Isaiah 9:8-10:4
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
Judgment on Arrogance and Oppression
8 The Lord has sent a word against Jacob,
and it will light upon Israel;
9 and all the people will know,
E′phraim and the inhabitants of Samar′ia,
who say in pride and in arrogance of heart:
10 “The bricks have fallen,
but we will build with dressed stones;
the sycamores have been cut down,
but we will put cedars in their place.”
11 So the Lord raises adversaries[a] against them,
and stirs up their enemies.
12 The Syrians on the east and the Philistines on the west
devour Israel with open mouth.
For all this his anger is not turned away
and his hand is stretched out still.
13 The people did not turn to him who smote them,
nor seek the Lord of hosts.
14 So the Lord cut off from Israel head and tail,
palm branch and reed in one day—
15 the elder and honored man is the head,
and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail;
16 for those who lead this people lead them astray,
and those who are led by them are swallowed up.
17 Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men,
and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows;
for every one is godless and an evildoer,
and every mouth speaks folly.
For all this his anger is not turned away
and his hand is stretched out still.
18 For wickedness burns like a fire,
it consumes briers and thorns;
it kindles the thickets of the forest,
and they roll upward in a column of smoke.
19 Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts
the land is burned,
and the people are like fuel for the fire;
no man spares his brother.
20 They snatch on the right, but are still hungry,
and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied;
each devours his neighbor’s[b] flesh,
21 Manas′seh E′phraim, and E′phraim Manas′seh,
and together they are against Judah.
For all this his anger is not turned away
and his hand is stretched out still.
10 Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees,
and the writers who keep writing oppression,
2 to 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!
3 What will you do on the day of punishment,
in the storm which will come from afar?
To whom will you flee for help,
and where will you leave your wealth?
4 Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners
or fall among the slain.
For all this his anger is not turned away
and his hand is stretched out still.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 9:11 Cn: Heb the adversaries of Rezin
- Isaiah 9:20 Tg Compare Gk: Heb the flesh of his arm
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.