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
1Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees,
and the writers who keep writing oppression,
2to turn aside the needy from justice
and to rob the poor of my people of their right,
that widows may be their spoil,
and that they may make the fatherless their prey!
3What will you do on the day of punishment,
in the storm which will come from afar?
To whom will you flee for help,
and where will you leave your wealth?
4Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners
or fall among the slain.
For all this his anger is not turned away
and his hand is stretched out still.
5 #
Nah; Zeph 2.13-15. Ah, Assyria, the rod of my anger,
the staff of my fury!#10.5 Heb a staff it is in their hand my fury
6Against a godless nation I send him,
and against the people of my wrath I command him,
to take spoil and seize plunder,
and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
7But he does not so intend,
and his mind does not so think;
but it is in his mind to destroy,
and to cut off nations not a few;
8for he says:
“Are not my commanders all kings?
9Is not Calno like Carchemish?
Is not Hamath like Arpad?
Is not Samaria like Damascus?
10As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols
whose graven images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11shall I not do to Jerusalem and her idols
as I have done to Samaria and her images?”
12When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem he#10.12 Heb I will punish the arrogant boasting of the king of Assyria and his haughty pride. 13For he says:
“By the strength of my hand I have done it,
and by my wisdom, for I have understanding;
I have removed the boundaries of peoples,
and have plundered their treasures;
like a bull I have brought down those who sat on thrones.
14My hand has found like a nest
the wealth of the peoples;
and as men gather eggs that have been forsaken
so I have gathered all the earth;
and there was none that moved a wing,
or opened the mouth, or chirped.”
15Shall the axe vaunt itself over him who hews with it,
or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it?
As if a rod should wield him who lifts it,
or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!
16Therefore the Lord, the Lord of hosts,
will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors,
and under his glory a burning will be kindled,
like the burning of fire.
17The light of Israel will become a fire,
and his Holy One a flame;
and it will burn and devour
his thorns and briers in one day.
18The glory of his forest and of his fruitful land
the Lord will destroy, both soul and body,
and it will be as when a sick man wastes away.
19The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few
that a child can write them down.
20In that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean upon him that smote them, but will lean upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. 21A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. 22#Rom 9.27-28. For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness. 23For the Lord, the Lord of hosts, will make a full end, as decreed, in the midst of all the earth.
24Therefore thus says the Lord, the Lord of hosts: “O my people, who dwell in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrians when they smite with the rod and lift up their staff against you as the Egyptians did. 25For in a very little while my indignation will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction. 26And the Lord of hosts will wield against them a scourge, as when he smote Midian at the rock of Oreb; and his rod will be over the sea, and he will lift it as he did in Egypt. 27And in that day his burden will depart from your shoulder, and his yoke will be destroyed from your neck.”
He has gone up from Rimmon,#10.27 Cn: Heb and his yoke from your neck, and a yoke will be destroyed because of fatness
28he has come to Aiath;
he has passed through Migron,
at Michmash he stores his baggage;
29they have crossed over the pass,
at Geba they lodge for the night;
Ramah trembles,
Gibe-ah of Saul has fled.
30Cry aloud, O daughter of Gallim!
Hearken, O Laishah!
Answer her, O Anathoth!
31Madmenah is in flight,
the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety.
32This very day he will halt at Nob,
he will shake his fist
at the mount of the daughter of Zion,
the hill of Jerusalem.
33Behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts
will lop the boughs with terrifying power;
the great in height will be hewn down,
and the lofty will be brought low.
34He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an axe,
and Lebanon with its majestic trees#10.34 Cn Compare Gk Vg: Heb with a majestic one will fall.
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