Isaiah 10
10
1How terrible it will be for the lawmakers who write evil laws.
They write laws that make life hard for people.
2They are not fair to the poor.
They rob my people of their rights.
They allow people to steal from widows
and to take from orphans what they should get.
3Lawmakers, how will you explain the things you have done?
What will you do when your destruction comes from far away?
Where will you run for help?
Where will you hide your money and your riches then?
4You will have to bow down among the captives.
You will fall down among the dead bodies.
But the Lord is still angry.
His hand is still raised to strike down the people.
God Will Punish Assyria
5God says, “How terrible it will be for the king of Assyria.
I use him like a stick.
In anger I use Assyria like a club.
6I send it to fight against a nation that is separated from God.
I am angry with those people.
So I command Assyria to fight against them.
Assyria will take their wealth from them.
Judah will become like dirt for them to walk on in the streets.
7But Assyria’s king doesn’t understand that I am using him.
He doesn’t know he is a tool for me.
He only wants to destroy other people.
He plans to destroy many nations.
8The king of Assyria says to himself,
‘All of my commanders are like kings.
9The city Calno is like the city Carchemish.
And the city Hamath is like the city Arpad.
The city Samaria is like the city Damascus.
10I defeated those kingdoms that worship idols.
And those idols were more than the idols of Jerusalem and Samaria.
11I defeated Samaria and her idols.
So I will also defeat Jerusalem and her idols.’”
12The Lord will finish doing what he planned to Mount Zion and Jerusalem. Then he will punish Assyria. The king of Assyria is very proud. His pride made him do these bad things. So God will punish him. 13The king of Assyria says this:
“By my own power I have done these things.
By my wisdom I have defeated many nations.
I have taken their wealth.
And like a mighty one, I have taken their people.
14I have taken the riches of all these people,
like one who reaches into a bird’s nest.
I have taken these nations,
like a person taking eggs.
No one raised a hand against me.
No one opened his mouth to stop me.”
15An ax is not better than the person who swings it.
A saw is not better than the person who uses it.
A stick cannot control the person who picks it up.
A club cannot pick up the person!
16So the Master, the Lord of heaven’s armies,
will send a terrible disease against Assyria’s soldiers.
The strength of Assyria will be burned up.
It will be like a fire burning until everything is gone.
17God, the Light of Israel, will be like a fire.
The Holy One will be like a flame.
He will be like a fire
that suddenly burns the weeds and thorns.
18The fire burns away the great trees and rich farmlands.
It will destroy everything.
Things will be like a sick man who wastes away.
19Only a few trees will be left standing.
There will be so few even a child will be able to count them.
20At that time some people will be left alive in Israel
from the family of Jacob.
They will not continue to depend
on the person who defeated them.
They will learn truly to depend on the Lord,
the Holy One of Israel.
21The people who are left alive in Jacob’s family
will again follow the powerful God.
22Israel, your people are very many.
They are like the grains of sand by the sea.
But only a few of them will be left alive to return to the Lord.
God has announced that he will destroy the land
completely and fairly.
23The Master, the Lord of heaven’s armies, will certainly destroy this land.
He will destroy it as he has announced.
24This is what the Master, the Lord of heaven’s armies, says:
“My people living in Jerusalem,
don’t be afraid of the Assyrians.
They beat you with a rod.
They raise a stick to hurt you, as Egypt did.
25But after a short time my anger will stop.
Then I will turn my anger to destroying them.”
26Then the Lord of heaven’s armies will beat the Assyrians with a whip.
He will defeat them as he defeated Midian at the rock of Oreb.
He will raise his stick over the waters
as he did in Egypt.
27Then the troubles that Assyria puts on you
will be removed.
The load they make you carry
will be taken away.
Assyria Invades Israel
28The army of Assyria will enter near Aiath.
They will walk through Migron.
They will store their food in Micmash.
29The army will go over the pass.
They will sleep at Geba.
The people of Ramah will be afraid.
The people at Gibeah of Saul will run away.
30Cry out, Bath Gallim!
Laishah, listen!
Poor Anathoth!
31The people of Madmenah are running away.
The people of Gebim are hiding.
32This day the army will stop at Nob.
And the army will shake their fist at Mount Zion,
at the hill of Jerusalem.
33Watch! The Master, the Lord of heaven’s armies,
will chop them down like a great tree.
He will do this with his great power.
Those who are great will be cut down.
Those who are important will fall to the ground.
34The Lord will cut them down
as a forest is cut down with an ax.
And the great trees of Lebanon
will fall by the power of the Mighty One.
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Isaiah 10: ICB
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Isaiah 10
10
1You people are in for trouble! You have made cruel and unfair laws 2that let you cheat the poor and needy and rob widows and orphans. 3But 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? 4How will you escape being captured#10.4 escape being captured: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. or killed? The Lord is still angry, and he isn't through with you yet!#10.4 and he … yet: Or “but he hasn't given up on you yet!”
The Lord's Purpose and the King of Assyria
5 #
Is 14.24-27; Nh 1.1—3.19; Zep 2.13-15. The Lord says:
I am furious! And I will use the king of Assyria#10.5 king of Assyria: Probably King Sennacherib who invaded Israel in 701 b.c. as a club 6to 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. 7He has even bigger plans in mind, because he wants to destroy many nations.
8The king of Assyria says:
My army commanders are kings! 9They have already captured#10.9 already captured: Calno (in northern Syria), Carchemish (on the Euphrates River), Hamath (on the Orontes River), Arpad (near Aleppo in northern Syria), Samaria, and Damascus had already been captured by Assyrian kings (738–717 b.c.). the cities of Calno, Carchemish, Hamath, Arpad, Samaria, and Damascus. 10-11#3 Macc 2.18. 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.
12The Lord will do what he has planned against Jerusalem and Mount Zion. Then he will punish the proud and boastful king of Assyria, 13who 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. 14I 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.
15King of Assyria, can an ax or a saw overpower the one who uses it? Can a wooden pole lift whoever holds it? 16The mighty Lord All-Powerful will send a terrible disease to strike down your army, and you will burn with fever under your royal robes. 17The 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. 18The Lord will make your beautiful forests and fertile fields slowly rot. 19There will be so few trees that even a young child can count them.
Only a Few Will Come Back
20A time is coming when the survivors from Israel and Judah will completely depend on the holy Lord of Israel, instead of the nation#10.20 nation: That is, Assyria. that defeated them. 21-22#Ro 9.27,28. There were as many people as there are grains of sand along the seashore, but only a few will survive to come back to Israel's mighty God. This is because he has threatened to destroy their nation, just as they deserve. 23The Lord All-Powerful has promised that everyone on this earth#10.23 on this earth: Or “in this land.” will be punished.
24Now 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. 25Soon I will stop being angry with you, and I will punish them for their crimes.#10.25 punish … crimes: Or “completely destroy them.” 26I 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. 27Then they will no longer rule your nation. All will go well for you,#10.27 All … you: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. and your burden will be lifted.
28Enemy troops have reached the town of Aiath.#10.28 Aiath: Probably Ai (Joshua 7.2). They have gone through Migron, and they stored their supplies at Michmash, 29before crossing the valley and spending the night at Geba.#10.29 Geba: Only nine kilometers from Jerusalem. The people of Ramah are terrified; everyone in Gibeah, the hometown of Saul, has run away. 30Loud crying can be heard in the towns of Gallim, Laishah, and sorrowful Anathoth. 31No one is left in Madmenah or Gebim. 32Today the enemy will camp at Nob#10.32 Nob: Perhaps within three kilometers of Jerusalem. and shake a threatening fist at Mount Zion in Jerusalem.
33But the Lord All-Powerful
will use his fearsome might
to bring down the tallest trees
and chop off every branch.
34With an ax, the glorious Lord
will destroy every tree
in the forests of Lebanon.#10.34 Lebanon: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 34.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.