1 Woe to those who enact evil statutesAnd to those who constantly record 10:1Or trouble mischief,
2 So as to turn the poor away fromtheircauseAnd rob the afflicted of My people oftheirjustice,So that widows may be their spoilAnd that they may plunder the 10:2Or fatherless orphans.
3 Now what will you do in the day of visitation,And in the devastation which will come from afar?To whom will you flee for help?And where will you leave your 10:3Or wealth glory?
4 Nothingremainsbut to crouch 10:4 Lit under among the captivesOr fall 10:4 Lit under among those killed.Inspite ofall this, His anger does not turn backAnd His hand is still stretched out.Yahweh’s Anger with Assyria’s Arrogance
5 ¶Woe to Assyria, the rod of My angerAnd the staff in whose hands is My indignation,
6 I send it against a godless nationAnd command it against the people of My furyTo capture spoil and to seize plunder,And to 10:6Lit make them a trampled place trample them down like mud in the streets.
7 But it does not intendto actin this way,And it does not think in its heart in this way,Rather,what isin its heart is to destroyAnd to cut off 10:7 Lit not a few many nations.
8 For it says, “Are not my princes 10:8Lit altogether all kings?
9 “Is not Calno like Carchemish,Or Hamath like Arpad,Or Samaria like Damascus?
10 “As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols,Whose graven imagesweregreater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11 Shall I not 10:11Lit do thus do to Jerusalem and her imagesJust as I have done to Samaria and her idols?”
12 So it will be that when the Lord has completed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem,He will say, “I will 10:12Or visit punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the pomp of his eyeswhich areraised high.”
13 For he has said,“By the power of my hand and by my wisdom I didthis,For I have understanding;And I removed the boundaries of the peoplesAnd plundered their treasures,And like a mighty man I brought down 10:13Or those who sit on thrones theirinhabitants,
14 And my hand reached for the wealth 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 openeditsbeak or chirped.”
15 ¶Is the axe to boast itself over the one who chops with it?Is the saw to magnify itself over the one who wields it?That would belike a rod wielding those who lift it,Orlike a staff liftinghim whois not wood.
16 Therefore the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, will send a wasting disease among his stout warriors;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 will burn and devour his thorns and his briars in a single day.
18 And He will bring to an end the glory of his forest and of his fruitful orchard, both soul and body,And it will be as when a sick man wastes away.
19 And the rest of the trees of his forest will be so small in numberThat a child could write them down.A Remnant Will Return
20 Now it will be in that day,thatthe 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 Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel.
21 A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.
22 For though your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea,Onlya remnant within them will return;Adestructiveend is decreed, overflowing with righteousness.
23 For a complete destruction, one that is decreed, Lord Yahweh of hosts will do in the midst of the whole land.
24 Therefore thus says Lord Yahweh of hosts, “O My people who inhabit Zion, do not fear the Assyrian 10:24Lit he who strikes you with the rod and lifts up his staff against you, the way Egyptdid.
25 For in a very little while My indignationagainst youwill end and My angerwill be directedto their destruction.”
26 And Yahweh of hosts will waken 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 wayHe didin Egypt.
27 So it will be in that day,that 10:27The Assyrian his burden will be removed from your shoulders and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be broken because of fatness.
28 ¶He has come against Aiath,He has passed through Migron;At Michmash he deposited his baggage.
29 They have gone through the pass,saying,“Geba will be our lodging place.”Ramah trembles, and Gibeah of Saul has fled away.
30 Cry aloud with your voice, O daughter of Gallim!Pay attention, Laishahand 10:30 One ancient version Answer her, O Anathoth afflicted Anathoth!
31 Madmenah has fled.The inhabitants of Gebim have sought refuge.
32 Yet today he will stand at Nob;He shakes his fist at the mountain of the 10:32Or house of daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.
33 ¶Behold, the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, will lop off the boughs with a terrible crash;Those also who are high in stature will be cut in piecesAnd those who are lofty will be made low.
34 He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an ironaxe,And Lebanon will fall 10:34 Or as a mighty one by the Mighty One.