Isaiah 10:1-19

Woe to those who legalize injustice and write oppressive legislation! You rip away the rights of the poor and prey upon widows and orphans! What will come of you on your day of visitation when disaster comes from afar? To whom will you run for help? And what will you do then with all your great wealth? You’ll have no option but to cringe among the captives or fall among the corpses of the slain! Yet despite all this, his anger has not subsided, and his hand is poised to strike. Woe to arrogant Assyria, the rod of my anger! The club I place in the king’s hand is my fury. I am the one who has sent him against a godless nation and ordered him to attack a people who anger me. I sent him to take the spoil and seize the plunder and to trample them down like dust in the street. But he has no clue what he’s doing, and he has something else in mind. He plans on annihilating many nations and thinks, “After all, I have made my executive commanders into kings. Calneh will be no different than Carchemish, whom I destroyed. I’ll destroy Hamath as I did Arpad and make Samaria like Damascus. Since I was able to seize kingdoms full of idols and images more powerful and more impressive than those of Jerusalem and Samaria, won’t I do the same thing to Jerusalem and Samaria and their idols?” But when the Lord has carried out his purpose on Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will punish the king of Assyria because of his overbearing arrogance and unrestrained pride! He boasted, “Look what I have done by the strength of my hand and by my wisdom. See how clever I am! I have erased the borders of nations and plundered their treasures. I have been like a mighty conqueror, subduing those in strong fortresses. I seized their wealth as one who found an unprotected nest. As one who gathers eggs that have been left behind, so I gathered the wealth of the world. And the young birds could neither move a wing nor even open their mouths to peep!” Is the axe greater than the one who wields it? Is the saw greater than the one who cuts with it? Can the axe strike without a hand to move it? Can a lifeless wooden cane walk all by itself? Therefore, the sovereign Lord YAHWEH, Commander of Angel Armies, will send a devastating plague among Assyria’s proud warriors. Yes, the “glory” of Assyria will be burned and go up in smoke! For the Light of Israel will become a fire in their midst, and the Holy One will become a flame! He will consume the thorns and thistles of the Assyrian king in one day! The splendor of his forest and orchard will be completely destroyed, like a dying man fading away. The forest will have so few trees left that even a little boy could count them.