17 The Lord will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away(A) from Judah—he will bring the king of Assyria.(B)

Assyria, the Lord’s Instrument

18 In that day(C) the Lord will whistle(D) for flies from the Nile delta in Egypt and for bees from the land of Assyria.(E) 19 They will all come and settle in the steep ravines and in the crevices(F) in the rocks, on all the thornbushes(G) and at all the water holes. 20 In that day(H) the Lord will use(I) a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates River(J)—the king of Assyria(K)—to shave your head and private parts, and to cut off your beard(L) also.(M) 21 In that day,(N) a person will keep alive a young cow and two goats.(O) 22 And because of the abundance of the milk they give, there will be curds to eat. All who remain in the land will eat curds(P) and honey.(Q) 23 In that day,(R) in every place where there were a thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels,[a](S) there will be only briers and thorns.(T) 24 Hunters will go there with bow and arrow, for the land will be covered with briers(U) and thorns. 25 As for all the hills(V) once cultivated by the hoe, you will no longer go there for fear of the briers and thorns;(W) they will become places where cattle are turned loose and where sheep run.(X)

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 7:23 That is, about 25 pounds or about 12 kilograms

For before the boy knows(A) how to say ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus(B) and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.(C)

The Lord spoke to me again:

“Because this people has rejected(D)
    the gently flowing waters of Shiloah(E)
and rejoices over Rezin
    and the son of Remaliah,(F)
therefore the Lord is about to bring against them
    the mighty floodwaters(G) of the Euphrates—
    the king of Assyria(H) with all his pomp.(I)
It will overflow all its channels,
    run over all its banks(J)
and sweep on into Judah, swirling over it,(K)
    passing through it and reaching up to the neck.
Its outspread wings(L) will cover the breadth of your land,
    Immanuel[a]!”(M)

Raise the war cry,[b](N) you nations, and be shattered!(O)
    Listen, all you distant lands.
Prepare(P) for battle, and be shattered!
    Prepare for battle, and be shattered!
10 Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted;(Q)
    propose your plan, but it will not stand,(R)
    for God is with us.[c](S)

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 8:8 Immanuel means God with us.
  2. Isaiah 8:9 Or Do your worst
  3. Isaiah 8:10 Hebrew Immanuel

God’s Judgment on Assyria

“Woe(A) to the Assyrian,(B) the rod(C) of my anger,
    in whose hand is the club(D) of my wrath!(E)
I send him against a godless(F) nation,
    I dispatch(G) him against a people who anger me,(H)
to seize loot and snatch plunder,(I)
    and to trample(J) them down like mud in the streets.
But this is not what he intends,(K)
    this is not what he has in mind;
his purpose is to destroy,
    to put an end to many nations.
‘Are not my commanders(L) all kings?’ he says.
    ‘Has not Kalno(M) fared like Carchemish?(N)
Is not Hamath(O) like Arpad,(P)
    and Samaria(Q) like Damascus?(R)
10 As my hand seized the kingdoms of the idols,(S)
    kingdoms whose images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria—
11 shall I not deal with Jerusalem and her images
    as I dealt with Samaria and her idols?(T)’”

12 When the Lord has finished all his work(U) against Mount Zion(V) and Jerusalem, he will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria(W) for the willful pride(X) of his heart and the haughty look(Y) in his eyes. 13 For he says:

“‘By the strength of my hand(Z) I have done this,(AA)
    and by my wisdom, because I have understanding.
I removed the boundaries of nations,
    I plundered their treasures;(AB)
    like a mighty one I subdued[a] their kings.(AC)
14 As one reaches into a nest,(AD)
    so my hand reached for the wealth(AE) of the nations;
as people gather abandoned eggs,
    so I gathered all the countries;(AF)
not one flapped a wing,
    or opened its mouth to chirp.(AG)’”

15 Does the ax raise itself above the person who swings it,
    or the saw boast against the one who uses it?(AH)
As if a rod were to wield the person who lifts it up,
    or a club(AI) brandish the one who is not wood!
16 Therefore, the Lord, the Lord Almighty,
    will send a wasting disease(AJ) upon his sturdy warriors;(AK)
under his pomp(AL) a fire(AM) will be kindled
    like a blazing flame.
17 The Light of Israel will become a fire,(AN)
    their Holy One(AO) a flame;
in a single day it will burn and consume
    his thorns(AP) and his briers.(AQ)
18 The splendor of his forests(AR) and fertile fields
    it will completely destroy,(AS)
    as when a sick person wastes away.
19 And the remaining trees of his forests(AT) will be so few(AU)
    that a child could write them down.

The Remnant of Israel

20 In that day(AV) the remnant of Israel,
    the survivors(AW) of Jacob,
will no longer rely(AX) on him
    who struck them down(AY)
but will truly rely(AZ) on the Lord,
    the Holy One of Israel.(BA)
21 A remnant(BB) will return,[b](BC) a remnant of Jacob
    will return to the Mighty God.(BD)
22 Though your people be like the sand(BE) by the sea, Israel,
    only a remnant will return.(BF)
Destruction has been decreed,(BG)
    overwhelming and righteous.
23 The Lord, the Lord Almighty, will carry out
    the destruction decreed(BH) upon the whole land.(BI)

24 Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord Almighty, says:

“My people who live in Zion,(BJ)
    do not be afraid(BK) of the Assyrians,
who beat(BL) you with a rod(BM)
    and lift up a club against you, as Egypt did.
25 Very soon(BN) my anger against you will end
    and my wrath(BO) will be directed to their destruction.(BP)

26 The Lord Almighty will lash(BQ) them with a whip,
    as when he struck down Midian(BR) at the rock of Oreb;
and he will raise his staff(BS) over the waters,(BT)
    as he did in Egypt.
27 In that day(BU) their burden(BV) will be lifted from your shoulders,
    their yoke(BW) from your neck;(BX)
the yoke(BY) will be broken
    because you have grown so fat.[c]

28 They enter Aiath;
    they pass through Migron;(BZ)
    they store supplies(CA) at Mikmash.(CB)
29 They go over the pass, and say,
    “We will camp overnight at Geba.(CC)
Ramah(CD) trembles;
    Gibeah(CE) of Saul flees.(CF)
30 Cry out, Daughter Gallim!(CG)
    Listen, Laishah!
    Poor Anathoth!(CH)
31 Madmenah is in flight;
    the people of Gebim take cover.
32 This day they will halt at Nob;(CI)
    they will shake their fist(CJ)
at the mount of Daughter Zion,(CK)
    at the hill of Jerusalem.

33 See, the Lord, the Lord Almighty,
    will lop off(CL) the boughs with great power.
The lofty trees will be felled,(CM)
    the tall(CN) ones will be brought low.(CO)
34 He will cut down(CP) the forest thickets with an ax;
    Lebanon(CQ) will fall before the Mighty One.(CR)

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 10:13 Or treasures; / I subdued the mighty,
  2. Isaiah 10:21 Hebrew shear-jashub (see 7:3 and note); also in verse 22
  3. Isaiah 10:27 Hebrew; Septuagint broken / from your shoulders

24 The Lord Almighty has sworn,(A)

“Surely, as I have planned,(B) so it will be,
    and as I have purposed, so it will happen.(C)
25 I will crush the Assyrian(D) in my land;
    on my mountains I will trample him down.
His yoke(E) will be taken from my people,
    and his burden removed from their shoulders.(F)

26 This is the plan(G) determined for the whole world;
    this is the hand(H) stretched out over all nations.
27 For the Lord Almighty has purposed,(I) and who can thwart him?
    His hand(J) is stretched out, and who can turn it back?(K)

A Prophecy Against the Philistines

28 This prophecy(L) came in the year(M) King Ahaz(N) died:

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23 In that day(A) there will be a highway(B) from Egypt to Assyria.(C) The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship(D) together. 24 In that day(E) Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria,(F) a blessing[a](G) on the earth. 25 The Lord Almighty will bless(H) them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people,(I) Assyria my handiwork,(J) and Israel my inheritance.(K)

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 19:24 Or Assyria, whose names will be used in blessings (see Gen. 48:20); or Assyria, who will be seen by others as blessed

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