“Woe to you
Who make iniquitous decrees!
Woe to you
Who write oppressive statutes!
You turn aside
The needy from justice!
You rob the poor of my people
Of their right!
Widows may be your spoil!
You make the orphans your prey!
What will you do
On the day of punishment?
What will you do
In the calamity
That will come from afar?
To whom will you flee for help?
Where will you leave your wealth?
Will you crouch among the prisoners?
Will you fall among the slain?
For all this
His anger has not turned away.
His hand is still stretched out.”
Isaiah then curses those who practice injustice, those who make evil decrees and oppressive statutes. He was against those who took away justice and robbed the poor people of their rights. These unjust people took stuff from the widows and the orphans as if they were taking spoil after a war or prey for an animal. What were they going to do on the punishment day? In troubles, who would help them? Where were they going to leave their wealth? They might end up as a prisoner or get killed. Once again, this little section ends with the refrain that the angry hand of Yahweh has not turned away, since it is still stretched out today.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 