Isaiah 10 — FBV
10Verse 1Tragedy is coming to those who pass evil decrees and who write laws to harm people.Verse 2They pervert the legal rights of the needy, and rob justice from the poor of my people. They steal from widows and cheat orphans.Verse 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?Verse 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.Verse 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!Verse 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.Verse 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.Verse 8He says: “All my commanders are kings!Verse 9We conquered Calno like we did Carchemish; Hamath like Arpad; Samaria like Damascus.Verse 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.Verse 11Why shouldn't I do to Jerusalem and her idols just what I did to Samaria and her idols?”+Verse 12Once the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he+will punish the king of Assyria for his terrible arrogance and for the conceited look in his eyes.Verse 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.Verse 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!”Verse 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!Verse 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.Verse 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.Verse 18It will totally destroy its splendid forests and orchards. Assyria will waste away, staggering off like someone sick.Verse 19The trees left in its forests will be so few that a child could count them.Verse 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.Verse 21A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob will come back to the Mighty God.Verse 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.Verse 23The Lord God Almighty has rightly decided to bring destruction throughout the whole country.Verse 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.Verse 25Very shortly I will stop being angry with you. Then I will turn my anger on them and I will destroy them.Verse 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.Verse 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.+Verse 28The Assyrians came to Aiath, passed through Migron, and stored their supplies at Michmash.Verse 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.Verse 30Shout out a warning, people of Gallim! Pay attention, those living in Laishah! You poor people of Anathoth!Verse 31The people of Madmenah, are all running away. The inhabitants of Gebim are looking for somewhere safe.Verse 32Today the invaders stop at Nob, shaking their fists at the mountain of the Daughter of Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem.Verse 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.+Verse 34He will cut down the thick forest with an ax, and Lebanon+will fall at the hand of the Mighty One.