1Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, and to the writers who write perverseness; 2to turn aside the needy from justice, and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey! 3And what will you do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from afar? to whom will you flee for help? and where will you leave your glory? 4They shall only bow down under the prisoners, and shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. 5Ah, Assyrian, the rod of my anger, the staff in whose hand is my indignation! 6I will send him against a profane nation, and against the people of my wrath I will give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. 7But he does not mean so, nor does his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few. 8For he says, Are not my princes all of them kings? 9Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus? 10As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols, whose graven images excelled those of Jerusalem and of Samaria; 11shall I not, as I have done to Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols? 12Therefore it shall come to pass, that, when the Lord has performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks. 13For he has said, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I have understanding: and I have removed the boundaries of the peoples, and have robbed their treasures, and like a valiant man I have brought down those who sit on thrones: 14and my hand has found as a nest the riches of the peoples; and as one gathers eggs that are forsaken, I have gathered all the earth: and there was none who moved the wing, or who opened the mouth, or chirped. 15Shall the axe boast itself against him who hews with it? shall the saw magnify itself against him who wields it? as if a rod should wield those who lift it up, or as if a staff should lift up him who is not wood. 16Therefore the Lord, Yehovah of hosts, will send leanness among his fat ones; and under his glory there shall be kindled a burning like the burning of fire. 17And the light of Israel will be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame; and it will burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day. 18And he will consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and it shall be as when a standard-bearer faints. 19And the remnant of the trees of his forest shall be few, so that a child may write them. 20And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and those who have escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again lean upon him who struck them, but shall lean upon Yehovah, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. 21A remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. 22For though your people, Israel, are as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them shall return: a destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness. 23For a full end, and that determined, the Lord, Yehovah of hosts, will make in the midst of all the earth. 24Therefore thus says the Lord, Yehovah of hosts, O my people who dwell in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrian, though he strikes you with the rod, and lifts up his staff against you, after the manner of Egypt. 25For yet a very little while, and the indignation against you shall be accomplished, and my anger shall be directed to his destruction. 26And Yehovah of hosts will stir up against him a scourge, as in the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and his rod will be over the sea, and he will lift it up after the manner of Egypt. 27And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall depart from off your shoulder, and his yoke from off your neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed by reason of fatness. 28He has come to Aiath, he has passed through Migron; at Michmash he lays up his baggage; 29they have gone over the pass; they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul has fled. 30Cry aloud with your voice, O daughter of Gallim! listen, O Laishah! O you poor Anathoth! 31Madmenah is a fugitive; the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety. 32This very day he shall halt at Nob: he shakes his hand at the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. 33Behold, the Lord, Yehovah of hosts, will lop the boughs with terror: and the high of stature shall be hewn down, and the lofty shall be brought low. 34And he will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.