15. Does an ax claim to be more important than the one who swings it? Does a saw brag that it is better than the one who uses it? That would be like a stick swinging someone who picks it up! It would be like a war club waving the one who carries it!
16. So the Lord who rules over all will send a sickness. The Lord will send it on the king of Assyria's strong fighting men. It will make them weaker and weaker. The army he was so proud of will be completely destroyed. It will be as if it had been burned up in a fire.
17. The Lord is the light of Israel. He will become a fire. Israel 's Holy One will become a flame. In a single day he will burn up all of Assyria's bushes. He will destroy all of their thorns.
18. He will completely destroy the beauty of their forests and rich farm lands. The Assyrian army will be like a sick man who becomes weaker and weaker.