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¹ Woe to those that decree unrighteous decrees, and to the writers that write perverseness;² to turn aside the needy from justice, and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey!³ And what will you do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will you flee for help? and where will you leave your glory?⁴ They shall only bow down under the prisoners, and shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

⁵ Ho Assyrian, the rod of my anger, the staff in whose hand is my indignation!⁶ I will send him against a profane nation, and against the people of my wrath I will give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.⁷ Nevertheless he does not mean so, neither does his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off not a few nations.⁸ For he says, Are not my princes all of them kings?⁹ Isn't Calno as Carchemish? isn't Hamath as Arpad? isn't Samaria as Damascus?¹⁰ As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols, whose graven images excelled those of Jerusalem and of Samaria;¹¹ shall I not, as I have done to Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?¹² Therefore it shall come to pass, that, when the Lord has performed his whole work on mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.¹³ For he has said, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I have understanding: and I have removed the bounds of the peoples, and have robbed their treasures, and like a valiant man I have brought down those that sit [on thrones]:¹⁴ and my hand has found as a nest the riches of the peoples; and as one gathers eggs that are forsaken, I have gathered all the earth: and there was none that moved the wing, or that opened the mouth, or chirped.¹⁵ Shall the ax boast itself against him that cuts therewith? shall the saw magnify itself against him that wields it? as if a rod should wield those that lift it up, [or] as if a staff should lift up [him that is] not wood.¹⁶ Therefore will the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory there shall be kindled a burning like the burning of fire.¹⁷ And the light of Israel will be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame; and it will burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day.¹⁸ And he will consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and it shall be as when a standard-bearer faints.¹⁹ And the remnant of the trees of his forest shall be few, so that a child may write them.

²⁰ And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and those that have escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again lean on him that smote them, but shall lean on Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.²¹ A remnant shall return, [even] the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.²² For though your people, Israel, are as the sand of the sea, [only] a remnant of them shall return: a destruction [is] determined, overflowing with righteousness.²³ For a full end, and that determined, will the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, make in the midst of all the earth.

²⁴ Therefore thus says the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, O my people that dwell in Zion, don't be afraid of the Assyrian, though he smites you with the rod, and lifts up his staff against you, after the manner of Egypt.²⁵ For yet a very little while, and the indignation [against you] shall be accomplished, and my anger [shall be directed] to his destruction.²⁶ And Yahweh of hosts will stir up against him a scourge, as in the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and his rod will be over the sea, and he will lift it up after the manner of Egypt.²⁷ And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall depart from off your shoulder, and his yoke from off your neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed by reason of fatness.²⁸ He has come to Aiath, he has passed through Migron; at Michmash he lays up his baggage;²⁹ they have gone over the pass; they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul has fled.³⁰ Cry aloud with your voice, O daughter of Gallim! listen, O Laishah! O you poor Anathoth!³¹ Madmenah is a fugitive; the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety.³² This very day he shall halt at Nob: he shakes his hand at the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.³³ Look, the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, will lop the boughs with terror: and the high of stature shall be cut down, and the lofty shall be brought low.³⁴ And he will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.