Isaiah 10:5-34 ▼

5 Woe to Assyria (a step), the rod of My anger; the staff in their hands is My wrath.

6 I 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.

7 But 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 (fortress of Anu) like Carchemish (fortress of Chemosh)? Is not Hamath (fortress) like Arpad (I shall be supported)? Is not Samaria (watch mountain) like Damascus (well-watered land)?

10 As my hand seized the idolatrous kingdoms whose images surpassed those of Jerusalem (city of peace) and Samaria (watch mountain),

11 and as I have done to Samaria (watch mountain) and its idols, will I not also do to Jerusalem (city of peace) and her idols?”

12 So when the Lord {Adonai} has completed all His work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem (city of peace), He will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria (a step) for the fruit of his arrogant heart and the proud look in his eyes.

13 For 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.

14 My 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.’”

15 Does 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!

16 Therefore the Lord GOD {YHWH} 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.

17 And the Light of Israel (he wrestles with God) will become a fire, and its Holy One a flame. In a single day it will burn and devour Assyria’s thorns and thistles.

18 The splendor of its forests and orchards, both soul and body, it will completely destroy, as a sickness consumes a man.

19 The remaining trees of its forests will be so few that a child could count them.

20 On that day the remnant of Israel (he wrestles with God) and the survivors of the house of Jacob (he grasps the heel) will no longer depend on him who struck them, but they will truly rely on the LORD {YHWH}, the Holy One of Israel.

21 A remnant will return \Shear-jashub/ a remnant of Jacob (he grasps the heel)—to the Mighty God.

22 Though your people, O Israel (he wrestles with God), be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant will return. Destruction has been decreed, overflowing with righteousness.

23 For the Lord GOD {Adonai YHWH} of Hosts will carry out the destruction decreed upon the whole land.

24 Therefore this is what the Lord GOD {Adonai YHWH} of Hosts says: “O My people who dwell in Zion, do not fear Assyria (a step), who strikes you with a rod and lifts his staff against you as the Egyptians (land of bondage) did.

25 For in just a little while My fury against you will subside, and My anger will turn to their destruction.”

26 And the LORD {YHWH} of Hosts will brandish a whip against them, as when He struck Midian (strife) at the rock of Oreb (raven). He will raise His staff over the sea, as He did in Egypt (land of bondage).

27 On 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 \broken because of fatness/.

28 Assyria has entered Aiath (heap of ruins) and passed through Migron (precipice), storing their supplies at Michmash (hidden).

29 They have crossed at the ford: “We will spend the night at Geba (hill).” Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul (desired) flees.

30 Cry aloud, O Daughter of Gallim (springs)! Listen, O Laishah (lion)! O wretched Anathoth (answers to prayer)!

31 Madmenah (dunghill) flees; the people of Gebim (cisterns) take refuge.

32 Yet today they will halt at Nob (high place), shaking a fist at the mount of Daughter Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem (city of peace).

33 Behold, the Lord GOD {YHWH} of Hosts will lop off the branches with terrifying power. The tall trees will be cut down, the lofty ones will be felled.

34 He will clear the forest thickets with an axe, and Lebanon (whiteness) will fall before the Mighty One.