5Ah, Assyria, the rod of my anger,
the staff of my fury!
6Against a godless nation I send him,
and against the people of my wrath I command him,
to take spoil and seize plunder,
and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
7But he does not so intend,
and his mind does not so think;
but it is in his mind to destroy,
and to cut off nations not a few;
8for he says:
"Are not my commanders all kings?
9Is not Calno like Carchemish?
Is not Hamath like Arpad?
Is not Samaria like Damascus?
10As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols
whose graven images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11shall I not do to Jerusalem and her idols
as I have done to Samaria and her images?"
12When Yahweh has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem he will punish the arrogant boasting of the king of Assyria and his haughty pride. 13For he says:
15Shall the axe vaunt itself over him who hews with it,
or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it?
As if a rod should wield him who lifts it,
or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!
16Therefore Yahweh, Yahweh of hosts,
will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors,
and under his glory a burning will be kindled,
like the burning of fire.
17The light of Israel will become a fire, and his Holy One a flame;
and it will burn and devour his thorns and briers in one day.
18The glory of his forest and of his fruitful land
Yahweh will destroy, both soul and body,
and it will be as when a sick man wastes away.
19The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few
that a child can write them down.
20In that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean upon him that smote them, but will lean upon Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. 21A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. 22For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness. 23For Yahweh, Yahweh of hosts, will make a full end, as decreed, in the midst of all the earth.
24Therefore thus says Yahweh, Yahweh of hosts: "O my people, who dwell in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrians when they smite with the rod and lift up their staff against you as the Egyptians did. 25For in a very little while my indignation will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction. 26And Yahweh of hosts will wield against them a scourge, as when he smote Midian at the rock of Oreb; and his rod will be over the sea, and he will lift it as he did in Egypt. 27And in that day his burden will depart from your shoulder, and his yoke will be destroyed from your neck."
33Behold, Yahweh, Yahweh of hosts
will lop the boughs with terrifying power;
the great in height will be hewn down,
and the lofty will be brought low.
34He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an axe,
and Lebanon with its majestic trees will fall.
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