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1Wo unto them that decree iniquitous decrees,
And to the writers who write grievousness;
2To turn aside the needy from judgment,
And to rob of their right the poor of my people;
That widows may become their prey,
And that they may plunder the orphans.
3And what will ye do in the day of visitation,
And in the desolation which shall come from afar?
To whom will ye flee for help?
And where will ye leave your glory?
4Without me they shall bow down among prisoners,
Or among the slain they shall fall.
For all this his anger is not turned away;
But his hand is still stretched out.
5Wo unto the Assyrian, the rod of mine anger,
And the staff which is in their hand is mine indignation.
6Against an ungodly nation will I send him;
And against the people of my wrath will I commission him,
To gather spoil, and carry off prey;
And to trample them under foot like the mire of the streets.
7Howbeit he doth not so purpose,
Neither doth his heart so intend;
But to destroy is in his heart,
And to cut off nations not a few.
8For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings?
9Is not Calno as Carchemish?
Is not Hamath as Arpad?
Is not Samaria as Damascus?
10As my hand hath seized the kingdoms of the idols,
Whose graven images did excel those of Jerusalem and Samaria;
11Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols,
So do to Jerusalem and her images?
12Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work,
Upon mount Zion, and upon Jerusalem:
I will punish the fruit of the proud heart of the king of Assyria;
And the glory of his high looks.
13For he saith, By the strength of my hand have I done it, it?
And by my wisdom; for I am instructed in wisdom: Yea, I have removed the bounds of people,
And I have plundered their hoarded treasures;
And I have overthrown those sitting on thrones, like a valiant man.
14And my band hath found, as a nest, the riches of the nations:
And as one gathereth eggs that are left,
Have I gathered the whole earth;
And there was no one that moved the wing;
Or that opened the beak, or that chirped.
15Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith?
Shall the saw magnify itself against him that moveth
As if the rod should wield them that lift it up;
As if die staff should lift up its master.
16Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send
Upon his fat ones leanness;
And under his glory shall he kindle a burning,
Like the burning of a fire.
17And the light of Israel shall become a fire,
And his Holy One a flame;
And he shall burn and consume his thorns
And his briers in one day.
18Even the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field,
From the soul even unto the flesh, shall he consume;
And it shall be as when a sick man fainteth.
19And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few,
So that a child may number them.
20And it shall come to pass in that day,
That the remnant of Israel,
And such as are escaped of the house of Jacob,
Shall no more again stay upon him that smote them;
But shall stay upon Jehovah,
The Holy One of Israel, in truth.
21Yet a remnant shall return, a remnant of Jacob,
Unto the mighty God.
22For though thy people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea,
A remnant of them only shall return.
Destruction hath been decreed,
Overflowing with justice.
23For a havock, even the judgment decreed,
Shall the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, make
In the midst of the whole land.
24But yet thus saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts:
Fear not, O my people that dwellest in Zion, because of the Assyrian:
With his rod he shall smite thee,
And his staff he shall lift up against thee, after the manner of Egypt
25For yet a very little while, and indignation shall cease;
And mine anger be turned towards their destruction.
26And Jehovah of hosts, shall stir up a scourge for him,
Like the smiting of Midian at the rock Oreb,
And like his rod over the sea,
When he lifted it up against the Egyptians.
27Then it shall come to pass, in that day,
That his burden shall be removed from off thy shoulder,
And his yoke from off thy neck:
And the yoke shall be destroyed because of fatness.
28He is come to Aiath; he hath passed through Migron;
At Michmas he hath laid up his baggage.
29They are gone over the passage; at Geba they have taken up their lodging:
Ramah is afraid; Gibeah of Saul hath fled.
30Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim!
Listen in the direction of Laish, O afflicted Anathoth!
31Madmena is gone away; the inhabitants of Gebim have fled.
32He will, as yet, remain a day at Nob;
After that he shall shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.
33Behold the Lord, Jehovah of hosts,
Shall lop the bough with a dreadful crash;
And the high of stature shall be cut down,
And the lofty shall be brought low.
34And he shall hew the thickets of the forest with iron,
And Lebanon shall fall by a mighty hand.