NET Bible

New American Standard Bible 1995

1Those who enact unjust policies are as good as dead, those who are always instituting unfair regulations,

1Woe to those who enact evil statutes And to those who constantly record unjust decisions,

2to keep the poor from getting fair treatment, and to deprive the oppressed among my people of justice, so they can steal what widows own, and loot what belongs to orphans.

2So as to deprive the needy of justice And rob the poor of My people of their rights, So that widows may be their spoil And that they may plunder the orphans.

3What will you do on judgment day, when destruction arrives from a distant place? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your wealth?

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?

4You will have no place to go, except to kneel with the prisoners, or to fall among those who have been killed. Despite all this, his anger does not subside, and his hand is ready to strike again.

4Nothing remains but to crouch among the captives Or fall among the slain. In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.

5Assyria, the club I use to vent my anger, is as good as dead, a cudgel with which I angrily punish.

5Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger And the staff in whose hands is My indignation,

6I sent him against a godless nation, I ordered him to attack the people with whom I was angry, to take plunder and to carry away loot, to trample them down like dirt in the streets.

6I send it against a godless nation And commission it against the people of My fury To capture booty and to seize plunder, And to trample them down like mud in the streets.

7But he does not agree with this, his mind does not reason this way, for his goal is to destroy, and to eliminate many nations.

7Yet it does not so intend, Nor does it plan so in its heart, But rather it is its purpose to destroy And to cut off many nations.

8Indeed, he says: "Are not my officials all kings?

8For it says, "Are not my princes all kings?

9Is not Calneh like Carchemish? Hamath like Arpad? Samaria like Damascus?

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

10I overpowered kingdoms ruled by idols, whose carved images were more impressive than Jerusalem's or Samaria's.

10"As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols, Whose graven images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,

11As I have done to Samaria and its idols, so I will do to Jerusalem and its idols."

11Shall I not do to Jerusalem and her images Just as I have done to Samaria and her idols?"

12But when the sovereign master finishes judging Mount Zion and Jerusalem, then I will punish the king of Assyria for what he has proudly planned and for the arrogant attitude he displays.

12So it will be that when the Lord has completed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, "I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the pomp of his haughtiness."

13For he says: "By my strong hand I have accomplished this, by my strategy that I devised. I invaded the territory of nations, and looted their storehouses. Like a mighty conqueror, I brought down rulers.

13For he has said, "By the power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this, For I have understanding; And I removed the boundaries of the peoples And plundered their treasures, And like a mighty man I brought down their inhabitants,

14My hand discovered the wealth of the nations, as if it were in a nest, as one gathers up abandoned eggs, I gathered up the whole earth. There was no wing flapping, or open mouth chirping."

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 or opened its beak or chirped."

15Does an ax exalt itself over the one who wields it, or a saw magnify itself over the one who cuts with it? As if a scepter should brandish the one who raises it, or a staff should lift up what is not made of wood!

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 club wielding those who lift it, Or like a rod lifting him who is not wood.

16For this reason the sovereign master, the LORD who commands armies, will make his healthy ones emaciated. His majestic glory will go up in smoke.

16Therefore the Lord, the GOD of hosts, will send a wasting disease among his stout warriors; And under his glory a fire will be kindled like a burning flame.

17The light of Israel will become a fire, their Holy One will become a flame; it will burn and consume the Assyrian king's briers and his thorns in one day.

17And the light of Israel will become a fire and his Holy One a flame, And it will burn and devour his thorns and his briars in a single day.

18The splendor of his forest and his orchard will be completely destroyed, as when a sick man's life ebbs away.

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 man wastes away.

19There will be so few trees left in his forest, a child will be able to count them.

19And the rest of the trees of his forest will be so small in number That a child could write them down.

20At that time those left in Israel, those who remain of the family of Jacob, will no longer rely on a foreign leader that abuses them. Instead they will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.

20Now in that day the remnant of Israel, and those of the house of Jacob who have escaped, will never again rely on the one who struck them, but will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.

21A remnant will come back, a remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.

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

22For though your people, Israel, are as numerous as the sand on the seashore, only a remnant will come back. Destruction has been decreed; just punishment is about to engulf you.

22For though your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea, Only a remnant within them will return; A destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness.

23The sovereign master, the LORD who commands armies, is certainly ready to carry out the decreed destruction throughout the land.

23For a complete destruction, one that is decreed, the Lord GOD of hosts will execute in the midst of the whole land.

24So here is what the sovereign master, the LORD who commands armies, says: "My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of Assyria, even though they beat you with a club and lift their cudgel against you as Egypt did.

24Therefore thus says the Lord GOD of hosts, "O My people who dwell in Zion, do not fear the Assyrian who strikes you with the rod and lifts up his staff against you, the way Egypt did.

25For very soon my fury will subside, and my anger will be directed toward their destruction."

25"For in a very little while My indignation against you will be spent and My anger will be directed to their destruction."

26The LORD who commands armies is about to beat them with a whip, similar to the way he struck down Midian at the rock of Oreb. He will use his staff against the sea, lifting it up as he did in Egypt.

26The LORD of hosts will arouse a scourge against him like the slaughter 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.

27At that time the LORD will remove their burden from your shoulders, and their yoke from your neck; the yoke will be taken off because your neck will be too large.

27So it will be in that day, that his burden will be removed from your shoulders and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be broken because of fatness.

28They attacked Aiath, moved through Migron, depositing their supplies at Micmash.

28He has come against Aiath, He has passed through Migron; At Michmash he deposited his baggage.

29They went through the pass, spent the night at Geba. Ramah trembled, Gibeah of Saul ran away.

29They have gone through the pass, saying, "Geba will be our lodging place." Ramah is terrified, and Gibeah of Saul has fled away.

30Shout out, daughter of Gallim! Pay attention, Laishah! Answer her, Anathoth!

30Cry aloud with your voice, O daughter of Gallim! Pay attention, Laishah and wretched Anathoth!

31Madmenah flees, the residents of Gebim have hidden.

31Madmenah has fled. The inhabitants of Gebim have sought refuge.

32This very day, standing in Nob, they shake their fist at Daughter Zion's mountain--at the hill of Jerusalem.

32Yet today he will halt at Nob; He shakes his fist at the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.

33Look, the sovereign master, the LORD who commands armies, is ready to cut off the branches with terrifying power. The tallest trees will be cut down, the loftiest ones will be brought low.

33Behold, the Lord, the GOD of hosts, will lop off the boughs with a terrible crash; Those also who are tall in stature will be cut down And those who are lofty will be abased.

34The thickets of the forest will be chopped down with an ax, and mighty Lebanon will fall.

34He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an iron axe, And Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One.

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