God’s Judgment on Assyria

5 “Woed to the Assyrian,e the rodf of my anger,

in whose hand is the clubg of my wrath!h

6 I send him against a godlessi nation,

I dispatchj him against a people who anger me,k

to seize loot and snatch plunder,l

and to tramplem them down like mud in the streets.

7 But this is not what he intends,n

this is not what he has in mind;

his purpose is to destroy,

to put an end to many nations.

8 ‘Are not my commanderso all kings?’ he says.

9 ‘Has not Kalnop fared like Carchemish?q

Is not Hamathr like Arpad,s

and Samariat like Damascus?u

10 As my hand seized the kingdoms of the idols,v

kingdoms whose images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria—

11 shall I not deal with Jerusalem and her images

as I dealt with Samaria and her idols?w’ ”

12 When the Lord has finished all his workx against Mount Ziony and Jerusalem, he will say, “I will punish the king of Assyriaz for the willful pridea of his heart and the haughty lookb in his eyes. 13 For he says:

“ ‘By the strength of my handc I have done this,d

and by my wisdom, because I have understanding.

I removed the boundaries of nations,

I plundered their treasures;e

like a mighty one I subdueda their kings.f

14 As one reaches into a nest,g

so my hand reached for the wealthh of the nations;

as people gather abandoned eggs,

so I gathered all the countries;i

not one flapped a wing,

or opened its mouth to chirp.j’ ”

15 Does the ax raise itself above the person who swings it,

or the saw boast against the one who uses it?k

As if a rod were to wield the person who lifts it up,

or a clubl brandish the one who is not wood!

16 Therefore, the Lord, the Lord Almighty,

will send a wasting diseasem upon his sturdy warriors;n

under his pompo a firep will be kindled

like a blazing flame.

17 The Light of Israel will become a fire,q

their Holy Oner a flame;

in a single day it will burn and consume

his thornss and his briers.t

18 The splendor of his forestsu and fertile fields

it will completely destroy,v

as when a sick person wastes away.

19 And the remaining trees of his forestsw will be so fewx

that a child could write them down.