16. Those who see you stare at you,they look at you carefully, thinking: “Is this the man who shook the earth,the one who made kingdoms tremble?
17. Is this the one who made the world like a desert,who ruined its cities,and refused to free his prisoners so they could return home?”’
18. As for all the kings of the nations,all of them lie down in splendor,each in his own tomb.
19. But you have been thrown out of your gravelike a shoot that is thrown away.You lie among the slain,among those who have been slashed by the sword,among those headed for the stones of the pit,as if you were a mangled corpse.
20. You will not be buried with them,because you destroyed your landand killed your people.The offspring of the wickedwill never be mentioned again.
21. Prepare to execute his sonsfor the sins their ancestors have committed.They must not rise up and take possession of the earth,or fill the surface of the world with cities.”
22. “I will rise up against them,”says the Lord who commands armies.“I will blot out all remembrance of Babylon and destroy all her people,including the offspring she produces,”says the Lord.
23. “I will turn her into a place that is overrun with wild animalsand covered with pools of stagnant water.I will get rid of her, just as one sweeps away dirt with a broom,”says the Lord who commands armies.
24. The Lord who commands armies makes this solemn vow:“Be sure of this:Just as I have intended, so it will be;just as I have planned, it will happen.
25. I will break Assyria in my land,I will trample them underfoot on my hills.Their yoke will be removed from my people,the burden will be lifted from their shoulders.
26. This is the plan I have devised for the whole earth;my hand is ready to strike all the nations.”
27. Indeed, the Lord who commands armies has a plan,and who can possibly frustrate it?His hand is ready to strike,and who can possibly stop it?
28. In the year King Ahaz died, this message was revealed:
29. Don’t be so happy, all you Philistines,just because the club that beat you has been broken!For a viper will grow out of the serpent’s root,and its fruit will be a darting adder.
30. The poor will graze in my pastures;the needy will rest securely.But I will kill your root by famine;it will put to death all your survivors.
31. Wail, O city gate!Cry out, O city!Melt with fear, all you Philistines!For out of the north comes a cloud of smoke,and there are no stragglers in its ranks.