Woe to Tyrants

1Woe to those who make unfair laws, and who, when writing, write injustice:

2in order to oppress the poor in judgment, and to do violence to the case of the humble of my people, in order that widows may be their prey, and that they might plunder the orphan.

3What will you do on the day of visitation and calamity which is approaching from afar? To whom will you flee for assistance? And where will you leave behind your own glory,

4so that you may not be bowed down under the chains, and fall with the slain? Concerning all this, his fury was not turned away; instead, his hand was still extended.

Judgment on Assyria

5Woe to Assur! He is the rod and the staff of my fury, and my indignation is in their hands.

6I will send him to a deceitful nation, and I will order him against the people of my fury, so that he may take away the plunder, and tear apart the prey, and place it to be trampled like the mud of the streets.

7But he will not consider it to be so, and his heart will not suppose it to be this way. Instead, his heart will be set to crush and to exterminate more than a few nations.

8For he will say:

9“Are not my princes like many kings? Is not Calno like Carchemish, and Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus?

10In the same manner as my hand reached the kingdoms of the idol, so also will it reach their false images, those of Jerusalem and of Samaria.

11Should I not do to Jerusalem and her false images, just as I have done to Samaria and her idols?”

12And this shall be: when the Lord will have completed each of his works on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, I will act against the fruit of the exalted heart of king Assur, and against the glory of the haughtiness of his eyes.

13For he has said: “I have acted with the strength of my own hand, and I have understood with my own wisdom, and I have removed the limits of the people, and I have plundered their leaders, and, like one with power, I have pulled down those residing on high.

14And my hand has reached to the strength of the people, as to a nest. And, just as the eggs which have been left behind are gathered, so have I gathered the entire earth. And there was no one who moved a wing, or opened a mouth, or uttered a snarl.”

15Should the axe glorify itself over him who wields it? Or can the saw exalt itself over him who pulls it? How can a rod lift itself up against him who wields it, or a staff exalt itself, though it is only wood?

16Because of this, the sovereign Lord, the Lord of hosts, will send leanness among his fat ones. And under the influence of his glory, a burning ardor will rage, like a consuming fire.

17And the light of Israel will be like a fire, and the Holy One of Israel will be like a flame. And his thorns and briers will be set ablaze and devoured, in one day.

18And the glory of his forest and of his beautiful hill will be consumed, from the soul even to the flesh. And he will flee away in terror.

19And what remains of the trees of his forest will be so few, and so easily numbered, that even a child could write them down.

A Remnant Shall Return

20And this shall be in that day: those not added to the remnant of Israel, and those who escape of the house of Jacob, will not lean upon him who strikes them. Instead, they will lean upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.

21The remnant of Jacob, again I say the remnant, will be converted to the mighty God.

22For though your people, O Israel, will be like the sand of the sea, yet only a remnant of them will be converted. The consummation, having been shortened, will be inundated with justice.

23For the Lord, the God of hosts, will accomplish an abbreviation and a consummation, in the midst of all the earth.

24For this reason, the Lord, the God of hosts, says this: “My people, who inhabit Zion: do not be afraid of Assur. He will strike you with his rod, and he will lift up his staff over you, on the way of Egypt. 25But after a little while and a brief time, my indignation will be consumed, and my fury will turn to their wickedness.” 26And the Lord of hosts will raise up a scourge over him, like the scourge of Midian at the rock of Oreb, and he will raise up his rod over the sea, and he will lift it up against the way of Egypt. 27And this shall be in that day: his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, and his yoke will be taken away from your neck, and the yoke will decay at the appearance of the oil.

28He will approach Aiath; he will cross into Migron; he will entrust his vessels to Michmash.

29They have passed through in haste; Geba is our seat; Ramah was stupefied; Gibeah of Saul fled.

30Neigh with your voice, daughter of Gallim; pay attention, Laishah, impoverished woman of Anathoth.

31Madmenah has moved away; be strengthened, you inhabitants of Gebim.

32It is still daylight, so stand at Nob. He will shake his hand against the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.

33Behold, the sovereign Lord of hosts will crush the little bottle of wine with terror, and the exalted in stature will be cut down, and the lofty will be brought low.

34And the dense forest will be overturned with iron. And Lebanon, with its exalted ones, will fall.