Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and unto the writers that prescribe oppression;
to turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the afflicted of my people, that widows may be their prey, and [that] they may rob the fatherless!
And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation [which] shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?
Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand [is] stretched out still.
Ho, Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, the staff in whose hand is mine indignation.
I will send him against a hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to seize the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
But he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but [it is] in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.
For he saith, [Are] not my princes all kings?
[Is] not Calno as Carchemish? [is] not Hamath as Arpad? [is] not Samaria as Damascus?
As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols (and their graven images exceeded those of Jerusalem and of Samaria),
shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her images?
And it shall come to pass [that], when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon Mount Zion and upon Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.
For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done [it], and by my wisdom, for I am prudent; and I have removed the bounds of the peoples, and have robbed their treasures, and like a valiant man I have put down them that sit [on thrones];
and my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the peoples; and as one gathereth forsaken eggs, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or chirped.
Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? Shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake them that lift it up; as if the staff should lift up [him that is] not wood.
Therefore shall the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire.
And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame; and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briars in one day;
and it shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body; and they shall be as when a standard-bearer fainteth.
And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, yea, a child may write them.
And it shall come to pass in that day [that] the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again rely upon him that smote them; but they shall rely upon Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
A remnant shall return, the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.
For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, [only] a remnant of them shall return: the consumption determined shall overflow in righteousness.
For the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, will make a consumption even determined in the midst of all the land.
Therefore thus saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: though he smite thee with the rod, and lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt.
For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall be accomplished, and mine anger, in their destruction.
And Jehovah of hosts will stir up against him a scourge, as in the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and his rod [shall be] over the sea, and he will lift it up after the manner of Egypt.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall depart from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.
He is come to Aiath, he is passed through Migron; at Michmash he layeth up his baggage.
They are gone over the pass they make their lodging at Geba: Ramah trembleth, Gibeah of Saul is fled.
Lift up thy voice, daughter of Gallim. Hearken, Laishah. Poor Anathoth!
Madmenah is a fugitive; the inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to flee.
Yet today [is he] to halt at Nob: he shaketh his hand at the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.
Behold the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, shall lop the boughs with terror; and the high ones of stature [shall be] hewn down, and the haughty [shall be] humbled.
And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.