Isaiah 10

1 Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;

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

2 To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!

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 ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave 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 Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger 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 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.

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

6 I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of 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 Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.

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 saith, Are not my princes altogether kings?

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

9 Is not Calno as 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 hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria;

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

11 Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?

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

12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.

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 saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man:

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 my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.

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 Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no 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 Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of Armies, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire.

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 shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers 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 shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and they shall be as when a standardbearer fainteth.

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 forest shall be few, that a child may write them.

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

20 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon Yhwh, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.

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 remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.

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

22 For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with 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 Yhwh of Armies shall make a consumption, even determined, in the midst of 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 Therefore thus saith the Lord Yhwh of Armies, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of 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 yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction.

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

26 And Yhwh of Armies shall stir up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and as his rod was upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt.

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 it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.

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 is come to Aiath, he is passed to Migron; at Michmash he hath laid up his carriages:

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 are gone over the passage: they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramah is afraid; Gibeah of Saul is fled.

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

30 Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim: cause it to be heard unto Laish, O poor Anathoth.

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

31 Madmenah is removed; the inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to flee.

Madebena also is amazed, and the inhabitants of Gibbir.

32 As yet shall he remain at Nob that day: he shall shake his hand against the mount 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 Behold, the Lord, Yhwh of Armies, shall lop the bough with terror: and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled.

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 shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.

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