Isaiah 10
10
Wicked laws
1Doom to those who pronounce wicked decrees,
and keep writing harmful laws
2to deprive the needy of their rights
and to rob the poor among my people of justice;
to make widows their loot;
to steal from orphans!
3What will you do on the day of punishment
when disaster comes from far away?
To whom will you flee for help;
where will you stash your wealth?
4How will you avoid crouching among the prisoners
and falling among the slain?
Even so, God’s anger hasn’t turned away;
God’s hand is still extended.
Assyria as God’s punishing weapon
5Doom to Assyria, rod of my anger,
in whose hand is the staff of my fury!
6Against a godless nation I send him;
against an infuriating people
I direct him to seize spoil, to steal plunder,
and to trample them like mud in the streets.
7But he has other plans;
he schemes in secret;
destruction is on his mind,
extermination of nation after nation.
8He says: Aren’t my commanders all kings?
9Isn’t Calno like Carchemish?
Isn’t Hamath like Arpad?
Isn’t Samaria like Damascus?
10Just as I took control of idolatrous kingdoms
with more images than Jerusalem and Samaria,
11just as I did to Samaria and her false gods,
won’t I also do this to Jerusalem and her idols?
12But when the Lord has finished all this work on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, he will punish#10.12 Or I will punish the Assyrian king’s arrogant actions and the boasting of his haughty eyes.
13He said, “By my own strength I have achieved it,
and by my wisdom, since I’m so clever.
I disregarded national boundaries; I raided their treasures;
I knocked down their rulers like a bull.
14My hand found the wealth of the peoples
as if it were in a nest.
Just as one gathers abandoned eggs,
I have gathered the entire earth;
no creature fluttered a wing or opened a mouth to chirp.”
15Will the ax glorify itself over the one who chops with it?
Or will the saw magnify itself over its user?
As if a rod could wave the one who lifts it!
As if a staff could lift up the one not made of wood!
16Therefore, the LORD God of heavenly forces
will make the well-fed people waste away;
and among his officials,
a blaze will burn like scorching fire.
17The light of Israel will become a fire,
its holy one a flame,
which will burn and devour
its thorns and thistles
in a single day.
18Its abundant forest and farmland
will be finished completely,#10.18 Syr, Vulg body and soul (that is, completely); MT he will finish
as when a sick person wastes away;
19its forest’s remaining trees will be no more than a child can count.
A few will return
20On that day, what’s left of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer depend on the one who beat them. Instead, they will faithfully depend on the LORD, the holy one of Israel. 21A few will return, what’s left of Jacob, to the mighty God. 22Although your people, Israel, were like the sand of the sea, only a few survivors will return. The end is announced, overflowing with justice. 23Yes, destruction has been announced; the LORD God of heavenly forces will carry it out against the entire land.
24Therefore, the LORD God of heavenly forces says: My people who live in Zion, don’t fear Assyria, which strikes you with the rod and raises its staff against you as Egypt did. 25In a very short time my fury will end, and my anger at the world will be finished.#10.25 Heb uncertain
26Therefore, the LORD of heavenly forces will crack a whip against Assyria,
as when he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb.
He will raise a rod over the sea,
as he did in Egypt.
27On that day, God will remove the burden from your shoulder
and destroy the yoke on your neck.#10.27 Or and his yoke from your neck, and a yoke will be destroyed because of fatness
The exalted laid low
He has gone up from Samaria,
28come against Aiath,
passed to Migron.
At Michmash he stored his equipment.
29They crossed at the pass: “We’ll camp at Geba!”
Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul has fled.
30Cry aloud, Daughter Gallim!
Listen, Laishah! Answer her, Anathoth!
31Madmenah has flown.
Gebim’s inhabitants sought refuge.
32This very day he will stand at Nob
and shake his fist#10.32 Or wave his hand at Daughter Zion’s mountain,
the hill of Jerusalem!
33Look! The LORD God of heavenly forces
is chopping off the branches with terrible power.
The loftiest ones are about to be cut down
and the exalted laid low.
34He will strike down the forest thickets with an ax,
and mighty Lebanon will fall.
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Isaiah 10: CEB
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2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
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.