This is what the Lord says: “The prisoners will be taken from the strong soldiers. What the soldiers have taken will be saved. I will fight your enemies, and I will save your children.
I send it to fight against a nation that is separated from God. I am angry with those people, so I command Assyria to fight against them, to take their wealth from them, to trample them down like dirt in the streets.
The Lord will show mercy to the people of Jacob, and he will again choose the people of Israel. He will settle them in their own land. Then non-Israelite people will join the Israelites and will become a part of the family of Jacob.
Nations will take the Israelites back to their land. Then those men and women from the other nations will become slaves to Israel in the Lord’s land. In the past the Israelites were their slaves, but now the Israelites will defeat those nations and rule over them.
This will be a sign and a witness to the Lord All-Powerful in the land of Egypt. When the people cry to the Lord for help, he will send someone to save and defend them. He will rescue them from those who hurt them.
You protect the poor; you protect the helpless when they are in danger. You are like a shelter from storms, like shade that protects them from the heat. The cruel people attack like a rainstorm beating against the wall,
At that time people will say, “Our God is doing this! We have waited for him, and he has come to save us. This is the Lord. We waited for him, so we will rejoice and be happy when he saves us.”
Say to people who are frightened, “Be strong. Don’t be afraid. Look, your God will come, and he will punish your enemies. He will make them pay for the wrongs they did, but he will save you.”
Speak kindly to the people of Jerusalem and tell them that their time of service is finished, that they have paid for their sins, that the Lord has punished Jerusalem twice for every sin they did.”
Their shout is like the roar of a lion; it is loud like a young lion. They growl as they grab their captives. There is no one to stop them from taking their captives away.
Your God will defend his people. This is what the Lord your God says: “The punishment I gave you is like a cup of wine. You drank it and could not walk straight. But I am taking that cup of my anger away from you, and you will never be punished by my anger again.
This is what the Lord says: “Babylon will be powerful for seventy years. After that time I will come to you, and I will keep my promise to bring you back to Jerusalem.
“I am against you, Nineveh,” says the Lord All-Powerful. “I will burn up your chariots in smoke, and the sword will kill your young lions. I will stop you from hunting down others on the earth, and your messengers’ voices will no longer be heard.”
But the Lord will bring a terrible disease on the nations that fought against Jerusalem. Their flesh will rot away while they are still standing up. Their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.
The devil has been sinning since the beginning, so anyone who continues to sin belongs to the devil. The Son of God came for this purpose: to destroy the devil’s work.