Chapter 10.
Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which
they have prescribed, to turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the
right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey,
and that they may rob the fatherless.
And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which
shall come from far?
To whom will ye flee for help?
And where will ye leave your glory?
Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the
slain.
For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine
indignation.
I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath
will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread
them down like the mire of the streets.
Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so, but it is in his heart
to destroy and cut off nations, not a few.
For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings?
Is not Calno as Carchemish?
Is not Hemeth as Arpad?
Is not Syria as Damascus?
As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images did excel
them of Jerusalem and of Samaria, shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria
and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?
Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his
whole work upon Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the
stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.
For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom.
For I am prudent, and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed
their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man.
And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people.
And as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth.
And there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.
Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith?
Or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it?
As if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up?
Or as if the staff should lift up itself as if it were no wood?
Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness,
and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire.
And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his holy one for a flame.
And it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briars in one day.
And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and
body.
And they shall be as when a standard-bearer fainteth.
And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child may write them.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as
are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that
smote them, but shall stay upon the Lord, the holy one of Israel, in truth.
The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.
For though thy people, Israel, be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant
of them shall return.
The consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness.
For the Lord God of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, in the midst
of all the land.
Therefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion,
be not afraid of the Assyrian.
He shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee,
after the manner of Egypt.
For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in
their destruction.
And the Lord of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him, according to the
slaughter of Midian, at the rock of Oreb.
And as his rod was upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of
Egypt.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from
off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed
because of the anointing.
He is come to Aeth.
He is passed to Migron.
At Mikmash he hath laid up his carriages.
They are gone over the passage.
They have taken up their lodging at Geba.
Rhema is afraid.
Gibeah of Saul is fled.
Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Galim.
Cause it to be heard unto Laish.
O poor Anathoth!
Madmina is removed.
The inhabitants of Gibim gather themselves to flee.
As yet shall he remain at Nob that day.
He shall shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of
Jerusalem.
Behold the Lord, the Lord of hosts, shall lop the bow with terror,
and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled.
And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall
by a mighty one.