Isaiah 10

Chapter 10

1 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;t
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.t24 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.t28 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.t

ISAIAH 10

1 You people are in for trouble! You have made cruel and unfair laws 2 that let you cheat the poor and needy and rob widows and orphans. 3 But what will you do when you are fiercely attacked and punished by foreigners? Where will you run for help? Where will you hide your valuables?

4 How will you escape being capturedt or killed? The Lord is still angry, and he isn't through with you yet!t

The Lord's Purpose //and the King of Assyria

5  t The Lord says:
I am furious! And I will use the king of Assyriat as a club 6 to beat down you godless people. I am angry with you, and I will send him to attack you. He will take what he wants and walk on you like mud in the streets.

7 He has even bigger plans in mind, because he wants to destroy many nations.

8 The king of Assyria says:
My army commanders are kings! 9 They have already capturedt the cities of Calno, Carchemish, Hamath, Arpad, Samaria, and Damascus.

10-11 t The gods of Jerusalem and Samaria are weaker than the gods of those powerful nations. And I will destroy Jerusalem, together with its gods and idols, just as I did Samaria.
12 The Lord will do what he has planned against Jerusalem and Mount Zion. Then he will punish the proud and boastful king of Assyria,

13 who says:
I did these things by my own power because I am smart and clever. I attacked kings like a wild bull, and I took the land and the treasures of their nations.

14 I have conquered the whole world! And it was easier than taking eggs from an unguarded nest. No one even flapped a wing or made a peep.
15 King of Assyria, can an ax or a saw overpower the one who uses it? Can a wooden pole lift whoever holds it? 16 The mighty [Lord] All-Powerful will send a terrible disease to strike down your army, and you will burn with fever under your royal robes. 17 The holy God, who is the light of Israel, will turn into a fire, and in one day you will go up in flames, just like a thornbush. 18 The Lord will make your beautiful forests and fertile fields slowly rot.

19 There will be so few trees that even a young child can count them.

Only a Few //Will Come Back

23 The [Lord] All-Powerful has promised that everyone on this eartht will be punished.

24 Now the [Lord] God All-Powerful says to his people in Jerusalem:
The Assyrians will beat you with sticks and abuse you, just as the Egyptians did. But don't be afraid of them. 25 Soon I will stop being angry with you, and I will punish them for their crimes.t 26 I will beat the Assyrians with a whip, as I did the people of Midian near the rock at Oreb. And I will show the same mighty power that I used when I made a path through the sea in Egypt.

27 Then they will no longer rule your nation. All will go well for you, t and your burden will be lifted.
28 Enemy troops have reached the town of Aiath.t They have gone through Migron, and they stored their supplies at Michmash, 29 before crossing the valley and spending the night at Geba.t The people of Ramah are terrified; everyone in Gibeah, the hometown of Saul, has run away. 30 Loud crying can be heard in the towns of Gallim, Laishah, and sorrowful Anathoth. 31 No one is left in Madmenah or Gebim.

32 Today the enemy will camp at Nobt and shake a threatening fist at Mount Zion in Jerusalem.

33 But the [Lord] All-Powerful
will use his fearsome might
to bring down the tallest trees
and chop off every branch.

34 With an ax, the glorious Lord
will destroy every tree
in the forests of Lebanon.t