Isaiah

Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;

1Trouble is coming to those who make unfair laws and write rules that crush people.

2To 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!

2Their rules push poor people away from fair treatment and take justice from those in need. Widows and orphans become their victims.

3And 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?

3What will you do on the day God comes to settle accounts, when ruin arrives from far away? Who will help you? Where will you leave your riches?

Note"Where will you leave your glory?" means "Where will you store your wealth?" In 1611 English, "glory" could mean riches and splendor.

4Without 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.

4Nothing will be left but to crouch among the prisoners or fall among the dead. Even after all this, God's anger has not stopped. His hand is still raised.

5O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.

5Trouble is coming to Assyria. That nation is the stick I use in my anger. The club in their hand is my fury.

6I 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.

6I am sending Assyria against a nation that ignores me. I am ordering them against a people I am angry with, to grab their goods, carry off their things, and trample them like mud in the street.

7Howbeit 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.

7But that is not what Assyria has in mind. Its plan is different. In its heart it wants to destroy and wipe out many nations.

8For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings?

8The king of Assyria says, "Every one of my commanders is as powerful as a king."

9Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus?

9"Is Calno any different from Carchemish? Is Hamath different from Arpad? Is Samaria different from Damascus? I took them all."

10As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria;

10"My hand has grabbed kingdoms whose idols were finer than the ones in Jerusalem and Samaria."

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

11"So I will do to Jerusalem and its idols exactly what I did to Samaria and its idols."

12Wherefore 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.

12But when the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will punish the king of Assyria for his proud heart and his boastful eyes.

13For 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:

13For the king says, "I did this by my own strong hand and my own wisdom, because I am clever. I moved the borders of nations, stole their treasures, and knocked their rulers down like a strong man."

14And 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.

14"My hand reached into the nations' wealth as if into a bird's nest. I gathered the whole earth like someone picking up eggs left alone. No wing flapped, no beak opened, no bird made a sound."

Note"Peeped" here does not mean peeked. It means chirped, the sound a bird makes.

15Shall 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.

15Does an axe brag against the person swinging it? Does a saw act greater than the one using it? A stick cannot wave the hand that lifts it. A club cannot lift a person up.

16Therefore 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.

16So the Lord, the LORD of Heaven's Armies, will send a wasting sickness among Assyria's strong, well-fed soldiers. Under all its splendor a fire will be lit and burn.

17And 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 briers in one day;

17The Light of Israel will become a fire, and Israel's Holy One a flame. In one day it will burn up Assyria's thorns and prickly weeds.

18And 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.

18It will destroy the glory of Assyria's forests and rich farmland, body and soul. They will be like a flag-bearer who faints and falls.

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

19So few trees will be left in that forest that a child could write down every one.

20And 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.

20On that day the Israelites who are left, the survivors of Jacob's family, will stop leaning on the nation that struck them. They will truly lean on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.

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

21A remnant will come back. The few who are left of Jacob's family will return to the mighty God.

22For 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.

22Israel, even if your people are as many as the sand by the sea, only a few will return. The destruction has been decided, and God's justice will flood over the land.

23For the Lord GOD of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, in the midst of all the land.

23The Lord GOD of Heaven's Armies will carry out the destruction he has decided on, across the whole land.

24Therefore 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.

24So this is what the Lord GOD of Heaven's Armies says: "My people living in Zion, do not be afraid of Assyria. They beat you with a stick and raise a club over you, just as Egypt once did."

25For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction.

25"In a very little while my anger with you will be over, and my fury will turn to destroying them."

26And 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.

26The LORD of Heaven's Armies will raise a whip against Assyria, as when he beat Midian at the rock of Oreb. He will lift his staff over the sea, as he did in Egypt.

27And 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.

27On that day Assyria's load will be lifted off your shoulder, and its yoke off your neck. The wooden bar that holds you down will be broken because of the anointing.

28He is come to Aiath, he is passed to Migron; at Michmash he hath laid up his carriages:

28The enemy army has come to Aiath and marched through Migron. At Michmash it stored its supplies.

Note"Carriages" in 1611 English meant the loads an army carried: its baggage and supplies, not wagons or cars.

29They are gone over the passage: they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramah is afraid; Gibeah of Saul is fled.

29They have crossed the pass. "We will camp for the night at Geba," they say. The town of Ramah shakes with fear. The people of Gibeah, Saul's town, run away.

30Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim: cause it to be heard unto Laish, O poor Anathoth.

30Cry out loud, town of Gallim! Listen, Laish! Poor Anathoth!

31Madmenah is removed; the inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to flee.

31The people of Madmenah are running. The people of Gebim are gathering to escape.

32As 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.

32That very day the enemy will stop at Nob. He will shake his fist at the mountain of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.

33Behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, shall lop the bough with terror: and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled.

33Look! The Lord, the LORD of Heaven's Armies, will chop off the branches with terrifying power. The tall trees will be cut down, and the proud brought low.

34And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.

34He will cut down the thick forest with iron tools, and Lebanon's great trees will fall before the Mighty One.