“ ‘Haven’t you heard? I did this long ago. I planned it in the distant past. Now I make it happen so that you will turn fortified cities into piles of rubble.
With your power rescue me from mortals, O Lord, from mortals who enjoy their inheritance only in this life. You fill their bellies with your treasure. Their children are satisfied ⌞with it⌟, and they leave what remains to their children.
Can an ax attack the person who cuts with it? Can a saw make itself greater than the person who saws with it? A rod cannot move the person who lifts it. A wooden stick cannot pick up a person.
I’ll crush Assyria on my land. I’ll trample it underfoot on my mountains. Then its yoke will be removed from my people, and its burden will be removed from their shoulders.”
Look at the land of the Babylonians. These people will be gone. Assyria gave this land to the desert animals. Assyria set up battle towers, stripped palaces bare, and turned these places into ruins.
The name of the Lord is going to come from far away. His anger is burning. His burden is heavy. His lips are filled with fury. His tongue is like a devouring flame.
The Lord will make his majestic voice heard. He will come down with all his might, with furious anger, with fire storms, windstorms, rainstorms, and hailstones.
The Lord is angry with all the nations. He is furious with all their armies. He has claimed them for destruction. He has handed them over to be slaughtered.
When you see it, your heart will rejoice and you will flourish like new grass. The power of the Lord will be made known to his servants, but he will condemn his enemies.
“The Lord will bring on you, your people, and your ancestor’s family a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah. ⌞He will bring⌟ the king of Assyria.
“On that day the Lord will hire the king of Assyria from beyond the Euphrates River to be a razor to shave the hair on your head, the hair on your legs, and even your beard.
That is why the Lord is going to bring against them the raging and powerful floodwaters of the Euphrates River— the king of Assyria with all his power. It will overflow all its channels and go over all its banks.
So I will pour out my anger on you, and with my fiery anger I will consume you. This is because of all the things you have done,’ declares the Almighty Lord.”
“The king will do as he pleases. He will highly honor himself above every god. He will say amazing things against the God of gods. He will succeed until God’s anger is over, because what has been decided must be done.
Didn’t you exist before time began, O Lord, my God, my Holy One? We will not die! O Lord, you have appointed the Babylonians to bring judgment. O Rock, you have destined them to correct us.