Yeshayah 10
Orthodox Jewish Bible
10 Woe unto them that decree unrighteous chukim, and that write decrees of oppression;
2 To turn aside the needy from their rights, and to withhold mishpat from the aniyyei Ami, that almanot may be their prey, and that they may rob the yetomim!
3 And what will ye do in the Yom Pekuddah (Day Of Visitation, Reckoning) and in the desolation which shall come from afar? To whom will ye flee for ezrah (help)? And where will ye leave your kavod (glory, riches)?
4 Without Me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His yad is upraised still.
5 O Ashur, the rod of Mine anger, in whose yad is the mateh of My wrath.
6 I will send him against a Goy Chanef, and against the people of My wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the plunder, and to tread them down like the chomer chutzot (mire of the streets).
7 But he intendeth not so, neither doth his mind so consider; but it is in his lev to make an end of Goyim not a few.
8 For he saith, Are not my sarim altogether melachim?
9 Is not Calno like Carkemish? Is not Chamat like Arpad? Is not Shomron like Damascus?
10 Just as my yad hath found the mamlechot haelil, whose pesilim (molten images) did excel them of Yerushalayim and of Shomron;
11 Shall I not, as I have done unto Shomron and her elilim, so do to Yerushalayim and her atzabim (images)?
12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when Adonoi hath performed His whole work upon Mt Tziyon and on Yerushalayim, I will punish the fruit of the proud lev of Melech Ashur, and the tiferet of his haughty eyes.
13 For he saith, By the ko’ach of my yad I have done it, and by my chochmah; for I have binah; and I have removed the boundaries of the nations, and have plundered their treasures, and like the mighty I have subdued those on thrones;
14 And my yad hath found like a ken (nest) the riches of the nations; and like one gathereth beitzim (eggs) that are left, have I gathered kol ha’aretz; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the beak, or peeped.
15 Shall the garzen (axe) boast itself against Him that cuts therewith? Or shall the masor (saw) magnify itself against Him that useth it? As if the shevet (rod) should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the matteh (staff) should lift up itself, as if it were not etz.
16 Therefore shall HaAdon Hashem Tzva’os send among his fat ones leanness; and instead of his kavod there will be kindled a burning like the blazing of eish.
17 And the Ohr Yisroel shall become an eish, and His Kadosh a flame; and shall burn and consume its thistles and its thorns in Yom Echad;
18 And shall consume the kavod of his forest and his fertile land, even to nefesh and basar; and shall be as a sick man wasting away.
19 And the remnant of the etz of his forest shall be few, that a na’ar could record them.
20 And it shall come to pass in Yom Hahu, that the remnant of Yisroel, and such as are escaped of Bais Ya’akov, shall no longer lean upon him that smote them; but shall lean upon Hashem Kadosh Yisroel be’emes.
21 The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Ya’akov, unto El Gibbor [See Isaiah 9:5(6)].
22 For though thy people Yisroel be like the chol hayam, only a remnant of them shall return; destruction is decreed, overwhelming tzedakah.
23 For Adonoi Hashem Tzva’os shall carry out kalah (destruction) decreed, even upon the kol ha’aretz.
24 Therefore thus saith Adonoi Hashem Tzva’os, O My people that dwellest in Tziyon, be not afraid of Ashur; if he strike thee with the shevet, and lift his matteh against thee, in the manner of Mitzrayim.
25 For yet a very little while, and the za’am (anger, indignation) shall pass, and Mine wrath turn for their destruction.
26 And Hashem Tzva’os shall stir up a shot (whip) for him as when He struck down Midyan at the Tzur Orev; and as His matteh was over the yam, so shall He raise it after the manner of Mitzrayim.
27 And it shall come to pass in Yom Hahu, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his ol from off thy neck, and the ol shall be broken from fatness.
28 He comes to Ayat, passes through Migron; at Michmash he hath left his supplies;
29 They are crossing the pass; they have taken up their lodging at Geva; Ramah is afraid; Givat-Sha’ul has fled.
30 Lift up thy voice, O Bat-Gallim; Listen O Layish, O poor Anatot.
31 Madmenah hurries away; the inhabitants of Gevim gather themselves to flee.
32 As yet shall he remain at Nov this very day; he shall shake his fist against the Har Bat Tziyon, the Givat Yerushalayim.
33 Hinei, HaAdon Hashem Tzva’os, shall chop the bough with great power; and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down; the haughty shall be humbled.
34 And He shall cut down the thickets of the forest with barzel (iron), and Levanon shall fall by Adir (the Majestic Mighty One, i.e., Hashem).
Isaiah 10
Complete Jewish Bible
10 Woe to those who enact unjust decrees
and draft oppressive legislation
2 to deprive the impoverished of justice
and rob my people’s poor of their rights,
looting widows and preying on orphans!
3 What will you do on the day of punishment,
when calamity comes from afar?
To whom will you flee for help?
Where will you leave your wealth,
4 so as not to squat among the prisoners
or fall among the slain?
Even after all this, his anger remains,
his upraised hand still threatens.
5 “Oh Ashur, the rod expressing my anger!
The club in their hands is my fury!
6 I am sending him against a hypocritical nation,
ordering him to march against a people who enrage me,
to take the spoil and the plunder
and trample them down like mud in the street.
7 That is not what Ashur intends,
that is not what they think;
rather, they mean to destroy,
to cut down nation after nation.
8 For [their king] says,
‘Aren’t all my commanders kings?
9 Hasn’t Kalno [suffered] like Kark’mish,
Hamat like Arpad, Shomron like Dammesek?
10 Just as my hand reached the kingdoms of non-gods,
with more images than in Yerushalayim and Shomron;
11 so won’t I do to Yerushalayim and her non-gods
what I did to Shomron and her idols?’”
12 Therefore when Adonai has done everything he intends to do to Mount Tziyon and Yerushalayim, “I will punish the king of Ashur for the boasting that comes from his proud heart and from reveling in his arrogant looks. 13 For he says,
“‘With my own strong arm I have done this,
and with my wisdom, because I’m so clever!
I erased the boundaries between peoples,
I plundered their stores for the future;
as a mighty man, I subjugated the inhabitants.
14 My hand found the riches of the peoples like a nest;
and as one gathers abandoned eggs,
I gathered the whole earth!
Not one wing fluttered,
not one beak opened or let out a chirp!’”
15 Should the axe glorify itself
over the one who chops with it?
Should the saw magnify itself
over the one who moves it?
It’s as if a stick could wave
the hand that raises it up,
or as if a wooden staff could lift
[a person, who is] not made of wood.
16 Therefore the Lord, Adonai-Tzva’ot,
will send leanness to his well-fed ones;
and in place of his glory,
a fire will be kindled that will burn and burn.
17 The light of Isra’el will become a fire
and his Holy One a flame,
burning and devouring
his thorns and briars in a single day.
18 The glory of his forest
and of his fertile land
he will consume body and soul,
like an invalid wasting away.
19 So few forest trees will remain
that a child could list them.
20 On that day the remnant of Isra’el,
those of the house of Ya‘akov who escaped,
will no longer rely
on the man who struck them down,
but will truly rely on Adonai,
the Holy One of Isra’el.
21 A remnant will return,
the remnant of Ya‘akov,
to the mighty God.
22 For, although your people, Isra’el,
are like the sand of the sea,
only a remnant of them will return.
Destruction is decreed, overflowing with justice.
23 Adonai Elohim-Tzva’ot
will bring about this decreed destruction
throughout all the land.
24 Therefore Adonai Elohim-Tzva’ot says:
“My people living in Tziyon,
don’t be afraid of Ashur,
even when he strikes you with a stick
and raises his staff against you,
the way it was in Egypt.
25 For in but a little while, my fury will end;
and my anger will have destroyed them.”
26 Adonai-Tzva’ot will wield a whip against them, as he did when striking Midyan at the Rock of ‘Orev; as his staff was over the sea, he will raise it, the way it was in Egypt.
27 On that day his burden will fall from your shoulders
and his yoke from your neck;
the yoke will be destroyed
by your prosperity.
28 He has come to ‘Ayat
and passed through Migron.
He has stored his equipment at Mikhmas.
29 They have crossed the pass,
then lodged at Geva.
Ramah is shaking,
Giv‘at-Sha’ul has fled.
30 Cry, shriek, Bat-Gallim!
Listen, Layish! Poor ‘Anatot!
31 Madmenah is in flight,
The people of Gevim take cover.
32 This very day he will stop at Nov;
and he will shake his fist
at the mountain of the daughter of Tziyon,
at the hill of Yerushalayim.
33 See how Adonai Elohim-Tzva’ot
lops off the branches with terrible violence!
The ones standing highest are chopped down,
the lofty are laid low.
34 He will hack down the forest underbrush with an axe,
and the L’vanon in its splendor falls.
Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2008, 2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.