| International Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1"How terrible it will be for the one who enacts unjust decrees, for those who write oppressive laws that they have prescribed | 1Those who enact unjust policies are as good as dead, those who are always instituting unfair regulations, |
| 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! | 2to keep the poor from getting fair treatment, and to deprive the oppressed among my people of justice, so they can steal what widows own, and loot what belongs to 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 on judgment day, when destruction arrives from a distant place? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your wealth? |
| 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 have no place to go, except to kneel with the prisoners, or to fall among those who have been killed. Despite all this, his anger does not subside, and his hand is ready to strike again. |
| 5"How terrible it will be for Assyria, the rod of my anger! The club is in their hands! | 5Assyria, the club I use to vent my anger, is as good as dead, a cudgel with which I angrily punish. |
| 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 sent him against a godless nation, I ordered him to attack the people with whom I was angry, to take plunder and to carry away loot, to trample them down like dirt in the streets. |
| 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 he does not agree with this, his mind does not reason this way, for his goal is to destroy, and to eliminate many nations. |
| 8"Because this is what he is saying: 'My commanders are all kings, are they not? | 8Indeed, he says: "Are not my officials all kings? |
| 9Isn't Calno like Carchemish? Isn't Hamath like Arpad? Isn't Samaria like Damascus? | 9Is not Calneh like Carchemish? Hamath like Arpad? Samaria like Damascus? |
| 10As my hand has reached to the idolatrous kingdoms whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria, | 10I overpowered kingdoms ruled by idols, whose carved images were more impressive than Jerusalem's or Samaria's. |
| 11will I not deal with Jerusalem and her idols as I have dealt with Samaria and her images?'" | 11As I have done to Samaria and its idols, so I will do to Jerusalem and its idols." |
| 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. | 12But when the sovereign master finishes judging Mount Zion and Jerusalem, then I will punish the king of Assyria for what he has proudly planned and for the arrogant attitude he displays. |
| 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. | 13For he says: "By my strong hand I have accomplished this, by my strategy that I devised. I invaded the territory of nations, and looted their storehouses. Like a mighty conqueror, I brought down rulers. |
| 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.' | 14My hand discovered the wealth of the nations, as if it were in a nest, as one gathers up abandoned eggs, I gathered up the whole earth. There was no wing flapping, or open mouth chirping." |
| 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! | 15Does an ax exalt itself over the one who wields it, or a saw magnify itself over the one who cuts with it? As if a scepter should brandish the one who raises it, or a staff should lift up what is not made of wood! |
| 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. | 16For this reason the sovereign master, the LORD who commands armies, will make his healthy ones emaciated. His majestic glory will go up in smoke. |
| 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 light of Israel will become a fire, their Holy One will become a flame; it will burn and consume the Assyrian king's briers and his thorns in one day. |
| 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 splendor of his forest and his orchard will be completely destroyed, as when a sick man's life ebbs away. |
| 19What survives of the trees in his forest will be so few that a child can count them." | 19There will be so few trees left in his forest, a child will be able to count them. |
| 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. | 20At that time those left in Israel, those who remain of the family of Jacob, will no longer rely on a foreign leader that abuses them. Instead they will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. |
| 21A remnant will return—a remnant of Jacob—to the Mighty God. | 21A remnant will come back, a remnant of Jacob, 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, | 22For though your people, Israel, are as numerous as the sand on the seashore, only a remnant will come back. Destruction has been decreed; just punishment is about to engulf you. |
| 23because the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies will bring about destruction, as has been decreed, throughout the entire region. | 23The sovereign master, the LORD who commands armies, is certainly ready to carry out the decreed destruction throughout the 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 here is what the sovereign master, the LORD who commands armies, says: "My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of Assyria, even though they beat you with a club and lift their cudgel against you as Egypt did. |
| 25In just a little while, my fury will come to an end, and my anger then will be directed to their destruction. | 25For very soon my fury will subside, and my anger will be directed toward their destruction." |
| 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 who commands armies is about to beat them with a whip, similar to the way he struck down Midian at the rock of Oreb. He will use his staff against the sea, lifting it up as he did in Egypt. |
| 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." | 27At that time the LORD will remove their burden from your shoulders, and their yoke from your neck; the yoke will be taken off because your neck will be too large. |
| 28"The Assyrian commander has come upon Aiath and has passed through Migron; he stores his supplies at Michmash. | 28They attacked Aiath, moved through Migron, depositing their supplies at Micmash. |
| 29He has crossed over by the pass; his overnight lodging is at Geba. Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul has fled. | 29They went through the pass, spent the night at Geba. Ramah trembled, Gibeah of Saul ran away. |
| 30Cry aloud, you daughter of Gallim! Pay attention, Laish! Poor Anathoth! | 30Shout out, daughter of Gallim! Pay attention, Laishah! Answer her, Anathoth! |
| 31Marmenah is in flight; the inhabitants of Gebim take cover. | 31Madmenah flees, the residents of Gebim have hidden. |
| 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. | 32This very day, standing in Nob, they shake their fist at Daughter Zion's mountain--at the hill 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. | 33Look, the sovereign master, the LORD who commands armies, is ready to cut off the branches with terrifying power. The tallest trees will be cut down, the loftiest ones will be brought low. |
| 34He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an ax, and Lebanon will fall by the Majestic One." | 34The thickets of the forest will be chopped down with an ax, and mighty Lebanon will fall. |
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