Aug 24, 2025
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Woe to Tyrants
1 Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who keep writing oppression, 2 to 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! 3 What will you do on the day of punishment, in the storm which will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your wealth? 4 Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners or fall among the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away and his hand is stretched out still.
Arrogant Assyria Also Judged 5 Ah, Assyria, the rod of my anger, the staff of my fury! 6 Against a godless nation I send him, and against the people of my wrath I command him, to take spoil and seize plunder, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. 7 But he does not so intend, and his mind does not so think; but it is in his mind to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few; 8 for he says: “Are not my commanders all kings? 9 Is not Calno like Car′chemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samar′ia like Damascus? 10 As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols whose graven images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samar′ia, 11 shall I not do to Jerusalem and her idols as I have done to Samar′ia and her images?”
12 When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem he will punish the arrogant boasting of the king of Assyria and his haughty pride. 13 For he says:
“By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding; I have removed the boundaries of peoples, and have plundered their treasures; like a bull I have brought down those who sat on thrones. 14 My hand has found like a nest the wealth of the peoples; and as men gather eggs that have been forsaken so I have gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved a wing, or opened the mouth, or chirped.”
15 Shall the axe vaunt itself over him who hews with it, or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it? As if a rod should wield him who lifts it, or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood! 16 Therefore the Lord, the Lord of hosts, will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors, and under his glory a burning will be kindled, like the burning of fire. 17 The light of Israel will become a fire, and his Holy One a flame; and it will burn and devour his thorns and briers in one day. 18 The glory of his forest and of his fruitful land the Lord will destroy, both soul and body, and it will be as when a sick man wastes away. 19 The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few that a child can write them down.
The Repentant Remnant of Israel
20 In that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean upon him that smote them, but will lean upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. 21 A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. 22 For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness. 23 For the Lord, the Lord of hosts, will make a full end, as decreed, in the midst of all the earth.
24 Therefore thus says the Lord, the Lord of hosts: “O my people, who dwell in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrians when they smite with the rod and lift up their staff against you as the Egyptians did. 25 For in a very little while my indignation will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction. 26 And the Lord of hosts will wield against them a scourge, as when he smote Mid′ian at the rock of Oreb; and his rod will be over the sea, and he will lift it as he did in Egypt. 27 And in that day his burden will depart from your shoulder, and his yoke will be destroyed from your neck.”
He has gone up from Rimmon, 28 he has come to Ai′ath; he has passed through Migron, at Michmash he stores his baggage; 29 they have crossed over the pass, at Geba they lodge for the night; Ramah trembles, Gib′e-ah of Saul has fled. 30 Cry aloud, O daughter of Gallim! Hearken, O La′ishah! Answer her, O An′athoth! 31 Madme′nah is in flight, the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety. 32 This very day he will halt at Nob, he will shake his fist at the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.
33 Behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts will lop the boughs with terrifying power; the great in height will be hewn down, and the lofty will be brought low. 34 He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an axe, and Lebanon with its majestic trees will fall. — Isaiah 10 | Revised Standard Version (RSV) Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. All rights reserved. Cross References: Genesis 10:10; Exodus 5:14; Exodus 14:16; Numbers 11:1; Joshua 18:24-25; Joshua 21:18; Judges 18:21; 1 Samuel 21:1; 2 Kings 18:33; 2 Kings 19:22-23; 2 Kings 19:25; 2 Kings 19:31; 2 Chronicles 14:11; Psalm 58:2; Psalm 78:31; Psalm 81:6; Psalm 94:6; Isaiah 2:8; Isaiah 5:4; Isaiah 5:15; Isaiah 5:25; Isaiah 7:3; Isaiah 10:5; Isaiah 10:30; Isaiah 14:6; Isaiah 21:17; Isaiah 28:22; Isaiah 32:19; Jeremiah 9:23; Jeremiah 22:7; Luke 19:44; Acts 2:23-24; Romans 9:20; Romans 9:27-28
What your unjust laws have done
“To deprive the poor of their rights And withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, Making widows their prey And robbing the fatherless.
What will you do on the day of reckoning, When disaster comes from afar? To whom will you run for help? Where you will leave your riches?
Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives Or fall among the slain. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, His hand is still upraised.”
- Isaiah 10:2-4 NIV
Thanks for posting a photo of the political postcard you wrote! It inspired me to draw a thank-you fax to my own Congressman, who decided to skip the inauguration and made a sensible statement about why.
Good!
I haven’t finished yet but I did go through the entire list on Wikipedia of representatives from my home state, and found the ones who are Republicans, and looked them up. The farm’s district is repped by an R, so I’ll write to him for definitely sure; I don’t vote in that district but I live there half the year, so I’m a constituent all right. And another district is repped by a Republican woman who graduated from a rival private girls’ high school (there are only two exclusive high-end girls’ high schools in the region, and one produced Gillibrand and me, and the other produced this lukewarm sack of shit, the youngest rep in the House and a staunch Trumpist, and let me tell you, I’m gonna write her the most exquisitely-crafted nastygram I can come up with).
Also, my rep is the ranking member on the Committee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, so how fucking dare he give me complacent form-letters about collaboration with Putin’s fucking puppet. I’ll let him have it, for sure.
I also found a great Bible passage to calligraph exquisitely and send to basically every Republican I can think of, especially the ones who are hiding behind false Christianity, from chapter 10 of Isaiah:
Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees,2 to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people,making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.3 What 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?4 Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives or fall among the slain.
It’s so goddamn on-the-nose I can’t even stand it. I’m about to take a letterpress class and I had a poem all picked out but I really want to do this one, on some gorgeous heavy-stock paper, and mail it to a bunch of hypocrites who won’t appreciate it.
(Maybe I’ll silkscreen it; that’s less effort but is still noticeably handmade.)
I almost feel like putting in the effort is a form of magic, you know? Like, I have labored over this, and you can take it as a blessing or as a curse, but I damn well know what I meant.
(As I get older I am starting to have more and more anger over the fact that the spiritual culture of my ancestors, that I was raised in, has been denied to me by a bunch of fucking hypocrites who have warped it to their own ends. But that’s a rant for another day.)
Woe to Tyrants
1 Woe to those who enact unjust decrees and draft oppressive legislation 2 to deprive the impoverished of justice and rob my people’s poor of their rights, looting widows and preying on orphans! 3 What will you do on the day of punishment, when calamity comes from afar? To whom will you flee for help? Where will you leave your wealth, 4 so as not to squat among the prisoners or fall among the slain?
Even after all this, his anger remains, his upraised hand still threatens.
5 “Oh Ashur, the rod expressing my anger! The club in their hands is my fury! 6 I am sending him against a hypocritical nation, ordering him to march against a people who enrage me, to take the spoil and the plunder and trample them down like mud in the street. 7 That is not what Ashur intends, that is not what they think; rather, they mean to destroy, to cut down nation after nation. 8 For [their king] says, ‘Aren’t all my commanders kings? 9 Hasn’t Kalno [suffered] like Kark’mish, Hamat like Arpad, Shomron like Dammesek? 10 Just as my hand reached the kingdoms of non-gods, with more images than in Yerushalayim and Shomron; 11 so won’t I do to Yerushalayim and her non-gods what I did to Shomron and her idols?’”
12 Therefore when Adonai has done everything he intends to do to Mount Tziyon and Yerushalayim, “I will punish the king of Ashur for the boasting that comes from his proud heart and from reveling in his arrogant looks. 13 For he says,
“‘With my own strong arm I have done this, and with my wisdom, because I’m so clever! I erased the boundaries between peoples, I plundered their stores for the future; as a mighty man, I subjugated the inhabitants. 14 My hand found the riches of the peoples like a nest; and as one gathers abandoned eggs, I gathered the whole earth! Not one wing fluttered, not one beak opened or let out a chirp!’”
15 Should the axe glorify itself over the one who chops with it? Should the saw magnify itself over the one who moves it? It’s as if a stick could wave the hand that raises it up, or as if a wooden staff could lift [a person, who is] not made of wood. 16 Therefore the Lord, Adonai-Tzva’ot, will send leanness to his well-fed ones; and in place of his glory, a fire will be kindled that will burn and burn. 17 The light of Isra’el will become a fire and his Holy One a flame, burning and devouring his thorns and briars in a single day. 18 The glory of his forest and of his fertile land he will consume body and soul, like an invalid wasting away. 19 So few forest trees will remain that a child could list them.
20 On that day the remnant of Isra’el, those of the house of Ya‘akov who escaped, will no longer rely on the man who struck them down, but will truly rely on Adonai, the Holy One of Isra’el. 21 A remnant will return, the remnant of Ya‘akov, to the mighty God. 22 For, although your people, Isra’el, are like the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed, overflowing with justice. 23 Adonai Elohim-Tzva’ot will bring about this decreed destruction throughout all the land.
24 Therefore Adonai Elohim-Tzva’ot says:
“My people living in Tziyon, don’t be afraid of Ashur, even when he strikes you with a stick and raises his staff against you, the way it was in Egypt. 25 For in but a little while, my fury will end; and my anger will have destroyed them.”
26 Adonai-Tzva’ot will wield a whip against them, as he did when striking Midyan at the Rock of ‘Orev; as his staff was over the sea, he will raise it, the way it was in Egypt.
27 On that day his burden will fall from your shoulders and his yoke from your neck; the yoke will be destroyed by your prosperity.
28 He has come to ‘Ayat and passed through Migron. He has stored his equipment at Mikhmas. 29 They have crossed the pass, then lodged at Geva. Ramah is shaking, Giv‘at-Sha’ul has fled. 30 Cry, shriek, Bat-Gallim! Listen, Layish! Poor ‘Anatot! 31 Madmenah is in flight, The people of Gevim take cover. 32 This very day he will stop at Nov; and he will shake his fist at the mountain of the daughter of Tziyon, at the hill of Yerushalayim. 33 See how Adonai Elohim-Tzva’ot lops off the branches with terrible violence! The ones standing highest are chopped down, the lofty are laid low. 34 He will hack down the forest underbrush with an axe, and the L’vanon in its splendor falls. — Isaiah 10 | Complete Jewish Bible (CJB) Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Cross References: Genesis 10:10; Exodus 5:14; Exodus 14:16; Numbers 11:1; Joshua 18:24-25; Joshua 21:18; Judges 18:21; 1 Samuel 21:1; 2 Kings 18:33; 2 Kings 19:22-23; 2 Kings 19:25; 2 Kings 19:31; 2 Chronicles 14:11; Psalm 58:2; Psalm 78:31; Psalm 81:6; Psalm 94:6; Isaiah 2:8; Isaiah 5:4; Isaiah 5:15; Isaiah 5:25; Isaiah 7:3; Isaiah 10:5; Isaiah 10:30; Isaiah 14:6; Isaiah 21:17; Isaiah 28:22; Isaiah 32:19; Jeremiah 9:23; Jeremiah 22:7; Luke 19:44; Acts 2:23-24; Romans 9:20; Romans 9:27-28
O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. I 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.
Isaiah 10:5-6 KJV
Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed.
Isaiah 10:1 KJV