives

Or fall among the ^bslain.

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

And His hand is still stretched out.

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 commission it against the ^bpeople of My fury

To capture booty and ^cto seize plunder,

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

⁷Yet it ^adoes not so intend,

Nor does ¹it plan so in its heart,

But rather it is ²its purpose to destroy

And to cut off ³many 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 ²his haughtiness.”

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 to the riches 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 exalt itself over the one who wields it?

That would be like ^ca ¹club wielding those who lift it,

Or like a rod lifting him who is not wood.

¹⁶Therefore the Lord, the ¹God 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 ^adestroy the glory of his forest and of his fruitful garden, 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 in that day 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 the Lord, 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 ^bdestruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness.

²³For a complete destruction, one that is decreed, ^athe Lord ¹God of hosts will execute in the midst of the whole land.

²⁴Therefore thus says the Lord ¹God of hosts, “O My people who dwell in ^aZion, ^bdo not fear the Assyrian ²who ^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 be spent and My anger will be directed to their destruction.”

²⁶The Lord of hosts will ^aarouse 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 is terrified, and ^dGibeah of Saul has fled away.

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

Pay attention, Laishah and ¹wretched ^bAnathoth!

³¹Madmenah has fled.

The inhabitants of Gebim have sought refuge.

³²Yet today he will halt at ^aNob;

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

³³Behold, the Lord, the ¹God of hosts, will lop off the boughs with a terrible crash;

Those also who are ^atall in stature will be cut down

And those who are lofty will be abased.

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

And ^aLebanon will fall ¹by the Mighty One.