Isaiah 10

10Woe^s to those who make unjust laws,

to those who issue oppressive decrees,^t

²to deprive^u the poor of their rights

and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people,^v

making widows their prey

and robbing the fatherless.^w

³What will you do on the day of reckoning,^x

when disaster^y comes from afar?

To whom will you run for help?^z

Where will you leave your riches?

⁴Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives^a

or fall among the slain.^b

Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,^c

his hand is still upraised.

God’s Judgment on Assyria

⁵“Woe^d to the Assyrian,^e the rod^f of my anger,

in whose hand is the club^g of my wrath!^h

⁶I send him against a godlessⁱ nation,

I dispatch^j him against a people who anger me,^k

to seize loot and snatch plunder,^l

and to trample^m them down like mud in the streets.

⁷But this is not what he intends,ⁿ

this is not what he has in mind;

his purpose is to destroy,

to put an end to many nations.

⁸‘Are not my commanders^o all kings?’ he says.

⁹‘Has not Kalno^p fared like Carchemish?^q

Is not Hamath^r like Arpad,^s

and Samaria^t like Damascus?^u

¹⁰As my hand seized the kingdoms of the idols,^v

kingdoms whose images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria—

¹¹shall I not deal with Jerusalem and her images

as I dealt with Samaria and her idols?^w’ ”

¹²When the Lord has finished all his work^x against Mount Zion^y and Jerusalem, he will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria^z for the willful pride^a of his heart and the haughty look^b in his eyes. ¹³For he says:

“ ‘By the strength of my hand^c I have done this,^d

and by my wisdom, because I have understanding.

I removed the boundaries of nations,

I plundered their treasures;^e

like a mighty one I subdued^a their kings.^f

¹⁴As one reaches into a nest,^g

so my hand reached for the wealth^h of the nations;

as people gather abandoned eggs,

so I gathered all the countries;ⁱ

not one flapped a wing,

or opened its mouth to chirp.^j’ ”

¹⁵Does the ax raise itself above the person who swings it,

or the saw boast against the one who uses it?^k

As if a rod were to wield the person who lifts it up,

or a club^l brandish the one who is not wood!

¹⁶Therefore, the Lord, the Lord Almighty,

will send a wasting disease^m upon his sturdy warriors;ⁿ

under his pomp^o a fire^p will be kindled

like a blazing flame.

¹⁷The Light of Israel will become a fire,^q

their Holy One^r a flame;

in a single day it will burn and consume

his thorns^s and his briers.^t

¹⁸The splendor of his forests^u and fertile fields

it will completely destroy,^v

as when a sick person wastes away.

¹⁹And the remaining trees of his forests^w will be so few^x

that a child could write them down.

The Remnant of Israel

²⁰In that day^y the remnant of Israel,

the survivors^z of Jacob,

will no longer rely^a on him

who struck them down^b

but will truly rely^c on the Lord,

the Holy One of Israel.^d

²¹A remnant^e will return,^bf a remnant of Jacob

will return to the Mighty God.^g

²²Though your people be like the sand^h by the sea, Israel,

only a remnant will return.ⁱ

Destruction has been decreed,^j

overwhelming and righteous.

²³The Lord, the Lord Almighty, will carry out

the destruction decreed^k upon the whole land.^l

²⁴Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord Almighty, says:

“My people who live in Zion,^m

do not be afraidⁿ of the Assyrians,

who beat^o you with a rod^p

and lift up a club against you, as Egypt did.

²⁵Very soon^q my anger against you will end

and my wrath^r will be directed to their destruction.^s”

²⁶The Lord Almighty will lash^t them with a whip,

as when he struck down Midian^u at the rock of Oreb;

and he will raise his staff^v over the waters,^w

as he did in Egypt.

²⁷In that day^x their burden^y will be lifted from your shoulders,

their yoke^z from your neck;^a

the yoke^b will be broken

because you have grown so fat.^c

²⁸They enter Aiath;

they pass through Migron;^c

they store supplies^d at Mikmash.^e

²⁹They go over the pass, and say,

“We will camp overnight at Geba.^f”

Ramah^g trembles;

Gibeah^h of Saul flees.ⁱ

³⁰Cry out, Daughter Gallim!^j

Listen, Laishah!

Poor Anathoth!^k

³¹Madmenah is in flight;

the people of Gebim take cover.

³²This day they will halt at Nob;^l

they will shake their fist^m

at the mount of Daughter Zion,ⁿ

at the hill of Jerusalem.

³³See, the Lord, the Lord Almighty,

will lop off^o the boughs with great power.

The lofty trees will be felled,^p

the tall^q ones will be brought low.^r

³⁴He will cut down^s the forest thickets with an ax;

Lebanon^t will fall before the Mighty One.^u