Isaiah 10

1 Cursed are those who make evil decisions, and the writers who make the records of their cruel acts:

Woe to them that write wickedness; for when they write they do write wickedness,

2 Who do wrong to the poor in their cause, and take away the right of the crushed among my people, so that they may have the property of widows, and get under their power those who have no father.

perverting the cause of the poor, violently wresting the judgment of the needy ones of my people, that the widow may be a prey to them, and the orphan a spoil.

3 And what will you do in the day of punishment, and in the destruction which is coming from far? to whom will you go for help, and what will become of your glory?

And what will they do in the day of visitation? for affliction shall come to you from afar: and to whom will you flee for help? and where will you leave your glory,

4 ... For all this his wrath is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

that you may not fall into captivity? For all this [his] wrath is not turned away, but [his] hand is yet exalted.

5 Ho! Assyrian, the rod of my wrath, the instrument of my punishment!

Woe to the Assyrians; the rod of my wrath, and anger are in their hands.

6 I will send him against a nation of wrongdoers, and against the people of my wrath I will give him orders, to take their wealth in war, crushing them down like the dust in the streets.

I will send my wrath against a sinful nation, and I will charge my people to take plunder and spoil, and to trample the cities, and to make them dust.

7 But this is not what is in his mind, and this is not his design; but his purpose is destruction, and the cutting off of more and more nations.

But he meant not thus, neither did he devise thus in his soul: but his mind shall change, and [that] to destroy nations not a few.

8 For he says, Are not all my captains kings?

And if they should say to him, You alone are ruler;

9 Will not the fate of Calno be like that of Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus?

then shall he say, Have I not taken the country above Babylon and Chalanes, where the tower was built? and have I [not] taken Arabia, and Damascus, and Samaria?

10 As my hand has come on the kingdoms of the images, whose pictured images were more in number than those of Jerusalem and Samaria;

As I have taken them, I will also take all the kingdoms: howl, you idols in Jerusalem, and in Samaria.

11 So, as I have done to Samaria and her images, I will do to Jerusalem and her images.

For as I did to Samaria and her idols, so will I do also to Jerusalem and her idols.

12 For this cause it will be that, when the purpose of the Lord against Mount Zion and Jerusalem is complete, I will send punishment on the pride of the heart of the king of Assyria, and on the glory of his uplifted eyes.

And it shall come to pass, when the Lord shall have finished doing all things on Mount Sion and Jerusalem, [that] I will visit upon the proud heart, [even] upon the ruler of the Assyrians, and upon the boastful haughtiness of his eyes.

13 For he has said, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my knowledge, for I am wise: and I have taken away the limits of the peoples' lands, and the stores of their wealth have become mine; and I have made towns low in the dust, sending destruction on those living in them;

For he said, I will act in strength, and in the wisdom of [my] understanding I will remove the boundaries of nations, and will spoil their strength.

14 And I have put my hands on the wealth of the peoples, as on the place where a bird has put her eggs; and as a man may take the eggs from which a bird has gone, so I have taken all the earth for myself: and not a wing was moved, and not a mouth gave out a sound.

And I will shake the inhabited cities: and I will take with my hand all the world as a nest: and I will even take them as eggs that have been left; and there is none that shall escape me, or contradict me.

15 Will the axe say high-sounding words against him who is using it, or the blade be full of pride against him who is cutting with it? As if a rod had the power of shaking him who is using it, or as if a stick might take up him who is not wood.

Shall the axe glorify itself without him that hews with it? or shall the saw lift up itself without him that uses it, as if one should lift a rod or staff? but it shall not be so;

16 For this cause the Lord, the Lord of armies, will make his fat become wasted; and in his inner parts a fire will be lighted like a burning flame.

but the Lord of hosts shall send dishonor upon your honor, and burning fire shall be kindled upon your glory.

17 And the light of Israel will be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: wasting and burning up his thorns in one day.

And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and he shall sanctify him with burning fire, and it shall devour the wood as grass.

18 And he will put an end to the glory of his woods and of his planted fields, soul and body together; and it will be as when a man is wasted by disease.

In that day the mountains shall be consumed, and the hills, and the forests, and [fire] shall devour [both] soul and body: and he that flees shall be as one fleeing from burning flame.

19 And the rest of the trees of his wood will be small in number, so that a child may put them down in writing.

And they that are left of them shall be a [small] number, and a child shall write them.

20 And it will be in that day that the rest of Israel, and those of Jacob who have come safely through these troubles, will no longer go for help to him whose rod was on their back, but their faith will be in the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.

And it shall come to pass in that day [that] the remnant of Israel shall no more join themselves with, and the saved of Jacob shall no more trust in, them that injured them; but they shall trust in the Holy God of Israel, in truth.

21 The rest, even the rest of Jacob, will come back to the Strong God.

And the remnant of Jacob shall [trust] on the mighty God.

22 For though your people, O Israel, are as the sand of the sea, only a small number will come back: for the destruction is fixed, overflowing in righteousness.

And though the people of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant of them shall be saved.

23 For the Lord, the Lord of armies, is about to make destruction complete in all the land.

He will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because the Lord will make a short work in all the world.

24 For this cause the Lord, the Lord of armies, says, O my people living in Zion, have no fear of the Assyrian, even if his rod comes on your back, and his stick is lifted up as in Egypt.

Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, Be not afraid, my people who dwell in Sion, of the Assyrians, because he shall strike you with a rod: for I am bringing a stroke upon you, that [you] may see the way of Egypt.

25 For in a very short time my passion will be over, and my wrath will be turned to their destruction.

For yet a little while, and the indignation shall cease: but my wrath shall be against their council.

26 And the Lord of armies will be shaking a whip against him, as when he overcame Midian at the rock of Oreb: and his rod will be lifted up against them as it was against the Egyptians.

And God will stir up [enemies] against them, according to the stroke of Madiam in the place of affliction: and his wrath shall be by the way of the sea, [even] to the way that leads to Egypt.

27 And in that day the weight which he put on your back will be taken away, and his yoke broken from off your neck.

And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] his yoke shall be taken away from your shoulder, and his fear from you, and the yoke shall be destroyed from off your shoulders.

28 He has gone up from Pene-Rimmon, he has come to Aiath; he has gone past Migron, at Michmash he puts his forces in order.

For he shall arrive at the city of Angai, and shall pass on to Maggedo, and shall lay up his stores in Machmas.

29 They have gone across the mountain; Geba will be our resting-place tonight, they say: Ramah is shaking with fear; Gibeah of Saul has gone in flight.

And he shall pass by the valley, and shall arrive at Angai: fear shall seize upon Rama, the city of Saul.

30 Give a loud cry, daughter of Gallim; let Laishah give ear; let Anathoth give answer to her.

The daughter of Gallim shall flee; Laisa shall hear; one shall hear in Anathoth.

31 Madmenah has gone; the men of Gebim are putting their goods in a safe place.

Madebena also is amazed, and the inhabitants of Gibbir.

32 This very day he is stopping at Nob; he is shaking his hand against the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.

Exhort you [them] today to remain in the way: exhort you [beckoning] with the hand the mountain, the daughter of Sion, even you hills that are in Jerusalem.

33 See, the Lord, the Lord of armies, is cutting off his branches with a great noise, and his strong ones are falling and his high ones are coming down.

Behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, will mightily confound the glorious ones; and the haughty in pride shall be crushed, and the lofty shall be brought low:

34 And he is cutting down the thick places of the wood with an axe, and Lebanon with its tall trees is coming down.

and the lofty ones shall fall by the sword, and the Libanus shall fall with his lofty ones.