| International Standard Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1"How terrible it will be for the one who enacts unjust decrees, for those who write oppressive laws that they have prescribed | 1Woe to those enacting crooked statutes and writing oppressive laws |
| 2to deprive the needy of justice and to rob the poor of my people of their rights, so that widows may become their spoil and so that they may plunder orphans! | 2to keep the poor from getting a fair trial and to deprive the afflicted among my people of justice, so that widows can be their spoil and they can plunder the fatherless. |
| 3What will you do on the day of Judgment, in the calamity that will come from far away? To whom will you run for help, and where will you leave your wealth, | 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? |
| 4so you won't have to crouch among those in chains or fall among the slain? "Yet for all this, his anger has not turned away, and his hand is still stretched out, ready to strike." | 4There will be nothing to do except crouch among the prisoners or fall among the slain. In all this, His anger is not removed, and His hand is still raised to strike. |
| 5"How terrible it will be for Assyria, the rod of my anger! The club is in their hands! | 5Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger-- the staff in their hands is My wrath. |
| 6I'm sending my fury against a godless nation, and I'll command him against the people with whom I'm angry to seize loot and snatch plunder, and to trample them down like mud in the streets. | 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. |
| 7But this is not what he intends, and this is not what he thinks in his mind; but it is in his mind to destroy, and to cut down many nations. | 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. |
| 8"Because this is what he is saying: 'My commanders are all kings, are they not? | 8For he says," Aren't all my commanders kings? |
| 9Isn't Calno like Carchemish? Isn't Hamath like Arpad? Isn't Samaria like Damascus? | 9Isn't Calno like Carchemish? Isn't Hamath like Arpad? Isn't Samaria like Damascus? |
| 10As my hand has reached to the idolatrous kingdoms whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria, | 10As my hand seized the idolatrous kingdoms, whose idols exceeded those of Jerusalem and Samaria, |
| 11will I not deal with Jerusalem and her idols as I have dealt with Samaria and her images?'" | 11and as I did to Samaria and its idols will I not also do to Jerusalem and its idols?" |
| 12"For the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and against Jerusalem; he will punish the speech that comes from that willful heart of Assyria's king and the haughty look in his eyes. | 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." |
| 13He keeps bragging: 'I've done it by the strength of my hand, and by my wisdom, because I'm so clever. I removed the boundaries of peoples, and plundered their treasures; like a bull I brought down those who sat on thrones. | 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. |
| 14My hand has found, as if in a nest, the wealth of the people; and as one gathers eggs that have been abandoned, so I have gathered all the inhabitants of the earth. Nothing moved a wing, opened its mouth, or chirped.' | 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. |
| 15"Does the ax exalt itself over the one who swings it? Or does the saw magnify itself in opposition to the one who wields it? As if a rod were to wield those who lift it, or as if a club were to brandish the one who is not wood! | 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 staff waving the one who lifts it! It would be like a rod lifting a man who isn't wood! |
| 16Therefore, the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies will send a wasting disease among Assyria's sturdy warriors, and under its glory a conflagration will be kindled, like a blazing bonfire. | 16Therefore the Lord GOD of Hosts will inflict an emaciating disease on the well-fed of Assyria, and He will kindle a burning fire under its glory. |
| 17"The light of Israel will become a fire, and its Holy One a flame, and it will burn and consume Assyria's thorns and briers in a single day. | 17Israel's Light will become a fire, and its Holy One, a flame. In one day it will burn up Assyria's thorns and thistles. |
| 18The splendor of its forest and its fruitful land the LORD will destroy— both soul and body— and Assyria will be as when a dying man wastes away. | 18He will completely destroy the glory of its forests and orchards as a sickness consumes a person. |
| 19What survives of the trees in his forest will be so few that a child can count them." | 19The remaining trees of its forest will be so few in number that a child could count them. |
| 20At that time, the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer rely on the one who struck them down, but will truly rely 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 the one who struck them, but they will faithfully depend on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. |
| 21A remnant will return—a remnant of Jacob—to the Mighty God. | 21The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the Mighty God. |
| 22For even if your people of Israel number as many as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Overwhelming, righteous destruction is decreed, | 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. |
| 23because the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies will bring about destruction, as has been decreed, throughout the entire region. | 23For throughout the land the Lord GOD of Hosts is carrying out a destruction that was decreed. |
| 24Therefore this is what the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies says: "My people, you who live in Zion, don't be afraid of the Assyrians, of the rod that beats you, who lift up their club against you as the Egyptians did. | 24Therefore, the Lord GOD of Hosts says this: "My people who dwell in Zion, do not fear Assyria, though he strikes you with a rod and raises his staff over you as the Egyptians did. |
| 25In just a little while, my fury will come to an end, and my anger then will be directed to their destruction. | 25In just a little while My wrath will be spent and My anger will turn to their destruction." |
| 26The LORD of the Heavenly Armies will brandish a whip against them, as when he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb; and as his staff was stretched out over the sea, so he will lift it up as he did in Egypt. | 26And the LORD of Hosts 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. |
| 27At that time, his burden will depart from your shoulder and his yoke from your neck. Indeed, the yoke will be broken, because you've become obese." | 27On that day his burden will fall from your shoulders, and his yoke from your neck. The yoke will be broken because of fatness. |
| 28"The Assyrian commander has come upon Aiath and has passed through Migron; he stores his supplies at Michmash. | 28Assyria has come to Aiath and has gone through Migron, storing his equipment at Michmash. |
| 29He has crossed over by the pass; his overnight lodging is at Geba. Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul has fled. | 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. |
| 30Cry aloud, you daughter of Gallim! Pay attention, Laish! Poor Anathoth! | 30Cry aloud, daughter of Gallim! Listen, Laishah! Anathoth is miserable. |
| 31Marmenah is in flight; the inhabitants of Gebim take cover. | 31Madmenah has fled. The inhabitants of Gebim have sought refuge. |
| 32This very day he will halt at Nob; he will shake his fists at the mountain that is the Daughter of Zion, at Jerusalem's hill. | 32Today he will stand at Nob, shaking his fist at the mountain of Daughter Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. |
| 33Behold, the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies will lop off its boughs with terrifying power; the tallest in height will be cut down, and the lofty will be brought low. | 33Look, the Lord GOD of Hosts will chop off the branches with terrifying power, and the tall trees will be cut down, the high trees felled. |
| 34He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an ax, and Lebanon will fall by the Majestic One." | 34He is clearing the thickets of the forest with an ax, and Lebanon with its majesty will fall. |
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