Woe to Tyrants 1 WBS Woe to them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed; BSB BSB: Woe to those who enact unjust statutes and issue oppressive decrees,
2 WBS To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless! 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 WBS 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? 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 WBS 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. 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 WBS O Assyrian, the rod of my anger, and the staff in their hand is my indignation. BSB BSB: Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger; the staff in their hands is My wrath.
6 WBS 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 take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of 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 WBS Howbeit 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. 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 WBS For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings? BSB BSB: “Are not all my commanders kings?” he says.
9 WBS Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus?BSB BSB: “Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus?
10 WBS As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images excelled them of Jerusalem and of Samaria; BSB BSB: As my hand seized the idolatrous kingdoms whose images surpassed those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11 WBS Shall I not, as I have done to Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and 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 WBS Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the LORD hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high 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 WBS 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 people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man : 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 WBS And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped. 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 WBS Shall the ax boast itself against him that heweth with it? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that moveth it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it, or as if the staff should lift itself , as if it were no wood. 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 WBS Therefore will the LORD, the LORD of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory he will kindle a burning like the burning of a 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 WBS 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 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 WBS And 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. BSB BSB: The splendor of its forests and orchards, both soul and body, it will completely destroy, as a sickness consumes a man.
19 WBS And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child may write them. BSB BSB: The remaining trees of its forests will be so few that a child could count them.
A Remnant Shall Return 20 WBS And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as have escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again lean upon him that smote them; but shall lean upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. 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 WBS The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. BSB BSB: A remnant will return—a remnant of Jacob—to the Mighty God.
22 WBS For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness. 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 WBS For the Lord GOD of hosts will make a consumption, even determined, in the midst of all the land. BSB BSB: For the Lord GOD of Hosts will carry out the destruction decreed upon the whole land.
24 WBS Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt. 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 WBS For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and my anger in their destruction. BSB BSB: For in just a little while My fury against you will subside, and My anger will turn to their destruction.”
26 WBS And the LORD of hosts will raise up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and as his rod was upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of 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 WBS And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing. 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 WBS He is come to Aiath, he is passed to Migron; at Michmash he hath laid up his furniture. BSB BSB: Assyria has entered Aiath and passed through Migron, storing their supplies at Michmash.
29 WBS They have gone over the passage: they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramah is afraid; Gibeah of Saul hath fled. BSB BSB: They have crossed at the ford: “We will spend the night at Geba.” Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul flees.
30 WBS Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim: cause it to be heard to Laish, O poor Anathoth. BSB BSB: Cry aloud, O Daughter of Gallim! Listen, O Laishah! O wretched Anathoth!
31 WBS Madmenah is removed; the inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to flee. BSB BSB: Madmenah flees; the people of Gebim take refuge.
32 WBS As yet shall he remain at Nob that day: he shall shake his hand against the mount 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 WBS Behold, the LORD, the LORD of hosts will lop the bough with terror: and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled. 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 WBS And he shall cut down the thickets of the forests with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one. 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.