World English Bible · Under Assyria
Isaiah 10
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Woe to those who unrighteous decrees, and to the writers who write oppressive decrees to deprive of , and to rob among my people of their rights, that may be their plunder, and that they may make their prey! What will you do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help? Where will you leave your wealth? They will only under the prisoners, and will fall under the slain. For all this his is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. Alas , the of my , the in whose hand is my ! I will send him against a profane nation, and against the people who me I will give him a command to take the plunder and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. However, he doesn't mean so, neither does think so; but it is in to destroy, and to not nations. For he says, "Aren't all of my princes kings? Isn't Calno like ? Isn't like ? Isn't like ?" As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols, whose engraved exceeded those of and of , shall I not, as I have done to and her idols, so do to and her idols? Therefore it will happen that when has performed his whole work on Mount and on , I will punish the fruit of the willful proud of the king of , and the insolence of his arrogant looks. For he has said, "By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my , for I have . I have removed the boundaries of the peoples, and have robbed their . Like a valiant man I have brought down their . My hand has found the riches of the peoples like a nest, and like one gathers eggs that are abandoned, I have gathered all the earth. There was no one who moved their , or that opened their , or chirped." Should an ax brag against him who chops with it? Should a saw exalt itself above him who saws with it? As if a should lift those who lift it up, or as if a should lift up someone who is not wood. Therefore , of Armies, will send among his fat ones leanness; and under his a burning will be kindled like the burning of . of Israel will be for a , and his One for a flame; and it will burn and devour his and his in one day. He will consume the of his forest and of his fruitful field, both and body. It will be as when a standard bearer faints. of the trees of his forest shall be few, so that a child could write their number. It will come to pass in that day that of Israel, and those who have escaped from the house of will no more again lean on him who struck them, but shall lean on , the One of Israel, in truth. A will return, even of , to the mighty . For though your people, Israel, are like the sand of the sea, only a of them will return. A is determined, overflowing with . For , of Armies, will make a full end, and that determined, throughout all the earth. Therefore , of Armies, says, "My people who in , don't be afraid of the , though he strike you with the , and lift up his against you, as did. For yet a very little while, and the against you will be accomplished, and my will be directed to his ." of Armies will stir up a scourge against him, as in the slaughter of at of . His will be over the sea, and he will lift it up like he did against . It will happen in that day that his burden will depart from off your shoulder, and his from off your neck, and the shall be destroyed because of the anointing oil. He has come to . He has passed through Migron. At he stores his baggage. They have gone over the pass. They have taken up their lodging at . trembles. of Saul has fled. Cry aloud with your voice, daughter of Gallim! Listen, Laishah! You ! Madmenah is a fugitive. The inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety. This very day he will halt at . He shakes his hand at the mountain of the daughter of , the hill of . Behold, , of Armies, will lop the boughs with terror. The tall will be cut down, and the lofty will be brought low. He will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and will fall by the Mighty One.
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The world at this moment · Under Assyria, 745 BC to 612 BC ›
Assyria at full stretch, deporting whole populations as policy. The northern kingdom is destroyed in 722 BC and Judah survives as a tribute-paying vassal.
- Assyria
- The first empire to run mass deportation as ordinary administration: move the leadership somewhere else, settle strangers in their place, and the province stops being a nation. It worked. Samaria fell in 722 BC and the northern tribes did not come back. Assyria also advertised its cruelty deliberately, carving flayings and impalements on palace walls where envoys would see them, because terror is cheaper than garrisons.
- Judah
- Survives by paying. Hezekiah rebels, Sennacherib takes forty-six Judean towns and besieges Jerusalem in 701 BC, and the city holds. The Assyrian account boasts of shutting Hezekiah up like a bird in a cage and pointedly does not claim to have taken the city, which is one of the more interesting silences in ancient records.
- Egypt
- The splintered reed of a staff that Assyria's field commander mocks Judah for leaning on. It promises help and cannot deliver, and Isaiah spends decades saying so. Assyria eventually invades and sacks Thebes.
- Further afield
- Greece is in its archaic period, founding colonies from Spain to the Black Sea. Rome is under kings. Assyria's own libraries are collecting the literature of Mesopotamia, which is how Gilgamesh survived to be read again in the nineteenth century.
All of Isaiah