6. I 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.
7. But he does not agree with this,his mind does not reason this way,for his goal is to destroy,and to eliminate many nations.
8. Indeed, he says:“Are not my officials all kings?
9. Is not Calneh like Carchemish?Hamath like Arpad?Samaria like Damascus?
10. I overpowered kingdoms ruled by idols,whose carved images were more impressive than Jerusalem’s or Samaria’s.
11. As I have done to Samaria and its idols,so I will do to Jerusalem and its idols.”
12. But 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.
13. For 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.
14. My 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.”
15. Does 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!
16. For this reason the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, will make his healthy ones emaciated. His majestic glory will go up in smoke.