Isaiah 10:5–15

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!