Isaiah 10
Lexham English Bible
Woes on the Wicked
10 Ah! Those who decree decrees of evil,
and writers who have written harm,
2 to guide the needy away from legal claims,[a]
and to rob the justice from the poor of my people,
to make widows their spoil;
and they plunder orphans.
3 And what will you do at the day of punishment,
and at calamity? It comes from afar!
To whom will you flee for help,
and where will you leave your wealth,
4 save that they bow down under the prisoners
and fall under the slain?[b]
In all of this his anger has not turned away,
and still his hand is stretched out.
Judgment on Assyria’s Arrogance
5 Ah! Assyria, the rod of my anger,
and a staff is in their hand: my wrath!
6 I send him against a godless nation,
and I command him against the people of my wrath,
to capture spoil
and to carry off plunder,
and to make them[c] a trampling place,
like the clay of the streets.
7 But he does not think this,[d]
and his heart does not plan this.
For it is in his heart to destroy
and to cut off not a few nations.
8 For he says, “Are not my commanders altogether kings?
9 Is not Calno like Carchemish?
Is not Hamath like Arpad?
Is not Samaria like Damascus?
10 As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols[e]
—and their images were greater than those of[f] Jerusalem and Samaria—
11 shall I not do to Jerusalem and its idols
what I have done to Samaria and her idols?”
12 And this shall happen: when the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion[g] and Jerusalem, “I will punish the arrogance[h] of the king of Assyria and his haughtiness.”[i]
13 For he says,
“I have done it by the strength of my hand
and by my wisdom, for I have understanding,
and I have removed the boundaries of peoples,
and I have plundered their stores,
and like a bull I have brought down the inhabitants.[j]
14 And my hand has found, like a nest, the wealth of the peoples,
and like the gathering of forsaken eggs, I myself have gathered all the earth.
And there was no fluttering wing or open mouth or chirp.”
15 Does the ax boast against the one who cuts with it,
or the saw magnify itself against the one who moves it to and fro?
As if a rod should move the one who lifts it![k]
As if a staff should lift up that which is not wood![l]
16 Therefore the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, will send leanness among his sturdy warriors,
and a burning like the burning of fire will burn under his glory.
17 And the light of Israel will become like a fire,
and his holy one like a flame,
and it will burn and devour his thorns[m] and briers[n] in one day.
18 And he will destroy the glory of his forest and orchard completely,[o]
and it will be like the wasting away of one who is sick.
19 And the rest of the trees[p] of his forest will be a small number,
and a boy can write them down.
The Return of the Remnant
20 And this shall happen: on that day, the remnant of Israel and the survivors[q] of the house of Jacob will not continue to lean on the one who struck it
but will lean on Yahweh, the holy one of Israel, in truth.
21 A remnant will return—
the remnant of Jacob—to the mighty God.
22 For though your people Israel was like the sand of the sea,
only a remnant of it will return.
Annihilation is determined,
overflowing with righteousness.
23 For the Lord Yahweh of hosts is about to make a complete destruction
and a determined end in the midst of all the earth.
24 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh of hosts:
“My people who live in Zion,
you must not be afraid of Assyria.
It beats you with the rod,
and it lifts up its staff against you as the Egyptians did.[r]
25 My indignation will come to an end in just a very little while,[s]
and my anger will be directed to their destruction.”
26 And Yahweh of hosts is going to swing a whip against him,
as when Midian was defeated at the rock of Oreb;
and his staff will be over the sea,
and he will lift him up as he did in Egypt.[t]
27 And this shall happen: on that day,
he will remove his burden from your shoulder
and his yoke from your neck,
and a yoke will be destroyed because of fat.[u]
28 He has come to Aiath,
he has passed through Migron;
at Micmash he deposited his baggage.
29 They crossed over the pass;
Geba is a place of overnight lodging for us.
Ramah trembles;
Gibeah of Saul has fled.
30 Daughter of Gallim, cry out with your voice;
Laishah, listen!
Anathoth is poor.[v]
31 Madmenah flees!
The inhabitants of Gebim bring themselves into safety!
32 This day[w] taking a stand[x] at Nob,
he will shake his fist at the mountain of the daughter[y] of Zion,
at the hill of Jerusalem.
33 Look! The Lord Yahweh of hosts is about to lop off the branches[z] with great power,
and the towering trees[aa] will be felled,
and the tall trees[ab] will be brought low.
34 And he will cut down the thickets of the forest with the axe,
and Lebanon will fall by the mighty one.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 10:2 Hebrew “claim”
- Isaiah 10:4 Literally “except he will bow down under a prisoner and under slain they will fall”; “under” could also mean “in the place of”
- Isaiah 10:6 Hebrew “him”
- Isaiah 10:7 Or “so”
- Isaiah 10:10 Hebrew “idol”
- Isaiah 10:10 Literally “from”
- Isaiah 10:12 Literally “the mountain of Zion”
- Isaiah 10:12 Literally “fruit of the greatness of the heart”
- Isaiah 10:12 Literally “the pride of the height of his eyes”
- Isaiah 10:13 Or, “those sitting,” that is, rulers sitting on thrones
- Isaiah 10:15 Literally “As a rod waving even the one who lifts it up”
- Isaiah 10:15 Literally “As a staff lifting up not wood”
- Isaiah 10:17 Hebrew “thorn”
- Isaiah 10:17 Hebrew “brier”
- Isaiah 10:18 Literally “from soul and to body”
- Isaiah 10:19 Hebrew “tree”
- Isaiah 10:20 Hebrew “survivor”
- Isaiah 10:24 Literally “in the way of Egypt”
- Isaiah 10:25 Literally “for still a little a trifle”
- Isaiah 10:26 Literally “in the way of Egypt”
- Isaiah 10:27 The meaning of this phrase is uncertain, leading to the conjecture that it belongs with the next verse and by a different word division could mean “he has gone up from Jeshimon”; alternatively, “fat” could be a metaphor for prosperity
- Isaiah 10:30 Or with different vocalization, “Answer her, Anathoth!” which fits the parallelism better
- Isaiah 10:32 Literally “Yet today”
- Isaiah 10:32 Literally “to stand”
- Isaiah 10:32 Following the reading tradition (Qere); the consonantal text has “house”
- Isaiah 10:33 Hebrew “branch”
- Isaiah 10:33 Literally “the haughty of the height”
- Isaiah 10:33 Literally “height”
Isaiah 10
American Standard Version
10 Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and to the writers that write perverseness; 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 And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory? 4 [a]They shall only bow down under the prisoners, and shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
5 [b]Ho Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, the staff in whose hand is mine indignation! 6 I will send him against a profane nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and [c]to tread them down like the mire of the streets. 7 Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few. 8 For he saith, Are not my princes all of them kings? 9 Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus? 10 As my hand hath [d]found the kingdoms of the idols, whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria; 11 shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?
12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, that, when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will [e]punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks. 13 For he hath said, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I have understanding: and I have removed the bounds of the peoples, and have robbed their treasures, and like a valiant man I have brought down [f]them that sit on thrones: 14 and my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the peoples; and as one gathereth eggs that are forsaken, have I gathered all the earth: and there was none that moved the wing, or that opened the mouth, or chirped.
15 Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? shall the saw magnify itself against him that wieldeth it? as if a rod should wield them that lift it up, or as if a staff should lift up him that is not wood. 16 Therefore will the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and [g]under his glory there shall be kindled a burning like the burning of fire. 17 And the light of Israel will be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame; and it will burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day. 18 And he will consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and it shall be [h]as when a standard-bearer fainteth. 19 And the remnant of the trees of his forest shall be few, so that a child may write them.
20 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and they that are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again lean upon him that smote them, but shall lean upon Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. 21 [i]A remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God. 22 For though thy people, Israel, be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant [j]of them shall return: a destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness. 23 For a full end, and that determined, will the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, make in the midst of all the [k]earth.
24 Therefore thus saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of [l]the Assyrian, though he smite thee with the rod, and lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt. 25 For yet a very little while, and the indignation against thee shall be accomplished, and mine anger shall be directed to his destruction. 26 And Jehovah of hosts will stir up against him a scourge, as in the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and [m]his rod will be over the sea, and he will lift it up after the manner of Egypt. 27 And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall depart from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed by reason of [n]fatness.
28 He is come to Aiath, he is passed through Migron; at Michmash he layeth up his baggage; 29 they are gone over the pass; [o]they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramah trembleth; Gibeah of Saul is fled. 30 Cry aloud with thy voice, O daughter of Gallim! hearken, O Laishah! O thou poor Anathoth! 31 Madmenah is a fugitive; the inhabitants of Gebim [p]flee for safety. 32 This very day shall he halt at Nob: he shaketh his hand at the mount of the [q]daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.
33 Behold, the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, will lop the boughs with terror: and the high of stature shall be hewn down, and the lofty shall be brought low. 34 And he will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 10:4 Or, Without me they shall bow down etc.
- Isaiah 10:5 Or, Woe to Asshur
- Isaiah 10:6 Hebrew to make them a treading down.
- Isaiah 10:10 Or, reached
- Isaiah 10:12 Hebrew visit upon.
- Isaiah 10:13 Or, the inhabitants
- Isaiah 10:16 Or, instead of
- Isaiah 10:18 Or, as when a sick man pineth away
- Isaiah 10:21 Hebrew shear jashub. See 7:3.
- Isaiah 10:22 Hebrew in it.
- Isaiah 10:23 Or, land
- Isaiah 10:24 Hebrew Asshur.
- Isaiah 10:26 Or, as his rod was over the sea, so shall he etc.
- Isaiah 10:27 Hebrew oil.
- Isaiah 10:29 Or, Geba is our lodging, they cry
- Isaiah 10:31 Or, make their households flee
- Isaiah 10:32 Another reading is, house.
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