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Woes on the Wicked

10 Ah! Those who decree decrees of evil,
    and writers who have written harm,
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.
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,
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.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 10:2 Hebrew “claim”
  2. 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”

10 What sorrow awaits the unjust judges
    and those who issue unfair laws.
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.
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?
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.

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