Isaiah 9:8–10:4

The Lord’s Anger against Israel

⁸The Lord has spoken out against Jacob;

his judgment has fallen upon Israel.

⁹And the people of Israel and Samaria,

who spoke with such pride and arrogance,

will soon know it.

¹⁰They said, “We will replace the broken bricks of our ruins with finished stone,

and replant the felled sycamore-fig trees with cedars.”

¹¹But the Lord will bring Rezin’s enemies against Israel

and stir up all their foes.

¹²The Syrians from the east and the Philistines from the west

will bare their fangs and devour Israel.

But even then the Lord’s anger will not be satisfied.

His fist is still poised to strike.

¹³For after all this punishment, the people will still not repent.

They will not seek the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

¹⁴Therefore, in a single day the Lord will destroy both the head and the tail,

the noble palm branch and the lowly reed.

¹⁵The leaders of Israel are the head,

and the lying prophets are the tail.

¹⁶For the leaders of the people have misled them.

They have led them down the path of destruction.

¹⁷That is why the Lord takes no pleasure in the young men

and shows no mercy even to the widows and orphans.

For they are all wicked hypocrites,

and they all speak foolishness.

But even then the Lord’s anger will not be satisfied.

His fist is still poised to strike.

¹⁸This wickedness is like a brushfire.

It burns not only briers and thorns

but also sets the forests ablaze.

Its burning sends up clouds of smoke.

¹⁹The land will be blackened

by the fury of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

The people will be fuel for the fire,

and no one will spare even his own brother.

²⁰They will attack their neighbor on the right

but will still be hungry.

They will devour their neighbor on the left

but will not be satisfied.

In the end they will even eat their own children.

²¹Manasseh will feed on Ephraim,

Ephraim will feed on Manasseh,

and both will devour Judah.

But even then the Lord’s anger will not be satisfied.

His fist is still poised to strike.

Chapter 10

¹What sorrow awaits the unjust judges

and those who issue unfair laws.

²They deprive the poor of justice

and deny the rights of the needy among my people.

They prey on widows

and take advantage of orphans.

³What will you do when I punish you,

when I send disaster upon you from a distant land?

To whom will you turn for help?

Where will your treasures be safe?

⁴You will stumble along as prisoners

or lie among the dead.

But even then the Lord’s anger will not be satisfied.

His fist is still poised to strike.