Berean Study Bible

English Standard Version

1Woe to those who enact unjust statutes and issue oppressive decrees,

1Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who keep writing oppression,

2to deprive the poor of fair treatment and withhold justice from the oppressed of My people, to make widows their prey and orphans their plunder.

2to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey!

3What will you do on the day of reckoning when devastation comes from afar? To whom will you flee for help? Where will you leave your wealth?

3What will you do on the day of punishment, in the ruin that will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your wealth?

4Nothing will remain but to crouch among the captives or fall among the slain. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.

4Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners or fall among the slain. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.

5Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger; the staff in their hands is My wrath.

5Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger; the staff in their hands is my fury!

6I will send him against a godless nation; I will dispatch him against a people destined for My rage, to take spoils and seize plunder, and to trample them down like clay in the streets.

6Against a godless nation I send him, and against the people of my wrath I command him, to take spoil and seize plunder, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

7But this is not his intention; this is not his plan. For it is in his heart to destroy and cut off many nations.

7But he does not so intend, and his heart does not so think; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few;

8“Are not all my commanders kings?” he says.

8for he says: “Are not my commanders all kings?

9“Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus?

9Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus?

10As my hand seized the idolatrous kingdoms whose images surpassed those of Jerusalem and Samaria,

10As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols, whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,

11and as I have done to Samaria and its idols, will I not also do to Jerusalem and her idols?”

11shall I not do to Jerusalem and her idols as I have done to Samaria and her images?”

12So when the Lord has completed all His work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the fruit of his arrogant heart and the proud look in his eyes.

12When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, he will punish the speech of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes.

13For he says: ‘By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, for I am clever. I have removed the boundaries of nations and plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their rulers.

13For he says: “By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding; I remove the boundaries of peoples, and plunder their treasures; like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones.

14My hand reached as into a nest to seize the wealth of the nations. Like one gathering abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth. No wing fluttered, no beak opened or chirped.’ ”

14My hand has found like a nest the wealth of the peoples; and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken, so I have gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved a wing or opened the mouth or chirped.”

15Does an axe raise itself above the one who swings it? Does a saw boast over him who saws with it? It would be like a rod waving the one who lifts it, or a staff lifting him who is not wood!

15Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it, or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it? As if a rod should wield him who lifts it, or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!

16Therefore the Lord GOD of Hosts will send a wasting disease among Assyria’s stout warriors, and under his pomp will be kindled a fire like a burning flame.

16Therefore the Lord GOD of hosts will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors, and under his glory a burning will be kindled, like the burning of fire.

17And the Light of Israel will become a fire, and its Holy One a flame. In a single day it will burn and devour Assyria’s thorns and thistles.

17The light of Israel will become a fire, and his Holy One a flame, and it will burn and devour his thorns and briers in one day.

18The splendor of its forests and orchards, both soul and body, it will completely destroy, as a sickness consumes a man.

18The glory of his forest and of his fruitful land the LORD will destroy, both soul and body, and it will be as when a sick man wastes away.

19The remaining trees of its forests will be so few that a child could count them.

19The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few that a child can write them down.

20On that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer depend on him who struck them, but they will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.

20In that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean on him who struck them, but will lean on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.

21A remnant will return—a remnant of Jacob—to the Mighty God.

21A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.

22Though your people, O Israel, be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant will return. Destruction has been decreed, overflowing with righteousness.

22For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness.

23For the Lord GOD of Hosts will carry out the destruction decreed upon the whole land.

23For the Lord GOD of hosts will make a full end, as decreed, in the midst of all the earth.

24Therefore this is what the Lord GOD of Hosts says: “O My people who dwell in Zion, do not fear Assyria, who strikes you with a rod and lifts his staff against you as the Egyptians did.

24Therefore thus says the Lord GOD of hosts: “O my people, who dwell in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrians when they strike with the rod and lift up their staff against you as the Egyptians did.

25For in just a little while My fury against you will subside, and My anger will turn to their destruction.”

25For in a very little while my fury will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction.

26And the LORD of Hosts will brandish a whip against them, as when He struck Midian at the rock of Oreb. He will raise His staff over the sea, as He did in Egypt.

26And the LORD of hosts will wield against them a whip, as when he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb. And his staff will be over the sea, and he will lift it as he did in Egypt.

27On that day the burden will be lifted from your shoulders, and the yoke from your neck. The yoke will be broken because your neck will be too large.

27And in that day his burden will depart from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck; and the yoke will be broken because of the fat.”

28Assyria has entered Aiath and passed through Migron, storing their supplies at Michmash.

28He has come to Aiath; he has passed through Migron; at Michmash he stores his baggage;

29They have crossed at the ford: “We will spend the night at Geba.” Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul flees.

29they have crossed over the pass; at Geba they lodge for the night; Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul has fled.

30Cry aloud, O Daughter of Gallim! Listen, O Laishah! O wretched Anathoth!

30Cry aloud, O daughter of Gallim! Give attention, O Laishah! O poor Anathoth!

31Madmenah flees; the people of Gebim take refuge.

31Madmenah is in flight; the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety.

32Yet today they will halt at Nob, shaking a fist at the mount of Daughter Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem.

32This very day he will halt at Nob; he will shake his fist at the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.

33Behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts will lop off the branches with terrifying power. The tall trees will be cut down, the lofty ones will be felled.

33Behold, the Lord GOD of hosts will lop the boughs with terrifying power; the great in height will be hewn down, and the lofty will be brought low.

34He will clear the forest thickets with an axe, and Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One.

34He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an axe, and Lebanon will fall by the Majestic One.

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ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.