Yeshayah 10
Orthodox Jewish Bible
10 Woe unto them that decree unrighteous chukim, and that write decrees of oppression;
2 To turn aside the needy from their rights, and to withhold mishpat from the aniyyei Ami, that almanot may be their prey, and that they may rob the yetomim!
3 And what will ye do in the Yom Pekuddah (Day Of Visitation, Reckoning) and in the desolation which shall come from afar? To whom will ye flee for ezrah (help)? And where will ye leave your kavod (glory, riches)?
4 Without Me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His yad is upraised still.
5 O Ashur, the rod of Mine anger, in whose yad is the mateh of My wrath.
6 I will send him against a Goy Chanef, and against the people of My wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the plunder, and to tread them down like the chomer chutzot (mire of the streets).
7 But he intendeth not so, neither doth his mind so consider; but it is in his lev to make an end of Goyim not a few.
8 For he saith, Are not my sarim altogether melachim?
9 Is not Calno like Carkemish? Is not Chamat like Arpad? Is not Shomron like Damascus?
10 Just as my yad hath found the mamlechot haelil, whose pesilim (molten images) did excel them of Yerushalayim and of Shomron;
11 Shall I not, as I have done unto Shomron and her elilim, so do to Yerushalayim and her atzabim (images)?
12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when Adonoi hath performed His whole work upon Mt Tziyon and on Yerushalayim, I will punish the fruit of the proud lev of Melech Ashur, and the tiferet of his haughty eyes.
13 For he saith, By the ko’ach of my yad I have done it, and by my chochmah; for I have binah; and I have removed the boundaries of the nations, and have plundered their treasures, and like the mighty I have subdued those on thrones;
14 And my yad hath found like a ken (nest) the riches of the nations; and like one gathereth beitzim (eggs) that are left, have I gathered kol ha’aretz; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the beak, or peeped.
15 Shall the garzen (axe) boast itself against Him that cuts therewith? Or shall the masor (saw) magnify itself against Him that useth it? As if the shevet (rod) should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the matteh (staff) should lift up itself, as if it were not etz.
16 Therefore shall HaAdon Hashem Tzva’os send among his fat ones leanness; and instead of his kavod there will be kindled a burning like the blazing of eish.
17 And the Ohr Yisroel shall become an eish, and His Kadosh a flame; and shall burn and consume its thistles and its thorns in Yom Echad;
18 And shall consume the kavod of his forest and his fertile land, even to nefesh and basar; and shall be as a sick man wasting away.
19 And the remnant of the etz of his forest shall be few, that a na’ar could record them.
20 And it shall come to pass in Yom Hahu, that the remnant of Yisroel, and such as are escaped of Bais Ya’akov, shall no longer lean upon him that smote them; but shall lean upon Hashem Kadosh Yisroel be’emes.
21 The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Ya’akov, unto El Gibbor [See Isaiah 9:5(6)].
22 For though thy people Yisroel be like the chol hayam, only a remnant of them shall return; destruction is decreed, overwhelming tzedakah.
23 For Adonoi Hashem Tzva’os shall carry out kalah (destruction) decreed, even upon the kol ha’aretz.
24 Therefore thus saith Adonoi Hashem Tzva’os, O My people that dwellest in Tziyon, be not afraid of Ashur; if he strike thee with the shevet, and lift his matteh against thee, in the manner of Mitzrayim.
25 For yet a very little while, and the za’am (anger, indignation) shall pass, and Mine wrath turn for their destruction.
26 And Hashem Tzva’os shall stir up a shot (whip) for him as when He struck down Midyan at the Tzur Orev; and as His matteh was over the yam, so shall He raise it after the manner of Mitzrayim.
27 And it shall come to pass in Yom Hahu, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his ol from off thy neck, and the ol shall be broken from fatness.
28 He comes to Ayat, passes through Migron; at Michmash he hath left his supplies;
29 They are crossing the pass; they have taken up their lodging at Geva; Ramah is afraid; Givat-Sha’ul has fled.
30 Lift up thy voice, O Bat-Gallim; Listen O Layish, O poor Anatot.
31 Madmenah hurries away; the inhabitants of Gevim gather themselves to flee.
32 As yet shall he remain at Nov this very day; he shall shake his fist against the Har Bat Tziyon, the Givat Yerushalayim.
33 Hinei, HaAdon Hashem Tzva’os, shall chop the bough with great power; and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down; the haughty shall be humbled.
34 And He shall cut down the thickets of the forest with barzel (iron), and Levanon shall fall by Adir (the Majestic Mighty One, i.e., Hashem).
Isaiah 10
Easy-to-Read Version
10 Just look at those lawmakers who write evil laws and make life hard for the people. 2 They are not fair to the poor. They take away the rights of the poor and allow people to steal from widows and orphans.
3 Lawmakers, you will have to explain what you have done. What will you do then? Your destruction is coming from a faraway country. Where will you run for help? Your money and your riches will not help you. 4 You will have to bow down like a prisoner. You will fall down like a dead man, but that will not help you. God will still be angry and ready to punish you.
God Will Punish Assyria’s Pride
5 The Lord says, “I will use Assyria like a stick. In my anger I will use Assyria to punish Israel. 6 I will send Assyria to fight against the people who do evil. I am angry with them, and I will command Assyria to fight against them. Assyria will defeat them and take their wealth. Israel will be like dirt for Assyria to walk on in the streets.
7 “But Assyria does not understand that I will use him. He does not think of himself as my tool. He only wants to destroy other people. He only plans to destroy many nations. 8 Assyria says to himself, ‘All of my officers are like kings! 9 The city of Calno is no better than the city of Carchemish. Arpad is like Hamath, and Samaria is like Damascus. 10 I defeated those evil kingdoms and now I control them. The idols those people worship are better than the idols of Jerusalem and Samaria. 11 I defeated Samaria and her gods. I will also defeat Jerusalem and the idols her people have made.’”
12 When the Lord finishes doing what he planned to Jerusalem and Mount Zion, he will punish Assyria. The king of Assyria is very proud. His pride made him do many bad things, so God will punish him.
13 The king of Assyria said, “I am very wise. By my own wisdom and power I have done many great things. I have defeated many nations. I have taken their wealth and their people as slaves. I am a very powerful man. 14 With my own hands I have taken the riches of all these people—like someone taking eggs from a bird’s nest. A bird often leaves its nest and eggs, and there is nothing to protect the nest. There is no bird to chirp and fight with its wings and beak, so anyone can come take the eggs. And there is no one to stop me from taking all the people on earth.”
15 An ax is not better than the one who cuts with it. A saw is not better than the one who uses it. Is a stick stronger than the one who picks it up? It can’t do anything to the person who is using it to punish someone! 16 But Assyria doesn’t understand this. So the Lord God All-Powerful will send a terrible disease against him. He will lose his wealth and power like a sick man losing weight. Then Assyria’s glory will be destroyed. It will be like a fire burning until everything is gone. 17 The Light of Israel[a] will be like a fire. The Holy One will be like a flame. He will be like a fire that first begins to burn the weeds and thorns 18 and then spreads to burn up the tall trees and vineyards. Finally, everything will be destroyed—even the people. Assyria will be like a rotting log. 19 There will be a few trees left standing in the forest—so few that even a child could count them.
20 Then the people from Jacob’s family who are left living in Israel will stop depending on the one who beat them. They will learn to depend on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. 21 Those who are left in Jacob’s family will again follow the Powerful God.[b]
22 Israel, your people are as many as the sands of the sea, but only a few of them will be left to come back to God. But before that happens, your country will be destroyed. God has announced that he will destroy the land. And then justice will come into the land like a river flowing full. 23 The Lord God All-Powerful really will destroy this land.
24 The Lord God All-Powerful says, “My people living in Zion, don’t be afraid of Assyria! Yes, he will beat you, and it will be just as the time when Egypt beat you with a stick. 25 But after a short time my anger will stop. I will be satisfied that Assyria has punished you enough.”
26 Then the Lord All-Powerful will beat Assyria with a whip, just as he defeated Midian at Raven Rock.[c] He will punish his enemies, as he did when he raised his stick over the sea[d] and led his people from Egypt.
27 He will take away the troubles Assyria brought you—troubles that are like heavy weights carried with a yoke on your neck. But that yoke will be taken off your neck. The burden will be lifted from your shoulders.
The Army of Assyria Invades Israel
28 [e] The army of Assyria will enter near the “Ruins” (Aiath). The army will walk on the “Threshing Floor” (Migron). It will keep its food in the “Storehouse” (Micmash). 29 The army will cross the river at the “Crossing” (Maabarah) and sleep at Geba. Ramah will be afraid. The people at Gibeah of Saul[f] will run away.
30 Cry out, Bath Gallim[g]! Laishah, listen! Anathoth, answer me! 31 The people of Madmenah are running away. The people of Gebim[h] are hiding. 32 This day the army will stop at Nob and prepare to fight against Mount Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.
33 Look, the Lord God All-Powerful will use his great power and chop down that great tree. Their highest officials will be brought down. Their most important leaders will be humbled. 34 God will cut down his enemies. Like the tall trees of Lebanon he will cut them down with an ax.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 10:17 The Light of Israel This is a name for God, like “The Holy One” in the next sentence. See “Israel” in the Word List.
- Isaiah 10:21 Powerful God See Isa. 9:6.
- Isaiah 10:26 Midian at Raven Rock Or “Midian at the Rock of Oreb.” See Judges 7:25.
- Isaiah 10:26 he raised … sea See Ex. 14:1-15:21.
- Isaiah 10:28 Isaiah uses names with double meanings to describe the different ways the Assyrian army would fight against Judah.
- Isaiah 10:29 Geba, Ramah, Gibeah of Saul Towns north of Jerusalem.
- Isaiah 10:30 Bath Gallim Gallim, a city south of Jerusalem. This name means “daughter of the waves,” and might refer to birds that make loud noises by the shore.
- Isaiah 10:31 Gebim An unknown city. This name is like the Hebrew word for “pit” or “cistern,” a hole in the ground for storing water.
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