Isaiah 10:5-19
Expanded Bible
God Will Punish Assyria
5 God says, “·How terrible it will be for the king of Assyria [L Woe to Assyria].
·I use him like a rod to show my anger […the rod of my anger];
in ·anger [my wrath/fury] I use Assyria like a club.
6 I send ·it [or him; C the king of Assyria] to fight against a godless nation [C Judah; see v. 10].
I ·command [order; dispatch] ·Assyria [L it; or him] to fight against the people ·with whom I am angry [L of my wrath].
to ·take their wealth from them [L plunder the plunder and loot the loot],
to trample them down like dirt in the streets.
7 But Assyria’s king doesn’t ·understand that I am using him [intend to do this];
·he [L his heart] doesn’t ·know he is a tool for me [think/reason this way].
He only wants to destroy other people
and to ·defeat [L cut off] many nations.
8 The king of Assyria says to himself,
‘All of my ·commanders [princes] are like kings
9 The city Calno is like the city Carchemish.
The city Hamath is like the city Arpad.
The city Samaria is like the city Damascus [C all city-states conquered by Assyria].
10 ·I defeated [L My hand has found/seized] those kingdoms that worship idols,
and those ·idols [carved images] were ·more [greater] than the idols of Jerusalem and Samaria.
11 As I ·defeated [L have done to] Samaria and her idols,
·I will also defeat [L shall I also do to…?] Jerusalem and her idols.’”
12 When the Lord finishes doing what he planned to Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will punish the king of Assyria for ·his proud heart and evil deeds [L the fruit of his great/exalted heart and glory of his haughty/high eyes]. 13 The king of Assyria says this:
“By ·my own power [L the strength of my hand] I have done these things;
by my wisdom ·and careful planning [L because I have understanding] I have ·defeated many [L removed the boundaries/borders of] nations.
I have ·taken their wealth [plundered their treasures],
and, like a ·mighty one [or bull], I have ·taken their people [or defeated their kings; L removed the sitting ones; C referring to those inhabiting the land or to kings on thrones].
14 ·I have taken [L My hand has found] the riches of all these people,
like a person reaching into a bird’s nest.
I have ·taken [gathered] these nations,
like a person ·taking [L gathering abandoned] eggs.
Not one ·raised a hand [L flapped a wing]
or opened its mouth to ·stop me [L chirp].”
15 ·An ax is not better than [L Does an ax exalt itself above…?] the person who swings it.
·A saw is not better than […or a saw over…?] the one who uses it.
A ·stick [rod; or scepter] cannot control the person who picks it up.
A club cannot pick up ·the person [L one who is not wood; or as if it were not made of wood]!
16 So the Lord God ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts]
will send ·a terrible disease [L leanness; emaciation] upon Assyria’s ·soldiers [strong/stout/fat ones].
·The strength of Assyria will be burned up [L Under his glory a fire will be lit]
like a fire burning.
17 The Light of Israel [C God], will be like a fire;
the Holy One [1:4] will be like a flame.
He will be like a fire
that ·suddenly [L in one day] burns and ·consumes [devours] the weeds and thorns.
18 The fire burns away the ·great [glorious] trees and rich farmlands,
destroying everything.
It will be like a sick person who wastes away.
19 The trees left standing will be so few
that even a child could count them.
Isaiah 10:5-19
Amplified Bible
5
Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger [against Israel],
The staff in whose hand is My indignation and fury [against Israel’s disobedience]!
6
I send Assyria against a godless nation
And commission it against the people of My wrath
To take the spoil and to seize the plunder,
And to trample them down like mud in the streets.
7
Yet it is not Assyria’s intention [to do My will],
Nor does it plan so in its heart,
But instead it is its purpose to destroy
And to cut off many nations.
8
For Assyria says, “Are not my princes all kings?
9
“Is not Calno [conquered] like Carchemish [on the Euphrates]?
Is not Hamath [subdued] like Arpad [her neighbor]?
Is not Samaria [in Israel] like Damascus [in Aram]?
10
“As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols,
Whose carved images were greater and more feared than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11
Shall I not do to Jerusalem and her images
Just as I have done to Samaria and her idols?” [declares Assyria].
12 So when the Lord has completed all His work [of judgment] on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the fruit [the thoughts, the declarations, and the actions] of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the haughtiness of his pride.” 13 For the Assyrian king has said,
“I have done this by the power of my [own] hand and by my wisdom,
For I have understanding and skill.
I have removed the boundaries of the peoples
And have plundered their treasures;
Like a bull I have brought down those who sat on thrones.
14
“My hand has found the wealth of the people like a nest,
And as one gathers eggs that are abandoned, so I have gathered all the earth;
And there was not one that flapped its wing, or that opened its beak and chirped.”
15
Is the axe able to lift itself over the one who chops with it?
Is the saw able to magnify itself over the one who wields it?
That would be like a club moving those who lift it,
Or like a staff raising him who is not [made of] wood [like itself]!
16
Therefore the Lord, the God of hosts, will send a wasting disease among the stout warriors of Assyria;
And under his glory a fire will be kindled like a burning flame.
17
And the Light of Israel will become a fire and His Holy One a flame,
And it will [a]burn and devour Assyria’s thorns and briars in a single day.(A)
18
The Lord will consume the glory of Assyria’s forest and of its fruitful garden, both soul and body,
And it will be as when a sick man wastes away.
19
And the remaining trees of Assyria’s forest will be so few in number
That a child could write them down.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 10:17 During a single night this prophecy was fulfilled (2 Kin 19:35).
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
