Assyria Is God’s Instrument
1 Woe (judgment is coming) to those [judges] who issue evil statutes,
And to those [magistrates] who constantly record unjustandoppressive decisions,
2 So as to deprive the needy of justice
And rob the poor of My people of rightful claims,
So that widows may be their spoil
And that they may plunder the fatherless.
3 Now what will you do in the day of [God’s] punishment,
And in the storm of devastation which will come from far away?
To whom will you flee for help?
And where will you leave your wealth [for safekeeping]?
4 Nothingremainsbut to crouch among the captives
Or fall [dead] among the slain [on the battlefield].
Inspite ofall this, God’s anger does not turn away,
But His hand is still stretched out [in judgment].
5 Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger [against Israel],
The staff in whose hand is My indignationandfury [against Israel’s disobedience]!
6 I send Assyria against a godless nation
And commission it against the people of My wrath
To take the spoil and to seize the plunder,
And to trample them down like mud in the streets.
7 Yet it is not Assyria’s intention [to do My will],
Nor does it plan so in its heart,
But instead it is its purpose to destroy
And to cut off many nations.
8 For Assyria says, “Are not my princes all kings?
9 “Is not Calno [conquered] like Carchemish [on the Euphrates]?
Is not Hamath [subdued] like Arpad [her neighbor]?
Is not Samaria [in Israel] like Damascus [in Aram]?
10 “As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols,
Whose carved images were greaterandmore feared than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11 Shall I not do to Jerusalem and her images
Just as I have done to Samaria and her idols?” [declares Assyria].
12 So when the Lord has completed all His work [of judgment] on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem,He will say,“I will punish the fruit [the thoughts, the declarations, and the actions] of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the haughtiness of his pride.”
13 For the Assyrian king has said,
“I have done this by the power of my [own] hand and by my wisdom,
For I have understandingandskill.
I have removed the boundaries of the peoples
And have plundered their treasures;
Like a bull I have brought down those who sat on thrones.
14 “My hand has found the wealth of the people like a nest,
And as one gathers eggs that are abandoned, so I have gathered all the earth;
And there was not one that flapped its wing, or that opened its beak and chirped.”
15 Is the axe able to lift itself over the one who chops with it?
Is the saw able to magnify itself over the one who wields it?
That would belike a club moving those who lift it,
Or like a staff raisinghim whois not [made of] wood [like itself]!
16 Therefore the Lord, the Godof hosts, will send a wasting disease among the stout warriors of Assyria;
And under his glory a fire will be kindled like a burning flame.
17 And the Light of Israel will become a fire and His Holy One a flame,
And it willburn and devour Assyria’s thorns and briars in a single day.
18 The Lord will consume the glory of Assyria’s forest and of its fruitful garden, both soul and body,
And it will be as when a sick man wastes away.
19 And the remaining trees of Assyria’s forest will be so few in number
That a child could write them down.
A Remnant Will Return
20 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.
21 Aremnant will return, a remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.
22 For though your people, O Israel, may be as the sand of the sea,
Onlya remnant within them will return;
The destruction is determined [it is decided and destined for completion], overflowing with justice (righteous punishment).
23 For the Lord, the Godof hosts, will execute a complete destruction, one that is decreed, in the midst of all the land.
24 Therefore, the Lord Godof hosts says this, “O My people who dwell in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrian who strikes you with a rod and lifts up his staff against you, as [the king of] Egypt did.
25 For yet a very little while and My indignation [against you] will be fulfilled and My angerwill be directedtoward the destruction of the Assyrian.”
26 The Lordof hosts will brandish a whip against them like the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb; and His staff will be over the [Red] Sea and He will lift it up the wayHe didin [the flight from] Egypt.
27 So it will be in that day, that the burden of the Assyrian will be removed from your shoulders and his yoke from your neck. The yoke will be broken because of the fat.
28 The Assyrian has come against Aiath [in Judah],
He has passed through Migron [with his army];
At Michmash he stored his equipment.
29 They have gone through the pass,saying,
“Geba will be our lodging place for the night.”
Ramah trembles, and Gibeah [the city] of Saul has fled.
30 Cry aloud with your voice [in consternation], O Daughter of Gallim!
Pay attention, Laishah! Answer her, Anathoth!
31 Madmenah has fled;
The inhabitants of Gebim have fled [with their belongings] to safety.
32 Yet today the Assyrian will halt at Nob [the city of priests];
He shakes his fist at the mountain of the Daughter of Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem.
33 Listen carefully, the Lord, the Godof hosts, will lop off the [beautiful] boughs with terrifying force;
The tall in stature will be cut down
And the lofty will be abasedandhumiliated.
34 He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an ironaxe,
And Lebanon (the Assyrian) will fall by the Mighty One.