Isaiah 10:1--12:6

10:1 Those who enact unjust policies are as good as dead,

those who are always instituting unfair regulations,

10:2 to keep the poor from getting fair treatment,

and to deprive the oppressed among my people of justice,

so they can steal what widows own,

and loot what belongs to orphans.

10:3 What will you do on judgment day,

when destruction arrives from a distant place?

To whom will you run for help?

Where will you leave your wealth?

10:4 You will have no place to go, except to kneel with the prisoners,

or to fall among those who have been killed.

Despite all this, his anger does not subside,

and his hand is ready to strike again.

The Lord Turns on Arrogant Assyria

10:5 Assyria, the club I use to vent my anger, is as good as dead,

a cudgel with which I angrily punish.

10:6 I sent him against a godless nation,

I ordered him to attack the people with whom I was angry,

to take plunder and to carry away loot,

to trample them down like dirt in the streets.

10:7 But he does not agree with this,

his mind does not reason this way,

for his goal is to destroy,

and to eliminate many nations.

10:8 Indeed, he says:

“Are not my officials all kings?

10:9 Is not Calneh like Carchemish?

Hamath like Arpad?

Samaria like Damascus?

10:10 I overpowered kingdoms ruled by idols,

whose carved images were more impressive than Jerusalem’s or Samaria’s.

10:11 As I have done to Samaria and its idols,

so I will do to Jerusalem and its idols.”

10:12 But when the sovereign master finishes judging Mount Zion and Jerusalem, then I will punish the king of Assyria for what he has proudly planned and for the arrogant attitude he displays. 10:13 For he says:

“By my strong hand I have accomplished this,

by my strategy that I devised.

I invaded the territory of nations,

and looted their storehouses.

Like a mighty conqueror, I brought down rulers.

10:14 My hand discovered the wealth of the nations, as if it were in a nest,

as one gathers up abandoned eggs,

I gathered up the whole earth.

There was no wing flapping,

or open mouth chirping.”

10:15 Does an ax exalt itself over the one who wields it,

or a saw magnify itself over the one who cuts with it?

As if a scepter should brandish the one who raises it,

or a staff should lift up what is not made of wood!

10:16 For this reason the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, will make his healthy ones emaciated. His majestic glory will go up in smoke.

10:17 The light of Israel will become a fire,

their Holy One will become a flame;

it will burn and consume the Assyrian king’s briers

and his thorns in one day.

10:18 The splendor of his forest and his orchard

will be completely destroyed,

as when a sick man’s life ebbs away.

10:19 There will be so few trees left in his forest,

a child will be able to count them.

10:20 At that time those left in Israel, those who remain of the family of Jacob, will no longer rely on a foreign leader that abuses them. Instead they will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. 10:21 A remnant will come back, a remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. 10:22 For though your people, Israel, are as numerous as the sand on the seashore, only a remnant will come back. Destruction has been decreed; just punishment is about to engulf you. 10:23 The sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, is certainly ready to carry out the decreed destruction throughout the land.

10:24 So here is what the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, says: “My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of Assyria, even though they beat you with a club and lift their cudgel against you as Egypt did. 10:25 For very soon my fury will subside, and my anger will be directed toward their destruction.” 10:26 The Lord who commands armies is about to beat them with a whip, similar to the way he struck down Midian at the rock of Oreb. He will use his staff against the sea, lifting it up as he did in Egypt.

10:27 At that time

the Lord will remove their burden from your shoulders,

and their yoke from your neck;

the yoke will be taken off because your neck will be too large.

10:28 They attacked Aiath,

moved through Migron,

depositing their supplies at Micmash.

10:29 They went through the pass,

spent the night at Geba.

Ramah trembled,

Gibeah of Saul ran away.

10:30 Shout out, daughter of Gallim!

Pay attention, Laishah!

Answer her, Anathoth!

10:31 Madmenah flees,

the residents of Gebim have hidden.

10:32 This very day, standing in Nob,

they shake their fist at Daughter Zion’s mountain –

at the hill of Jerusalem.

10:33 Look, the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies,

is ready to cut off the branches with terrifying power.

The tallest trees will be cut down,

the loftiest ones will be brought low.

10:34 The thickets of the forest will be chopped down with an ax,

and mighty Lebanon will fall.

An Ideal King Establishes a Kingdom of Peace

11:1 A shoot will grow out of Jesse’s root stock,

a bud will sprout from his roots.

11:2 The Lord’s spirit will rest on him –

a spirit that gives extraordinary wisdom,

a spirit that provides the ability to execute plans,

a spirit that produces absolute loyalty to the Lord.

11:3 He will take delight in obeying the Lord.

He will not judge by mere appearances,

or make decisions on the basis of hearsay.

11:4 He will treat the poor fairly,

and make right decisions for the downtrodden of the earth.

He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,

and order the wicked to be executed.

11:5 Justice will be like a belt around his waist,

integrity will be like a belt around his hips.

11:6 A wolf will reside with a lamb,

and a leopard will lie down with a young goat;

an ox and a young lion will graze together,

as a small child leads them along.

11:7 A cow and a bear will graze together,

their young will lie down together.

A lion, like an ox, will eat straw.

11:8 A baby will play

over the hole of a snake;

over the nest of a serpent

an infant will put his hand.

11:9 They will no longer injure or destroy

on my entire royal mountain.

For there will be universal submission to the Lord’s sovereignty,

just as the waters completely cover the sea.

Israel is Reclaimed and Reunited

11:10 At that time a root from Jesse will stand like a signal flag for the nations. Nations will look to him for guidance, and his residence will be majestic. 11:11 At that time the sovereign master will again lift his hand to reclaim the remnant of his people from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and the seacoasts.

11:12 He will lift a signal flag for the nations;

he will gather Israel’s dispersed people

and assemble Judah’s scattered people

from the four corners of the earth.

11:13 Ephraim’s jealousy will end,

and Judah’s hostility will be eliminated.

Ephraim will no longer be jealous of Judah,

and Judah will no longer be hostile toward Ephraim.

11:14 They will swoop down on the Philistine hills to the west;

together they will loot the people of the east.

They will take over Edom and Moab,

and the Ammonites will be their subjects.

11:15 The Lord will divide the gulf of the Egyptian Sea;

he will wave his hand over the Euphrates River and send a strong wind,

he will turn it into seven dried-up streams,

and enable them to walk across in their sandals.

11:16 There will be a highway leading out of Assyria

for the remnant of his people,

just as there was for Israel,

when they went up from the land of Egypt.

12:1 At that time you will say:

“I praise you, O Lord,

for even though you were angry with me,

your anger subsided, and you consoled me.

12:2 Look, God is my deliverer!

I will trust in him and not fear.

For the Lord gives me strength and protects me;

he has become my deliverer.”

12:3 Joyfully you will draw water

from the springs of deliverance.

12:4 At that time you will say:

“Praise the Lord!

Ask him for help!

Publicize his mighty acts among the nations!

Make it known that he is unique!

12:5 Sing to the Lord, for he has done magnificent things,

let this be known throughout the earth!

12:6 Cry out and shout for joy, O citizens of Zion,

for the Holy One of Israel acts mightily among you!”