Isaiah 10:1–2
Woe to those who write laws that strip the poor of their rights
Study it word by word1Woe to those who decree decrees of wickedness, and to the writers who write suffering,
2to turn aside the poor from judgment, and to rob the afflicted of my people of justice, so that widows become their spoil, and that they may plunder the orphans!
In its context
…
3And what will you do on the day of visitation, and in the storm that will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your wealth?
4Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners, and among the slain they will fall. For all this his anger has not turned back, and his hand is still stretched out.
Its words in the original
- הוֹיhoy· alas, ah
Alas! An exclamation of grief or warning. It was used in the lament for a dead person ("Alas, my brother!") and, in the prophets, to announce disaster.
- חֹקְקִיםchokkim· inscribe, decree; ruler's staff
Engrave, inscribe; decree, lay down laws. The participle means lawgiver, or the ruler's staff, the rod of the one who gives laws.
- חִקְקֵיchikke· resolve, decree
Resolve, a decision someone fixes; also "decree." It is of the same family as "statute."
- אָוֶןaven· wickedness, trouble
Wickedness, trouble: what is empty and comes to nothing; also the evil and the affliction it brings.
- מְכַתְּבִיםmechatvim· write
Write; also write down, record.
- עָמָלamal· trouble, toil
Hard work, trouble, suffering.
- הַטּוֹתhatot· stretch out, turn aside
Stretch out, spread; pitch a tent. Also bend, incline; turn aside, pervert (justice).
- דִּיןdin· case, judgment
Case, lawsuit: the matter brought before a judge; also its sentence; strife.
- דַּלִּיםdalim· poor, weak
Poor, weak: one who has little and little strength to defend himself.
- גְזֹלgezol· seize, rob
Take by force, rob, tear away.
- מִשְׁפַּטmishpat· justice, judgment
What is right and the decision that establishes it: the judgment of a judge, someone's right, a rule or ordinance, a custom. "Do righteousness and justice" is to treat each one as is due.
- עֲנִיֵּיaniye· poor, afflicted
Poor, afflicted: one who suffers need and has no one to defend him; also humble.
- עַמִּami· people
People: a human group joined by kinship, history and destiny. "My people", said by God, is Israel. Also the people as a crowd, or troops.
- הְיוֹתheot· be, become, happen
Be, exist; also "become" or "happen". It is the verb of "there was", "it was" and "it came to pass".
- אַלְמָנוֹתalmanot· widow
Widow.
- שְׁלָלָshelala· spoil, plunder
Spoil: what is taken from a defeated enemy.
- יְתוֹמִיםyetomim· fatherless
Orphan; above all one who has lost his father.
- יָבֹזּוּyavozu· plunder
Plunder, take spoil.