| NET Bible | New International Version |
| 1Those who enact unjust policies are as good as dead, those who are always instituting unfair regulations, | 1Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, |
| 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. | 2to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless. |
| 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? | 3What will you do on the day of reckoning, when disaster comes from afar? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your riches? |
| 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. | 4Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives or fall among the slain. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised. |
| 5Assyria, the club I use to vent my anger, is as good as dead, a cudgel with which I angrily punish. | 5"Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger, in whose hand is the club of my wrath! |
| 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. | 6I send him against a godless nation, I dispatch him against a people who anger me, to seize loot and snatch plunder, and to trample them down like mud in the streets. |
| 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. | 7But this is not what he intends, this is not what he has in mind; his purpose is to destroy, to put an end to many nations. |
| 8Indeed, he says: "Are not my officials all kings? | 8Are not my commanders all kings?' he says. |
| 9Is not Calneh like Carchemish? Hamath like Arpad? Samaria like Damascus? | 9Has not Kalno fared like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad, and Samaria like Damascus? |
| 10I overpowered kingdoms ruled by idols, whose carved images were more impressive than Jerusalem's or Samaria's. | 10As my hand seized the kingdoms of the idols, kingdoms whose images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria-- |
| 11As I have done to Samaria and its idols, so I will do to Jerusalem and its idols." | 11shall I not deal with Jerusalem and her images as I dealt with Samaria and her idols?'" |
| 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. | 12When the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, "I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes. |
| 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. | 13For he says: "'By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, because I have understanding. I removed the boundaries of nations, I plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their kings. |
| 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." | 14As one reaches into a nest, so my hand reached for the wealth of the nations; as people gather abandoned eggs, so I gathered all the countries; not one flapped a wing, or opened its mouth to chirp.'" |
| 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! | 15Does the ax raise itself above the person who swings it, or the saw boast against the one who uses it? As if a rod were to wield the person who lifts it up, or a club brandish the one who is not wood! |
| 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. | 16Therefore, the Lord, the LORD Almighty, will send a wasting disease upon his sturdy warriors; under his pomp a fire will be kindled like a blazing flame. |
| 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. | 17The Light of Israel will become a fire, their Holy One a flame; in a single day it will burn and consume his thorns and his briers. |
| 18The splendor of his forest and his orchard will be completely destroyed, as when a sick man's life ebbs away. | 18The splendor of his forests and fertile fields it will completely destroy, as when a sick person wastes away. |
| 19There will be so few trees left in his forest, a child will be able to count them. | 19And the remaining trees of his forests will be so few that a child could write them down. |
| 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. | 20In that day the remnant of Israel, the survivors of Jacob, will no longer rely on him who struck them down but will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. |
| 21A remnant will come back, a remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. | 21A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God. |
| 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. | 22Though your people be like the sand by the sea, Israel, only a remnant will return. Destruction has been decreed, overwhelming and righteous. |
| 23The sovereign master, the LORD who commands armies, is certainly ready to carry out the decreed destruction throughout the land. | 23The Lord, the LORD Almighty, will carry out the destruction decreed upon the whole land. |
| 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. | 24Therefore this is what the Lord, the LORD Almighty, says: "My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrians, who beat you with a rod and lift up a club against you, as Egypt did. |
| 25For very soon my fury will subside, and my anger will be directed toward their destruction." | 25Very soon my anger against you will end and my wrath will be directed to their destruction." |
| 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. | 26The LORD Almighty will lash them with a whip, as when he struck down Midian at the rock of Oreb; and he will raise his staff over the waters, as he did in Egypt. |
| 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. | 27In that day their burden will be lifted from your shoulders, their yoke from your neck; the yoke will be broken because you have grown so fat. |
| 28They attacked Aiath, moved through Migron, depositing their supplies at Micmash. | 28They enter Aiath; they pass through Migron; they store supplies at Mikmash. |
| 29They went through the pass, spent the night at Geba. Ramah trembled, Gibeah of Saul ran away. | 29They go over the pass, and say, "We will camp overnight at Geba." Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul flees. |
| 30Shout out, daughter of Gallim! Pay attention, Laishah! Answer her, Anathoth! | 30Cry out, Daughter Gallim! Listen, Laishah! Poor Anathoth! |
| 31Madmenah flees, the residents of Gebim have hidden. | 31Madmenah is in flight; the people of Gebim take cover. |
| 32This very day, standing in Nob, they shake their fist at Daughter Zion's mountain--at the hill of Jerusalem. | 32This day they will halt at Nob; they will shake their fist at the mount of Daughter Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem. |
| 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. | 33See, the Lord, the LORD Almighty, will lop off the boughs with great power. The lofty trees will be felled, the tall ones will be brought low. |
| 34The thickets of the forest will be chopped down with an ax, and mighty Lebanon will fall. | 34He will cut down the forest thickets with an ax; Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One. |
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