| Christian Standard Bible | Berean Study Bible |
| 1Woe to those enacting crooked statutes and writing oppressive laws | 1Woe to those who enact unjust statutes and issue oppressive decrees, |
| 2to keep the poor from getting a fair trial and to deprive the needy among my people of justice, so that widows can be their spoil and they can plunder the fatherless. | 2to deprive the poor of fair treatment and withhold justice from the oppressed of My people, to make widows their prey and orphans their plunder. |
| 3What will you do on the day of punishment when devastation comes from far away? Who will you run to for help? Where will you leave your wealth? | 3What will you do on the day of reckoning when devastation comes from afar? To whom will you flee for help? Where will you leave your wealth? |
| 4There will be nothing to do except crouch among the prisoners or fall among the slain. In all this, his anger has not turned away, and his hand is still raised to strike. | 4Nothing will remain but to crouch among the captives or fall among the slain. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised. |
| 5Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger--the staff in their hands is my wrath. | 5Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger; the staff in their hands is My wrath. |
| 6I will send him against a godless nation; I will command him to go against a people destined for my rage, to take spoils, to plunder, and to trample them down like clay in the streets. | 6I will send him against a godless nation; I will dispatch him against a people destined for My rage, to take spoils and seize plunder, and to trample them down like clay in the streets. |
| 7But this is not what he intends; this is not what he plans. It is his intent to destroy and to cut off many nations. | 7But this is not his intention; this is not his plan. For it is in his heart to destroy and cut off many nations. |
| 8For he says, "Aren't all my commanders kings? | 8“Are not all my commanders kings?” he says. |
| 9Isn't Calno like Carchemish? Isn't Hamath like Arpad? Isn't Samaria like Damascus? | 9“Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus? |
| 10As my hand seized the idolatrous kingdoms, whose idols exceeded those of Jerusalem and Samaria, | 10As my hand seized the idolatrous kingdoms whose images surpassed those of Jerusalem and Samaria, |
| 11and as I did to Samaria and its worthless images will I not also do to Jerusalem and its idols?" | 11and as I have done to Samaria and its idols, will I not also do to Jerusalem and her idols?” |
| 12But when the Lord finishes all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, "I will punish the king of Assyria for his arrogant acts and the proud look in his eyes." | 12So when the Lord has completed all His work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the fruit of his arrogant heart and the proud look in his eyes. |
| 13For he said: I have done this by my own strength and wisdom, for I am clever. I abolished the borders of nations and plundered their treasures; like a mighty warrior, I subjugated the inhabitants. | 13For he says: ‘By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, for I am clever. I have removed the boundaries of nations and plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their rulers. |
| 14My hand has reached out, as if into a nest, to seize the wealth of the nations. Like one gathering abandoned eggs, I gathered the whole earth. No wing fluttered; no beak opened or chirped. | 14My hand reached as into a nest to seize the wealth of the nations. Like one gathering abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth. No wing fluttered, no beak opened or chirped.’ ” |
| 15Does an ax exalt itself above the one who chops with it? Does a saw magnify itself above the one who saws with it? It would be like a rod waving the one who lifts it! It would be like a staff lifting the one who isn't wood! | 15Does an axe raise itself above the one who swings it? Does a saw boast over him who saws with it? It would be like a rod waving the one who lifts it, or a staff lifting him who is not wood! |
| 16Therefore the Lord GOD of Armies will inflict an emaciating disease on the well-fed of Assyria, and he will kindle a burning fire under its glory. | 16Therefore the Lord GOD of Hosts will send a wasting disease among Assyria’s stout warriors, and under his pomp will be kindled a fire like a burning flame. |
| 17Israel's Light will become a fire, and its Holy One, a flame. In one day it will burn and consume Assyria's thorns and thistles. | 17And the Light of Israel will become a fire, and its Holy One a flame. In a single day it will burn and devour Assyria’s thorns and thistles. |
| 18He will completely destroy the glory of its forests and orchards as a sickness consumes a person. | 18The splendor of its forests and orchards, both soul and body, it will completely destroy, as a sickness consumes a man. |
| 19The remaining trees of its forest will be so few in number that a child could count them. | 19The remaining trees of its forests will be so few that a child could count them. |
| 20On that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer depend on the one who struck them, but they will faithfully depend on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. | 20On that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer depend on him who struck them, but they will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. |
| 21The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the Mighty God. | 21A remnant will return—a remnant of Jacob—to the Mighty God. |
| 22Israel, even if your people were as numerous as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction has been decreed; justice overflows. | 22Though your people, O Israel, be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant will return. Destruction has been decreed, overflowing with righteousness. |
| 23For throughout the land the Lord GOD of Armies is carrying out a destruction that was decreed. | 23For the Lord GOD of Hosts will carry out the destruction decreed upon the whole land. |
| 24Therefore, the Lord GOD of Armies says this: "My people who dwell in Zion, do not fear Assyria, though they strike you with a rod and raise their staff over you as the Egyptians did. | 24Therefore this is what the Lord GOD of Hosts says: “O My people who dwell in Zion, do not fear Assyria, who strikes you with a rod and lifts his staff against you as the Egyptians did. |
| 25In just a little while my wrath will be spent and my anger will turn to their destruction." | 25For in just a little while My fury against you will subside, and My anger will turn to their destruction.” |
| 26And the LORD of Armies will brandish a whip against him as he did when he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb; and he will raise his staff over the sea as he did in Egypt. | 26And the LORD of Hosts will brandish a whip against them, as when He struck Midian at the rock of Oreb. He will raise His staff over the sea, as He did in Egypt. |
| 27On that day his burden will fall from your shoulders, and his yoke from your neck. The yoke will be broken because your neck will be too large. | 27On that day the burden will be lifted from your shoulders, and the yoke from your neck. The yoke will be broken because your neck will be too large. |
| 28Assyria has come to Aiath and has gone through Migron, storing their equipment at Michmash. | 28Assyria has entered Aiath and passed through Migron, storing their supplies at Michmash. |
| 29They crossed over at the ford, saying, "We will spend the night at Geba." The people of Ramah are trembling; those at Gibeah of Saul have fled. | 29They have crossed at the ford: “We will spend the night at Geba.” Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul flees. |
| 30Cry aloud, daughter of Gallim! Listen, Laishah! Anathoth is miserable. | 30Cry aloud, O Daughter of Gallim! Listen, O Laishah! O wretched Anathoth! |
| 31Madmenah has fled. The inhabitants of Gebim have sought refuge. | 31Madmenah flees; the people of Gebim take refuge. |
| 32Today the Assyrians will stand at Nob, shaking their fists at the mountain of Daughter Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. | 32Yet today they will halt at Nob, shaking a fist at the mount of Daughter Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem. |
| 33Look, the Lord GOD of Armies will chop off the branches with terrifying power, and the tall trees will be cut down, the high trees felled. | 33Behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts will lop off the branches with terrifying power. The tall trees will be cut down, the lofty ones will be felled. |
| 34He is clearing the thickets of the forest with an ax, and Lebanon with its majesty will fall. | 34He will clear the forest thickets with an axe, and Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One. |
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