Isaiah 10-12

10 Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees,
    and the writers who keep writing oppression,
² to turn aside the needy from justice
    and to rob the poor of my people of their right,
that widows may be their spoil,
    and that they may make the fatherless their prey!
³ What will you do on the day of punishment,
    in the ruin that will come from afar?
To whom will you flee for help,
    and where will you leave your wealth?
⁴ Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners
    or fall among the slain.
For all this his anger has not turned away,
    and his hand is stretched out still.

Judgment on Arrogant Assyria

⁵ Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger;
    the staff in their hands is my fury!
⁶ Against a godless nation I send him,
    and against the people of my wrath I command him,
to take spoil and seize plunder,
    and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
⁷ But he does not so intend,
    and his heart does not so think;
but it is in his heart to destroy,
    and to cut off nations not a few;
⁸ for he says:
“Are not my commanders all kings?
⁹ Is not Calno like Carchemish?
    Is not Hamath like Arpad?
    Is not Samaria like Damascus?
¹⁰ As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols,
    whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
¹¹ shall I not do to Jerusalem and her idols
    as I have done to Samaria and her images?”

¹² When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, he^[a] will punish the speech^[b] of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes. ¹³ For he says:

“By the strength of my hand I have done it,
    and by my wisdom, for I have understanding;
I remove the boundaries of peoples,
    and plunder their treasures;
    like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones.
¹⁴ My hand has found like a nest
    the wealth of the peoples;
and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken,
    so I have gathered all the earth;
and there was none that moved a wing
    or opened the mouth or chirped.”

¹⁵ Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it,
    or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it?
As if a rod should wield him who lifts it,
    or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!
¹⁶ Therefore the Lord God of hosts
    will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors,
and under his glory a burning will be kindled,
    like the burning of fire.
¹⁷ The light of Israel will become a fire,
    and his Holy One a flame,
and it will burn and devour
    his thorns and briers in one day.
¹⁸ The glory of his forest and of his fruitful land
    the Lord will destroy, both soul and body,
    and it will be as when a sick man wastes away.
¹⁹ The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few
    that a child can write them down.

The Remnant of Israel Will Return

²⁰ In that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean on him who struck them, but will lean on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. ²¹ A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. ²² For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness. ²³ For the Lord God of hosts will make a full end, as decreed, in the midst of all the earth.

²⁴ Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: “O my people, who dwell in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrians when they strike with the rod and lift up their staff against you as the Egyptians did. ²⁵ For in a very little while my fury will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction. ²⁶ And the Lord of hosts will wield against them a whip, as when he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb. And his staff will be over the sea, and he will lift it as he did in Egypt. ²⁷ And in that day his burden will depart from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck; and the yoke will be broken because of the fat.”^[c]

²⁸ He has come to Aiath;
he has passed through Migron;
    at Michmash he stores his baggage;
²⁹ they have crossed over the pass;
    at Geba they lodge for the night;
Ramah trembles;
    Gibeah of Saul has fled.
³⁰ Cry aloud, O daughter of Gallim!
    Give attention, O Laishah!
    O poor Anathoth!
³¹ Madmenah is in flight;
    the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety.
³² This very day he will halt at Nob;
    he will shake his fist
    at the mount of the daughter of Zion,
    the hill of Jerusalem.

³³ Behold, the Lord God of hosts
    will lop the boughs with terrifying power;
the great in height will be hewn down,
    and the lofty will be brought low.
³⁴ He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an axe,
    and Lebanon will fall by the Majestic One.

The Righteous Reign of the Branch

11 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
    and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
² And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
    the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and might,
    the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
³ And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
    or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
⁴ but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
    and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
    and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
⁵ Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
    and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

⁶ The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
    and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
    and a little child shall lead them.
⁷ The cow and the bear shall graze;
    their young shall lie down together;
    and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
⁸ The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
    and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
⁹ They shall not hurt or destroy
    in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

¹⁰ In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

¹¹ In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush,^[d] from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea.

¹² He will raise a signal for the nations
    and will assemble the banished of Israel,
and gather the dispersed of Judah
    from the four corners of the earth.
¹³ The jealousy of Ephraim shall depart,
    and those who harass Judah shall be cut off;
Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah,
    and Judah shall not harass Ephraim.
¹⁴ But they shall swoop down on the shoulder of the Philistines in the west,
    and together they shall plunder the people of the east.
They shall put out their hand against Edom and Moab,
    and the Ammonites shall obey them.
¹⁵ And the Lord will utterly destroy^[e]
    the tongue of the Sea of Egypt,
and will wave his hand over the River^[f]
    with his scorching breath,^[g]
and strike it into seven channels,
    and he will lead people across in sandals.
¹⁶ And there will be a highway from Assyria
    for the remnant that remains of his people,
as there was for Israel
    when they came up from the land of Egypt.

The Lord Is My Strength and My Song

12 You^[h] will say in that day:
“I will give thanks to you, O Lord,
    for though you were angry with me,
your anger turned away,
    that you might comfort me.

² “Behold, God is my salvation;
    I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the Lord God^[i] is my strength and my song,
    and he has become my salvation.”

³ With joy you^[j] will draw water from the wells of salvation. ⁴ And you will say in that day:

“Give thanks to the Lord,
    call upon his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples,
    proclaim that his name is exalted.

⁵ “Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously;
    let this be made known^[k] in all the earth.
⁶ Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,
    for great in your^[l] midst is the Holy One of Israel.”

Footnotes

1. Isaiah 10:12 Hebrew I
2. Isaiah 10:12 Hebrew fruit
3. Isaiah 10:27 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
4. Isaiah 11:11 Probably Nubia
5. Isaiah 11:15 Hebrew devote to destruction
6. Isaiah 11:15 That is, the Euphrates
7. Isaiah 11:15 Or wind
8. Isaiah 12:1 The Hebrew for you is singular in verse 1
9. Isaiah 12:2 Hebrew for Yah, the Lord
10. Isaiah 12:3 The Hebrew for you is plural in verses 3, 4
11. Isaiah 12:5 Or this is made known
12. Isaiah 12:6 The Hebrew for your in verse 6 is singular, referring to the inhabitant of Zion

Assyria Shall Be Broken

10 “Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees,
Who write misfortune,
Which they have prescribed
² To rob the needy of justice,
And to take what is right from the poor of My people,
That widows may be their prey,
And that they may rob the fatherless.
³ What will you do in the day of punishment,
And in the desolation which will come from afar?
To whom will you flee for help?
And where will you leave your glory?
⁴ Without Me they shall bow down among the prisoners,
And they shall fall ^[a]among the slain.”

For all this His anger is not turned away,
But His hand is stretched out still.

Arrogant Assyria Also Judged

⁵ “Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger
And the staff in whose hand is My indignation.
⁶ I will send him against an ungodly nation,
And against the people of My wrath
I will give him charge,
To seize the spoil, to take the prey,
And to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
⁷ Yet he does not mean so,
Nor does his heart think so;
But it is in his heart to destroy,
And cut off not a few nations.
⁸ For he says,
‘Are not my princes altogether kings?
⁹ Is not Calno like Carchemish?
Is not Hamath like Arpad?
Is not Samaria like Damascus?
¹⁰ As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols,
Whose carved images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
¹¹ As I have done to Samaria and her idols,
Shall I not do also to Jerusalem and her idols?’ ”

¹² Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Lord has ^[b]performed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, that He will say, “I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty looks.”

¹³ For he says:

“By the strength of my hand I have done it,
And by my wisdom, for I am prudent;
Also I have removed the boundaries of the people,
And have robbed their treasuries;
So I have put down the inhabitants like a ^[c]valiant man.
¹⁴ My hand has found like a nest the riches of the people,
And as one gathers eggs that are left,
I have gathered all the earth;
And there was no one who moved his wing,
Nor opened his mouth with even a peep.”

¹⁵ Shall the ax boast itself against him who chops with it?
Or shall the saw exalt itself against him who saws with it?
As if a rod could wield itself against those who lift it up,
Or as if a staff could lift up, as if it were not wood!
¹⁶ Therefore the Lord, the ^[d]Lord of hosts,
Will send leanness among his fat ones;
And under his glory
He will kindle a burning
Like the burning of a fire.
¹⁷ So the Light of Israel will be for a fire,
And his Holy One for a flame;
It will burn and devour
His thorns and his briers in one day.
¹⁸ And it will consume the glory of his forest and of his fruitful field,
Both soul and body;
And they will be as when a sick man wastes away.
¹⁹ Then the rest of the trees of his forest
Will be so few in number
That a child may write them.

The Returning Remnant of Israel

²⁰ And it shall come to pass in that day
That the remnant of Israel,
And such as have escaped of the house of Jacob,
Will never again depend on him who ^[e]defeated them,
But will depend on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
²¹ The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob,
To the Mighty God.
²² For though your people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea,
A remnant of them will return;
The destruction decreed shall overflow with righteousness.
²³ For the Lord God of hosts
Will make a determined end
In the midst of all the land.

²⁴ Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: “O My people, who dwell in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrian. He shall strike you with a rod and lift up his staff against you, in the manner of Egypt. ²⁵ For yet a very little while and the indignation will cease, as will My anger in their destruction.” ²⁶ And the Lord of hosts will ^[f]stir up a scourge for him like the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb; as His rod was on the sea, so will He lift it up in the manner of Egypt.

²⁷ It shall come to pass in that day
That his burden will be taken away from your shoulder,
And his yoke from your neck,
And the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil.

²⁸ He has come to Aiath,
He has passed Migron;
At Michmash he has attended to his equipment.
²⁹ They have gone ^[g]along the ridge,
They have taken up lodging at Geba.
Ramah is afraid,
Gibeah of Saul has fled.
^30 [h]Lift up your voice,
O daughter of Gallim!
Cause it to be heard as far as Laish—
^[i]O poor Anathoth!
³¹ Madmenah has fled,
The inhabitants of Gebim seek refuge.
³² As yet he will remain at Nob that day;
He will shake his fist at the mount of the daughter of Zion,
The hill of Jerusalem.

³³ Behold, the Lord,
The Lord of hosts,
Will lop off the bough with terror;
Those of high stature will be hewn down,
And the haughty will be humbled.
³⁴ He will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron,
And Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One.

The Reign of Jesse’s Offspring

11 There shall come forth a ^[j]Rod from the ^[k]stem of Jesse,
And a Branch shall ^[l]grow out of his roots.
² The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and might,
The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.

³ His delight is in the fear of the Lord,
And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes,
Nor decide by the hearing of His ears;
⁴ But with righteousness He shall judge the poor,
And decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.
⁵ Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins,
And faithfulness the belt of His waist.

⁶ “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,
The leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
The calf and the young lion and the fatling together;
And a little child shall lead them.
⁷ The cow and the bear shall graze;
Their young ones shall lie down together;
And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
⁸ The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole,
And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den.
⁹ They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,
For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
As the waters cover the sea.

¹⁰ “And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse,
Who shall stand as a banner to the people;
For the Gentiles shall seek Him,
And His resting place shall be glorious.”

¹¹ It shall come to pass in that day
That the Lord shall set His hand again the second time
To recover the remnant of His people who are left,
From Assyria and Egypt,
From Pathros and Cush,
From Elam and Shinar,
From Hamath and the ^[m]islands of the sea.

¹² He will set up a banner for the nations,
And will ^[n]assemble the outcasts of Israel,
And gather together the dispersed of Judah
From the four ^[o]corners of the earth.
¹³ Also the envy of Ephraim shall depart,
And the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off;
Ephraim shall not envy Judah,
And Judah shall not harass Ephraim.
¹⁴ But they shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines toward the west;
Together they shall plunder the ^[p]people of the East;
They shall lay their hand on Edom and Moab;
And the people of Ammon shall obey them.
¹⁵ The Lord will utterly ^[q]destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt;
With His mighty wind He will shake His fist over ^[r]the River,
And strike it in the seven streams,
And make men cross over ^[s]dry-shod.
¹⁶ There will be a highway for the remnant of His people
Who will be left from Assyria,
As it was for Israel
In the day that he came up from the land of Egypt.

A Hymn of Praise

12 And in that day you will say:

“O Lord, I will praise You;
Though You were angry with me,
Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me.
² Behold, God is my salvation,
I will trust and not be afraid;
‘For Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song;
He also has become my salvation.’ ”

³ Therefore with joy you will draw water
From the wells of salvation.

⁴ And in that day you will say:

“Praise the Lord, call upon His name;
Declare His deeds among the peoples,
Make mention that His name is exalted.
⁵ Sing to the Lord,
For He has done excellent things;
This is known in all the earth.
⁶ Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion,
For great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst!”

Footnotes

1. Isaiah 10:4 Lit. under
2. Isaiah 10:12 completed
3. Isaiah 10:13 mighty
4. Isaiah 10:16 So with Bg.; MT, DSS YHWH (the Lord)
5. Isaiah 10:20 Lit. struck
6. Isaiah 10:26 arouse
7. Isaiah 10:29 Or over the pass
8. Isaiah 10:30 Or Cry shrilly
9. Isaiah 10:30 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX, Syr. Listen to her, O Anathoth
10. Isaiah 11:1 Shoot
11. Isaiah 11:1 stock or trunk
12. Isaiah 11:1 be fruitful
13. Isaiah 11:11 Or coastlands
14. Isaiah 11:12 gather
15. Isaiah 11:12 Lit. wings
16. Isaiah 11:14 Lit. sons
17. Isaiah 11:15 So with MT, Vg.; LXX, Syr., Tg. dry up
18. Isaiah 11:15 The Euphrates
19. Isaiah 11:15 Lit. in sandals