Isaiah 10:5–13

God Will Punish Assyria

⁵God says, “How terrible it will be for the king of Assyria.

I use him like a rod to show my anger;

in anger I use Assyria like a club.

⁶I send it to fight against a nation that is separated from God.

I am angry with those people,

so I command Assyria to fight against them,

to take their wealth from them,

to trample them down like dirt in the streets.

⁷But Assyria’s king doesn’t understand that I am using him;

he doesn’t know he is a tool for me.

He only wants to destroy other people

and to defeat many nations.

⁸The king of Assyria says to himself,

‘All of my commanders are like kings.

⁹The city Calno is like the city Carchemish.

The city Hamath is like the city Arpad.

The city Samaria is like the city Damascus.

¹⁰I defeated those kingdoms that worship idols,

and those idols were more than the idols of Jerusalem and Samaria.

¹¹As I defeated Samaria and her idols,

I will also defeat Jerusalem and her idols.’ ”

¹²When the Lord finishes doing what he planned to Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will punish Assyria. The king of Assyria is very proud, and his pride has made him do these evil things, so God will punish him. ¹³The king of Assyria says this:

“By my own power I have done these things;

by my wisdom I have defeated many nations.

I have taken their wealth,

and, like a mighty one, I have taken their people.