Isaiah 10

⁵Ah, Assyria, the rod of my anger—

the club in their hands is my fury!

⁶Against a godless nation I send him,

and against the people of my wrath I command him,

to take spoil and seize plunder,

and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

⁷But this is not what he intends,

nor does he have this in mind;

but it is in his heart to destroy,

and to cut off nations not a few.

⁸For he says:

“Are not my commanders all kings?

⁹Is not Calno like Carchemish?

Is not Hamath like Arpad?

Is not Samaria like Damascus?

¹⁰As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols

whose images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,

¹¹shall I not do to Jerusalem and her idols

what I have done to Samaria and her images?”

“By the strength of my hand I have done it,

and by my wisdom, for I have understanding;

I have removed the boundaries of peoples,

and have plundered their treasures;

like a bull I have brought down those who sat on thrones.

¹⁴My hand has found, like a nest,

the wealth of the peoples;

and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken,

so I have gathered all the earth;

and there was none that moved a wing,

or opened its mouth, or chirped.”

¹⁵Shall the ax vaunt itself over the one who wields it,

or the saw magnify itself against the one who handles it?

As if a rod should raise the one who lifts it up,

or as if a staff should lift the one who is not wood!

¹⁶Therefore the Sovereign, the Lord of hosts,

will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors,

and under his glory a burning will be kindled,

like the burning of fire.

¹⁷The light of Israel will become a fire,

and his Holy One a flame;

and it will burn and devour

his thorns and briers in one day.

¹⁸The glory of his forest and his fruitful land

the Lord will destroy, both soul and body,

and it will be as when an invalid wastes away.

¹⁹The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few

that a child can write them down.

He has gone up from Rimmon,

²⁸he has come to Aiath;

he has passed through Migron,

at Michmash he stores his baggage;

²⁹they have crossed over the pass,

at Geba they lodge for the night;

Ramah trembles,

Gibeah of Saul has fled.

³⁰Cry aloud, O daughter Gallim!

Listen, O Laishah!

Answer her, O Anathoth!

³¹Madmenah is in flight,

the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety.

³²This very day he will halt at Nob,

he will shake his fist

at the mount of daughter Zion,

the hill of Jerusalem.

³³Look, the Sovereign, the Lord of hosts,

will lop the boughs with terrifying power;

the tallest trees will be cut down,

and the lofty will be brought low.

³⁴He will hack down the thickets of the forest with an ax,

and Lebanon with its majestic trees will fall.