1Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees,2to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.3What will you do on the day of reckoning, when disaster comes from afar? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your riches?4Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives or fall among the slain. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.
God’s judgment on Assyria
5‘Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger, in whose hand is the club of my wrath!6I send him against a godless nation, I dispatch him against a people who anger me, to seize loot and snatch plunder, and to trample them down like mud in the streets.7But this is not what he intends, this is not what he has in mind; his purpose is to destroy, to put an end to many nations.8“Are not my commanders all kings?” he says.9“Has not Kalno fared like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad, and Samaria like Damascus?10As my hand seized the kingdoms of the idols, kingdoms whose images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria –11shall I not deal with Jerusalem and her images as I dealt with Samaria and her idols?” ’12When the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, ‘I will punish the king of Assyria for the wilful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes.13For he says: ‘ “By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, because I have understanding. I removed the boundaries of nations, I plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued[1] their kings.14As one reaches into a nest, so my hand reached for the wealth of the nations; as people gather abandoned eggs, so I gathered all the countries; not one flapped a wing, or opened its mouth to chirp.” ’15Does the axe raise itself above the person who swings it, or the saw boast against the one who uses it? As if a rod were to wield the person who lifts it up, or a club brandish the one who is not wood!16Therefore, the Lord, the Lord Almighty, will send a wasting disease upon his sturdy warriors; under his pomp a fire will be kindled like a blazing flame.17The Light of Israel will become a fire, their Holy One a flame; in a single day it will burn and consume his thorns and his briers.18The splendour of his forests and fertile fields it will completely destroy, as when one who is ill wastes away.19And the remaining trees of his forests will be so few that a child could write them down.
The remnant of Israel
20In that day the remnant of Israel, the survivors of Jacob, will no longer rely on him who struck them down but will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.21A remnant will return,[2] a remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God.22Though your people be like the sand by the sea, Israel, only a remnant will return. Destruction has been decreed, overwhelming and righteous.23The Lord, the Lord Almighty, will carry out the destruction decreed upon the whole land.24Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord Almighty, says: ‘My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrians, who beat you with a rod and lift up a club against you, as Egypt did.25Very soon my anger against you will end and my wrath will be directed to their destruction.’26The Lord Almighty will lash them with a whip, as when he struck down Midian at the rock of Oreb; and he will raise his staff over the waters, as he did in Egypt.27In that day their burden will be lifted from your shoulders, their yoke from your neck; the yoke will be broken because you have grown so fat.[3]28They enter Aiath; they pass through Migron; they store supplies at Michmash.29They go over the pass, and say, ‘We will camp overnight at Geba.’ Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul flees.30Cry out, Daughter Gallim! Listen, Laishah! Poor Anathoth!31Madmenah is in flight; the people of Gebim take cover.32This day they will halt at Nob; they will shake their fist at the mount of Daughter Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem.33See, the Lord, the Lord Almighty, will lop off the boughs with great power. The lofty trees will be felled, the tall ones will be brought low.34He will cut down the forest thickets with an axe; Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One.
Isaiah 10
English Standard Version
1Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who keep writing oppression, (Ps 94:20; Jer 8:8)2to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey! (Isa 5:23)3What will you do on the day of punishment, in the ruin that will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your wealth? (Isa 5:26; Jer 5:29; Ho 9:7; Lu 19:44)4Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners or fall among the slain. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still. (Isa 9:12)
Judgment on Arrogant Assyria
5Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger; the staff in their hands is my fury! (Isa 9:4; Isa 10:24; Mic 5:1; Mic 6:9)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. (2Ki 18:14; Isa 5:5; Isa 9:17)7But he does not so intend, and his heart does not so think; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few; (Mic 4:12)8for he says: “Are not my commanders all kings? (2Ki 18:24)9Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus? (Ge 10:10; 2Ki 16:9; 2Ki 17:6; 2Ki 18:34; 2Ki 19:12; 2Ch 35:20; Isa 7:9; Isa 11:11; Jer 46:2; Am 6:2; Zec 9:2)10As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols, whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria, (2Ki 19:17)11shall I not do to Jerusalem and her idols as I have done to Samaria and her images?” (2Ki 18:34; Isa 2:8)12When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, he[1] will punish the speech[2] of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes. (2Ki 19:31; 2Ki 19:35; Isa 29:4; Isa 30:18)13For he says: “By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding; I remove the boundaries of peoples, and plunder their treasures; like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones. (2Ki 19:22; Isa 37:23)14My hand has found like a nest the wealth of the peoples; and as one gathers 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 boast 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! (Isa 10:5; Isa 29:16; Isa 45:9; Ro 9:17)16Therefore the Lord God of hosts will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors, and under his glory a burning will be kindled, like the burning of fire. (Ps 78:31; Isa 30:33)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. (2Ki 19:35; Isa 9:14; Isa 9:18; Isa 27:4; Isa 37:23; Ob 1:18; Na 1:10)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. (Ps 107:33; Isa 2:13; Isa 10:33)19The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few that a child can write them down.
The Remnant of Israel Will Return
20In that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean on him who struck them, but will lean on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. (2Ki 16:7; 2Ki 19:14; 2Ch 28:20; Isa 2:11; Isa 4:2; Isa 10:27)21A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. (Isa 9:6)22For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness. (Isa 6:13; Isa 28:22; Ro 9:27)23For the Lord God of hosts will make a full end, as decreed, in the midst of all the earth.24Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: “O my people, who dwell in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrians when they strike with the rod and lift up their staff against you as the Egyptians did. (Ex 2:23; 2Ki 19:6; Isa 31:5)25For in a very little while my fury will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction. (Isa 17:14)26And the Lord of hosts will wield against them a whip, as when he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb. And his staff will be over the sea, and he will lift it as he did in Egypt. (Ex 14:30; Jud 7:25; 2Ki 19:35; Isa 9:4)27And in that day his burden will depart from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck; and the yoke will be broken because of the fat.”[3] (2Ki 18:14; Isa 9:4; Na 1:13)28He has come to Aiath; he has passed through Migron; at Michmash he stores his baggage; (Jud 18:21; 1Sa 14:2; 1Sa 17:22; Isa 46:1; Ac 21:15)29they have crossed over the pass; at Geba they lodge for the night; Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul has fled. (1Sa 7:17; 1Sa 11:4; 1Sa 13:16; 1Sa 13:23)30Cry aloud, O daughter of Gallim! Give attention, O Laishah! O poor Anathoth! (1Sa 25:44; Jer 1:1)31Madmenah is in flight; the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety.32This very day he will halt at Nob; he will shake his fist at the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. (1Sa 21:1; 1Sa 22:19; Isa 1:8; Isa 37:22)33Behold, the Lord God of hosts will lop the boughs with terrifying power; the great in height will be hewn down, and the lofty will be brought low. (Isa 10:18; Na 1:12)34He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an axe, and Lebanon will fall by the Majestic One. (Isa 10:33; Eze 31:3; Am 2:9)