Isaiah 10-14

English Standard Version

10 Woe to those who ^(A)decree iniquitous decrees,
    and the writers who ^(B)keep writing oppression,
² to turn aside the needy from justice
    and ^(C)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 ^(D)the day of punishment,
    in the ruin that will come ^(E)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.
^(F)For all this his anger has not turned away,
    and his hand is stretched out still.

“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.
¹⁴ My 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.”

¹⁵ Shall ^(Z)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!
¹⁶ Therefore the Lord God of hosts
    will send wasting sickness among his ^(AA)stout warriors,
and under his glory ^(AB)a burning will be kindled,
    like the burning of fire.
^17 (AC)The light of Israel will become a fire,
    and ^(AD)his Holy One a flame,
and ^(AE)it will burn and devour
    his thorns and briers ^(AF)in one day.
¹⁸ The glory of ^(AG)his forest and of his ^(AH)fruitful land
    the Lord will destroy, both soul and body,
    and it will be as when a sick man wastes away.
¹⁹ The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few
    that a child can write them down.

²⁸ He has come to Aiath;
he has passed through ^(BA)Migron;
    at Michmash he stores ^(BB)his baggage;
²⁹ they have crossed over ^(BC)the pass;
    at ^(BD)Geba they lodge for the night;
^(BE)Ramah trembles;
    ^(BF)Gibeah of Saul has fled.
³⁰ Cry aloud, O daughter of ^(BG)Gallim!
    Give attention, O Laishah!
    O poor ^(BH)Anathoth!
³¹ Madmenah is in flight;
    the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety.
³² This very day he will halt at ^(BI)Nob;
    he will shake his fist
    at the mount of ^(BJ)the daughter of Zion,
    the hill of Jerusalem.

³³ Behold, the Lord God of hosts
    ^(BK)will lop ^(BL)the boughs with terrifying power;
the great in height will be hewn down,
    and the lofty will be brought low.
³⁴ He will cut down ^(BM)the thickets of the forest with an axe,
    and ^(BN)Lebanon will fall by the Majestic One.

^6 (BY)The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
    and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
    and a little child shall lead them.
⁷ The cow and the bear shall graze;
    their young shall lie down together;
    and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
⁸ The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
    and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.
^9 (BZ)They shall not hurt or destroy
    in all ^(CA)my holy mountain;
^(CB)for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

¹² He will raise ^(CO)a signal for the nations
    and will assemble ^(CP)the banished of Israel,
and gather the dispersed of Judah
    from the four corners of the earth.
^13 (CQ)The jealousy of Ephraim shall depart,
    and those who harass Judah shall be cut off;
Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah,
    and Judah shall not harass Ephraim.
^14 (CR)But they shall swoop down on the shoulder of the Philistines in the west,
    and together they shall plunder ^(CS)the people of the east.
They shall put out their hand ^(CT)against ^(CU)Edom and ^(CV)Moab,
    and ^(CW)the Ammonites shall obey them.
¹⁵ And the Lord will utterly destroy^{[e]
    (CX)}the tongue of the Sea of Egypt,
and will wave his hand over ^(CY)the River^[f]
    with his scorching breath,^[g]
and strike it into seven channels,
    and he will lead people across in sandals.
¹⁶ And there will be ^(CZ)a highway from Assyria
    for the remnant that remains of his people,
^(DA)as there was for Israel
    when they came up from the land of Egypt.

² “Behold, God is my salvation;
    I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for ^(DD)the Lord God^[i] is my strength and my song,
    and he has become my salvation.”

^(DG)“Give thanks to the Lord,
    call upon his name,
^(DH)make known his deeds among the peoples,
    proclaim ^(DI)that his name is exalted.

^5 (DJ)“Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously;
    let this be made known^[k] in all the earth.
⁶ Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,
    for great ^(DK)in your^[l] midst is ^(DL)the Holy One of Israel.”

² On a bare hill ^(DO)raise a signal;
    cry aloud to them;
wave the hand for ^(DP)them to enter
    the gates of the nobles.
³ I myself have commanded my consecrated ones,
    and have summoned my mighty men to execute my anger,
    my proudly exulting ones.^[m]

⁴ The sound ^(DQ)of a tumult is on the mountains
    as of a great multitude!
The sound of an uproar of kingdoms,
    of nations gathering together!
^(DR)The Lord of hosts is mustering
    a host for battle.
^5 (DS)They come from a distant land,
    from the end of the heavens,
the Lord and the weapons of his indignation,
    to destroy the whole land.^[n]

^6 (DT)Wail, for ^(DU)the day of the Lord is near;
    as destruction from the Almighty^[o] it will come!
⁷ Therefore all hands will be feeble,
    and every human heart ^(DV)will melt.
⁸ They will be dismayed:
    ^(DW)pangs and agony will seize them;
    ^(DX)they will be in anguish like a woman in labor.
They will look aghast at one another;
    their faces will be aflame.

⁹ Behold, ^(DY)the day of the Lord comes,
    cruel, with wrath and fierce anger,
to make the land a desolation
    and ^(DZ)to destroy its sinners from it.
^10 (EA)For the stars of the heavens and their constellations
    will not give their light;
^(EB)the sun will be dark at its rising,
    and the moon will not shed its light.
¹¹ I will punish ^(EC)the world for its evil,
    and the wicked for their iniquity;
I will ^(ED)put an end to the pomp of the arrogant,
    ^(EE)and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless.
¹² I will make ^(EF)people more rare than fine gold,
    and mankind than the ^(EG)gold of Ophir.
¹³ Therefore ^(EH)I will make the heavens tremble,
    and the earth will be shaken out of its place,
at the wrath of the Lord of hosts
    in the day of his fierce anger.
¹⁴ And like a hunted gazelle,
    or like sheep with none to gather them,
^(EI)each will turn to his own people,
    and each will flee to his own land.
¹⁵ Whoever is found will be thrust through,
    and whoever is caught will fall by the sword.
^16 (EJ)Their infants will be dashed in pieces
    before their eyes;
their houses will be plundered
    and their wives ravished.

¹⁷ Behold, ^(EK)I am stirring up the Medes against them,
    who have no regard for silver
    and do not delight in gold.
^18 (EL)Their bows will slaughter^[p] the young men;
    they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb;
    their eyes will not pity children.
¹⁹ And Babylon, ^(EM)the glory of kingdoms,
    the splendor and pomp of the Chaldeans,
will be ^(EN)like Sodom and Gomorrah
    when God overthrew them.
^20 (EO)It will never be inhabited
    or lived in for all generations;
no ^(EP)Arab will pitch his tent there;
    no ^(EQ)shepherds will make their flocks lie down there.
²¹ But ^(ER)wild animals will lie down there,
    and their houses will be full of howling creatures;
there ^(ES)ostriches^[q] will dwell,
    and there wild goats will dance.
²² Hyenas^[r] will cry in its towers,
    and ^(ET)jackals in ^(EU)the pleasant palaces;
its time is close at hand
    and its days will not be prolonged.

“How the oppressor has ceased,
    ^(FD)the insolent fury^[t] ceased!
⁵ The Lord has broken the ^(FE)staff of the wicked,
    the ^(FF)scepter of rulers,
^6 (FG)that struck the peoples in wrath
    with unceasing blows,
that ruled the nations in anger
    with unrelenting persecution.
⁷ The whole earth is at rest and quiet;
    ^(FH)they break forth into singing.
^8 (FI)(FJ)The cypresses rejoice at you,
    ^(FK)the cedars of Lebanon, saying,
‘Since you were laid low,
    no woodcutter comes up against us.’
⁹ Sheol beneath is stirred up
    to meet you when you come;
it rouses the shades to greet you,
    all who were leaders of the earth;
it raises from their thrones
    all who were kings of the nations.
^10 (FL)All of them will answer
    and say to you:
‘You too have become as weak as we!
    You have become like us!’
¹¹ Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,
    the sound of your harps;
maggots are laid as a bed beneath you,
    and worms are your covers.

¹² “How ^(FM)you are fallen from heaven,
    O Day Star, ^(FN)son of Dawn!
How you are cut down to the ground,
    you who laid the nations low!
¹³ You said in your heart,
    ^(FO)‘I will ascend to heaven;
above the stars of God
    ^(FP)I will set my throne on high;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
    in the far reaches of the north;^[u]
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
    I will make myself like the Most High.’
^15 (FQ)But you are brought down to Sheol,
    to the far reaches of the pit.
¹⁶ Those who see you will stare at you
    and ponder over you:
‘Is this ^(FR)the man who made the earth tremble,
    who shook kingdoms,
¹⁷ who made the world like a desert
    and overthrew its cities,
    ^(FS)who did not let his prisoners go home?’
¹⁸ All the kings of the nations lie in glory,
    each in his own tomb;^[v]
19 but you are cast out, away from your grave,
    like a loathed branch,
^(FT)clothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword,
    who go down to the stones of the pit,
    like a dead body trampled underfoot.
²⁰ You will not be joined with them in burial,
    because you have destroyed your land,
    you have slain your people.

“May ^(FU)the offspring of evildoers
    nevermore be named!
²¹ Prepare slaughter for his sons
    ^(FV)because of the guilt of their fathers,
lest they rise and possess the earth,
    and fill the face of the world with cities.”

²⁶ This is the purpose that is purposed
    concerning the whole earth,
and this is ^(GD)the hand that is stretched out
    over all the nations.
^27 (GE)For the Lord of hosts has purposed,
    and who will annul it?
^(GF)His hand is stretched out,
    and who will turn it back?

²⁹ Rejoice not, ^(GI)O Philistia, all of you,
    that ^(GJ)the rod that struck you is broken,
for from the serpent's root will come forth an adder,
    and its fruit will be a ^(GK)flying fiery serpent.
³⁰ And the firstborn of ^(GL)the poor will graze,
    and ^(GM)the needy lie down in safety;
but I will kill your root with famine,
    and your remnant it will slay.
^31 (GN)Wail, O ^(GO)gate; cry out, O city;
    melt in fear, ^(GP)O Philistia, all of you!
^(GQ)For smoke comes out of the north,
    and there is no straggler in his ranks.

³² What will one answer the messengers of the nation?
^(GR)“The Lord has founded Zion,
    and in her the afflicted of his people find refuge.”