1Ve jer, I, som udsteder ondskabsfulde dekreter og afsiger uretfærdige domme for at undertrykke de svage, udnytte de hjælpeløse, 2frakende de fattige deres rettigheder og udplyndre både enker og faderløse børn.
3Hvad vil I gøre, når straffen kommer over jer fra det fjerne? Hvem, tror I, vil hjælpe jer? Hvor vil I opbevare jeres rigdomme? 4I bliver enten dræbt i krig eller ført bort som fanger. Alligevel er Herrens vrede ikke forbi. Hans hånd er stadig løftet til slag.
Herrens dom over Assyriens hovmod
5Men jeg vil også dømme assyrerne, min vredes kæp. Det er min vrede, der giver dem sejr, 6og jeg bruger dem til at straffe mit frafaldne folk, som har provokeret mig til vrede. Jeg lader den assyriske hær hærge og plyndre dem og trampe dem ned som gadens snavs. 7Assyrerkongen ved ikke, at han er mit redskab. Han ønsker bare at tilintetgøre mange folkeslag. 8„Er mine stormænd ikke mægtige som konger?” vil han sige. 9„Vi indtog Kalno, som vi indtog Karkemish. Hamat måtte overgive sig nøjagtig som Arpad. Det gik Samaria som Damaskus. 10Jeg har besejret riger, som havde langt flere guder til at beskytte sig end Jerusalem og Samaria. 11Hvem kan så hindre mig i at gøre med Jerusalem og dets guder, som jeg gjorde med Samaria og dets guder?”
12Men når Herren har udført sine planer imod Zions bjerg og Jerusalem, vender han sig imod Assyriens konge og straffer ham for hans hovmod, griskhed og praleri.
13„Jeg er stærk, jeg er klog, jeg er mægtig!” praler han. „Se blot, hvor mange riger jeg har indtaget. Jeg har overskredet deres grænser, plyndret dem for skatte og stødt deres konger fra tronen. 14Jeg har samlet deres rigdomme, som man samler æg fra en forladt fuglerede, uden at nogen gjorde modstand eller gav lyd fra sig!”
15Men hør her, assyrerkonge! Praler en økse overfor den person, som svinger den? Bestemmer saven over den, som saver? Er en kæp herre over den, som slår med den? Kan en stok gå af sig selv?
16På grund af dit praleri vil Herren, den Almægtige, lade sygdom tynde ud iblandt dine tropper. Under din ydre styrke ulmer ilden. 17Lyset fra Israels Hellige vil blive som en fortærende ild. Pludselig vil han gøre det af med dig som tjørne og tidsler, der går op i røg. 18Ja, Herren vil tynde ud både i din hær og i dit folk, som når træerne i en skov eller frugthave bliver fældet. 19Der bliver så få tilbage, at selv et barn kan tælle dem.
Håb for Israels folks rest
20Til den tid skal den rest, som er tilbage af Israels og Judas folk, ikke længere støtte sig til assyrerne, som forrådte dem. I stedet skal de søge hjælp hos Herren, Israels hellige Gud. 21Denne rest skal vende sig til den almægtige Gud. 22Selv om Israels folk engang var talrigt som sandet ved stranden, vil kun få af dem vende tilbage. Herren er hellig og retfærdig, og han har besluttet at straffe dem. 23Den almægtige Herre og Gud vil gennemføre sin beslutning om at lægge hele landet øde.
24Derfor siger Herren, den Almægtige: „Mit folk, som bor i Jerusalem, I skal ikke være bange for assyrerne, der undertrykker jer, som egypterne gjorde engang. 25Det kommer ikke til at vare længe. Om kort tid er min vrede imod jer forbi, og så vil jeg vende min vrede mod assyrerne og udrydde dem.”
26Herren, den Almægtige, vil svinge sin pisk over dem, ligesom dengang midjanitterne blev slået ved Orebs klippe. Hans stav er udrakt over dem, som dengang han druknede den egyptiske hær i havet. 27Han vil løfte byrden fra jeres skuldre og åget fra jeres nakke. I vil nægte at bære åg, fordi Herren har gjort jer så stærke.10,27 Som så mange andre steder er den hebraiske tekst uklar og meningen omstridt.
28-29Assyrerhæren rykkede frem til Ajjat og passerede gennem Migron. Ved Mikmas efterlod de en del af forsyningerne, hvorefter de marcherede over passet. Ved Geba slog de lejr for natten. Rama rystede af skræk, og indbyggerne i Sauls Gibea flygtede for livet. 30Skrig af frygt, I folk fra Gallim, råb op, Laisha, stem i, Anatot! 31Madmenas indbyggere flygtede, og Gebims indbyggere bragte sig i sikkerhed. 32Fjendehæren nåede frem til Nob, hvor de slog lejr og nu truer med knyttede næver mod Jerusalem og Zions bjerg.
33Men se! Herren, den Almægtige, fælder dem som grene, der hugges af træerne. Selv de stolteste stammer segner. 34Der bliver lyst i skovens tykning. Som skovhuggeren fælder træerne på Libanons bjerge, sådan fælder den Almægtige sine fjender.
1How terrible it will be for you
who make laws that aren’t fair!
How terrible for you
who write laws that make life hard for others!
2You take away the rights of poor people.
You hold back what is fair from my people who are suffering.
You take for yourselves what belongs to widows.
You rob children whose fathers have died.
3What will you do on the day when the Lord punishes you?
On that day trouble will come from far away.
Who will you run to for help?
Who will you trust your riches with?
4All you can do is bow down in fear among the prisoners.
All you can do is fall among those who have died in battle.
Even then, the Lord is still angry.
His hand is still raised against them.
The Lord Will Judge Assyria
5The Lord says, “How terrible it will be for the people of Assyria!
They are the war club that carries out my anger.
6I will send them against the ungodly nation of Judah.
I will order them to fight against my own people.
My people make me angry.
I will order Assyria to take their goods and carry them away.
I will order Assyria to walk on my people
as if they were walking on mud.
7But that is not what the king of Assyria plans.
It is not what he has in mind.
His purpose is to destroy many nations.
His purpose is to put an end to them.
8‘Aren’t all my commanders kings?’ he says.
9‘I took over Kalno just as I took Carchemish.
I took over Hamath just as I did Arpad.
I took Samaria just as I did Damascus.
10My powerful hand grabbed hold of kingdoms
whose people worship statues of gods.
They had more gods than Jerusalem and Samaria did.
11I took over Samaria and its statues of gods.
In the same way, I will take Jerusalem and its gods.’ ”
12The Lord will finish everything he has planned to do against Mount Zion and Jerusalem. Then he’ll say, “Now I will punish the king of Assyria. I will punish him because his heart and his eyes are so proud. 13The king of Assyria says,
“ ‘By my power
I have taken over all these nations.
I am very wise.
I have great understanding.
I have wiped out the borders between nations.
I’ve taken their treasures.
Like a great hero I’ve brought their kings under my control.
14I’ve taken the wealth of the nations.
It was as easy as reaching into a bird’s nest.
I’ve gathered the riches of all these countries.
It was as easy as gathering eggs
that have been left in a nest.
Not a single baby bird flapped its wings.
Not one of them opened its mouth to chirp.’ ”
15Does an ax claim to be more important
than the person who swings it?
Does a saw brag that it is better
than the one who uses it?
That would be like a stick
swinging the person who picks it up!
It would be like a war club
waving the one who carries it!
16So the Lord who rules over all will send a sickness.
The Lord will send it on the king of Assyria’s strong fighting men.
It will make them weaker and weaker.
The army he was so proud of will be completely destroyed.
It will be as if it had been burned up in a fire.
17The Lord is the Light of Israel.
He will become a fire.
Israel’s Holy One will become a flame.
In a single day he will burn up all Assyria’s bushes.
He will destroy all their thorns.
18He will completely destroy the beauty
of their forests and rich farm lands.
The Assyrian army will be like a sick person
who becomes weaker and weaker.
19It will be like the trees of their forests.
So few of them will be left standing
that even a child could count them.
The Israelites Who Are Left Alive
20In days to come, some people will still be left alive in Israel.
They will be from Jacob’s family line.
But they won’t depend any longer on
the nation that struck them down.
Instead, they will truly depend on the Lord.
He is the Holy One of Israel.
21The people of Jacob who are still alive
will return to the Mighty God.
22Israel, your people might be as many as the grains of sand by the sea.
But only a few of them will return.
The Lord has handed down a death sentence.
He will destroy his people.
What he does is right.
23The Lord who rules over all will carry out his sentence.
The Lord will destroy the whole land.
24The Lord rules over all. The Lord says,
“My people who live in Zion,
do not be afraid of the Assyrian army.
They beat you with rods.
They lift up war clubs against you,
just as the Egyptians did.
25Very soon I will not be angry with you anymore.
I will turn my anger against the Assyrians.
I will destroy them.”
26The Lord who rules over all will beat them with a whip.
He will strike them down as he struck down Midian at the rock of Oreb.
And he will stretch out his walking stick over the waters.
That’s what he did in Egypt.
27People of Zion, in days to come he will help you.
He will lift the heavy load of the Assyrians from your shoulders.
He will remove their yokes from your necks.
Their yokes will be broken
because you have become so strong.
28The Assyrian army has entered the town of Aiath.
They have passed through Migron.
They have stored up supplies at Mikmash.
29They have marched through the pass there. They said,
“Let’s camp for the night at Geba.”
The people of Ramah tremble with fear.
Those who live in Gibeah of Saul run away.
30Town of Gallim, cry out!
Laishah, listen!
Poor Anathoth!
31The people of Madmenah are running away.
Those who live in Gebim are hiding.
32Today the Assyrians have stopped at Nob.
They are shaking their fists
at Mount Zion in the city of Jerusalem.
33The Assyrian soldiers are like trees in a forest.
The Lord who rules over all
will chop them down.
The Lord will cut off their branches
with his great power.
He will chop the tall trees down.
He will cut down even the highest ones.
34The Mighty One will chop down the forest with his ax.
He will cut down the cedar trees in Lebanon.
