IsaiahChapter 10

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¹How terrible for those who make unfair laws
and write orders that crush people! ²They keep the poor from being treated fairly.
They take away justice from my people who are crushed.
They hunt down widows like prey.
They rob children who have no parents. ³What will you do on the day God punishes you,
when ruin comes from far away?
Who will you run to for help?
Where will you leave your riches? ⁴All you can do is bend down among the prisoners
or fall among the dead.
Even after all this, his anger has not turned away.
His hand is still raised to strike. ⁵"How terrible for Assyria, the rod of my anger!
The club in their hands is my fury. ⁶I send him against a godless nation.
I send him against a people I am angry with.
I send him to take what they own and grab their riches.
He will stomp them down like mud in the streets. ⁷But this is not what he means to do.
This is not his plan.
For in his heart he wants to destroy
and wipe out many nations. ⁸He says, 'Aren't all my commanders kings? ⁹Isn't Calno like Carchemish?
Isn't Hamath like Arpad?
Isn't Samaria like Damascus? ¹⁰My hand took hold of kingdoms full of idols.
Their idols were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria. ¹¹I did that to Samaria and its idols.
So won't I do the same to Jerusalem and her idols?'" ¹²The Lord will finish all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem. Then he will say, "I will punish the king of Assyria for the proud things his heart has done. I will punish him for the proud look in his eyes. ¹³For he says,
'I did this by the strength of my hand
and by my wisdom, because I am smart.
I took away the borders of nations.
I stole their treasures.
Like a mighty one, I brought down their rulers. ¹⁴My hand reached out to grab the riches of the nations,
as if reaching into a nest.
People gather eggs that have been left behind.
In the same way, I gathered up the whole earth.
No wing flapped.
No beak opened to chirp.'" ¹⁵Can an ax brag that it is greater
than the person who swings it?
Can a saw brag against the one who uses it?
That would be like a rod waving the person who lifts it!
It would be like a wooden stick lifting up a man! ¹⁶So the Lord GOD of Hosts
will send a wasting sickness on Assyria's strong warriors.
Under his glory a fire will be lit,
like a burning flame. ¹⁷The Light of Israel will become a fire.
Israel's Holy One will become a flame.
In one day it will burn up
Assyria's thorns and thistles. ¹⁸It will totally destroy the glory of its forests and orchards,
both soul and body.
It will be like a sickness that wastes a man away. ¹⁹So few trees will be left in his forests
that a child could count them. ²⁰On that day the people of Israel who are left,
the survivors of the house of Jacob,
will no longer lean on the one who struck them.
They will truly trust in the LORD,
the Holy One of Israel. ²¹A few who are left will return.
Those left from Jacob will return
to the Mighty God. ²²Israel, your people may be as many
as the sand by the sea.
But only a few who are left will return.
Destruction has been decided on.
It will overflow with what is right. ²³For the Lord GOD of Hosts will carry out
the destruction he has decided on
against the whole land. ²⁴So this is what the Lord GOD of Hosts says:
"My people who live in Zion,
don't be afraid of Assyria.
They hit you with a rod.
They raise a club against you,
as the Egyptians did. ²⁵For in just a little while
my anger against you will end.
Then my anger will turn to destroy them." ²⁶The LORD of Hosts will swing a whip against them.
He will strike them as he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb.
He will raise his staff over the sea,
as he did in Egypt. ²⁷On that day the heavy load
will be lifted from your shoulders.
The yoke will be taken off your neck.
The yoke will break
because your neck will be too big for it. ²⁸Assyria has come into Aiath.
They have passed through Migron.
They store their supplies at Michmash. ²⁹They have crossed at the shallow place in the river.
They say, "We will spend the night at Geba."
Ramah shakes with fear.
Gibeah of Saul runs away. ³⁰Cry out loud, Daughter of Gallim!
Listen, Laishah!
Poor Anathoth! ³¹Madmenah runs away.
The people of Gebim hide for safety. ³²This very day they will stop at Nob.
They will shake their fists
at the mountain of Daughter Zion,
at the hill of Jerusalem. ³³Look! The Lord GOD of Hosts
will chop off the branches with terrible power.
The tall trees will be cut down.
The high ones will be brought low. ³⁴He will cut down the thick forest with an ax.
Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One.