His breath is as overwhelming as a flooding river reaching up to the neck. He sifts the nations in his sieve of destruction and places a bridle in their jaws that causes them to wander.
Tell them to guess the meaning of what I, Yahweh, have to say to them: “There once was this great eagle with huge wings, whose wingspan was very wide, with many beautiful colored feathers around its head. One day he came to the Lebanon Mountains, and taking a new branch of a cedar tree,
“The Lord Yahweh is going to bring days of catastrophic trouble—on you, on your people, and on the whole royal court—not seen since the northern kingdom of Israel broke off from Judah. He is going to bring the king of Assyria with his great army!”
I am the one who has sent him against a godless nation and ordered him to attack a people who anger me. I sent him to take the spoil and seize the plunder and to trample them down like dust in the street.
When you pass through the deep, stormy sea, you can count on me to be there with you. When you pass through raging rivers, you will not drown. When you walk through persecution like fiery flames, you will not be burned; the flames will not harm you,
“Look, enemies are gathering in the north, like a river rising. They are like a terrible flood that will cover the land of the Philistines and everything in it, the towns and everyone living in them. People will cry for help, and all the people of your land will cry and scream
Lord Yahweh says: “When I make you a place of ruins like other deserted cities and I raise the deep to sweep over you and the ocean depths to cover you,
The king’s sons will prepare for war, assembling a powerful group of warriors. One of his sons will swiftly advance, sweeping over the land like a powerful flood. Their armies will press forward and fight all the way to the strong, walled fortress of the king of Egypt.