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Assyria Is God's Instrument

¹ Woe (judgment is coming) to those judges who ^(C1)issue evil statutes,
And to those magistrates who constantly record unjust and oppressive decisions,

^2 (C1)So as to deprive the needy of justice
And rob the poor of My people of rightful claims,
^(C2)So that widows may be their spoil
And that they may plunder the fatherless.

³ Now ^(C1)what will you do in the ^(C2)day of God's punishment,
And in the storm of devastation which will come ^(C3)from far away?
^(C4)To whom will you flee for help?
And where will you leave your wealth for safekeeping?

⁴ Nothing remains but to crouch among the ^(C1)captives
Or fall dead among the ^(C2)slain on the battlefield.
^(C3)In spite of all this, God's anger does not turn away,
But His hand is still stretched out in judgment.

⁵ Woe to ^(C1)Assyria, the ^(C2)rod of My anger against Israel,
The staff in whose hand is ^(C3)My indignation and fury against Israel's disobedience!

⁶ I send Assyria against a ^(C1)godless nation
And commission it against the ^(C2)people of My wrath
To take the spoil and ^(C3)to seize the plunder,
And to trample them down like ^(C4)mud in the streets.

⁷ Yet it ^(C1)is not Assyria's intention to do My will,
Nor does it plan so in its heart,
But instead it is its purpose to destroy
And to cut off many nations.

⁸ For Assyria says, "Are not my princes all kings?

⁹ "Is not ^(C1)Calno conquered like ^(C2)Carchemish on the Euphrates?
Is not ^(C3)Hamath subdued like Arpad her neighbor?
Is not ^(C4)Samaria in Israel like ^(C5)Damascus in Aram?

¹⁰ "As my hand has reached to the ^(C1)kingdoms of the idols,
Whose carved images were greater and more feared than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,

¹¹ Shall I not do to Jerusalem and her images
Just as I have done to Samaria and ^(C1)her idols?" declares Assyria.

¹² So when the Lord has completed all His ^(C1)work of judgment on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, "I will punish the fruit the thoughts, the declarations, and the actions of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and ^(C2)the haughtiness of his pride."¹³ For the Assyrian king ^(C1)has said,

"I have done this by the power of my own hand and by my wisdom,
For I have understanding and skill.
I have ^(C2)removed the boundaries of the peoples
And have plundered their treasures;
Like a bull I have brought down those who sat on thrones.

¹⁴ "My hand has found the wealth of the people like a ^(C1)nest,
And as one gathers eggs that are abandoned, so I have gathered all the earth;
And there was not one that flapped its wing, or that opened its beak and chirped."

¹⁵ Is the ^(C1)axe able to ^(C2)lift itself over the one who chops with it?
Is the saw able to magnify itself over the one who wields it?
That would be like ^(C3)a club moving those who lift it,
Or like a ^(C3)staff raising him who is not made of wood like itself!

¹⁶ Therefore the Lord, the GOD of hosts, will send a ^(C1)wasting disease among the ^(C2)stout warriors of Assyria;
And under his ^(C3)glory a fire will be kindled like a burning flame.

¹⁷ And the ^(C1)Light of Israel will become a fire and His ^(C2)Holy One a flame,
And it will ^(F1)(C3)burn and devour Assyria's thorns and briars in a single day. ^(VR1)

¹⁸ The Lord will ^(C1)consume the glory of Assyria's forest and of its fruitful garden, both soul and body,
And it will be as when a sick man wastes away.

¹⁹ And the ^(C1)remaining trees of Assyria's forest will be so few in number
That a child could write them down.

A Remnant Will Return

²⁰ Now in that day the ^(C1)remnant of Israel, and those of the house of Jacob who have ^(C2)escaped, will never again rely on the one who struck them, but will truly ^(C3)rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.

²¹ A ^(F1)(C1)remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob, to the ^(C2)mighty God.

²² For ^(C1)though your people, O Israel, may be as the sand of the sea,
Only a remnant within them will return;
The ^(C2)destruction is determined it is decided and destined for completion, overflowing with justice (righteous punishment). ^(VR1)

²⁴ Therefore, the Lord GOD of hosts says this, "O My people who dwell in ^(C1)Zion, ^(C2)do not be afraid of the Assyrian who ^(C3)strikes you with a rod and lifts up his staff against you, as the king of Egypt did. ^(VR1)25 "For yet a very ^(C1)little while and ^(C2)My indignation against you will be fulfilled and My anger will be directed toward the destruction of the Assyrian."²⁶ The LORD of hosts will ^(C1)brandish a whip against them like the slaughter of ^(C2)Midian at the rock of Oreb; and His ^(C3)staff will be over the Red Sea and He will lift it up ^(C4)the way He did in the flight from Egypt. ^(VR1)27 So it will be in that day, that the ^(C1)burden of the Assyrian will be removed from your shoulders and his yoke from your neck. The yoke will be broken because ^(C2)of the fat. ^(VR1)

²⁸ The Assyrian has come against Aiath in Judah,
He has passed through ^(C1)Migron with his army;
At ^(C2)Michmash he stored his ^(C3)equipment.

²⁹ They have gone through ^(C1)the pass, saying,
"^(C2)Geba will be our lodging place for the night."
^(C3)Ramah trembles, and ^(C4)Gibeah the city of Saul has fled.

³⁰ Cry aloud with your voice in consternation, O Daughter of ^(C1)Gallim!
Pay attention, Laishah! Answer her, ^(C2)Anathoth!

³¹ Madmenah has fled;
The inhabitants of Gebim have fled with their belongings to safety.

³² Yet today the Assyrian will halt at ^(C1)Nob the city of priests;
^(C2)He shakes his fist at the mountain of the ^(C3)Daughter of Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem.

³³ Listen carefully, the Lord, the GOD of hosts, will lop off the beautiful boughs with terrifying force;
The ^(C1)tall in stature will be cut down
And the lofty will be abased and humiliated.

³⁴ He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an iron axe,
And ^(C1)Lebanon (the Assyrian) will fall by the Mighty One. ^(VR1)