Isaiah Chapter 10
10:1Misfortune awaits judges that enact unfair laws
and render illegal verdicts,
2 who deprive the needy of justice
and rob the poor of their rights
so they can make widows their spoil
and orphans their plunder.
3 What are you going to do when punishment arrives,
when devastation comes from far off?
Who will you run to for help?
Where will you hide your wealth?
4 There’ll be nothing left for you
but to crouch among the captives
or fall among the slain.
Even then, his anger won’t be spent;
his fist will still be raised.
Is 10:1-4
Judgment Against Assyria
the club my anger is using,
the staff I’ve loaded with my indignation.
6 I’m sending Assyria against my godless nation,
a people I’m angry with,
to capture spoil and seize plunder,
to tramp on like a dirt road.
7 But that’s not Assyria’s intention.
It simply intends to destroy
one nation after another.
8 It will say, ‘My princes will all be kings?
9 Calno will fall like Carchemish,
Hamath like Arpad,
Samaria like Damascus.
10 As I’ve done to other kingdoms with idols,
whose carved images were greater than Jerusalem’s and Samaria’s,
11 so I’ll do to Jerusalem and its images
what I’ve done to Samaria and its idols.’”
Is 10:5-11
12 So when the Lord finishes using Assyria to complete his work on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, he’ll say, “I’ll punish the arrogant king of Assyria and his pompous pride.” 13 That’s because he brags,
“I did this by my own power and wisdom,
because I’m intelligent;
I have broken through nations’ boundaries
and carried off their treasures,
knocked down their kings like a bull
14 and robbed their wealth like a nest;
I gathered the whole world
like someone gathers abandoned eggs;
not a one flapped its wings
or opened its beak or clucked.”
Is 10:12-14
about being mightier than the woodsman that chops with it?
Should a saw elevate itself
above the carpenter that saws with it?
That would be like a staff wielding a shepherd
or a cane standing up the one that leans on it.
16 So the Lord GOD of Hosts will send
a plague among Assyria’s strong soldiers;
he’ll ignite their glory with a burning flame.
17 Israel’s light will be that fire,
its Holy One that flame;
it will eat up Assyria’s “thorns and briars” in one day.
18 He’ll destroy Assyria’s glory like a forest
and his fruitful “garden” body and soul;
it’ll waste away like sick people in a plague.
19 So few trees will be left in his “woods”
a kid could count them.
Is 10:15-19
Hope for the Remnant
20 At that time, the remnant in Israel and the survivors in Judah that escaped will have the sense to never again rely on allies that want to destroy them. They’ll rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, 21-22 the Mighty God. 22 Then, even though Israel was as numerous as sand by the sea, only a remnant will return. 23 The Lord GOD will carry out the total destruction he’s decreed.
24 So this is what he says,
“My people in Zion, don’t be afraid of Assyria that wants to strike you with a rod and threaten you with its staff like Egypt did. 25 In a little while, my anger at you will be spent, and I’ll redirect it at Assyria. 26 I’ll scourge it like I massacred Midian at the Rock of Oreb. I’ll hold my staff out over the sea and lift it up like I did in Egypt. 27 Then I’ll lift the Assyrian burden off your shoulders and break its yoke from off your neck.”
Is 10:20-27
28 The Assyrians have passed through Migron,
attacked Aiath,
and set up base camp at Michmash.
29 They’ve gone over the pass
and are camping at Geba;
Ramah has panicked,
and Gibeah of Saul has fled.
30 Cry out in terror, people in Gallim!
Warn Laishah and poor Anathoth!
31 Madmenah has fled;
the residents of Gebim are searching for refuge.
32 The enemy will halt his advance at Nob for the day
and shake his fist at Mount Zion,
the hill of Jerusalem.
Is 10:28-32
33 The Lord GOD of Hosts will lop off limbs with a terrible crash
and cut down Lebanon’s tall, lofty trees.
34 With an iron axe he’ll chop down the undergrowth in its forest,
and Lebanon will fall to the Mighty One.
Is 10:33-34