Isaiah 10
10
1Tragedy is coming to those who pass evil decrees and who write laws to harm people. 2They pervert the legal rights of the needy, and rob justice from the poor of my people. They steal from widows and cheat orphans. 3What are you going to do on the day you're punished, when disaster falls on you from far away? Who are you going to run to so you can get help? Where are you going to leave all your wealth? 4All you'll be able to do is to bow down as prisoners, or lie among the dead! In all of this he is still angry and his hand is still raised.
5Tragedy is coming to the Assyrians, even though the rod they use represents my anger and the stick they hold in their hands represents my fury! 6I am sending the Assyrians against a nation that has given up on its God, against a people that make me angry. I order the Assyrians to loot them, to take their possessions, and to trample them down like mud in the street.
7But this isn't what is behind the thinking of the king of Assyria. This isn't the plan he has in mind. What he wants to do is to destroy and eliminate many nations. 8He says: “All my commanders are kings! 9We conquered Calno like we did Carchemish; Hamath like Arpad; Samaria like Damascus. 10I was the one who conquered these kingdoms along with the idols of their gods. These kingdoms had images of their gods that were better than those of Jerusalem and Samaria. 11Why shouldn't I do to Jerusalem and her idols just what I did to Samaria and her idols?”#10:11. Different words are used for idols/images but the meaning is basically the same.
12Once the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he#10:12. “He”: literally, “I.” will punish the king of Assyria for his terrible arrogance and for the conceited look in his eyes.
13For the king of Assyria says: “I have done this in my own strength. It was through my wisdom, because I'm clever. I have wiped out the boundaries of nations and looted their treasures. Like a bull I knocked their rulers off their thrones. 14Like robbing a bird's nest, I took the wealth of the nations. Like collecting abandoned eggs, I collected the whole earth. There wasn't a fluttering wing or an open beak, not even a chirp!”
15Does an ax say it's more important than the person swinging it? Does a saw boast that it's greater than the person sawing with it? It would be as if a rod waved the person holding it, or a walking stick lifted up a person—who certainly wasn't wood!
16So the Lord, the Lord Almighty, will send a disease on the king of Assyria's strong warriors that will make them waste away; a flaming fire will be set under everything he's so proud of. 17Israel's light will become a fire, and his Holy One will become a flame. It will burn up his thorns and brambles in just one day. 18It will totally destroy its splendid forests and orchards. Assyria will waste away, staggering off like someone sick. 19The trees left in its forests will be so few that a child could count them.
20At that time those who are left in Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer trust in those who turn on them, but they will truly trust in the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. 21A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob will come back to the Mighty God. 22Israel, even though your people are as numerous as sand on the seashore, only a remnant will return. The Lord has rightly decided to destroy his people. 23The Lord God Almighty has rightly decided to bring destruction throughout the whole country.
24So this is what the Lord, the Lord Almighty, says, My people living in Zion, don't be afraid of the Assyrians who beat you with rods and hit you with clubs, just like the Egyptians did. 25Very shortly I will stop being angry with you. Then I will turn my anger on them and I will destroy them.
26The Lord Almighty will lash them with a whip, just as he did when he attacked the Midianites at the rock of Oreb. He will hold up his rod over the sea, just as he did in Egypt. 27At that time he will remove the burden from your shoulders and the yoke from your neck. The yoke will be broken because of the anointing with oil.#10:27. “Anointing with oil:” literally, “before the oil/fat.” The meaning of this phrase is much debated. Some suggest that this means that Israel has symbolically grown so fat that the yoke no longer fits. Jewish tradition however associates it with the anointing of King Hezekiah, and some Christian writers have pointed to Christ as the Messiah, the “anointed one.”
28The Assyrians came to Aiath, passed through Migron, and stored their supplies at Michmash. 29They cross the pass, saying, “We'll stay overnight at Geba.” The people of Ramah tremble in fear; the inhabitants of Gibeah of Saul run away. 30Shout out a warning, people of Gallim! Pay attention, those living in Laishah! You poor people of Anathoth! 31The people of Madmenah, are all running away. The inhabitants of Gebim are looking for somewhere safe. 32Today the invaders stop at Nob, shaking their fists at the mountain of the Daughter of Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem.
33Look how the Lord Almighty is going to chop off the branches with great force. The tall trees will be cut down, the proud trees will be brought crashing down.#10:33. The prophecy now turns to judgment on the Assyrian invaders, who will be “cut down like trees.” 34He will cut down the thick forest with an ax, and Lebanon#10:34. “Lebanon”: a symbolic term for Assyria, see for example Ezekiel 31:3. will fall at the hand of the Mighty One.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
Isaiah 10
10
1How terrible it will be for those who make unfair laws,
and those who write laws that make life hard for people.
2They are not fair to the poor,
and they rob my people of their rights.
They allow people to steal from widows
and to take from orphans what really belongs to them.
3How 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 riches then?
4You will have to bow down among the captives
or 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 rod to show my anger;
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,
to take their wealth from them,
to trample them down like dirt 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
and to defeat many nations.
8The king of Assyria says to himself,
‘All of my commanders are like kings.
9The city Calno is like the city Carchemish.
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.
11As I defeated Samaria and her idols,
I will also defeat Jerusalem and her idols.’ ”
12When the Lord finishes doing what he planned to Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will punish Assyria. The king of Assyria is very proud, and his pride has made him do these evil 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 a person reaching into a bird’s nest.
I have taken these nations,
like a person taking eggs.
Not one raised a hand
or opened its mouth to stop me.”
15An ax is not better than the person who swings it.
A saw is not better than the one who uses it.
A stick cannot control the person who picks it up.
A club cannot pick up the person!
16So the Lord God All-Powerful
will send a terrible disease upon Assyria’s soldiers.
The strength of Assyria will be burned up
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,
destroying everything.
It will be like a sick person who wastes away.
19The trees left standing will be so few
that even a child could 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.
21Those who are left alive in Jacob’s family
will again follow the powerful God.
22Israel, your people are many,
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 Lord God All-Powerful will certainly destroy this land,
as he has announced.
24This is what the Lord God All-Powerful says:
“My people living in Jerusalem,
don’t be afraid of the Assyrians,
who beat you with a rod
and raise a stick against you, as Egypt did.
25After a short time my anger against you will stop,
and then I will turn my anger to destroying them.”
26Then the Lord All-Powerful will beat the Assyrians with a whip
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,
and the load they make you carry
will be taken away.
Assyria Invades Israel
28The army of Assyria will enter near Aiath.
Its soldiers will walk through Migron.
They will store their food in Micmash.
29The army will go over the pass.
The soldiers will sleep at Geba.
The people of Ramah will be afraid,
and 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.
They will shake their fist at Mount Zion,
at the hill of Jerusalem.
33Watch! The Lord God All-Powerful
with his great power will chop them down like a great tree.
Those who are great will be cut down;
those who are important will fall to the ground.
34He 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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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.