5  Ah! the Assyrian! the rod of mine anger! and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. 6  I will send him against a hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge; to take the spoil, and to seize the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. 7  But he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; for it is in his heart to extirpate and cut off nations not a few. 8  For he saith, Are not my princes all kings? 9  Is not Calno as Karkemish? Is not Hamath as Arpad? Is not Samaria as Damascus? 10  As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, —and their graven images exceeded those of Jerusalem and Samaria, 11  —shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her images? 12  And it shall come to pass, when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and upon Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stoutness of heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks. 13  For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I am intelligent; and I have removed the bounds of the peoples, and have robbed their treasures, and, like a valiant man, I have brought down them that sit on thrones; 14  and my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the peoples, and as one gathereth forsaken eggs, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or chirped. 15  —Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? shall the saw magnify itself against him that wieldeth it? As if the rod should wield them that lift it up; as if the staff should lift up him who is not wood!