7. But the Assyrian emperor has his own violent plans in mind. He is determined to destroy many nations.
8. He boasts, “Every one of my commanders is a king!
9. I conquered the cities of Calno and Carchemish, the cities of Hamath and Arpad. I conquered Samaria and Damascus.
10. I stretched out my hand to punish those kingdoms that worship idols, idols more numerous than those of Jerusalem and Samaria.
11. I have destroyed Samaria and all its idols, and I will do the same to Jerusalem and the images that are worshipped there.”
12. But the Lord says, “When I finish what I am doing on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, I will punish the emperor of Assyria for all his boasting and all his pride.”
13. The emperor of Assyria boasts, “I have done it all myself. I am strong and wise and clever. I wiped out the boundaries between nations and took the supplies they had stored. Like a bull I have trampled on the people who live there.
14. The nations of the world were like a bird's nest, and I gathered their wealth as easily as gathering eggs. Not a wing fluttered to scare me off; no beak opened to scream at me!”