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10 How terrible it will be for those who make unfair laws,
    and those who write laws that make life hard for people.
They are not fair to the poor,
    and they rob my people of their rights.
They allow people to steal from widows
    and to take from orphans what really belongs to them.
How will you explain the things you have done?
    What will you do when your destruction comes from far away?
Where will you run for help?
    Where will you hide your riches then?
You will have to bow down among the captives
    or fall down among the dead bodies.
But the Lord is still angry;
    his hand is still raised to strike down the people.

God Will Punish Assyria

God says, “How terrible it will be for the king of Assyria.
    I use him like a rod to show my anger;
    in anger I use Assyria like a club.
I send it to fight against a nation that is separated from God.
    I am angry with those people,
    so I command Assyria to fight against them,
to take their wealth from them,
    to trample them down like dirt in the streets.
But Assyria’s king doesn’t understand that I am using him;
    he doesn’t know he is a tool for me.
He only wants to destroy other people
    and to defeat many nations.
The king of Assyria says to himself,
    ‘All of my commanders are like kings.
The city Calno is like the city Carchemish.
    The city Hamath is like the city Arpad.
    The city Samaria is like the city Damascus.
10 I defeated those kingdoms that worship idols,
    and those idols were more than the idols of Jerusalem and Samaria.
11 As I defeated Samaria and her idols,
    I will also defeat Jerusalem and her idols.’”

12 When the Lord finishes doing what he planned to Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will punish Assyria. The king of Assyria is very proud, and his pride has made him do these evil things, so God will punish him. 13 The king of Assyria says this:

“By my own power I have done these things;
    by my wisdom I have defeated many nations.
I have taken their wealth,
    and, like a mighty one, I have taken their people.
14 I have taken the riches of all these people,
    like a person reaching into a bird’s nest.
I have taken these nations,
    like a person taking eggs.
Not one raised a hand
    or opened its mouth to stop me.”

15 An ax is not better than the person who swings it.
    A saw is not better than the one who uses it.
A stick cannot control the person who picks it up.
    A club cannot pick up the person!
16 So the Lord God All-Powerful
    will send a terrible disease upon Assyria’s soldiers.
The strength of Assyria will be burned up
    like a fire burning until everything is gone.
17 God, the Light of Israel, will be like a fire;
    the Holy One will be like a flame.
He will be like a fire
    that suddenly burns the weeds and thorns.
18 The fire burns away the great trees and rich farmlands,
    destroying everything.
    It will be like a sick person who wastes away.
19 The trees left standing will be so few
    that even a child could count them.

20 At that time some people will be left alive in Israel
    from the family of Jacob.
They will not continue to depend
    on the person who defeated them.
They will learn truly to depend on the Lord,
    the Holy One of Israel.
21 Those who are left alive in Jacob’s family
    will again follow the powerful God.
22 Israel, your people are many,
    like the grains of sand by the sea.
    But only a few of them will be left alive to return to the Lord.
God has announced that he will destroy the land
    completely and fairly.
23 The Lord God All-Powerful will certainly destroy this land,
    as he has announced.

24 This is what the Lord God All-Powerful says:

“My people living in Jerusalem,
    don’t be afraid of the Assyrians,
who beat you with a rod
    and raise a stick against you, as Egypt did.
25 After a short time my anger against you will stop,
    and then I will turn my anger to destroying them.”

26 Then the Lord All-Powerful will beat the Assyrians with a whip
    as he defeated Midian at the rock of Oreb.
He will raise his stick over the waters
    as he did in Egypt.
27 Then the troubles that Assyria puts on you
    will be removed,
and the load they make you carry
    will be taken away.

Assyria Invades Israel

28 The army of Assyria will enter near Aiath.
    Its soldiers will walk through Migron.
    They will store their food in Micmash.
29 The army will go over the pass.
    The soldiers will sleep at Geba.
The people of Ramah will be afraid,
    and the people at Gibeah of Saul will run away.
30 Cry out, Bath Gallim!
    Laishah, listen!
    Poor Anathoth!
31 The people of Madmenah are running away;
    the people of Gebim are hiding.
32 This day the army will stop at Nob.
    They will shake their fist at Mount Zion,
    at the hill of Jerusalem.

33 Watch! The Lord God All-Powerful
    with his great power will chop them down like a great tree.
Those who are great will be cut down;
    those who are important will fall to the ground.
34 He will cut them down
    as a forest is cut down with an ax.
And the great trees of Lebanon
    will fall by the power of the Mighty One.

10 Woe(A) to those who make unjust laws,
    to those who issue oppressive decrees,(B)
to deprive(C) the poor of their rights
    and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people,(D)
making widows their prey
    and robbing the fatherless.(E)
What will you do on the day of reckoning,(F)
    when disaster(G) comes from afar?
To whom will you run for help?(H)
    Where will you leave your riches?
Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives(I)
    or fall among the slain.(J)

Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,(K)
    his hand is still upraised.

God’s Judgment on Assyria

“Woe(L) to the Assyrian,(M) the rod(N) of my anger,
    in whose hand is the club(O) of my wrath!(P)
I send him against a godless(Q) nation,
    I dispatch(R) him against a people who anger me,(S)
to seize loot and snatch plunder,(T)
    and to trample(U) them down like mud in the streets.
But this is not what he intends,(V)
    this is not what he has in mind;
his purpose is to destroy,
    to put an end to many nations.
‘Are not my commanders(W) all kings?’ he says.
    ‘Has not Kalno(X) fared like Carchemish?(Y)
Is not Hamath(Z) like Arpad,(AA)
    and Samaria(AB) like Damascus?(AC)
10 As my hand seized the kingdoms of the idols,(AD)
    kingdoms whose images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria—
11 shall I not deal with Jerusalem and her images
    as I dealt with Samaria and her idols?(AE)’”

12 When the Lord has finished all his work(AF) against Mount Zion(AG) and Jerusalem, he will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria(AH) for the willful pride(AI) of his heart and the haughty look(AJ) in his eyes. 13 For he says:

“‘By the strength of my hand(AK) I have done this,(AL)
    and by my wisdom, because I have understanding.
I removed the boundaries of nations,
    I plundered their treasures;(AM)
    like a mighty one I subdued[a] their kings.(AN)
14 As one reaches into a nest,(AO)
    so my hand reached for the wealth(AP) of the nations;
as people gather abandoned eggs,
    so I gathered all the countries;(AQ)
not one flapped a wing,
    or opened its mouth to chirp.(AR)’”

15 Does the ax raise itself above the person who swings it,
    or the saw boast against the one who uses it?(AS)
As if a rod were to wield the person who lifts it up,
    or a club(AT) brandish the one who is not wood!
16 Therefore, the Lord, the Lord Almighty,
    will send a wasting disease(AU) upon his sturdy warriors;(AV)
under his pomp(AW) a fire(AX) will be kindled
    like a blazing flame.
17 The Light of Israel will become a fire,(AY)
    their Holy One(AZ) a flame;
in a single day it will burn and consume
    his thorns(BA) and his briers.(BB)
18 The splendor of his forests(BC) and fertile fields
    it will completely destroy,(BD)
    as when a sick person wastes away.
19 And the remaining trees of his forests(BE) will be so few(BF)
    that a child could write them down.

The Remnant of Israel

20 In that day(BG) the remnant of Israel,
    the survivors(BH) of Jacob,
will no longer rely(BI) on him
    who struck them down(BJ)
but will truly rely(BK) on the Lord,
    the Holy One of Israel.(BL)
21 A remnant(BM) will return,[b](BN) a remnant of Jacob
    will return to the Mighty God.(BO)
22 Though your people be like the sand(BP) by the sea, Israel,
    only a remnant will return.(BQ)
Destruction has been decreed,(BR)
    overwhelming and righteous.
23 The Lord, the Lord Almighty, will carry out
    the destruction decreed(BS) upon the whole land.(BT)

24 Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord Almighty, says:

“My people who live in Zion,(BU)
    do not be afraid(BV) of the Assyrians,
who beat(BW) you with a rod(BX)
    and lift up a club against you, as Egypt did.
25 Very soon(BY) my anger against you will end
    and my wrath(BZ) will be directed to their destruction.(CA)

26 The Lord Almighty will lash(CB) them with a whip,
    as when he struck down Midian(CC) at the rock of Oreb;
and he will raise his staff(CD) over the waters,(CE)
    as he did in Egypt.
27 In that day(CF) their burden(CG) will be lifted from your shoulders,
    their yoke(CH) from your neck;(CI)
the yoke(CJ) will be broken
    because you have grown so fat.[c]

28 They enter Aiath;
    they pass through Migron;(CK)
    they store supplies(CL) at Mikmash.(CM)
29 They go over the pass, and say,
    “We will camp overnight at Geba.(CN)
Ramah(CO) trembles;
    Gibeah(CP) of Saul flees.(CQ)
30 Cry out, Daughter Gallim!(CR)
    Listen, Laishah!
    Poor Anathoth!(CS)
31 Madmenah is in flight;
    the people of Gebim take cover.
32 This day they will halt at Nob;(CT)
    they will shake their fist(CU)
at the mount of Daughter Zion,(CV)
    at the hill of Jerusalem.

33 See, the Lord, the Lord Almighty,
    will lop off(CW) the boughs with great power.
The lofty trees will be felled,(CX)
    the tall(CY) ones will be brought low.(CZ)
34 He will cut down(DA) the forest thickets with an ax;
    Lebanon(DB) will fall before the Mighty One.(DC)

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 10:13 Or treasures; / I subdued the mighty,
  2. Isaiah 10:21 Hebrew shear-jashub (see 7:3 and note); also in verse 22
  3. Isaiah 10:27 Hebrew; Septuagint broken / from your shoulders