pgs. 90 and 91...shall the ax boast itself against him that heweth therewith?

15 The ^aancient, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.

16 For the ^aleaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are ^bled of them are destroyed.

17 Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have ^amercy on their fatherless and ^bwidows; for ^cevery one of them is a hypocrite and an ^devildoer, and every mouth speaketh ^efolly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his ^fhand is stretched out still.

18 For ^awickedness burneth as the fire; it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forests, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke.

19 Through the wrath of the Lord of Hosts is the ^aland darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire; ^bno man shall spare his brother.

20 And he ^ashall snatch on the right hand and be hungry; and he shall ^beat on the left hand and they shall not be satisfied; they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm—

21 Manasseh, ^aEphraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh; they together shall be against ^bJudah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

CHAPTER 20

Destruction of Assyria is a type of destruction of wicked at the Second Coming—Few people shall be left after the Lord comes again—Remnant of Jacob shall return in that day—Compare Isaiah 10. Between 559 and 545 B.C.

1 ^aWo unto them that decree ^bunrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;

2 To turn away the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the ^apoor of my people, that ^bwidows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!

3 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?

4 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.

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

6 I will send him ^aagainst a 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.

7 Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but in his heart it is to destroy and cut off nations not a few.

8 For he saith: Are not my ^aprinces altogether kings?

9 Is not ^aCalno as ^bCarchemish? Is not Hamath as Arpad? Is not Samaria as ^cDamascus?

10 As ^amy hand hath founded the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria;

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

12 Wherefore it shall come to pass that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon Mount Zion and upon Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of ^aAssyria, and the glory of his high looks.

13 For ^ahe saith: By the strength of ^bmy hand and by my wisdom I have done these things; for I am prudent; and I have moved the borders of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man;

14 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.

15 Shall the ^aax boast itself against him that heweth therewith? 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!

16 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.

17 And the light of Israel shall be for a ^afire, and his Holy One for a flame, and shall burn and shall devour his thorns and his briers in one day;

18 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.

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

20 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the ^ahouse of Jacob, shall no more again ^bstay upon him that smote them, but shall stay upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.

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

22 For though thy people ^aIsrael be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall ^breturn; the ^cconsumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness.

23 For the Lord God of Hosts shall make a ^aconsumption, even determined in all the land.

24 Therefore, thus saith the Lord God of Hosts: O my people that dwellest in Zion, ^abe not afraid of the Assyrian; he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the ^bmanner of Egypt.

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

26 And the Lord of Hosts shall ^astir up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of ^bMidian at the rock of Oreb; and as his rod was upon the sea so shall he lift it up after the manner of ^cEgypt.


The writing on these pages continue Isaiah's record of the ancient history of Israel. They describe the war between Israel and Assyria and how Assyria will prevail but should not be proud because they are only fulfilling the Lord's purposes (see verse 15.) It is another testimony to me that the Lord's plan WILL be carried out and it should never be questioned.