10 1 Of wicked lawmakers. 5 God will punish his people by the Assyrians and after destroy them. 21 The remnant of Israel shall be saved.

Woe unto them that decree wicked decrees, and [a]write grievous things,

To keep back the poor from judgment, and to take away the judgment of the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may spoil the fatherless.

What will ye do now in the day of visitation, and of destruction, which shall come from [b]far? to whom will ye flee for help and where will ye leave your [c]glory?

[d]Without me everyone shall fall among them that are bound, and they shall fall down among the slain: yet for all this his wrath is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

¶ O [e]Assyria, the rod of my wrath: and the staff in their hands is mine indignation.

I will send [f]him to a dissembling nation, and I will give him a charge against the people of my wrath to take the spoil and to take the prey, and to tread them under feet like the mire in the street.

But he thinketh not so, neither doth his heart esteem it so: but he imagineth to destroy and to cut off not a few nations.

For he saith, Are not my princes altogether Kings?

Is not Calno as [g]Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria as Damascus?

10 Like as mine hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, seeing their idols were above Jerusalem, and above Samaria:

11 Shall not I, as I have done to Samaria, and to the idols thereof, so do to Jerusalem, and to the idols thereof?

12 ¶ But when the Lord hath accomplished [h]all his work upon mount Zion and Jerusalem, I will visit the fruit of the proud heart [i]of the king of Assyria, and his glorious and proud looks,

13 Because he said, By the power of mine own hand have I done it, and by my wisdom, because I am wise: therefore I have removed the borders of the people, and have spoiled their treasures, and have pulled down the inhabitants like a valiant man.

14 And mine hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people, and as one that gathereth eggs that are left, so have I gathered all the earth: and there was none to move the wing or to open the mouth, or to whisper.

15 Shall the [j]axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw exalt itself against him that moveth it? as if the rod should lift up itself against him that taketh it up, or the staff should exalt itself as it were no wood.

16 Therefore shall the Lord God of hosts send among his fat men leanness, and under his glory he shall kindle a burning, like the burning of fire.

17 And the light of Israel shall be as a [k]fire, and the Holy one thereof as a flame, and it shall burn, and devour [l]his thorns and his briers in one day:

18 And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful fields both soul [m]and flesh: and he shall be as the [n]fainting of a standard bearer.

19 And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child may tell them.

20 ¶ And at that day shall the remnant of Israel and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, stay no more upon him that smote them, but shall [o]stay upon the Lord, the Holy one of Israel in truth.

21 The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob unto the mighty God.

22 For though thy people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea, yet shall the remnant of them return. The consumption [p]decreed shall overflow with righteousness.

23 For the Lord God of hosts shall make the consumption even [q]determined, in the midst of all the land.

24 Therefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, O my people, that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of Assyria: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee after the manner of [r]Egypt.

25 But yet a very little time, and the wrath shall be consumed, and mine anger in their destruction.

26 And the Lord of hosts shall raise up a scourge for him, according to the plague of [s]Midian in the rock Oreb: and as his staff was upon the [t]Sea, so he will lift it up after the manner of Egypt.

27 And at that day shall his burden be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck: and the yoke shall be destroyed because of [u]the anointing.

28 He is come to [v]Aiath: he is passed into Migron: at Michmash shall he lay up his armor.

29 They have gone over the ford: they lodged in the lodging at Geba: Ramah is afraid: Gibeah of Saul is fled away.

30 Lift up thy voice, O daughter Gallim, cause Laish to hear, O poor Anathoth.

31 Madmenah is removed: the inhabitants of Gebim have gathered themselves together.

32 Yet there is a time that he will stay at Nob: he shall lift up his hand toward the mount of the daughter Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.

33 Behold, the Lord God of hosts shall cut off the [w]bough with fear, and they of high stature shall be cut off, and the high shall be humbled.

34 And he shall cut away the thick places of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall have a mighty fall.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 10:1 Which write and pronounce a wicked sentence to oppress the poor: meaning, that the wicked magistrates, which were the chief cause of mischief, should be first punished.
  2. Isaiah 10:3 To wit, from Assyria.
  3. Isaiah 10:3 Your riches and authority, that they may be safe, and that ye may receive them again.
  4. Isaiah 10:4 Because they have forsaken me, some shall go into captivity, and the rest shall be slain.
  5. Isaiah 10:5 God calleth for the Assyrians to be the executioners of his vengeance.
  6. Isaiah 10:6 That is, the Assyrians against the Jews, which are but hypocrites: and in the sixth and seventh verse is declared the difference of the work of God, and of the wicked in one very thing and act: for God’s intention is to chastise them for their amendment, and the Assyrians’ purpose is to destroy them to enrich themselves: thus in respect of God’s justice, it is God’s work, but in respect of their own malice, it is the work of the devil.
  7. Isaiah 10:9 Seeing that I have overcome as well one city as another, so that none could resist, shall Jerusalem be able to escape mine hands?
  8. Isaiah 10:12 When he hath sufficiently chastised his people (for he beginneth at his own house) then will he burn the rods.
  9. Isaiah 10:12 Meaning of Sennacherib.
  10. Isaiah 10:15 Here we see that no creature is able to do anything, but as God appointeth him, and that they are all but his instruments to do his work, though the intentions be divers, as verse 6.
  11. Isaiah 10:17 Meaning, that God is a light to comfort his people, and a fire to burn his enemies.
  12. Isaiah 10:17 That is, the Assyrians.
  13. Isaiah 10:18 To wit, body and soul utterly.
  14. Isaiah 10:18 When the battle is lost and the standard taken.
  15. Isaiah 10:20 This is the end of God’s plagues toward his, to bring them to him, and to forsake all trust in others.
  16. Isaiah 10:22 This small number which seemed to be consumed, and yet according to God’s decree is saved, shall be sufficient to fill all the world with righteousness.
  17. Isaiah 10:23 God will destroy this land as he hath determined, and after save a small portion.
  18. Isaiah 10:24 As the Egyptians did punish thee.
  19. Isaiah 10:26 Read Isa. 9:4.
  20. Isaiah 10:26 When the Israelites passed through by the lifting up of Moses’ rod, and the enemies were drowned, Exod. 14:28.
  21. Isaiah 10:27 Because of the promise made to that kingdom, whereby Christ’s kingdom was prefigured.
  22. Isaiah 10:28 He describeth by what way the Assyrians should come against Jerusalem, to confirm the faithful, when it should come to pass, that as their plague was come, so should they be delivered.
  23. Isaiah 10:33 Fear and destruction shall come upon Judah for the princes and the people shall be all led away captives.

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