1. “Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees,Who write misfortune,Which they have prescribed
2. To rob the needy of justice,And to take what is right from the poor of My people,That widows may be their prey,And that they may rob the fatherless.
3. What will you do in the day of punishment,And in the desolation which will come from afar?To whom will you flee for help?And where will you leave your glory?
4. Without Me they shall bow down among the prisoners,And they shall fall among the slain.”For all this His anger is not turned away,But His hand is stretched out still.
5. “Woe to Assyria, the rod of My angerAnd the staff in whose hand is My indignation.
6. I will send him against an ungodly nation,And against the people of My wrathI will give him charge,To seize the spoil, to take the prey,And to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
7. Yet he does not mean so,Nor does his heart think so;But it is in his heart to destroy,And cut off not a few nations.
8. For he says,‘Are not my princes altogether kings?
9. Is not Calno like Carchemish?Is not Hamath like Arpad?Is not Samaria like Damascus?
10. As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols,Whose carved images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11. As I have done to Samaria and her idols,Shall I not do also to Jerusalem and her idols?’ ”
12. Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Lord has performed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, that He will say, “I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty looks.”
13. For he says:“By the strength of my hand I have done it,And by my wisdom, for I am prudent;Also I have removed the boundaries of the people,And have robbed their treasuries;So I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man.
14. My hand has found like a nest the riches of the people,And as one gathers eggs that are left,I have gathered all the earth;And there was no one who moved his wing,Nor opened his mouth with even a peep.”
15. Shall the ax boast itself against him who chops with it?Or shall the saw exalt itself against him who saws with it?As if a rod could wield itself against those who lift it up,Or as if a staff could lift up, as if it were not wood!
16. Therefore the Lord, the Lord of hosts,Will send leanness among his fat ones;And under his gloryHe will kindle a burningLike the burning of a fire.