| English Standard Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who keep writing oppression, | 1Woe to those enacting crooked statutes and writing oppressive laws |
| 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! | 2to keep the poor from getting a fair trial and to deprive the afflicted among my people of justice, so that widows can be their spoil and they can plunder the fatherless. |
| 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? | 3What will you do on the day of punishment when devastation comes from far away? Who will you run to for help? Where will you leave your wealth? |
| 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. | 4There will be nothing to do except crouch among the prisoners or fall among the slain. In all this, His anger is not removed, and His hand is still raised to strike. |
| 5Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger; the staff in their hands is my fury! | 5Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger-- the staff in their hands is My wrath. |
| 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. | 6I will send him against a godless nation; I will command him to go against a people destined for My rage, to take spoils, to plunder, and to trample them down like clay in the streets. |
| 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; | 7But this is not what he intends; this is not what he plans. It is his intent to destroy and to cut off many nations. |
| 8for he says: “Are not my commanders all kings? | 8For he says," Aren't all my commanders kings? |
| 9Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus? | 9Isn't Calno like Carchemish? Isn't Hamath like Arpad? Isn't Samaria like Damascus? |
| 10As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols, whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria, | 10As my hand seized the idolatrous kingdoms, whose idols exceeded those of Jerusalem and Samaria, |
| 11shall I not do to Jerusalem and her idols as I have done to Samaria and her images?” | 11and as I did to Samaria and its idols will I not also do to Jerusalem and its idols?" |
| 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. | 12But when the Lord finishes all His work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, He will say, "I will punish the king of Assyria for his arrogant acts and the proud look in his eyes." |
| 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. | 13For he said: I have done this by my own strength and wisdom, for I am clever. I abolished the borders of nations and plundered their treasures; like a mighty warrior, I subjugated the inhabitants. |
| 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.” | 14My hand has reached out, as if into a nest, to seize the wealth of the nations. Like one gathering abandoned eggs, I gathered the whole earth. No wing fluttered; no beak opened or chirped. |
| 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! | 15Does an ax exalt itself above the one who chops with it? Does a saw magnify itself above the one who saws with it? It would be like a staff waving the one who lifts it! It would be like a rod lifting a man who isn't wood! |
| 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. | 16Therefore the Lord GOD of Hosts will inflict an emaciating disease on the well-fed of Assyria, and He will kindle a burning fire under its glory. |
| 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. | 17Israel's Light will become a fire, and its Holy One, a flame. In one day it will burn up Assyria's thorns and thistles. |
| 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. | 18He will completely destroy the glory of its forests and orchards as a sickness consumes a person. |
| 19The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few that a child can write them down. | 19The remaining trees of its forest will be so few in number that a child could count them. |
| 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. | 20On that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer depend on the one who struck them, but they will faithfully depend on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. |
| 21A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. | 21The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the Mighty God. |
| 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. | 22Israel, even if your people were as numerous as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction has been decreed; justice overflows. |
| 23For the Lord GOD of hosts will make a full end, as decreed, in the midst of all the earth. | 23For throughout the land the Lord GOD of Hosts is carrying out a destruction that was decreed. |
| 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. | 24Therefore, the Lord GOD of Hosts says this: "My people who dwell in Zion, do not fear Assyria, though he strikes you with a rod and raises his staff over you as the Egyptians did. |
| 25For in a very little while my fury will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction. | 25In just a little while My wrath will be spent and My anger will turn to their destruction." |
| 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. | 26And the LORD of Hosts will brandish a whip against him as He did when He struck Midian at the rock of Oreb; and He will raise His staff over the sea as He did in Egypt. |
| 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.” | 27On that day his burden will fall from your shoulders, and his yoke from your neck. The yoke will be broken because of fatness. |
| 28He has come to Aiath; he has passed through Migron; at Michmash he stores his baggage; | 28Assyria has come to Aiath and has gone through Migron, storing his equipment at Michmash. |
| 29they have crossed over the pass; at Geba they lodge for the night; Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul has fled. | 29They crossed over at the ford, saying," We will spend the night at Geba." The people of Ramah are trembling; those at Gibeah of Saul have fled. |
| 30Cry aloud, O daughter of Gallim! Give attention, O Laishah! O poor Anathoth! | 30Cry aloud, daughter of Gallim! Listen, Laishah! Anathoth is miserable. |
| 31Madmenah is in flight; the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety. | 31Madmenah has fled. The inhabitants of Gebim have sought refuge. |
| 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. | 32Today he will stand at Nob, shaking his fist at the mountain of Daughter Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. |
| 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. | 33Look, the Lord GOD of Hosts will chop off the branches with terrifying power, and the tall trees will be cut down, the high trees felled. |
| 34He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an axe, and Lebanon will fall by the Majestic One. | 34He is clearing the thickets of the forest with an ax, and Lebanon with its majesty will fall. |
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