Isaiah 10
10
Perversion of Justice
1#This is another hoy-oracle; cf. note on 5:8–24. It may originally have been part of the collection at 5:8–24. Ah! Those who enact unjust statutes,
who write oppressive decrees,#Jer 8:8.
2Depriving the needy of judgment,
robbing my people’s poor of justice,
Making widows their plunder,
and orphans their prey!#Is 1:23; 3:14–15.
3What will you do on the day of punishment,
when the storm comes from afar?
To whom will you flee for help?
Where will you leave your wealth,
4Lest it sink beneath the captive
or fall beneath the slain?
For all this, his wrath is not turned back,
his hand is still outstretched!#For all this…outstretched!: this refrain appears to be out of place here; cf. 9:11, 16, 20.
Judgment on Assyria
5#These verses contain a series of oracles directed against Assyria. Verses 5–15 portray Assyria as simply the rod God uses to punish Israel, though Assyria does not realize this. The original conclusion to this unit may be the judgment found in vv. 24–27a, which continues the imagery and motifs found in vv. 5–15. Verses 16–23, because of the quite different imagery and motifs, may originally have been an insertion directed against Aram and Israel at the time of the Syro-Ephraimite War. Ah! Assyria, the rod of my wrath,
the staff I wield in anger.#Jer 51:20–23.
6Against an impious nation#Impious nation: Judah. It was God’s intention to use Assyria merely to punish, not to destroy, the nation. I send him,
and against a people under my wrath I order him
To seize plunder, carry off loot,
and to trample them like the mud of the street.
7But this is not what he intends,
nor does he have this in mind;
Rather, it is in his heart to destroy,
to make an end of not a few nations.
8For he says, “Are not my commanders all kings?”
9#The cities mentioned were all cities captured, some more than once, by the Assyrians in the eighth century B.C. Verse 9 suggests a certain historical order in the fall of these cities, and v. 10 suggests that all of them had fallen before Samaria (cf. Am 6:2). That implies that one should think primarily of events during the reign of Tiglath-pileser III (745–727). “Is not Calno like Carchemish,
Or Hamath like Arpad,
or Samaria like Damascus?
10Just as my hand reached out to idolatrous kingdoms
that had more images than Jerusalem and Samaria—
11Just as I treated Samaria and her idols,
shall I not do to Jerusalem and her graven images?”
12But when the Lord has brought to an end all his work on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
I will punish the utterance
of the king of Assyria’s proud heart,
and the boastfulness of his haughty eyes.
13For he says:
“By my own power I have done it,
and by my wisdom, for I am shrewd.
I have moved the boundaries of peoples,
their treasures I have pillaged,
and, like a mighty one, I have brought down the enthroned.
14My hand has seized, like a nest,
the wealth of nations.
As one takes eggs left alone,
so I took in all the earth;
No one fluttered a wing,
or opened a mouth, or chirped!”
15Will the ax boast against the one who hews with it?
Will the saw exalt itself above the one who wields it?
As if a rod could sway the one who lifts it,
or a staff could lift the one who is not wood!
16Therefore the Lord, the Lord of hosts,
will send leanness among his fat ones,#His fat ones: the strong men of the enemy army.
And under his glory there will be a kindling
like the kindling of fire.#Is 17:4.
17The Light of Israel will become a fire,
the Holy One, a flame,
That burns and consumes its briers
and its thorns in a single day.#Is 9:17–18; 30:27–33; 31:9; 33:14.
18And the glory of its forests and orchards
will be consumed, soul and body,
and it will be like a sick man who wastes away.
19And the remnant of the trees in his forest
will be so few,
that any child can record them.
20On that day
The remnant of Israel,
the survivors of the house of Jacob,
will no more lean upon the one who struck them;
But they will lean upon the Lord,
the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
21A remnant will return,#A remnant will return: in Hebrew, shear-jashub, an allusion to the name of Isaiah’s son, Shear-jashub; cf. 7:3. the remnant of Jacob,
to the mighty God.
22Though your people, O Israel,
were like the sand of the sea,#Hos 2:1; Rom 9:27–28.
Only a remnant of them will return;
their destruction is decreed,
as overflowing justice demands.#Is 28:16–18.
23For the Lord, the God of hosts, is about to carry out the destruction decreed in the midst of the whole land.#Is 28:22.
24#This verse with its reference to Assyria’s rod may introduce the original conclusion to vv. 5–15. Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts: My people, who dwell in Zion, do not fear the Assyrian, though he strikes you with a rod, and raises his staff against you as did the Egyptians. 25For just a brief moment more, and my wrath shall be over, and my anger shall be set for their destruction. 26Then the Lord of hosts will raise against them a scourge such as struck Midian at the rock of Oreb;#Is 9:3; Jgs 7:25. and he will raise his staff over the sea as he did in Egypt.#Ex 14:16. 27On that day,
His burden shall be taken from your shoulder,
and his yoke shattered from your neck.#Is 9:3.
The March of an Enemy Army#10:27b–32] A poetic description of the march of an enemy army from the north, advancing south to the very gates of Jerusalem, where the enemy waves his hand in a gesture of derision against the city. Though Sennacherib’s troops took a different route, advancing down the coast and then approaching Jerusalem from the southeast, the arrogant attitude toward God’s chosen city was the same. Aiath: the Ai of Jos 7:22–8:29. Migron: modern Makrun north of Michmash. The ravine: the deep valley between Michmash and Geba (cf. 1 Sm 14:1–5). Ramah…Gibeah…Bath-Gallim…Laishah…Anathoth…Madmenah…Gebim: cities north of Jerusalem threatened by the sudden appearance of this enemy army. Nob: probably to be identified with the present Mount Scopus from where one has a clear view of Jerusalem.
He has come up from Rimmon,
28he has reached Aiath, passed through Migron,
at Michmash he has stored his supplies.
29He has crossed the ravine,
at Geba he has camped for the night.
Ramah trembles,
Gibeah of Saul has fled.
30Cry and shriek, Bath-Gallim!
Hearken, Laishah! Answer her, Anathoth!
31Madmenah is in flight,
the inhabitants of Gebim seek refuge.
32Even today he will halt at Nob,
he will shake his fist at the mount of daughter Zion,
the hill of Jerusalem!
33#Just when the enemy is about to capture Jerusalem, God intervenes and destroys the hostile army. Cf. 29:1–8; 31:4–9. Now the Lord, the Lord of hosts,
is about to lop off the boughs with terrible violence;
The tall of stature shall be felled,
and the lofty ones shall be brought low;
34He shall hack down the forest thickets with an ax,
and Lebanon in its splendor shall fall.
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Isaiah 10
10
Woe to Tyrants
1Woe to those who enact unjust statutes
and issue oppressive decrees,
2to deprive the poor of fair treatment
and withhold justice from the oppressed of My people,
to make widows their prey
and orphans their plunder.
3What will you do on the day of reckoning
when devastation comes from afar?
To whom will you flee for help?
Where will you leave your wealth?
4Nothing will remain but to crouch among the captives
or fall among the slain.
Despite all this, His anger is not turned away;
His hand is still upraised.
Judgment on Assyria
5Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger;
the staff in their hands is My wrath.
6I will send him against a godless nation;
I will dispatch him against a people destined for My rage,
to take spoils and seize plunder,
and to trample them down like clay in the streets.
7But this is not his intention;
this is not his plan.
For it is in his heart to destroy
and cut off many nations.
8“Are not all my commanders kings?” he says.
9“Is not Calno like Carchemish?
Is not Hamath like Arpad?
Is not Samaria like Damascus?
10As my hand seized the idolatrous kingdoms
whose images surpassed those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11and as I have done to Samaria and its idols,
will I not also do to Jerusalem and her idols?”
12So when the Lord has completed all His work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the fruit of his arrogant heart and the proud look in his eyes. 13For he says:
‘By the strength of my hand I have done this,
and by my wisdom, for I am clever.
I have removed the boundaries of nations
and plundered their treasures;
like a mighty one I subdued their rulers.
14My hand reached as into a nest
to seize the wealth of the nations.
Like one gathering abandoned eggs,
I gathered all the earth.
No wing fluttered,
no beak opened or chirped.’”
15Does an axe raise itself above the one who swings it?
Does a saw boast over him who saws with it?
It would be like a rod waving the one who lifts it,
or a staff lifting him who is not wood!
16Therefore the Lord GOD of Hosts will send a wasting disease
among Assyria’s stout warriors,
and under his pomp will be kindled
a fire like a burning flame.
17And the Light of Israel will become a fire,
and its Holy One a flame.
In a single day it will burn and devour
Assyria’s thorns and thistles.
18The splendor of its forests and orchards,
both soul and body,
it will completely destroy,
as a sickness consumes a man.
19The remaining trees of its forests will be so few
that a child could count them.
A Remnant Shall Return
20On that day the remnant of Israel
and the survivors of the house of Jacob
will no longer depend
on him who struck them,
but they will truly rely on the Lord,
the Holy One of Israel.
21A remnant will return #10:21 Hebrew Shear-jashub; also in verse 22; see Isaiah 7:3.—a remnant of Jacob—
to the Mighty God.
22Though your people, O Israel, be like the sand of the sea,
only a remnant will return.#10:22 LXX Though the people of Israel be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant will be saved. Cited in Romans 9:27
Destruction has been decreed,
overflowing with righteousness.
23For the Lord GOD of Hosts will carry out
the destruction decreed upon the whole land.#10:23 LXX He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, because the Lord will make a short work in all the world. Cited in Romans 9:28
24Therefore this is what the Lord GOD of Hosts says:
“O My people who dwell in Zion,
do not fear Assyria,
who strikes you with a rod
and lifts his staff against you
as the Egyptians did.
25For in just a little while
My fury against you will subside,
and My anger will turn to their destruction.”
26And the Lord of Hosts will brandish a whip against them,
as when He struck Midian at the rock of Oreb.
He will raise His staff over the sea,
as He did in Egypt.
27On that day the burden will be lifted from your shoulders,
and the yoke from your neck.
The yoke will be broken
because your neck will be too large.#10:27 Literally broken because of fatness; LXX broken from your shoulders
28Assyria has entered Aiath
and passed through Migron,
storing their supplies at Michmash.
29They have crossed at the ford:
“We will spend the night at Geba.”
Ramah trembles;
Gibeah of Saul flees.
30Cry aloud, O Daughter of Gallim!
Listen, O Laishah!
O wretched Anathoth!
31Madmenah flees;
the people of Gebim take refuge.
32Yet today they will halt at Nob,
shaking a fist at the mount of Daughter Zion,
at the hill of Jerusalem.
33Behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts
will lop off the branches with terrifying power.
The tall trees will be cut down,
the lofty ones will be felled.
34He will clear the forest thickets with an axe,
and Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One.
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The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible, BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee. This text of God's Word has been dedicated to the public domain.