Woe to Tyrants 1 UEB Woe to those who enact unjust laws and write unfair decrees. BSB BSB: Woe to those who enact unjust statutes and issue oppressive decrees,
2 UEB They deprive the needy of justice, rob the poor of my people of their rights, plunder widows, and make the fatherless their prey! BSB BSB: to deprive the poor of fair treatment and withhold justice from the oppressed of My people, to make widows their prey and orphans their plunder.
3 UEB What will you do on judgment day when the destruction comes from far away? To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your wealth? BSB BSB: What will you do on the day of reckoning when devastation comes from afar? To whom will you flee for help? Where will you leave your wealth?
4 UEB Nothing remains, and you crouch among the prisoners or fall among the killed. In all these things, his anger does not subside; instead, his hand is still stretched out. BSB BSB: Nothing will remain but to crouch among the captives or fall among the slain. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.
Judgment on Assyria 5 UEB Woe to the Assyrian, the club of my anger, the rod by whom I wield my fury! BSB BSB: Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger; the staff in their hands is My wrath.
6 UEB I send him against an arrogant nation and against the people who bear my overflowing wrath. I order him to take the spoil, to take the prey, and to trample them like mud in the streets. BSB BSB: I will send him against a godless nation; I will dispatch him against a people destined for My rage, to take spoils and seize plunder, and to trample them down like clay in the streets.
7 UEB But this is not what he intends, nor does he think this way. It is in his heart to destroy and eliminate many nations. BSB BSB: But this is not his intention; this is not his plan. For it is in his heart to destroy and cut off many nations.
8 UEB For he says, "Are not all my princes kings? BSB BSB: “Are not all my commanders kings?” he says.
9 UEB Is not Kalno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus? BSB BSB: “Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus?
10 UEB As my hand has overcome idolatrous kingdoms, whose carved figures were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria, BSB BSB: As my hand seized the idolatrous kingdoms whose images surpassed those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11 UEB just as I did to Samaria and her worthless idols, will I not also do the same to Jerusalem and to her idols?" BSB BSB: and as I have done to Samaria and its idols, will I not also do to Jerusalem and her idols?”
12 UEB When the Lord has finished his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the speech of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and his prideful looks. BSB BSB: So when the Lord has completed all His work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the fruit of his arrogant heart and the proud look in his eyes.
13 UEB For he says, "By my strength and by my wisdom I acted. I have understanding, and I have removed the boundaries of the peoples. I have stolen their treasures, and like a bull I have brought down the inhabitants. BSB BSB: For he says: ‘By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, for I am clever. I have removed the boundaries of nations and plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their rulers.
14 UEB My hand has seized, as from a nest, the wealth of nations, and as one gathers abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth. None fluttered their wings or opened their mouth or chirped." BSB BSB: My hand reached as into a nest to seize the wealth of the nations. Like one gathering abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth. No wing fluttered, no beak opened or chirped.’”
15 UEB Will the ax boast about itself against the one who wields it? Will the saw praise itself more than the one who cuts with it? It is as if a rod could lift up those who raise it, or as if a wooden club could lift up a person. BSB BSB: Does an axe raise itself above the one who swings it? Does a saw boast over him who saws with it? It would be like a rod waving the one who lifts it, or a staff lifting him who is not wood!
16 UEB Therefore the Lord Yahweh of hosts will send emaciation among his elite warriors; and under his glory there will be kindled a burning like fire. BSB BSB: Therefore the Lord GOD of Hosts will send a wasting disease among Assyria’s stout warriors, and under his pomp will be kindled a fire like a burning flame.
17 UEB The light of Israel will become a fire, and his Holy One a flame; it will burn and devour his thorns and briers in one day. BSB BSB: And the Light of Israel will become a fire, and its Holy One a flame. In a single day it will burn and devour Assyria’s thorns and thistles.
18 UEB Yahweh will consume the glory of his forest and of his fruitful land, both soul and body; it will be like when a sick man's life wastes away. BSB BSB: The splendor of its forests and orchards, both soul and body, it will completely destroy, as a sickness consumes a man.
19 UEB The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few, that a child could count them. BSB BSB: The remaining trees of its forests will be so few that a child could count them.
A Remnant Shall Return 20 UEB On that day, the remnant of Israel, the family of Jacob that has escaped, will no longer rely on the one who defeated them, but will indeed depend on Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel. BSB BSB: On that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer depend on him who struck them, but they will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.
21 UEB A remnant of Jacob will return to the mighty God. BSB BSB: A remnant will return—a remnant of Jacob—to the Mighty God.
22 UEB For though your people, Israel, are like the sand of the seashore, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed, as overflowing righteousness demands. BSB BSB: Though your people, O Israel, be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant will return. Destruction has been decreed, overflowing with righteousness.
23 UEB For the Lord Yahweh of hosts, is about to carry out the destruction determined throughout the land. BSB BSB: For the Lord GOD of Hosts will carry out the destruction decreed upon the whole land.
24 UEB Therefore the Lord Yahweh of hosts says, "My people who live in Zion, do not fear the Assyrian. He will strike you with the rod and raise his staff against you, as the Egyptians did. BSB BSB: Therefore this is what the Lord GOD of Hosts says: “O My people who dwell in Zion, do not fear Assyria, who strikes you with a rod and lifts his staff against you as the Egyptians did.
25 UEB Do not fear him, for in a very short time my anger against you will end, and my anger will lead to his destruction." BSB BSB: For in just a little while My fury against you will subside, and My anger will turn to their destruction.”
26 UEB Then Yahweh of hosts will wield a whip against them, as when he defeated Midian at the rock of Oreb. He will raise his rod over the sea and lift it up as he did in Egypt. BSB BSB: And the LORD of Hosts will brandish a whip against them, as when He struck Midian at the rock of Oreb. He will raise His staff over the sea, as He did in Egypt.
27 UEB On that day, his burden is lifted from your shoulder and his yoke from off your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed because of fatness. BSB BSB: On that day the burden will be lifted from your shoulders, and the yoke from your neck. The yoke will be broken because your neck will be too large.
28 UEB The enemy has come to Aiath and has passed through Migron; at Michmash he has stored his provisions. BSB BSB: Assyria has entered Aiath and passed through Migron, storing their supplies at Michmash.
29 UEB They have crossed over the pass and they lodge at Geba. Ramah trembles and Gibeah of Saul has fled. BSB BSB: They have crossed at the ford: “We will spend the night at Geba.” Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul flees.
30 UEB Cry aloud, daughter of Gallim! Give attention, Laishah! You poor Anathoth! BSB BSB: Cry aloud, O Daughter of Gallim! Listen, O Laishah! O wretched Anathoth!
31 UEB Madmenah is fleeing, and the inhabitants of Gebim run for safety. BSB BSB: Madmenah flees; the people of Gebim take refuge.
32 UEB This very day he will halt at Nob and shake his fist at the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. BSB BSB: Yet today they will halt at Nob, shaking a fist at the mount of Daughter Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem.
33 UEB Behold, the Lord Yahweh of hosts will lop off the boughs with a terrifying crash; the tallest trees will be cut down, and the lofty will be brought low. BSB BSB: Behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts will lop off the branches with terrifying power. The tall trees will be cut down, the lofty ones will be felled.
34 UEB He will chop down the thickets of the forest with an ax, and Lebanon in his majesty will fall. BSB BSB: He will clear the forest thickets with an axe, and Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.