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What sorrow awaits the unjust judges
and those who issue unfair laws.
and those who issue unfair laws.
Assyria Is God’s Instrument
Woe to those who enact evil statutes
And to those who constantly record unjust decisions,
Woe to those who enact evil statutes
And to those who constantly record unjust decisions,
They deprive the poor of justice
and deny the rights of the needy among my people.
They prey on widows
and take advantage of orphans.
and deny the rights of the needy among my people.
They prey on widows
and take advantage of orphans.
So as to deprive the needy of justice
And rob the poor of My people of their rights,
So that widows may be their spoil
And that they may plunder the orphans.
And rob the poor of My people of their rights,
So that widows may be their spoil
And that they may plunder the orphans.
What will you do when I punish you,
when I send disaster upon you from a distant land?
To whom will you turn for help?
Where will your treasures be safe?
when I send disaster upon you from a distant land?
To whom will you turn for help?
Where will your treasures be safe?
Now what will you do in the day of punishment,
And in the devastation which will come from afar?
To whom will you flee for help?
And where will you leave your wealth?
And in the devastation which will come from afar?
To whom will you flee for help?
And where will you leave your wealth?
You will stumble along as prisoners
or lie among the dead.
But even then the LORD’s anger will not be satisfied.
His fist is still poised to strike.
Judgment against Assyria
or lie among the dead.
But even then the LORD’s anger will not be satisfied.
His fist is still poised to strike.
Judgment against Assyria
Nothing remains but to crouch among the captives
Or fall among the slain.
In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away
And His hand is still stretched out.
Or fall among the slain.
In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away
And His hand is still stretched out.
“What sorrow awaits Assyria, the rod of my anger.
I use it as a club to express my anger.
I use it as a club to express my anger.
Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger
And the staff in whose hands is My indignation,
And the staff in whose hands is My indignation,
I am sending Assyria against a godless nation,
against a people with whom I am angry.
Assyria will plunder them,
trampling them like dirt beneath its feet.
against a people with whom I am angry.
Assyria will plunder them,
trampling them like dirt beneath its feet.
I send it against a godless nation
And commission it against the people of My fury
To capture booty and to seize plunder,
And to trample them down like mud in the streets.
And commission it against the people of My fury
To capture booty and to seize plunder,
And to trample them down like mud in the streets.
But the king of Assyria will not understand that he is my tool;
his mind does not work that way.
His plan is simply to destroy,
to cut down nation after nation.
his mind does not work that way.
His plan is simply to destroy,
to cut down nation after nation.
Yet it does not so intend,
Nor does it plan so in its heart,
But rather it is its purpose to destroy
And to cut off many nations.
Nor does it plan so in its heart,
But rather it is its purpose to destroy
And to cut off many nations.
He will say,
‘Each of my princes will soon be a king.
‘Each of my princes will soon be a king.
For it says, “Are not my princes all kings?
We destroyed Calno just as we did Carchemish.
Hamath fell before us as Arpad did.
And we destroyed Samaria just as we did Damascus.
Hamath fell before us as Arpad did.
And we destroyed Samaria just as we did Damascus.
“Is not Calno like Carchemish,
Or Hamath like Arpad,
Or Samaria like Damascus?
Or Hamath like Arpad,
Or Samaria like Damascus?
Yes, we have finished off many a kingdom
whose gods were greater than those in Jerusalem and Samaria.
whose gods were greater than those in Jerusalem and Samaria.
“As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols,
Whose graven images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
Whose graven images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
So we will defeat Jerusalem and her gods,
just as we destroyed Samaria with hers.’”
just as we destroyed Samaria with hers.’”
Shall I not do to Jerusalem and her images
Just as I have done to Samaria and her idols?”
Just as I have done to Samaria and her idols?”
After the Lord has used the king of Assyria to accomplish his purposes on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, he will turn against the king of Assyria and punish him — for he is proud and arrogant.
So it will be that when the Lord has completed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the pomp of his haughtiness.”
He boasts,
“By my own powerful arm I have done this.
With my own shrewd wisdom I planned it.
I have broken down the defenses of nations
and carried off their treasures.
I have knocked down their kings like a bull.
“By my own powerful arm I have done this.
With my own shrewd wisdom I planned it.
I have broken down the defenses of nations
and carried off their treasures.
I have knocked down their kings like a bull.
For he has said,
“By the power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this,
For I have understanding;
And I removed the boundaries of the peoples
And plundered their treasures,
And like a mighty man I brought down their inhabitants,
“By the power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this,
For I have understanding;
And I removed the boundaries of the peoples
And plundered their treasures,
And like a mighty man I brought down their inhabitants,
I have robbed their nests of riches
and gathered up kingdoms as a farmer gathers eggs.
No one can even flap a wing against me
or utter a peep of protest.”
and gathered up kingdoms as a farmer gathers eggs.
No one can even flap a wing against me
or utter a peep of protest.”
And my hand reached to the riches of the peoples like a nest,
And as one gathers abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth;
And there was not one that flapped its wing or opened its beak or chirped.”
And as one gathers abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth;
And there was not one that flapped its wing or opened its beak or chirped.”
But can the ax boast greater power than the person who uses it?
Is the saw greater than the person who saws?
Can a rod strike unless a hand moves it?
Can a wooden cane walk by itself?
Is the saw greater than the person who saws?
Can a rod strike unless a hand moves it?
Can a wooden cane walk by itself?
Is the axe to boast itself over the one who chops with it?
Is the saw to exalt itself over the one who wields it?
That would be like a club wielding those who lift it,
Or like a rod lifting him who is not wood.
Is the saw to exalt itself over the one who wields it?
That would be like a club wielding those who lift it,
Or like a rod lifting him who is not wood.
Therefore, the Lord, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies,
will send a plague among Assyria’s proud troops,
and a flaming fire will consume its glory.
will send a plague among Assyria’s proud troops,
and a flaming fire will consume its glory.
Therefore the Lord, the GOD of hosts, will send a wasting disease among his stout warriors;
And under his glory a fire will be kindled like a burning flame.
And under his glory a fire will be kindled like a burning flame.
The LORD, the Light of Israel, will be a fire;
the Holy One will be a flame.
He will devour the thorns and briers with fire,
burning up the enemy in a single night.
the Holy One will be a flame.
He will devour the thorns and briers with fire,
burning up the enemy in a single night.
And the light of Israel will become a fire and his Holy One a flame,
And it will burn and devour his thorns and his briars in a single day.
And it will burn and devour his thorns and his briars in a single day.
The LORD will consume Assyria’s glory
like a fire consumes a forest in a fruitful land;
it will waste away like sick people in a plague.
like a fire consumes a forest in a fruitful land;
it will waste away like sick people in a plague.
And He will destroy the glory of his forest and of his fruitful garden, both soul and body,
And it will be as when a sick man wastes away.
And it will be as when a sick man wastes away.
Of all that glorious forest, only a few trees will survive —
so few that a child could count them!
Hope for the LORD’s People
so few that a child could count them!
Hope for the LORD’s People
And the rest of the trees of his forest will be so small in number
That a child could write them down.
That a child could write them down.
In that day the remnant left in Israel,
the survivors in the house of Jacob,
will no longer depend on allies
who seek to destroy them.
But they will faithfully trust the LORD,
the Holy One of Israel.
the survivors in the house of Jacob,
will no longer depend on allies
who seek to destroy them.
But they will faithfully trust the LORD,
the Holy One of Israel.
A Remnant Will Return
Now in that day the remnant of Israel, and those of the house of Jacob who have escaped, will never again rely on the one who struck them, but will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.
A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.
But though the people of Israel are as numerous
as the sand of the seashore,
only a remnant of them will return.
The LORD has rightly decided to destroy his people.
as the sand of the seashore,
only a remnant of them will return.
The LORD has rightly decided to destroy his people.
For though your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea,
Only a remnant within them will return;
A destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness.
Only a remnant within them will return;
A destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness.
For a complete destruction, one that is decreed, the Lord GOD of hosts will execute in the midst of the whole land.
So this is what the Lord, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, says: “O my people in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrians when they oppress you with rod and club as the Egyptians did long ago.
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD of hosts, “O My people who dwell in Zion, do not fear the Assyrian who strikes you with the rod and lifts up his staff against you, the way Egypt did.
In a little while my anger against you will end, and then my anger will rise up to destroy them.”
“For in a very little while My indignation against you will be spent and My anger will be directed to their destruction.”
The LORD of Heaven’s Armies will lash them with his whip, as he did when Gideon triumphed over the Midianites at the rock of Oreb, or when the LORD’s staff was raised to drown the Egyptian army in the sea.
The LORD of hosts will arouse a scourge against him like the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb; and His staff will be over the sea and He will lift it up the way He did in Egypt.
So it will be in that day, that his burden will be removed from your shoulders and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be broken because of fatness.
Look, the Assyrians are now at Aiath.
They are passing through Migron
and are storing their equipment at Micmash.
They are passing through Migron
and are storing their equipment at Micmash.
He has come against Aiath,
He has passed through Migron;
At Michmash he deposited his baggage.
He has passed through Migron;
At Michmash he deposited his baggage.
They are crossing the pass
and are camping at Geba.
Fear strikes the town of Ramah.
All the people of Gibeah, the hometown of Saul,
are running for their lives.
and are camping at Geba.
Fear strikes the town of Ramah.
All the people of Gibeah, the hometown of Saul,
are running for their lives.
They have gone through the pass, saying,
“Geba will be our lodging place.”
Ramah is terrified, and Gibeah of Saul has fled away.
“Geba will be our lodging place.”
Ramah is terrified, and Gibeah of Saul has fled away.
Scream in terror,
you people of Gallim!
Shout out a warning to Laishah.
Oh, poor Anathoth!
you people of Gallim!
Shout out a warning to Laishah.
Oh, poor Anathoth!
Cry aloud with your voice, O daughter of Gallim!
Pay attention, Laishah and wretched Anathoth!
Pay attention, Laishah and wretched Anathoth!
There go the people of Madmenah, all fleeing.
The citizens of Gebim are trying to hide.
The citizens of Gebim are trying to hide.
Madmenah has fled.
The inhabitants of Gebim have sought refuge.
The inhabitants of Gebim have sought refuge.
The enemy stops at Nob for the rest of that day.
He shakes his fist at beautiful Mount Zion, the mountain of Jerusalem.
He shakes his fist at beautiful Mount Zion, the mountain of Jerusalem.
Yet today he will halt at Nob;
He shakes his fist at the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.
He shakes his fist at the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.
But look! The Lord, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies,
will chop down the mighty tree of Assyria with great power!
He will cut down the proud.
That lofty tree will be brought down.
will chop down the mighty tree of Assyria with great power!
He will cut down the proud.
That lofty tree will be brought down.
Behold, the Lord, the GOD of hosts, will lop off the boughs with a terrible crash;
Those also who are tall in stature will be cut down
And those who are lofty will be abased.
Those also who are tall in stature will be cut down
And those who are lofty will be abased.