Dual Panel1Those who enact <02710> unjust <0205> policies <02711> are as good as dead, those who are always instituting <03789> unfair <05999> regulations <03789>,
2to keep <05186> the poor <01800> from getting fair treatment <01779>, and to deprive <01497> the oppressed <06041> among my people <05971> of justice <04941>, so <01961> they can steal <07998> what widows <0490> own, and loot <0962> what belongs to orphans <03490>.
3What <04100> will you do <06213> on judgment <06486> day <03117>, when destruction <07722> arrives <0935> from <05921> a distant place <04801>? To whom <04310> will you run <05127> for help <05833>? Where <0575> will you leave <05800> your wealth <03519>?
4You will have no place <08478> to go, except <01115> to kneel <03766> with the prisoners <0616>, or to fall <05307> among <08478> those who have been killed <02026>. Despite all <03605> this <02063>, his anger <0639> does not <03808> subside <07725>, and his hand <03027> is ready to strike <05186> again <05750>.
5Assyria <0804>, the club <07626> I use to vent my anger <0639>, is as good as dead <01945>, a cudgel <04294> with which I angrily <02195> punish.
6I sent <07971> him against <05921> a godless <02611> nation <01471>, I ordered <06680> him to attack <07997> the people <05971> with whom I was angry <05678>, to take plunder <07998> and to carry away <0962> loot <0957>, to trample them down <04823> <07760> like dirt <02563> in the streets <02351>.
7But he <01931> does not <03808> agree <01819> with this, his mind <03824> does not <03808> reason <02803> this way <03651>, for <03588> his goal <03824> is to destroy <08045>, and to eliminate <03772> many <04592> <03808> nations <01471>.
8Indeed <03588>, he says <0559>: “Are not <03808> my officials <08269> all <03162> kings <04428>?
9Is not <03808> Calneh <03641> like Carchemish <03751>? Hamath <02574> like Arpad <0774>? Samaria <08111> like Damascus <01834>?
10I overpowered <04672> kingdoms <04467> ruled by idols <0457>, whose carved images <06456> were more impressive than Jerusalem’s <03389> or Samaria’s <08111>.
11As <0834> I have done <06213> to Samaria <08111> and its idols <0457>, so <03651> I will do <06213> to Jerusalem <03389> and its idols <06091>.”
12But <01961> when <03588> the sovereign master <0136> finishes <01214> judging <04639> Mount <02022> Zion <06726> and Jerusalem <03389>, then I will punish <06485> the king <04428> of Assyria <0804> for <05921> what he has proudly <01433> planned <03824> and for <05921> the arrogant <07312> attitude <08597> he displays <05869>.
13For <03588> he says <0559>: “By my strong <03581> hand <03027> I have accomplished <06213> this, by my strategy <02451> that <03588> I devised <0995>. I invaded <05493> the territory <01367> of nations <05971>, and looted <06264> their storehouses <08154>. Like a mighty <047> conqueror, I brought down <03381> rulers <03427>.
14My hand <03027> discovered <04672> the wealth <02428> of the nations <05971>, as if it were in a nest <07064>, as one gathers up <0622> abandoned <05800> eggs <01000>, I <0589> gathered up <0622> the whole <03605> earth <0776>. There was <01961> no <03808> wing <03671> flapping <05074>, or open <06475> mouth <06310> chirping <06850>.”
15Does an ax <01631> exalt <06286> itself over <05921> the one who wields <02672> it, or a saw <04883> magnify <01431> itself over <05921> the one who cuts <05130> with it? As if <0518> a scepter <07626> should brandish <05130> the one who raises <07311> it, or a staff <04294> should lift up <07311> what is not <03808> made of wood <06086>!
16For <03651> this reason the sovereign master <0113>, the Lord <03068> who commands armies <06635> <07971>, will make his healthy <04924> ones emaciated <07332>. His majestic glory <03519> will go up in smoke <03344>.
17The light <0216> of Israel <03478> will become <01961> a fire <0784>, their Holy One <06918> will become a flame <03852>; it will burn <01197> and consume <0398> the Assyrian king’s briers <08068> and his thorns <07898> in one <0259> day <03117>.
18The splendor <03519> of his forest <03293> and his orchard <03759> will be <01961> completely destroyed <03615>, as when a sick man’s life <05264> ebbs away <04549>.
19There will be so few <04557> trees <06086> left <07605> in his forest <03293>, a child <05288> will be <01961> able to count <03789> them.
20At that <01931> time <03117> those left <06413> in Israel <03478>, those who remain <07605> of the family <01004> of Jacob <03290>, will no <03808> longer <05750> <03254> rely <08172> on <05921> a foreign leader that abuses <05221> them. Instead they will truly <0571> rely <08172> on <05921> the Lord <03068>, the Holy One <06918> of Israel <03478>.
21A remnant <07605> will come back <07725>, a remnant <07605> of Jacob <03290>, to <0413> the mighty <01368> God <0410>.
22For <03588> though <0518> your people <05971>, Israel <03478>, are <01961> as numerous as the sand <02344> on the seashore <03220>, only a remnant <07605> will come back <07725>. Destruction <03631> has been decreed <02782>; just punishment <06666> is about to engulf <07857> you.
23The sovereign master <0136>, the Lord <03069> who commands armies <06635>, is certainly ready to carry out <06213> the decreed <02782> destruction <03617> throughout <07130> the land <0776>.
24So <03651> here is what <03541> the sovereign master <0136>, the Lord <03068> who commands armies <06635>, says <0559>: “My people <05971> who live in <03427> Zion <06726>, do not <0408> be afraid <03372> of Assyria <0804>, even though they beat <05221> you with a club <07626> and lift <05375> their cudgel <04294> against <05921> you as Egypt <04714> did <01870>.
25For <03588> very <04213> soon <04592> my fury <02195> will subside <03615>, and my anger <0639> will be directed toward <05921> their destruction <08399>.”
26The Lord <03068> who commands armies <06635> is about to beat <05782> them with <05921> a whip <07752>, similar to the way he struck down <04347> Midian <04080> at the rock <06697> of Oreb <06159>. He will use his staff <04294> against <05921> the sea <03220>, lifting <05375> it up as <01870> he did in Egypt <04714>.
27At that time <03117> the Lord will remove <05493> their burden <05448> from <05921> your shoulders <07926>, and their yoke <05923> from <05921> your neck <06677>; the yoke <05923> will be taken off <02254> because <06440> your neck will be too large <08081>.
28They attacked <0935> Aiath <05857>, moved through <05674> Migron <04051>, depositing <06485> their supplies <03627> at Micmash <04363>.
29They went through <05674> the pass <04569>, spent the night <04411> at Geba <01387>. Ramah <07414> trembled <02729>, Gibeah <01390> of Saul <07586> ran away <05127>.
30Shout out <06670>, daughter <01323> of Gallim <01554>! Pay attention <07181>, Laishah <03919>! Answer her, Anathoth <06068>!
31Madmenah <04088> flees <05074>, the residents <03427> of Gebim <01374> have hidden <05756>.
32This very day <03117>, standing <05975> in Nob <05011>, they shake <05130> their fist <03027> at Daughter <01323> Zion’s mountain <02022>– at the hill <01389> of Jerusalem <03389>.
33Look <02009>, the sovereign master <0113>, the Lord <03068> who commands armies <06635>, is ready to cut off <05586> the branches <06288> with terrifying power <04637>. The tallest <06967> <07311> trees will be cut down <01438>, the loftiest <01364> ones will be brought low <08213>.
34The thickets <05442> of the forest <03293> will be chopped down <05362> with an ax <01270>, and mighty <0117> Lebanon <03844> will fall <05307>.