1 ARST Terrible things will happen to you people of Assyria! You have destroyed others, but you have not been destroyed yet. You have betrayed others, but you have not been betrayed yet. When you stop destroying others, others will destroy you. When you stop betraying others, others will betray you. BSB BSB: Woe to you, O destroyer never destroyed, O traitor never betrayed! When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed. When you have finished betraying, you will be betrayed.
2 ARST Yahweh, act kindly toward us, because we have patiently waited for you to help us. Enable us to be strong every day, and rescue us when we have troubles. BSB BSB: O LORD, be gracious to us! We wait for You. Be our strength every morning and our salvation in time of trouble.
3 ARST Our enemies run away when they hear your voice. When you stand up and show that you are powerful, the people of all nations flee. BSB BSB: The peoples flee the thunder of Your voice; the nations scatter when You rise.
4 ARST And after our enemies have been defeated, we, your people, will take away all our enemies’ possessions, like caterpillars and locusts strip off all the leaves of plants. BSB BSB: Your spoil, O nations, is gathered as by locusts; like a swarm of locusts men sweep over it.
5 ARST Yahweh is greater than anyone else, and he lives in heaven, and he will rule justly and righteously in Jerusalem. BSB BSB: The LORD is exalted, for He dwells on high; He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
6 ARST When that happens, he will enable you to live securely; he will fully protect your possessions, he will enable you to be wise and to know all that you need to know; and revering Yahweh will be like a valuable treasure that he will give to you. BSB BSB: He will be the sure foundation for your times, a storehouse of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The fear of the LORD is Zion’s treasure.
7 ARST But now, look, our messengers are crying out in the streets; our ambassadors have gone to other countries to make peace treaties, but they will cry bitterly because they will not succeed. BSB BSB: Behold, their valiant ones cry aloud in the streets; the envoys of peace weep bitterly.
8 ARST No one travels on our roads. The leaders of Assyria have broken their peace treaty with us; they despise the people who made those treaties, and they do not respect anyone. BSB BSB: The highways are deserted; travel has ceased. The treaty has been broken, the witnesses are despised, and human life is disregarded.
9 ARST The land of Judah is dry and barren. The cedar trees in Lebanon are drying up and decaying. The Plain of Sharon along the coast is now a desert plain. There are no more leaves on the trees in the areas of Bashan and Carmel. BSB BSB: The land mourns and languishes; Lebanon is ashamed and decayed. Sharon is like a desert; Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.
10 ARST Yahweh says,“Now I will arise and show that I deserve for everyone to honor me. BSB BSB: “Now I will arise,” says the LORD. “Now I will lift Myself up. Now I will be exalted.
11 ARST You people of Assyria make plans that are as useless as chaff and straw. Your breath will become a fire that will burn you up. BSB BSB: You conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble. Your breath is a fire that will consume you.
12 ARST Your people will be burned until only ashes remain, like thornbushes are cut down and burned up. BSB BSB: The peoples will be burned to ashes, like thorns cut down and set ablaze.
13 ARST You people who live far away and you people who live nearby, pay attention to what I have done and realize that I am very powerful.” BSB BSB: You who are far off, hear what I have done; you who are near, acknowledge My might.”
14 ARST The sinners in Jerusalem will tremble because they are very afraid; godless people will be terrified. They say,“None of us can remain alive because this fire is burning everything; it is like the fire on Yahweh’ s altar that will burn forever!” BSB BSB: The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling grips the ungodly: “Who of us can dwell with a consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting flames?”
15 ARST Those who act honestly and say what is right, those who do not try to become rich by forcing money from people, those who do not try to get bribes, those who refuse to listen to people who are planning to murder someone, those who do not join others who urge them to do what is wrong, BSB BSB: He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity, who refuses gain from extortion, whose hand never takes a bribe, who stops his ears against murderous plots and shuts his eyes tightly against evil—
16 ARST they are the people who will live safely; they will find places to be safe in the caves in the mountains. They will have plenty of food and water. BSB BSB: he will dwell on the heights; the mountain fortress will be his refuge; his food will be provided and his water assured.
17 ARST You people of Judah will see the king wearing all his beautiful robes, and you will see that he rules a land that extends far away. BSB BSB: Your eyes will see the King in His beauty and behold a land that stretches afar.
18 ARST When you see that, you will think about when you were previously terrified, and you will say,“The officers of Assyria who counted the tax money that we were forced to pay to them have disappeared! Those men who counted our towers are gone! BSB BSB: Your mind will ponder the former terror: “Where is he who tallies? Where is he who weighs? Where is he who counts the towers?”
19 ARST Those arrogant people who spoke a language that we could not understand are no longer here!” BSB BSB: You will no longer see the insolent, a people whose speech is unintelligible, who stammer in a language you cannot understand.
20 ARST At that time, you will see Mount Zion, the place where we celebrate our festivals; You will see that Jerusalem has become a place that is calm and safe. It will be secure, like a tent that cannot be moved because its ropes are tight and its stakes are firmly in the ground. BSB BSB: Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts. Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful pasture, a tent that does not wander; its tent pegs will not be pulled up, nor will any of its cords be broken.
21 ARST Yahweh will be our mighty God; he will be like a mighty river that will protect us because our enemies will not be able to cross it; no one will be able to row across it and no warships will be able to sail across it. BSB BSB: But there the Majestic One, our LORD, will be for us a place of rivers and wide canals, where no galley with oars will row, and no majestic vessel will pass.
22 ARST Yahweh is our judge; he is the one who gives us laws, and he is our king. He will rescue us. BSB BSB: For the LORD is our Judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our King. It is He who will save us.
23 ARST The ropes on our enemies’ boats will hang loose, their masts will not be fastened firmly, and their sails will not be spread out. The treasures that they have seized will be divided among us, God’ s people, and even lame people among us will get some. BSB BSB: Your ropes are slack; they cannot secure the mast or spread the sail. Then an abundance of spoils will be divided, and even the lame will carry off plunder.
24 ARST And the people in Jerusalem will no longer say,“We are sick,” because Yahweh will forgive the sins that have been committed by the people who live there. BSB BSB: And no resident of Zion will say, “I am sick.” The people who dwell there will be forgiven of iniquity.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.