Isaiah 10
Legacy Standard Bible
10 Woe to those who (A)enact evil statutes
And to those who constantly record [a]mischief,
2 So as (B)to turn the poor away from their cause
And rob the afflicted of My people of their justice,
So (C)that widows may be their spoil
And that they may plunder the [b]orphans.
3 Now (D)what will you do in the (E)day of visitation,
And in the devastation which will come (F)from afar?
(G)To whom will you flee for help?
And where will you leave your [c]glory?
4 Nothing remains but to crouch [d]among the (H)captives
Or fall [e]among those (I)killed.
(J)In spite of all this, His anger does not turn back
And His hand is still stretched out.
Yahweh’s Anger with Assyria’s Arrogance
5 Woe to (K)Assyria, the (L)rod of My anger
And the staff in whose hands is (M)My indignation,
6 I send it against a (N)godless nation
And command it against the (O)people of My fury
To capture spoil and (P)to seize plunder,
And to [f]trample them down like (Q)mud in the streets.
7 But it (R)does not intend to act in this way,
And it does not think in its heart in this way,
Rather, what is in its heart is to destroy
And to cut off [g]many nations.
8 For it says, “Are not my princes [h]all kings?
9 Is not (S)Calno like (T)Carchemish,
Or (U)Hamath like Arpad,
Or (V)Samaria like (W)Damascus?
10 As my hand has reached to the (X)kingdoms of the idols,
Whose graven images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11 Shall I not [i]do to Jerusalem and her images
Just as I have done to Samaria and (Y)her idols?”
12 So it will be that when the Lord has completed all His (Z)work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, “I will [j]punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and (AA)the pomp of his eyes which are raised high.” 13 For (AB)he has said,
“By the power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this,
For I have understanding;
And I (AC)removed the boundaries of the peoples
And plundered their treasures,
And like a mighty man I brought down [k]their inhabitants,
14 And my hand reached for the wealth of the peoples like a (AD)nest,
And as one gathers abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth;
And there was not one that flapped its wing or opened its beak or chirped.”
15 Is the (AE)axe to (AF)boast itself over the one who chops with it?
Is the saw to magnify itself over the one who wields it?
That would be like (AG)a rod wielding those who lift it,
Or like (AH)a staff lifting him who is not wood.
16 Therefore the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, will send a (AI)wasting disease among his (AJ)stout warriors;
And under his (AK)glory a fire will be kindled like a burning flame.
17 And the (AL)light of Israel will become a fire and his (AM)Holy One a flame,
And it will (AN)burn and devour his thorns and his briars in a single day.
18 And He will (AO)bring to an end the glory of his forest and of his fruitful orchard, both soul and body,
And it will be as when a sick man wastes away.
19 And the (AP)rest of the trees of his forest will be so small in number
That a child could write them down.
A Remnant Will Return
20 Now it will be in that day, that the (AQ)remnant of Israel and those of the house of Jacob (AR)who have escaped, will never again rely on the one who struck them, but will truly (AS)rely on Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel.
21 A (AT)remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the (AU)mighty God.
22 For (AV)though your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea,
Only a remnant within them will return;
A (AW)destructive end is decreed, overflowing with righteousness.
23 For a complete destruction, one that is decreed, (AX)Lord Yahweh of hosts will do in the midst of the whole land.
24 Therefore thus says Lord Yahweh of hosts, “O My people who inhabit (AY)Zion, (AZ)do not fear the Assyrian [l]who (BA)strikes you with the rod and lifts up his staff against you, the way Egypt did. 25 For in a very (BB)little while (BC)My indignation against you will end and My anger will be directed to their destruction.” 26 And Yahweh of hosts will (BD)waken a scourge against him like the slaughter of (BE)Midian at the rock of Oreb; and His (BF)staff will be over the sea and He will lift it up (BG)the way He did in Egypt. 27 So it will be in that day, that [m]his (BH)burden will be removed from your shoulders and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be broken because (BI)of fatness.
28 He has come against Aiath,
He has passed through (BJ)Migron;
At (BK)Michmash he deposited his (BL)baggage.
29 They have gone through (BM)the pass, saying,
“(BN)Geba will be our lodging place.”
(BO)Ramah trembles, and (BP)Gibeah of Saul has fled away.
30 Cry aloud with your voice, O daughter of (BQ)Gallim!
Pay attention, Laishah and [n]afflicted (BR)Anathoth!
31 Madmenah has fled.
The inhabitants of Gebim have sought refuge.
32 Yet today he will stand at (BS)Nob;
He (BT)shakes his fist at the mountain of the [o](BU)daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.
33 Behold, the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, will lop off the boughs with a terrible crash;
Those also who are (BV)high in stature will be cut in pieces
And those who are lofty will be made low.
34 He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an iron axe,
And (BW)Lebanon will fall [p]by the Mighty One.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 10:1 Or trouble
- Isaiah 10:2 Or fatherless
- Isaiah 10:3 Or wealth
- Isaiah 10:4 Lit under
- Isaiah 10:4 Lit under
- Isaiah 10:6 Lit make them a trampled place
- Isaiah 10:7 Lit not a few
- Isaiah 10:8 Lit altogether
- Isaiah 10:11 Lit do thus
- Isaiah 10:12 Or visit
- Isaiah 10:13 Or those who sit on thrones
- Isaiah 10:24 Lit he
- Isaiah 10:27 The Assyrian
- Isaiah 10:30 One ancient version Answer her, O Anathoth
- Isaiah 10:32 Or house of
- Isaiah 10:34 Or as a mighty one
Isaiah 10
New Living Translation
10 What sorrow awaits the unjust judges
and those who issue unfair laws.
2 They deprive the poor of justice
and deny the rights of the needy among my people.
They prey on widows
and take advantage of orphans.
3 What will you do when I punish you,
when I send disaster upon you from a distant land?
To whom will you turn for help?
Where will your treasures be safe?
4 You will stumble along as prisoners
or lie among the dead.
But even then the Lord’s anger will not be satisfied.
His fist is still poised to strike.
Judgment against Assyria
5 “What sorrow awaits Assyria, the rod of my anger.
I use it as a club to express my anger.
6 I am sending Assyria against a godless nation,
against a people with whom I am angry.
Assyria will plunder them,
trampling them like dirt beneath its feet.
7 But the king of Assyria will not understand that he is my tool;
his mind does not work that way.
His plan is simply to destroy,
to cut down nation after nation.
8 He will say,
‘Each of my princes will soon be a king.
9 We destroyed Calno just as we did Carchemish.
Hamath fell before us as Arpad did.
And we destroyed Samaria just as we did Damascus.
10 Yes, we have finished off many a kingdom
whose gods were greater than those in Jerusalem and Samaria.
11 So we will defeat Jerusalem and her gods,
just as we destroyed Samaria with hers.’”
12 After the Lord has used the king of Assyria to accomplish his purposes on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, he will turn against the king of Assyria and punish him—for he is proud and arrogant. 13 He boasts,
“By my own powerful arm I have done this.
With my own shrewd wisdom I planned it.
I have broken down the defenses of nations
and carried off their treasures.
I have knocked down their kings like a bull.
14 I have robbed their nests of riches
and gathered up kingdoms as a farmer gathers eggs.
No one can even flap a wing against me
or utter a peep of protest.”
15 But can the ax boast greater power than the person who uses it?
Is the saw greater than the person who saws?
Can a rod strike unless a hand moves it?
Can a wooden cane walk by itself?
16 Therefore, the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
will send a plague among Assyria’s proud troops,
and a flaming fire will consume its glory.
17 The Lord, the Light of Israel, will be a fire;
the Holy One will be a flame.
He will devour the thorns and briers with fire,
burning up the enemy in a single night.
18 The Lord will consume Assyria’s glory
like a fire consumes a forest in a fruitful land;
it will waste away like sick people in a plague.
19 Of all that glorious forest, only a few trees will survive—
so few that a child could count them!
Hope for the Lord’s People
20 In that day the remnant left in Israel,
the survivors in the house of Jacob,
will no longer depend on allies
who seek to destroy them.
But they will faithfully trust the Lord,
the Holy One of Israel.
21 A remnant will return;[a]
yes, the remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God.
22 But though the people of Israel are as numerous
as the sand of the seashore,
only a remnant of them will return.
The Lord has rightly decided to destroy his people.
23 Yes, the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
has already decided to destroy the entire land.[b]
24 So this is what the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, says: “O my people in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrians when they oppress you with rod and club as the Egyptians did long ago. 25 In a little while my anger against you will end, and then my anger will rise up to destroy them.” 26 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies will lash them with his whip, as he did when Gideon triumphed over the Midianites at the rock of Oreb, or when the Lord’s staff was raised to drown the Egyptian army in the sea.
27 In that day the Lord will end the bondage of his people.
He will break the yoke of slavery
and lift it from their shoulders.[c]
28 Look, the Assyrians are now at Aiath.
They are passing through Migron
and are storing their equipment at Micmash.
29 They are crossing the pass
and are camping at Geba.
Fear strikes the town of Ramah.
All the people of Gibeah, the hometown of Saul,
are running for their lives.
30 Scream in terror,
you people of Gallim!
Shout out a warning to Laishah.
Oh, poor Anathoth!
31 There go the people of Madmenah, all fleeing.
The citizens of Gebim are trying to hide.
32 The enemy stops at Nob for the rest of that day.
He shakes his fist at beautiful Mount Zion, the mountain of Jerusalem.
33 But look! The Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
will chop down the mighty tree of Assyria with great power!
He will cut down the proud.
That lofty tree will be brought down.
34 He will cut down the forest trees with an ax.
Lebanon will fall to the Mighty One.[d]
Footnotes
- 10:21 Hebrew Shear-jashub; see 7:3; 8:18.
- 10:22-23 Greek version reads only a remnant of them will be saved. / For he will carry out his sentence quickly and with finality and righteousness; / for God will carry out his sentence upon all the world with finality. Compare Rom 9:27-28.
- 10:27 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads The yoke will be broken, / for you have grown so fat.
- 10:34 Or with an ax / as even the mighty trees of Lebanon fall.
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