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Arrogant Assyria Also Judged

⁵ Ah, Assyria, the rod of my anger—
   the club in their hands is my fury!
⁶ Against 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.
⁷ But this is not what he intends,
   nor does he have this in mind;
but it is in his heart to destroy,
   and to cut off nations not a few.
⁸ For he says:
‘Are not my commanders all kings?
⁹ Is not Calno like Carchemish?
   Is not Hamath like Arpad?
   Is not Samaria like Damascus?
¹⁰ As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols
   whose images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
¹¹ shall I not do to Jerusalem and her idols
   what I have done to Samaria and her images?’

12 When the Lord 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:
‘By the strength of my hand I have done it,
   and by my wisdom, for I have understanding;
I have removed the boundaries of peoples,
   and have plundered their treasures;
   like a bull I have brought down those who sat on thrones.
¹⁴ My hand has found, like a nest,
   the wealth of the peoples;
and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken,
   so I have gathered all the earth;
and there was none that moved a wing,
   or opened its mouth, or chirped.’

¹⁵ Shall the axe vaunt itself over the one who wields it,
   or the saw magnify itself against the one who handles it?
As if a rod should raise the one who lifts it up,
   or as if a staff should lift the one who is not wood!
¹⁶ Therefore the Sovereign, the Lord of hosts,
   will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors,
and under his glory a burning will be kindled,
   like the burning of fire.
¹⁷ The 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.
¹⁸ The glory of his forest and his fruitful land
   the Lord will destroy, both soul and body,
   and it will be as when an invalid wastes away.
¹⁹ The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few
   that a child can write them down.