Woe to those who decree decrees of iniquity, To the busy writers who are busy writing trouble,

In order to turn the poor away from judgment, And to tear justice away from the afflicted among my people; That widows may be their spoil, And they may plunder orphans.

And what will you do for the day of visitation, And for the devastation that comes from afar? To whom will you flee for help? And where will you leave your glory,

Unless one crouches behind prisoners, And they fall behind the slain? By all this His anger is not turned; His hand is still outstretched.

Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger! The staff which is in their hand is My indignation.

Against a profane nation I send them out, And against the people of My overflowing wrath I command them, To make spoil of the spoil and to make plunder of the plunder, To make them a trampling ground, like street mire.

But they do not think so, And their heart does not conceive it so; For destroying is in their heart, And the cutting down of no few nations.

For they say, Are not my princes all kings?

Is not Calno like Carchemish, Or Hamath like Arpad, Or Samaria like Damascus?

Since my hand has reached The kingdoms of the idols, And their graven images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,

Shall I not do, as I have done To Samaria and its idols, The same to Jerusalem and its images?

But when the Lord has completed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He says, I will punish the fruit of the king of Assyria's haughtiness of heart and the glory of his haughty eyes.

For he has said, By the strength of my own hand I have done it, And by my own wisdom; for I have understanding. And I have removed the boundaries of the peoples; And their stored possessions I have plundered. And like a bull, I brought down those who sit on thrones.

And my hand reached in, like in a nest, For the wealth of the peoples; And like one who gathers abandoned eggs, I myself gathered in all the earth; And none fluttered a wing, Or opened a beak and chirped.

Should the ax glorify itself above him who chops with it? Or should the saw magnify itself above him who wields it? It would be like the rod wielding him who lifts it up, Like the staff lifting up him who is not wood.

Therefore the Lord Jehovah of hosts will send Leanness to his fat ones; And under his glory He will kindle a kindling, Like the kindling of fire.

And the Light of Israel will become a fire, And His Holy One a flame; And it will burn and devour his thorns And his thistles in one day.

The glory of his forest and of his garden land He will destroy, both soul and body; And he will be like a sick man wasting away.

And what is left of the trees of his forest will be so few in number That a young boy could record them.

Then in that day the remnant of Israel and those of the house of Jacob who have escaped will no longer rely upon him who strikes them, but they will rely upon Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.

A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.

For though your people, O Israel, are like the sand of the sea, only a remnant among them will return. Annihilation is strictly decided, overflowing with righteousness.

For utter destruction and a strict decision is the Lord Jehovah of hosts performing in the midst of the whole land.

Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah of hosts, O my people dwelling in Zion, do not fear Assyria, who strike with the rod and lift up their staff against you the way Egypt did.

For in a very little while My indignation will be completed, and My anger will be turned toward their destruction.

And against them Jehovah of hosts will rouse up a whip like the stroke against Midian at the rock of Oreb; and His staff will be over the sea, and He will lift it up the way He did in Egypt.

And in that day their burden will be removed from your shoulders, and their yoke from off your neck; and the yoke will be broken due to the fatness.

He comes against Aiath; He passes through Migron; At Michmash he deposits his gear.

They go through the pass, saying, Geba will be our lodging overnight. Ramah is quaking; Gibeah of Saul flees away.

Scream with your voice, O daughter of Gallim! Listen carefully, Laishah! O poor Anathoth!

Madmenah flees; The inhabitants of Gebim seek refuge.

So it is until this day when he halts at Nob. He swings his hand over the mountain of the daughter of Zion, Over the hill of Jerusalem.

But now the Lord Jehovah of hosts Is lopping off the boughs with an awful crash: Those which are tall in height are hewn down, And those which are lofty are laid low.

And He chops away the forest thickets with an iron ax; And Lebanon falls at the hands of a majestic One.