“And Ashshur shall fall by a sword not of man, and a sword not of mankind shall devour him. But he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall become slave labour,
and he saw that a resting place was good, and that the land was pleasant, and he inclined his shoulder to bear a burden, and became a subject to slave labour.
And יהוה sent a messenger who cut down every mighty brave one, both the leader and the commander in the camp of the sovereign of Ashshur, and he returned shamefaced to his own land, and went into the house of his mighty one, and there some of his own offspring caused him to fall by the sword.
“And it shall be, when יהוה has performed all His work on Mount Tsiyon and on Yerushalayim, that I shall punish the fruit of the greatness of the heart of the sovereign of Ashshur, and the boasting of his haughty looks.
“To break Ashshur in My land, and tread him down on My mountains. And his yoke shall be removed from them, and his burden removed from their shoulders.
nations rushing like the rushing of many waters. But He shall rebuke them and they shall flee far away, and be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind, like whirling dust before the whirlwind.
“But the crowd of those strange to you shall be like fine dust, and the crowd of the ruthless ones as chaff blowing away. And it shall be in an instant, suddenly!”
Woe to you ravager, while you have not been ravaged, and you treacherous, while they have not betrayed you! When you have ceased ravaging, you shall be ravaged. And when you stop betraying, they shall betray you.
“See, I am putting a spirit in him, and he shall hear a report and return to his own land. And I shall cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.” ’ ”
For this is the day of the Master יהוה of hosts, a day of vengeance, to revenge Himself on His adversaries. And the sword shall devour, and be satisfied and made drunk with their blood. For the Master יהוה of hosts has a slaughtering in the land of the north by the River Euphrates.
“And you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus said the Master יהוה concerning the Ammonites and concerning their reproach.’ And you shall say, ‘A sword, a sword, drawn for slaughter, polished to the utmost like lightning –