33 Watch! Our Master, the Lord All-Powerful, will chop down the great tree (Assyria). The Lord will do this with his great power. The great and important people will be cut down—they will become not important.
33 Behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, shall lop the bough with terror: and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled.
33 [But just when the Assyrian is in sight of his goal] behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, will lop off the beautiful boughs with terrorizing force; the high in stature will be hewn down and the lofty will be brought low.
33 Behold, the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, will lop the boughs with terror: and the high of stature shall be hewn down, and the lofty shall be brought low.
33 Look! The LORD God of heavenly forces is chopping off the branches with terrible power. The loftiest ones are about to be cut down and the exalted laid low.
33 Behold, the sovereign Lord of hosts will crush the little bottle of wine with terror, and the exalted in stature will be cut down, and the lofty will be brought low.
33 Behold, the sovereign Lord of hosts shall break the earthen vessel with terror. And the tall of stature shall be cut down: and the lofty shall be humbled.
Then the Lord sent an angel to the king of Assyria’s camp. That angel killed all the soldiers and the leaders and the officers in the Assyrian army. So the king of Assyria went back home to his own country, and his people were ashamed of him. He went into the temple of his god and some of his own sons killed him there with a sword.
On a beautiful summer day, at noon, people will be resting. (It will be during the hot harvest time when there is no rain, but only early morning dew.) Then something terrible will happen. The time will be after the flowers have bloomed. The new grapes will be budding and growing. But before harvest, the enemy will come and cut the plants. The enemy will break the vines and throw them away.
One day, Sennacherib was in the temple of his god, Nisroch, worshiping him. At that time his two sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer, killed him with a sword. Then the sons ran away to Ararat. {\cf2\super [359]} So Sennacherib’s son Esarhaddon became the new king of Assyria.
I will send men to destroy the palace.\par Each man will have weapons\par that he will use to destroy that house.\par Those men will cut up your strong,\par beautiful cedar beams.\par Those men will throw those beams\par into the fire.”\par
Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, give praise, honor, and glory to the King of Heaven. Everything he does is right. He is always fair. And he is able to make proud people humble!
“But it was I who destroyed the Amorites {\cf2\super [40]} before them. The Amorites were tall like cedar trees. They were as strong as oak trees. But I destroyed their fruit above and their roots below. {\cf2\super [41]}
The Lord said these things \{to Judah\}:\par “The people of Assyria are at full strength.\par They have many soldiers.\par But they will all be cut down.\par They will all be finished.\par My people, I made you suffer.\par But I will make you suffer no more.\par