1Woe to those who enact unjust statutes

And to those who constantly record [a]harmful decisions,

2So as to [b]deprive the needy of justice

And rob the poor among My people of their rights,

So that widows may be their spoil

And that they may plunder the [c]orphans.

3Now what will you do in the day of punishment,

And in the devastation which will come from afar?

To whom will you flee for help?

And where will you leave your wealth?

4Nothing remains but to crouch [d]among the captives

Or fall [e]among those killed.

In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away

And His hand is still stretched out.

5Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger

And the staff in whose hands is My indignation,

6I send it against a godless nation

And commission it against the people of My fury

To capture spoils and to seize plunder,

And to [f]trample them down like mud in the streets.

7Yet it does not so intend,

Nor does [g]it plan so in its heart,

But rather it is [h]its purpose to destroy

And to eliminate [i]many nations.

8For it says, “Are not my officers [j]all kings?

9“Is not Calno like Carchemish,

Or Hamath like Arpad,

Or Samaria like Damascus?

10“As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols,

Whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,

11Shall I not do the same to Jerusalem and her images

Just as I have done to Samaria and her idols?”

12So it will be that when the Lord has completed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, “I will [k]punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the arrogant pride of his eyes.” 13For he has said,

“By the power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this,

Because I have understanding;

And I removed the boundaries of the peoples

And plundered their treasures,

And like a powerful man I brought down [l]their inhabitants,

14And my hand reached to the riches of the peoples like a nest,

And as one gathers abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth;

And there was not one that flapped its wing, opened its beak, or chirped.”

15Is the axe to boast itself over the one who chops with it?

Is the saw to exalt itself over the one who wields it?

That would be like a [m]club wielding those who lift it,

Or like a rod lifting the one who is not wood.

16Therefore the Lord, the [n]GOD of armies, will send a wasting disease among his stout warriors;

And under his glory a fire will be kindled like a burning flame.

17And the Light of Israel will become a fire and [o]Israel’s Holy One a flame,

And it will burn and devour [p]his thorns and his briars in a single day.

18And He will destroy the glory of his forest and of his fruitful garden, both soul and body,

And it will be as when a sick person wastes away.

19And the rest of the trees of his forest will be so small in number

That a child could write them down.

A Remnant Will Return

20Now on that day the remnant of Israel, and those of the house of Jacob who have escaped, will no longer rely on the one who struck them, but will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.

21A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.

22For though your people, Israel, may be like the sand of the sea,

Only a remnant within them will return;

A destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness. 23For a complete destruction, one that is determined, the Lord [q]GOD of armies will execute in the midst of the whole land.

24Therefore this is what the Lord [r]GOD of armies says: “My people, you who dwell in Zion, do not fear the Assyrian [s]who strikes you with the rod, and lifts up his staff against you the way Egypt did. 25For in a very little while My indignation against you will be ended and My anger will be directed toward their destruction.” 26The LORD of armies will wield a whip against him like the defeat of 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. 27So it will be on that day, that [t]his burden will be removed from your shoulders, and his yoke from your neck; and the yoke will be broken because of fatness.

28He has come against Aiath,

He has passed through Migron;

At Michmash he deposited his baggage.

29They have gone through the pass, saying,

“Geba will be our encampment for the night.”

Ramah is terrified, and Gibeah of Saul has fled.

30Cry aloud with your voice, daughter of Gallim!

Pay attention, Laishah and [u]wretched Anathoth!

31Madmenah has fled.

The inhabitants of Gebim have sought refuge.

32Yet today he will halt at Nob;

He shakes his fist at the mountain of the [v]daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.

33Behold, the Lord, the [w]GOD of armies, will lop off the branches with terrifying power;

Those also who are tall in stature will be cut down,

And those who are lofty will be brought low.

34He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an iron axe,

And Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One.