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- Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees,
- to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.
- What will you do on the day of reckoning, when disaster comes from afar? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your riches?
- Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives or fall among the slain. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.
- "Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger, in whose hand is the club of my wrath!
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- Woe to those who enact evil statutes And to those who constantly record unjust decisions,
- So as to deprive the needy of justice And rob the poor of My people of their rights, So that widows may be their spoil And that they may plunder the orphans.
- Now what will you do in the day of punishment, And in the devastation which will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help? And where will you leave your wealth?
- Nothing remains but to crouch among the captives Or fall among the slain In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.
- Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger And the staff in whose hands is My indignation,
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- I send him against a godless nation, I dispatch him against a people who anger me, to seize loot and snatch plunder, and to trample them down like mud in the streets.
- But this is not what he intends, this is not what he has in mind; his purpose is to destroy, to put an end to many nations.
- 'Are not my commanders all kings?' he says.
- 'Has not Calno fared like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad, and Samaria like Damascus?
- As my hand seized the kingdoms of the idols, kingdoms whose images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria-
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- I send it against a godless nation And commission it against the people of My fury To capture booty and to seize plunder, And to trample them down like mud in the streets.
- Yet it does not so intend, Nor does it plan so in its heart, But rather it is its purpose to destroy And to cut off many nations.
- For it says, "Are not my princes all kings?
- "Is not Calno like Carchemish, Or Hamath like Arpad, Or Samaria like Damascus?
- "As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols, Whose graven images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
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- shall I not deal with Jerusalem and her images as I dealt with Samaria and her idols?' "
- When the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, "I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes.
- For he says: " 'By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, because I have understanding. I removed the boundaries of nations, I plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their kings.
- As one reaches into a nest, so my hand reached for the wealth of the nations; as men gather abandoned eggs, so I gathered all the countries; not one flapped a wing, or opened its mouth to chirp.' "
- Does the ax raise itself above him who swings it, or the saw boast against him who uses it? As if a rod were to wield him who lifts it up, or a club brandish him who is not wood!
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- Shall I not do to Jerusalem and her images Just as I have done to Samaria and her idols?"
- So it will be that when the Lord has completed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, "I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the pomp of his haughtiness."
- For he has said, "By the power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this, For I have understanding; And I removed the boundaries of the peoples And plundered their treasures, And like a mighty man I brought down their inhabitants,
- And my hand reached to the riches of the peoples like a nest, And as one gathers abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth; And there was not one that flapped its wing or opened its beak or chirped."
- Is the axe to boast itself over the one who chops with it? Is the saw to exalt itself over the one who wields it? That would be like a club wielding those who lift it, Or like a rod lifting him who is not wood.
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- Therefore, the Lord, the LORD Almighty, will send a wasting disease upon his sturdy warriors; under his pomp a fire will be kindled like a blazing flame.
- The Light of Israel will become a fire, their Holy One a flame; in a single day it will burn and consume his thorns and his briers.
- The splendor of his forests and fertile fields it will completely destroy, as when a sick man wastes away.
- And the remaining trees of his forests will be so few that a child could write them down.
- In that day the remnant of Israel, the survivors of the house of Jacob, will no longer rely on him who struck them down but will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.
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- Therefore the Lord, the GOD of hosts, will send a wasting disease among his stout warriors; And under his glory a fire will be kindled like a burning flame.
- And the light of Israel will become a fire and his Holy One a flame, And it will burn and devour his thorns and his briars in a single day.
- And He will destroy the glory of his forest and of his fruitful garden, both soul and body, And it will be as when a sick man wastes away.
- And the rest of the trees of his forest will be so small in number That a child could write them down.
- Now in that day the remnant of Israel, and those of the house of Jacob who have escaped, will never again rely on the one who struck them, but will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.
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- A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God.
- Though your people, O Israel, be like the sand by the sea, only a remnant will return. Destruction has been decreed, overwhelming and righteous.
- The Lord, the LORD Almighty, will carry out the destruction decreed upon the whole land.
- Therefore, this is what the Lord, the LORD Almighty, says: "O my people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrians, who beat you with a rod and lift up a club against you, as Egypt did.
- Very soon my anger against you will end and my wrath will be directed to their destruction."
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- A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.
- For though your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea, Only a remnant within them will return; A destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness.
- For a complete destruction, one that is decreed, the Lord GOD of hosts will execute in the midst of the whole land.
- Therefore thus says the Lord GOD of hosts, "O My people who dwell in Zion, do not fear the Assyrian who strikes you with the rod and lifts up his staff against you, the way Egypt did.
- "For in a very little while My indignation against you will be spent and My anger will be directed to their destruction."
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- The LORD Almighty will lash them with a whip, as when he struck down Midian at the rock of Oreb; and he will raise his staff over the waters, as he did in Egypt.
- In that day their burden will be lifted from your shoulders, their yoke from your neck; the yoke will be broken because you have grown so fat.
- They enter Aiath; they pass through Migron; they store supplies at Micmash.
- They go over the pass, and say, "We will camp overnight at Geba." Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul flees.
- Cry out, O Daughter of Gallim! Listen, O Laishah! Poor Anathoth!
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- The LORD of hosts will arouse a scourge against him like the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb; and His staff will be over the sea and He will lift it up the way He did in Egypt.
- So it will be in that day, that his burden will be removed from your shoulders and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be broken because of fatness.
- He has come against Aiath, He has passed through Migron; At Michmash he deposited his baggage.
- They have gone through the pass, saying, "Geba will be our lodging place " Ramah is terrified, and Gibeah of Saul has fled away.
- Cry aloud with your voice, O daughter of Gallim! Pay attention, Laishah and wretched Anathoth!
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- Madmenah is in flight; the people of Gebim take cover.
- This day they will halt at Nob; they will shake their fist at the mount of the Daughter of Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem.
- See, the Lord, the LORD Almighty, will lop off the boughs with great power. The lofty trees will be felled, the tall ones will be brought low.
- He will cut down the forest thickets with an ax; Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One.
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- Madmenah has fled. The inhabitants of Gebim have sought refuge.
- Yet today he will halt at Nob; He shakes his fist at the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.
- Behold, the Lord, the GOD of hosts, will lop off the boughs with a terrible crash; Those also who are tall in stature will be cut down And those who are lofty will be abased.
- He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an iron axe, And Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One.
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