New International Version
Isaiah 10:1
1Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees,
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;
- English Standard Version (ESV)Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who keep writing oppression,
- 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 make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, 2to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless. 3What will you do on the day of reckoning, when disaster comes from afar? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your riches?
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! Disaster is upon them! They will be paid back for what their hands have done.
- Isaiah 5:8Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land.
- Jeremiah 22:13“Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by injustice, making his own people work for nothing, not paying them for their labor.
- Habakkuk 2:6“Will not all of them taunt him with ridicule and scorn, saying, “ ‘Woe to him who piles up stolen goods and makes himself wealthy by extortion! How long must this go on?’
- Matthew 11:21“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
- Matthew 23:13“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.
- Matthew 26:24The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”
- Luke 11:42“Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.
- Jude 1:11Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.
- 1 Kings 21:13Then two scoundrels came and sat opposite him and brought charges against Naboth before the people, saying, “Naboth has cursed both God and the king.” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death.
- Esther 3:10So the king took his signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.
- Psalms 58:2No, in your heart you devise injustice, and your hands mete out violence on the earth.
- Psalms 94:20Can a corrupt throne be allied with you— a throne that brings on misery by its decrees?
- Daniel 6:8Now, Your Majesty, issue the decree and put it in writing so that it cannot be altered—in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.”
- Micah 3:1Then I said, “Listen, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of Israel. Should you not embrace justice,
- Micah 6:16You have observed the statutes of Omri and all the practices of Ahab’s house; you have followed their traditions. Therefore I will give you over to ruin and your people to derision; you will bear the scorn of the nations.”
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
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Commentaries