Isaiah 9:8-10:34
English Standard Version
Judgment on Arrogance and Oppression
8 The Lord has sent a word against Jacob,
and it will fall on Israel;
9 and all the people will know,
(A)Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,
who say in pride and in arrogance of heart:
10 “The bricks have fallen,
but we will build with dressed stones;
the sycamores have been cut down,
but we will put cedars in their place.”
11 But the Lord raises the adversaries of Rezin against him,
and stirs up his enemies.
12 (B)The Syrians on the east and (C)the Philistines on the west
devour Israel with open mouth.
(D)For all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
13 The people (E)did not turn to him who struck them,
nor inquire of the Lord of hosts.
14 So the Lord cut off from Israel (F)head and tail,
palm branch and reed in one day—
15 (G)the elder and honored man is the head,
and (H)the prophet who teaches lies is the tail;
16 for those who guide this people have been leading them astray,
and those who are guided by them are swallowed up.
17 Therefore the Lord does not (I)rejoice over their young men,
and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows;
for everyone is (J)godless and an evildoer,
and every mouth speaks (K)folly.[a]
(L)For all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
18 For wickedness burns like (M)a fire;
it consumes briers and thorns;
it kindles the thickets of the forest,
and they roll upward in a column of smoke.
19 Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts
the land is scorched,
and (N)the people are like fuel for the fire;
(O)no one spares another.
20 (P)They slice meat on the right, but are still hungry,
and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied;
(Q)each devours the flesh of his own arm,
21 Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim devours Manasseh;
together they are (R)against Judah.
(S)For all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
10 Woe to those who (T)decree iniquitous decrees,
and the writers who (U)keep writing oppression,
2 to turn aside the needy from justice
and (V)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!
3 What will you do on (W)the day of punishment,
in the ruin that will come (X)from afar?
To whom will you flee for help,
and where will you leave your wealth?
4 Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners
or fall among the slain.
(Y)For all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
Judgment on Arrogant Assyria
5 Woe to Assyria, (Z)the rod of my anger;
the staff in their hands is my fury!
6 Against a (AA)godless nation I send him,
and against the people of my wrath I command him,
to take (AB)spoil and seize plunder,
and to (AC)tread them down like the mire of the streets.
7 But he (AD)does not so intend,
and his heart does not so think;
but it is in his heart to destroy,
and to cut off nations not a few;
8 for he says:
(AE)“Are not my commanders all kings?
9 (AF)Is not (AG)Calno like (AH)Carchemish?
Is not (AI)Hamath like (AJ)Arpad?
(AK)Is not (AL)Samaria like Damascus?
10 As my hand has reached to (AM)the kingdoms of the idols,
whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11 shall I not do to Jerusalem and (AN)her idols
(AO)as I have done to Samaria and her images?”
12 (AP)When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, (AQ)he[b] will punish the speech[c] of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes. 13 (AR)For he says:
“By the strength of my hand I have done it,
and by my wisdom, for I have understanding;
I remove the boundaries of peoples,
and plunder their treasures;
like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones.
14 My hand has found like a nest
the wealth of the peoples;
and as one gathers 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.”
15 Shall (AS)the axe boast 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!
16 Therefore the Lord God of hosts
will send wasting sickness among his (AT)stout warriors,
and under his glory (AU)a burning will be kindled,
like the burning of fire.
17 (AV)The light of Israel will become a fire,
and (AW)his Holy One a flame,
and (AX)it will burn and devour
his thorns and briers (AY)in one day.
18 The glory of (AZ)his forest and of his (BA)fruitful land
the Lord will destroy, both soul and body,
and it will be as when a sick man wastes away.
19 The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few
that a child can write them down.
The Remnant of Israel Will Return
20 (BB)In that day (BC)the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more (BD)lean on him who struck them, but (BE)will lean on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. 21 A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, (BF)to the mighty God. 22 (BG)For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, (BH)only a remnant of them will return. (BI)Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness. 23 For the Lord God of hosts will make a full end, as decreed, in the midst of all the earth.
24 Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: “O my people, (BJ)who dwell in Zion, (BK)be not afraid of the Assyrians when they strike with the rod and lift up their staff against you as (BL)the Egyptians did. 25 For (BM)in a very little while my fury will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction. 26 And (BN)the Lord of hosts will wield against them a whip, as when he struck (BO)Midian (BP)at the rock of Oreb. And his staff will be over the sea, and he will lift it (BQ)as he did in Egypt. 27 And in that day (BR)his burden will depart from your shoulder, and (BS)his yoke from your neck; and the yoke will be broken because of the fat.”[d]
28 He has come to Aiath;
he has passed through (BT)Migron;
at Michmash he stores (BU)his baggage;
29 they have crossed over (BV)the pass;
at (BW)Geba they lodge for the night;
(BX)Ramah trembles;
(BY)Gibeah of Saul has fled.
30 Cry aloud, O daughter of (BZ)Gallim!
Give attention, O Laishah!
O poor (CA)Anathoth!
31 Madmenah is in flight;
the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety.
32 This very day he will halt at (CB)Nob;
he will shake his fist
at the mount of (CC)the daughter of Zion,
the hill of Jerusalem.
33 Behold, the Lord God of hosts
(CD)will lop (CE)the boughs with terrifying power;
the great in height will be hewn down,
and the lofty will be brought low.
34 He will cut down (CF)the thickets of the forest with an axe,
and (CG)Lebanon will fall by the Majestic One.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 9:17 Or speaks disgraceful things
- Isaiah 10:12 Hebrew I
- Isaiah 10:12 Hebrew fruit
- Isaiah 10:27 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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