Isaiah 10:1-19

Woe (judgment is coming) to those [judges] who issue evil statutes, And to those [magistrates] who constantly record unjust and oppressive decisions, So as to deprive the needy of justice And rob the poor of My people of rightful claims, So that widows may be their spoil And that they may plunder the fatherless. Now what will you do in the day of [God’s] punishment, And in the storm of devastation which will come from far away? To whom will you flee for help? And where will you leave your wealth [for safekeeping]? Nothing remains but to crouch among the captives Or fall [dead] among the slain [on the battlefield]. In spite of all this, God’s anger does not turn away, But His hand is still stretched out [in judgment]. ¶Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger [against Israel], The staff in whose hand is My indignation and fury [against Israel’s disobedience]! I send Assyria against a godless nation And commission it against the people of My wrath To take the spoil and to seize the plunder, And to trample them down like mud in the streets. Yet it is not Assyria’s intention [to do My will], Nor does it plan so in its heart, But instead it is its purpose to destroy And to cut off many nations. For Assyria says, “Are not my princes all kings? “Is not Calno [conquered] like Carchemish [on the Euphrates]? Is not Hamath [subdued] like Arpad [her neighbor]? Is not Samaria [in Israel] like Damascus [in Aram]? “As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols, Whose carved images were greater and more feared than those of Jerusalem and Samaria, Shall I not do to Jerusalem and her images Just as I have done to Samaria and her idols?” [declares Assyria]. So when the Lord has completed all His work [of judgment] on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the fruit [the thoughts, the declarations, and the actions] of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the haughtiness of his pride.” For the Assyrian king has said, “I have done this by the power of my [own] hand and by my wisdom, For I have understanding and skill. I have removed the boundaries of the peoples And have plundered their treasures; Like a bull I have brought down those who sat on thrones. “My hand has found the wealth of the people like a nest, And as one gathers eggs that are abandoned, so I have gathered all the earth; And there was not one that flapped its wing, or that opened its beak and chirped.” ¶Is the axe able to lift itself over the one who chops with it? Is the saw able to magnify itself over the one who wields it? That would be like a club moving those who lift it, Or like a staff raising him who is not [made of] wood [like itself]! Therefore the Lord, the GOD of hosts, will send a wasting disease among the stout warriors of Assyria; And under his glory a fire will be kindled like a burning flame. And the Light of Israel will become a fire and His Holy One a flame, And it will burn and devour Assyria’s thorns and briars in a single day. [2 Kin 19:35-37; Is 31:8, 9; 37:36] The Lord will consume the glory of Assyria’s forest and of its fruitful garden, both soul and body, And it will be as when a sick man wastes away. And the remaining trees of Assyria’s forest will be so few in number That a child could write them down.