| New Living Translation | NET Bible |
| 1What sorrow awaits you Assyrians, who have destroyed others but have never been destroyed yourselves. You betray others, but you have never been betrayed. When you are done destroying, you will be destroyed. When you are done betraying, you will be betrayed. | 1The destroyer is as good as dead, you who have not been destroyed! The deceitful one is as good as dead, the one whom others have not deceived! When you are through destroying, you will be destroyed; when you finish deceiving, others will deceive you! |
| 2But LORD, be merciful to us, for we have waited for you. Be our strong arm each day and our salvation in times of trouble. | 2LORD, be merciful to us! We wait for you. Give us strength each morning! Deliver us when distress comes. |
| 3The enemy runs at the sound of your voice. When you stand up, the nations flee! | 3The nations run away when they hear a loud noise; the nations scatter when you spring into action! |
| 4Just as caterpillars and locusts strip the fields and vines, so the fallen army of Assyria will be stripped! | 4Your plunder disappears as if locusts were eating it; they swarm over it like locusts! |
| 5Though the LORD is very great and lives in heaven, he will make Jerusalem his home of justice and righteousness. | 5The LORD is exalted, indeed, he lives in heaven; he fills Zion with justice and fairness. |
| 6In that day he will be your sure foundation, providing a rich store of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The fear of the LORD will be your treasure. | 6He is your constant source of stability; he abundantly provides safety and great wisdom; he gives all this to those who fear him. |
| 7But now your brave warriors weep in public. Your ambassadors of peace cry in bitter disappointment. | 7Look, ambassadors cry out in the streets; messengers sent to make peace weep bitterly. |
| 8Your roads are deserted; no one travels them anymore. The Assyrians have broken their peace treaty and care nothing for the promises they made before witnesses. They have no respect for anyone. | 8Highways are empty, there are no travelers. Treaties are broken, witnesses are despised, human life is treated with disrespect. |
| 9The land of Israel wilts in mourning. Lebanon withers with shame. The plain of Sharon is now a wilderness. Bashan and Carmel have been plundered. | 9The land dries up and withers away; the forest of Lebanon shrivels up and decays. Sharon is like the desert; Bashan and Carmel are parched. |
| 10But the LORD says: “Now I will stand up. Now I will show my power and might. | 10"Now I will rise up," says the LORD. "Now I will exalt myself; now I will magnify myself. |
| 11You Assyrians produce nothing but dry grass and stubble. Your own breath will turn to fire and consume you. | 11You conceive straw, you give birth to chaff; your breath is a fire that destroys you. |
| 12Your people will be burned up completely, like thornbushes cut down and tossed in a fire. | 12The nations will be burned to ashes; like thorn bushes that have been cut down, they will be set on fire. |
| 13Listen to what I have done, you nations far away! And you that are near, acknowledge my might!” | 13You who are far away, listen to what I have done! You who are close by, recognize my strength!" |
| 14The sinners in Jerusalem shake with fear. Terror seizes the godless. “Who can live with this devouring fire?” they cry. “Who can survive this all-consuming fire?” | 14Sinners are afraid in Zion; panic grips the godless. They say, 'Who among us can coexist with destructive fire? Who among us can coexist with unquenchable fire?' |
| 15Those who are honest and fair, who refuse to profit by fraud, who stay far away from bribes, who refuse to listen to those who plot murder, who shut their eyes to all enticement to do wrong— | 15The one who lives uprightly and speaks honestly; the one who refuses to profit from oppressive measures and rejects a bribe; the one who does not plot violent crimes and does not seek to harm others-- |
| 16these are the ones who will dwell on high. The rocks of the mountains will be their fortress. Food will be supplied to them, and they will have water in abundance. | 16This is the person who will live in a secure place; he will find safety in the rocky, mountain strongholds; he will have food and a constant supply of water. |
| 17Your eyes will see the king in all his splendor, and you will see a land that stretches into the distance. | 17You will see a king in his splendor; you will see a wide land. |
| 18You will think back to this time of terror, asking, “Where are the Assyrian officers who counted our towers? Where are the bookkeepers who recorded the plunder taken from our fallen city?” | 18Your mind will recall the terror you experienced, and you will ask yourselves, "Where is the scribe? Where is the one who weighs the money? Where is the one who counts the towers?" |
| 19You will no longer see these fierce, violent people with their strange, unknown language. | 19You will no longer see a defiant people whose language you do not comprehend, whose derisive speech you do not understand. |
| 20Instead, you will see Zion as a place of holy festivals. You will see Jerusalem, a city quiet and secure. It will be like a tent whose ropes are taut and whose stakes are firmly fixed. | 20Look at Zion, the city where we hold religious festivals! You will see Jerusalem, a peaceful settlement, a tent that stays put; its stakes will never be pulled up; none of its ropes will snap in two. |
| 21The LORD will be our Mighty One. He will be like a wide river of protection that no enemy can cross, that no enemy ship can sail upon. | 21Instead the LORD will rule there as our mighty king. Rivers and wide streams will flow through it; no war galley will enter; no large ships will sail through. |
| 22For the LORD is our judge, our lawgiver, and our king. He will care for us and save us. | 22For the LORD, our ruler, the LORD, our commander, the LORD, our king--he will deliver us. |
| 23The enemies’ sails hang loose on broken masts with useless tackle. Their treasure will be divided by the people of God. Even the lame will take their share! | 23Though at this time your ropes are slack, the mast is not secured, and the sail is not unfurled, at that time you will divide up a great quantity of loot; even the lame will drag off plunder. |
| 24The people of Israel will no longer say, “We are sick and helpless,” for the LORD will forgive their sins. | 24No resident of Zion will say, "I am ill"; the people who live there will have their sin forgiven. |
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