Isaiah 10:1
New International Version
Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees,

New Living Translation
What sorrow awaits the unjust judges and those who issue unfair laws.

English Standard Version
Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who keep writing oppression,

Berean Standard Bible
Woe to those who enact unjust statutes and issue oppressive decrees,

King James Bible
Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;

New King James Version
“Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, Who write misfortune, Which they have prescribed

New American Standard Bible
Woe to those who enact unjust statutes And to those who constantly record harmful decisions,

NASB 1995
Woe to those who enact evil statutes And to those who constantly record unjust decisions,

NASB 1977
Woe to those who enact evil statutes, And to those who constantly record unjust decisions,

Legacy Standard Bible
Woe to those who enact evil statutes And to those who constantly record mischief,

Amplified Bible
Woe (judgment is coming) to those [judges] who issue evil statutes, And to those [magistrates] who constantly record unjust and oppressive decisions,

Christian Standard Bible
Woe to those enacting crooked statutes and writing oppressive laws

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Woe to those enacting crooked statutes and writing oppressive laws

American Standard Version
Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and to the writers that write perverseness;

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Woe to those who publish a publication of depravity and write evil

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Woe to them that write wickedness; for when they write they do write wickedness,

Contemporary English Version
You people are in for trouble! You have made cruel and unfair laws

Douay-Rheims Bible
WOE to them that make wicked laws: and when they write, write injustice:

English Revised Version
Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and to the writers that write perverseness:

GOD'S WORD® Translation
How horrible it will be for those who make unjust laws and who make oppressive regulations.

Good News Translation
You are doomed! You make unjust laws that oppress my people.

International Standard Version
"How terrible it will be for the one who enacts unjust decrees, for those who write oppressive laws that they have prescribed

JPS Tanakh 1917
Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, And to the writers that write iniquity;

Literal Standard Version
“Woe [to] those decreeing decrees of iniquity, | And writers who have prescribed perverseness,

Majority Standard Bible
Woe to those who enact unjust statutes and issue oppressive decrees,

New American Bible
Ah! Those who enact unjust statutes, who write oppressive decrees,

NET Bible
Those who enact unjust policies are as good as dead, those who are always instituting unfair regulations,

New Revised Standard Version
Ah, you who make iniquitous decrees, who write oppressive statutes,

New Heart English Bible
Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, and to the writers who write oppressive decrees;

Webster's Bible Translation
Woe to them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;

World English Bible
Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, and to the writers who write oppressive decrees

Young's Literal Translation
Woe to those decreeing decrees of iniquity, And writers who have prescribed perverseness.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Woe to Tyrants
1Woe to those who enact unjust statutes and issue oppressive decrees, 2to deprive the poor of fair treatment and withhold justice from the oppressed of My people, to make widows their prey and orphans their plunder.…

Cross References
Psalm 58:2
No, in your hearts you devise injustice; with your hands you mete out violence on the earth.

Psalm 94:20
Can a corrupt throne be Your ally--one devising mischief by decree?

Isaiah 3:14
The LORD brings this charge against the elders and leaders of His people: "You have devoured the vineyard; the plunder of the poor is in your houses.

Isaiah 5:23
who acquit the guilty for a bribe and deprive the innocent of justice.

Isaiah 29:21
those who indict a man with a word, who ensnare the mediator at the gate, and who with false charges deprive the innocent of justice.

Isaiah 59:4
No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case honestly. They rely on empty pleas; they tell lies; they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.

Isaiah 59:13
rebelling and denying the LORD, turning away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering lies from the heart.


Treasury of Scripture

Woe to them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;

A.

Isaiah 3:11
Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.

Isaiah 5:8,11,18,20-22
Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth! …

Jeremiah 22:13
Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work;

them

1 Kings 21:13
And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died.

Esther 3:10-13
And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews' enemy…

Psalm 58:2
Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth.

that write grievousness.

Jump to Previous
Acts Constantly Cruel Cursed Decisions Decree Decreeing Decrees Evil Grievousness Iniquitous Iniquity Issue Laws Oppression Oppressive Perverseness Prescribe Prescribed Record Records Statutes Unjust Unrighteous Wo Woe Write Writing
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Acts Constantly Cruel Cursed Decisions Decree Decreeing Decrees Evil Grievousness Iniquitous Iniquity Issue Laws Oppression Oppressive Perverseness Prescribe Prescribed Record Records Statutes Unjust Unrighteous Wo Woe Write Writing
Isaiah 10
1. The woe of tyrants
5. Assyria, the rod of hypocrites, for its pride shall be broken
20. A remnant of Israel shall be saved
23. Judah is comforted with promise of deliverance from Assyria














X.

(1) Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees . . .--The division of the chapters is again misleading. Isaiah 10:1-4 continue the discourse of Isaiah 9, and end with the final knell, "For all this . . ." With Isaiah 10:5 a new section begins, and is carried on to Isaiah 12:6, which deals, for the first time in the collection of Isaiah's writings, exclusively with Assyria, and is followed in its turn by utterances that deal with Babylon and other nations. The formula with which the section opens reminds us of that of Isaiah 5:8; Isaiah 5:11; Isaiah 5:18; Isaiah 5:22, and suggests the thought that the prophet is speaking not only or chiefly of the northern kingdom, as in Isaiah 9:21, but of Israel as including Judah. The evils the prophet denounces are, it will be noted, identical with those in Isaiah 1:23; Isaiah 5:23. For the second clause of the verse, read, "and the scribes who register oppression." All the formalities of justice were observed punctiliously. The decision of the unjust judge was duly given and recorded, but the outcome of it all was that the poor, the widow, and the fatherless got no redress. The words for "prey" and "rob" are those used in the mysterious name of Isaiah 8:1. They occur again in Isaiah 10:6. It would seem as if the prophet sought in this way to impress the thought of the great law of divine retribution. Men were reaping as they had sown. . . .

Verses 1-4. - The prophecy begun in Isaiah 9:8 terminates with this stanza, which contains a warning against injustice and oppression, addressed to Israel and Judah equally, and accompanied by the threat of a "day of desolation," when those who have refused to make God their Refuge will have no resource, but to go into captivity with the "prisoners," or to perish with the "slain." A foreign conquest, accompanied by slaughter, and the deportation of captives, is not obscurely intimated. Verse 1. - Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees (comp. Isaiah 1:17, 20, 26; Isaiah 5:23, etc.). The perversion of judgment from the judgment-seat is the sin rebuked. It was certainly prevalent in Judah, it may also have been practiced in Israel. And that write grievousness, etc. Translate, and unto the writers that enregister oppression. The decrees of courts were, it is clear, carefully engrossed by the officials, probably upon parchment, every outward formality being observed, while justice itself was set at naught.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Woe
ה֥וֹי (hō·w)
Interjection
Strong's 1945: Ah! alas! ha!

to those who enact
הַחֹֽקְקִ֖ים (ha·ḥō·qə·qîm)
Article | Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine plural
Strong's 2710: To hack, engrave, to enact, prescribe

unjust
אָ֑וֶן (’ā·wen)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 205: Strictly nothingness, trouble, vanity, wickedness, an idol

statutes
חִקְקֵי־ (ḥiq·qê-)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 2711: An enactment, a resolution

and issue
וּֽמְכַתְּבִ֥ים (ū·mə·ḵat·tə·ḇîm)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Participle - masculine plural
Strong's 3789: To grave, to write

oppressive
עָמָ֖ל (‘ā·māl)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 5999: Toil, wearing effort, worry, wheth, of body, mind

decrees,
כִּתֵּֽבוּ׃ (kit·tê·ḇū)
Verb - Piel - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 3789: To grave, to write


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OT Prophets: Isaiah 10:1 Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees (Isa Isi Is)
Isaiah 9:21
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