English Standard Version
Isaiah 10:1
1Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who keep writing oppression,
Isaiah 10:1 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;
- New International Version (NIV)Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees,
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, Who write misfortune, Which they have prescribed
- New Living Translation (NLT)What sorrow awaits the unjust judges and those who issue unfair laws.
Context of Isaiah 10:1
Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who keep writing oppression, 2to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey! 3What will you do on the day of punishment, in the ruin that will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your wealth?
Read all of Isaiah 10Isaiah 10:1 word by word
ה֥וֹי הַחֹֽקְקִ֖ים חִקְקֵי־אָ֑וֶן וּֽמְכַתְּבִ֥ים עָמָ֖ל כִּתֵּֽבוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Isaiah 10:1
- Isaiah 3:11Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him.
- Isaiah 5:8Woe to those who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is no more room, and you are made to dwell alone in the midst of the land.
- Jeremiah 22:13"Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms by injustice, who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing and does not give him his wages,
- Habakkuk 2:6Shall not all these take up their taunt against him, with scoffing and riddles for him, and say, "Woe to him who heaps up what is not his own— for how long?— and loads himself with pledges!"
- Matthew 11:21"Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
- Matthew 23:13"But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.
- Matthew 26:24The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born."
- Luke 11:42"But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
- Jude 1:11Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's error and perished in Korah's rebellion.
- 1 Kings 21:13And the two worthless men came in and sat opposite him. And the worthless men brought a charge against Naboth in the presence of the people, saying, "Naboth cursed God and the king." So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death with stones.
- Esther 3:10So the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews.
- Psalms 58:2No, in your hearts you devise wrongs; your hands deal out violence on earth.
- Psalms 94:20Can wicked rulers be allied with you, those who frame injustice by statute?
- Daniel 6:8Now, O king, establish the injunction and sign the document, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked."
- Micah 3:1And I said: Hear, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel! Is it not for you to know justice?—
- Micah 6:16For you have kept the statutes of Omri, and all the works of the house of Ahab; and you have walked in their counsels, that I may make you a desolation, and your inhabitants a hissing; so you shall bear the scorn of my people."
Commentaries on Isaiah 10:1
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1Wo unto them that decree unrighteous decrees - To those who frame statutes that are oppressive and iniquitous. The prophet here refers, doubtless, to the rulers and judges of the land of Judea. A similar description he had before given; Isaiah 1:10, Isaiah 1:23, And that write - Hebrew, And to the writers who write violence.‘ The word translated “grievousness,” עמל ‛âmâl denotes properly “wearisome labor, trouble, oppression, injustice.” Here, it…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1Woes against proud oppressors. (Is. 10:1-4) The Assyrian but an instrument in the hand of God for the punishment of his people. (Is. 10:5-19) The deliverance from him. (Is. 10:20-34) Verses 1-4 These verses are to be joined with the foregoing chapter. Woe to the superior powers that devise and decree unrighteous decrees! And woe to the inferior officers that draw them up, and enter them on record! But what will sinners do? Whither will they flee?Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1Woe: This introduces a threat of divine judgment.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-41. them that decree--namely, unrighteous judges. write grievousness, &c.--not the scribes, but the magistrates who caused unjust decisions (literally, "injustice" or "grievousness") to be recorded by them (Is 65:6) [Maurer], (Is 1:10, 23).Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 10:1
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 10
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries