Isaiah 10:5–21

⁵Ah, Assyria, the rod of my anger,

the staff of my fury!^t

⁶Against a godless nation I send him,

and against the people of my wrath I command him,

to take spoil and seize plunder,

and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

⁷But he does not so intend,

and his mind does not so think;

but it is in his mind to destroy,

and to cut off nations not a few;

⁸for he says:

“Are not my commanders all kings?

⁹Is not Calno like Carchemish?

Is not Hamath like Arpad?

Is not Samaria like Damascus?

¹⁰As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols

whose graven images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,

¹¹shall I not do to Jerusalem and her idols

as I have done to Samaria and her images?”

¹²When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem he will punish the arrogant boasting of the king of Assyria and his haughty pride. ¹³For he says:

“By the strength of my hand I have done it,

and by my wisdom, for I have understanding;

I have removed the boundaries of peoples,

and have plundered their treasures;

like a bull I have brought down those who sat on thrones.

¹⁴My hand has found like a nest

the wealth of the peoples;

and as men gather eggs that have been forsaken

so I have gathered all the earth;

and there was none that moved a wing,

or opened the mouth, or chirped.”

¹⁵Shall the axe vaunt itself over him who hews with it,

or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it?

As if a rod should wield him who lifts it,

or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!

¹⁶Therefore the Lord, the Lord of hosts,

will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors,

and under his glory a burning will be kindled,

like the burning of fire.

¹⁷The light of Israel will become a fire,

and his Holy One a flame;

and it will burn and devour

his thorns and briers in one day.

¹⁸The glory of his forest and of his fruitful land

the Lord will destroy, both soul and body,

and it will be as when a sick man wastes away.

¹⁹The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few

that a child can write them down.

²⁰In that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean upon him that smote them, but will lean upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. ²¹A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.