Isaiah 10

1 Woe to those who enact unjust laws and write unfair decrees.

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

2 They deprive the needy of justice, rob the poor of my people of their rights, plunder widows, and make the fatherless their prey!

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 What will you do on judgment day when the destruction comes from far away? To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your wealth?

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

4 Nothing remains, and you crouch among the prisoners or fall among the killed. In all these things, his anger does not subside; instead, his hand is still stretched out.

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

5 Woe to the Assyrian, the club of my anger, the rod by whom I wield my fury!

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

6 I send him against an arrogant nation and against the people who bear my overflowing wrath. I order him to take the spoil, to take the prey, and to trample them like mud 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 he intends, nor does he think this way. It is in his heart to destroy and eliminate many 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 princes kings?

And if they should say to him, Thou alone art ruler;

9 Is not Kalno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like 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 overcome idolatrous kingdoms, whose carved figures were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,

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

11 just as I did to Samaria and her worthless idols, will I not also do the same to Jerusalem and to her idols?”

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

12 When the Lord has finished his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the speech of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and his prideful 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 says, “By my strength and by my wisdom I acted. I have understanding, and I have removed the boundaries of the peoples. I have stolen their treasures, and like a bull I have brought down the inhabitants.

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 My hand has seized, as from a nest, the wealth of nations, and as one gathers abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth. None fluttered their wings or opened their mouth or chirped.”

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 ax boast about itself against the one who wields it? Will the saw praise itself more than the one who cuts with it? It is as if a rod could lift up those who raise it, or as if a wooden club could lift up a person.

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 the Lord Yahweh of hosts will send emaciation among his elite warriors; and under his glory there will be kindled a burning like fire.

but the Lord of hosts shall send dishonour upon thine honour, and burning fire shall be kindled upon thy glory.

17 The light of Israel will become a fire, and his Holy One a flame; it will burn and devour his thorns and 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 Yahweh will consume the glory of his forest and of his fruitful land, both soul and body; it will be like when a sick man's life wastes away.

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 The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few, that a child could count them.

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

20 On that day, the remnant of Israel, the family of Jacob that has escaped, will no longer rely on the one who defeated them, but will indeed depend on Yahweh, 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 A remnant of Jacob will return to the mighty God.

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

22 For though your people, Israel, are like the sand of the seashore, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed, as overflowing righteousness demands.

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

23 For the Lord Yahweh of hosts, is about to carry out the destruction determined throughout 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 the Lord Yahweh of hosts says, “My people who live in Zion, do not fear the Assyrian. He will strike you with the rod and raise his staff against you, as the Egyptians did.

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

25 Do not fear him, for in a very short time my anger against you will end, and my anger will lead to his destruction.”

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

26 Then Yahweh of hosts will wield a whip against them, as when he defeated Midian at the rock of Oreb. He will raise his rod over the sea and lift it up as he did in 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 On that day, his burden is lifted from your shoulder and his yoke from off your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed because of fatness.

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

28 The enemy has come to Aiath and has passed through Migron; at Michmash he has stored his provisions.

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 crossed over the pass and they lodge at Geba. Ramah trembles and Gibeah of Saul has fled.

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

30 Cry aloud, daughter of Gallim! Give attention, Laishah! You poor Anathoth!

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

31 Madmenah is fleeing, and the inhabitants of Gebim run for safety.

Madebena also is amazed, and the inhabitants of Gibbir.

32 This very day he will halt at Nob and shake his fist at the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.

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

33 Behold, the Lord Yahweh of hosts will lop off the boughs with a terrifying crash; the tallest trees will be cut down, and the lofty will be brought low.

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 He will chop down the thickets of the forest with an ax, and Lebanon in his majesty will fall.

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