Laws That Rob the Needy
Assyria is the rod in our Father's hand and does not know it — an axe boasting over the one who swings it — so the tool's arrogance is judged too. The invader's march is traced town by town until he shakes his fist at Jerusalem.
10 1Woe to those who enact unjust decrees, to the writers who issue oppressive laws, 2to deprive the poor of justice and rob the needy among my people of their rights, making widows their plunder and orphans their prey. 3What will you do on the day of reckoning, when devastation comes from afar? To whom will you flee for help? Where will you leave your wealth? 4Nothing remains but to crouch among the captives or fall among the slain. Yet for all this his anger has not turned away; his hand is still stretched out.
Assyria, the Rod in His Hand
5"Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger, in whose hand is the club of my fury! 6I send him against a godless nation; against the people of my wrath I command him, to seize spoil and carry off plunder, to trample them down like mud in the streets."
7But this is not what he intends; this is not what his heart plans. His purpose is to destroy, to cut off nation after nation. 8For he says, "Are not all my commanders kings? 9Is Calno not like Carchemish? Is Hamath not like Arpad? Is Samaria not like Damascus? 10As my hand seized the kingdoms of the idols, whose carved images surpassed those of Jerusalem and Samaria, 11will I not deal with Jerusalem and her images as I dealt with Samaria and her idols?"
12When the Sovereign Father has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the king of Assyria's arrogant heart and the haughty pride of his eyes.
13For he says: "By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding. I removed the boundaries of peoples and plundered their treasures; I brought down those enthroned like a mighty one. 14My hand reached into the wealth of the peoples as into a nest; as one gathers abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth. Not one flapped a wing or opened its beak to chirp. 15Does the axe exalt itself over the one who swings it? Does the saw boast against the one who wields it? As if a rod could brandish the one who lifts it, as if a staff could lift what is not wood!" 16Therefore the Sovereign Father, the Father of heaven's armies, will send a wasting disease among his sturdy warriors, and beneath his glory a fire will blaze like a burning flame. 17The Light of Israel will become a fire, our Holy One a flame; in a single day it will burn and consume his thorns and briers. 18The glory of his forest and his fertile field our Father will destroy, both soul and body; it will be as when a sick man wastes away. 19The remaining trees of his forest will be so few that a child could count them.
Leaning on Our Father Again
20In that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer lean on the one who struck them, but will truly lean on our Father, the Holy One of Israel. 21A remnant will return—a remnant of Jacob—to the Mighty God. 22Though your people Israel be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant will return. Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness. 23For the Sovereign Father, the Father of heaven's armies, will carry out the decreed destruction throughout the land.
24Therefore the Sovereign Father, the Father of heaven's armies, says: "My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of Assyria, who strikes you with the rod and lifts the staff against you as Egypt did. 25For in a very little while my fury will end, and my anger will turn to their destruction." 26The Father of heaven's armies will brandish a whip against them, as when he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb; he will raise his staff over the sea as he did in Egypt. a a v26 The rock of Oreb was where Gideon's forces killed the Midianite commanders (Judges 7:25). 27In that day their burden will be lifted from your shoulder, their yoke from your neck; the yoke will be broken.
28He comes against Aiath, passes through Migron, stores his supplies at Michmash. 29They cross the pass: "We will camp at Geba." Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul flees. 30Cry out, daughter of Gallim! Listen, Laishah! Poor Anathoth! 31Madmenah is fleeing; the people of Gebim are taking cover. 32This very day he stops at Nob, shaking his fist at the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. 33Look, the Sovereign Father, the Father of heaven's armies, will lop off the branches with terrifying force; the tallest trees will be felled, the lofty ones brought low. 34He will cut down the forest thickets with an axe, and Lebanon will fall before the Majestic One.
