International Standard Version | New Living Translation |
1"How terrible it will be for the one who enacts unjust decrees, for those who write oppressive laws that they have prescribed | 1What sorrow awaits the unjust judges and those who issue unfair laws. |
2to deprive the needy of justice and to rob the poor of my people of their rights, so that widows may become their spoil and so that they may plunder orphans! | 2They deprive the poor of justice and deny the rights of the needy among my people. They prey on widows and take advantage of orphans. |
3What will you do on the day of Judgment, in the calamity that will come from far away? To whom will you run for help, and where will you leave your wealth, | 3What will you do when I punish you, when I send disaster upon you from a distant land? To whom will you turn for help? Where will your treasures be safe? |
4so you won't have to crouch among those in chains or fall among the slain? "Yet for all this, his anger has not turned away, and his hand is still stretched out, ready to strike." | 4You will stumble along as prisoners or lie among the dead. But even then the LORD’s anger will not be satisfied. His fist is still poised to strike. Judgment against Assyria |
5"How terrible it will be for Assyria, the rod of my anger! The club is in their hands! | 5“What sorrow awaits Assyria, the rod of my anger. I use it as a club to express my anger. |
6I'm sending my fury against a godless nation, and I'll command him against the people with whom I'm angry to seize loot and snatch plunder, and to trample them down like mud in the streets. | 6I am sending Assyria against a godless nation, against a people with whom I am angry. Assyria will plunder them, trampling them like dirt beneath its feet. |
7But this is not what he intends, and this is not what he thinks in his mind; but it is in his mind to destroy, and to cut down many nations. | 7But the king of Assyria will not understand that he is my tool; his mind does not work that way. His plan is simply to destroy, to cut down nation after nation. |
8"Because this is what he is saying: 'My commanders are all kings, are they not? | 8He will say, ‘Each of my princes will soon be a king. |
9Isn't Calno like Carchemish? Isn't Hamath like Arpad? Isn't Samaria like Damascus? | 9We destroyed Calno just as we did Carchemish. Hamath fell before us as Arpad did. And we destroyed Samaria just as we did Damascus. |
10As my hand has reached to the idolatrous kingdoms whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria, | 10Yes, we have finished off many a kingdom whose gods were greater than those in Jerusalem and Samaria. |
11will I not deal with Jerusalem and her idols as I have dealt with Samaria and her images?'" | 11So we will defeat Jerusalem and her gods, just as we destroyed Samaria with hers.’” |
12"For the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and against Jerusalem; he will punish the speech that comes from that willful heart of Assyria's king and the haughty look in his eyes. | 12After the Lord has used the king of Assyria to accomplish his purposes on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, he will turn against the king of Assyria and punish him—for he is proud and arrogant. |
13He keeps bragging: 'I've done it by the strength of my hand, and by my wisdom, because I'm so clever. I removed the boundaries of peoples, and plundered their treasures; like a bull I brought down those who sat on thrones. | 13He boasts, “By my own powerful arm I have done this. With my own shrewd wisdom I planned it. I have broken down the defenses of nations and carried off their treasures. I have knocked down their kings like a bull. |
14My hand has found, as if in a nest, the wealth of the people; and as one gathers eggs that have been abandoned, so I have gathered all the inhabitants of the earth. Nothing moved a wing, opened its mouth, or chirped.' | 14I have robbed their nests of riches and gathered up kingdoms as a farmer gathers eggs. No one can even flap a wing against me or utter a peep of protest.” |
15"Does the ax exalt itself over the one who swings it? Or does the saw magnify itself in opposition to the one who wields it? As if a rod were to wield those who lift it, or as if a club were to brandish the one who is not wood! | 15But can the ax boast greater power than the person who uses it? Is the saw greater than the person who saws? Can a rod strike unless a hand moves it? Can a wooden cane walk by itself? |
16Therefore, the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies will send a wasting disease among Assyria's sturdy warriors, and under its glory a conflagration will be kindled, like a blazing bonfire. | 16Therefore, the Lord, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, will send a plague among Assyria’s proud troops, and a flaming fire will consume its glory. |
17"The light of Israel will become a fire, and its Holy One a flame, and it will burn and consume Assyria's thorns and briers in a single day. | 17The LORD, the Light of Israel, will be a fire; the Holy One will be a flame. He will devour the thorns and briers with fire, burning up the enemy in a single night. |
18The splendor of its forest and its fruitful land the LORD will destroy— both soul and body— and Assyria will be as when a dying man wastes away. | 18The LORD will consume Assyria’s glory like a fire consumes a forest in a fruitful land; it will waste away like sick people in a plague. |
19What survives of the trees in his forest will be so few that a child can count them." | 19Of all that glorious forest, only a few trees will survive— so few that a child could count them! Hope for the LORD’s People |
20At that time, the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer rely on the one who struck them down, but will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. | 20In that day the remnant left in Israel, the survivors in the house of Jacob, will no longer depend on allies who seek to destroy them. But they will faithfully trust the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. |
21A remnant will return—a remnant of Jacob—to the Mighty God. | 21A remnant will return; yes, the remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God. |
22For even if your people of Israel number as many as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Overwhelming, righteous destruction is decreed, | 22But though the people of Israel are as numerous as the sand of the seashore, only a remnant of them will return. The LORD has rightly decided to destroy his people. |
23because the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies will bring about destruction, as has been decreed, throughout the entire region. | 23Yes, the Lord, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, has already decided to destroy the entire land. |
24Therefore this is what the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies says: "My people, you who live in Zion, don't be afraid of the Assyrians, of the rod that beats you, who lift up their club against you as the Egyptians did. | 24So this is what the Lord, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, says: “O my people in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrians when they oppress you with rod and club as the Egyptians did long ago. |
25In just a little while, my fury will come to an end, and my anger then will be directed to their destruction. | 25In a little while my anger against you will end, and then my anger will rise up to destroy them.” |
26The LORD of the Heavenly Armies will brandish a whip against them, as when he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb; and as his staff was stretched out over the sea, so he will lift it up as he did in Egypt. | 26The LORD of Heaven’s Armies will lash them with his whip, as he did when Gideon triumphed over the Midianites at the rock of Oreb, or when the LORD’s staff was raised to drown the Egyptian army in the sea. |
27At that time, his burden will depart from your shoulder and his yoke from your neck. Indeed, the yoke will be broken, because you've become obese." | 27In that day the LORD will end the bondage of his people. He will break the yoke of slavery and lift it from their shoulders. |
28"The Assyrian commander has come upon Aiath and has passed through Migron; he stores his supplies at Michmash. | 28Look, the Assyrians are now at Aiath. They are passing through Migron and are storing their equipment at Micmash. |
29He has crossed over by the pass; his overnight lodging is at Geba. Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul has fled. | 29They are crossing the pass and are camping at Geba. Fear strikes the town of Ramah. All the people of Gibeah, the hometown of Saul, are running for their lives. |
30Cry aloud, you daughter of Gallim! Pay attention, Laish! Poor Anathoth! | 30Scream in terror, you people of Gallim! Shout out a warning to Laishah. Oh, poor Anathoth! |
31Marmenah is in flight; the inhabitants of Gebim take cover. | 31There go the people of Madmenah, all fleeing. The citizens of Gebim are trying to hide. |
32This very day he will halt at Nob; he will shake his fists at the mountain that is the Daughter of Zion, at Jerusalem's hill. | 32The enemy stops at Nob for the rest of that day. He shakes his fist at beautiful Mount Zion, the mountain of Jerusalem. |
33Behold, the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies will lop off its boughs with terrifying power; the tallest in height will be cut down, and the lofty will be brought low. | 33But look! The Lord, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, will chop down the mighty tree of Assyria with great power! He will cut down the proud. That lofty tree will be brought down. |
34He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an ax, and Lebanon will fall by the Majestic One." | 34He will cut down the forest trees with an ax. Lebanon will fall to the Mighty One. |
The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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