1-2Nakakaawa kayong mga gumagawa ng mga di-makatarungang kautusan na umaapi sa mga mahihirap kong mamamayan at nagkakait ng katarungan sa kanila. Sa pamamagitan ng mga kautusang iyon, kinukuha ninyo ang mga ari-arian ng mga biyuda at mga ulila. 3Ano ang gagawin ninyo sa araw ng pagpaparusa sa inyo? Ano ang gagawin nʼyo pagdating ng panganib mula sa malayo? Kanino kayo hihingi ng tulong? At saan ninyo itatago ang mga kayamanan ninyo? 4Walang matitira sa inyo. Mabibihag o mamamatay kayo, pero ang galit ng Panginoon ay hindi pa mapapawi. Nakahanda pa rin siyang magparusa sa inyo.
Ang Parusa ng Panginoon sa mga taga-Asiria
5Sinabi ng Panginoon, “Nakakaawa ang mga taga-Asiria. Sila ang gagamitin kong pamalo para parusahan ang mga kinamumuhian ko. 6Uutusan ko silang salakayin ang bansang hindi makadios at kinapopootan ko, para wasakin ito at tapak-tapakan na parang putik sa lansangan, at samsamin ang lahat ng kanilang ari-arian.”
7Pero hindi malalaman ng hari ng Asiria na ginagamit lang siya ng Panginoon. Akala niyaʼy basta na lang siya mangwawasak ng maraming bansa. 8Buong pagmamalaki niyang sinabi, “Ang mga kumander ng mga sundalo ko ay parang mga hari. 9Anong pagkakaiba ng Carkemish at Calno, ng Arpad at Hamat, at ng Damascus at Samaria? Silang lahat ay pare-pareho kong winasak. 10Pinarusahan ko ang mga bansang sumasamba sa mga dios-diosan na mas marami pa kaysa sa mga dios-diosan sa Jerusalem at Samaria. 11Winasak ko na ang Samaria at ang mga dios-diosan nito. Ganyan din ang gagawin ko sa Jerusalem at sa mga dios-diosan nito.”
12Pero ito ang sinabi ng Panginoon na mangyayari kapag natapos na niya ang gagawin niya laban sa Bundok ng Zion at sa Jerusalem: “Parurusahan ko ang hari ng Asiria dahil sa kanyang pagmamataas at pagmamalaki. 13Sapagkat sinasabi niya, ‘Nagawa ko ito dahil sa sarili kong lakas at karunungan. Tinalo ko ang maraming bansa at sinamsam ang kanilang mga kayamanan. Para akong toro; tinalo ko ang kanilang mga hari. 14Kinuha ko ang mga kayamanan ng mga bansa, na para bang nangunguha lang ako ng itlog sa mga pugad na iniwanan ng inahin. Walang pakpak na pumagaspas o huni na narinig.’ ”
15Maaari bang magmalaki ang palakol o ang lagare sa gumagamit sa kanya? Mabubuhat ba ng pamalo ang may hawak sa kanya? 16Kaya magpapadala ang Panginoong Makapangyarihan ng sakit na magpapahina sa malulusog na sundalo ng Asiria. Susunugin ng Panginoon ang mga kayamanan niya sa naglalagablab na apoy. 17Ang Panginoon na siyang ilaw at banal na Dios ng Israel ay magiging tulad ng naglalagablab na apoy na susunog sa mga matitinik niyang halaman sa loob ng isang araw lang. 18Kung paanong sinisira ng sakit ang katawan ng tao, sisirain din ng Panginoon ang mga kagubatan at mga bukid ng hari ng Asiria. 19Iilan lang ang matitirang puno sa kanyang kagubatan. Mabibilang ito kahit ng batang paslit.
20-21Darating ang araw na ang mga natitirang Israelitang lahi ni Jacob ay hindi na magtitiwala sa Asiria na nagpahirap sa kanila. Magtitiwala na sila sa Panginoon, ang Banal na Dios ng Israel. Magbabalik-loob sila sa Makapangyarihang Dios. 22-23Kahit na kasindami ng buhangin sa tabing-dagat ang mga Israelita, iilan lang ang makakabalik. Nakatakda na ang parusang nararapat para sa buong Israel. At tiyak na gagawin ito ng Panginoong Dios na Makapangyarihan. 24Kaya sinabi ng Panginoong Dios na Makapangyarihan, “Kayong mga mamamayan ko na naninirahan sa Zion, huwag kayong matakot sa mga taga-Asiria kahit na pinahihirapan nila kayo katulad ng ginawa sa inyo ng mga Egipcio. 25Sapagkat hindi magtatagal at mawawala na ang galit ko sa inyo at sa kanila ko naman ito ibubuhos hanggang sa mamatay sila. 26Parurusahan ko sila katulad ng ginawa ko sa mga taga-Midian sa Bato ng Oreb at sa mga Egipcio nang nilunod ko sila sa dagat. 27Sa araw na iyon, palalayain ko kayo mula sa kapangyarihan ng Asiria. Para kayong natanggalan ng mabigat na pasanin sa mga balikat nʼyo at ng pamatok na nagpapabigat sa leeg ninyo. Lalaya kayo mula sa kapangyarihan nila dahil magiging makapangyarihan kayo.”10:27 dahil magiging makapangyarihan kayo: sa literal, dahil magiging mataba kayo.
Sumalakay ang Asiria
28Nilusob ng Asiria ang Ayat. Doon sila dumaan sa Migron at iniwan nila sa Micmash ang mga dala nila. 29Dumaan sila sa tawiran, at doon natulog sa Geba. Natakot ang mga taga-Rama, at tumakas ang mga mamamayan ng Gibea na bayan ni Haring Saul. 30Sumigaw kayong mga taga-Galim! Makinig kayong mga taga-Laish at kayong mga kawawang taga-Anatot. 31Tumakas na ang mga mamamayan ng Madmena at Gebim. 32Sa araw na ito, darating ang mga taga-Asiria sa Nob. At sesenyas sila na salakayin ang bundok ng Jerusalem, ang Bundok ng Zion. 33Makinig kayo! Ang Panginoong Makapangyarihan ang wawasak sa mga taga-Asiria sa pamamagitan ng kahanga-hanga niyang kapangyarihan, na parang pumuputol ng mga sanga sa puno. Ibabagsak niya ang mga mapagmataas katulad ng pagputol ng matataas na punongkahoy. 34Pababagsakin niya sila katulad ng pagputol ng mga puno sa kagubatan sa pamamagitan ng palakol. Silang mga katulad ng puno sa Lebanon ay pababagsakin ng Makapangyarihang Dios.
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.
