1 Woe to those who enact unjust statutes
And to those who constantly record harmful decisions,
2 So as to deprive the needy of justice
And rob the poor among My people of their rights,
So that widows may be their spoil
And that they may plunder the orphans.
3 Now what will you do in the day of punishment,
And in the devastation which will come from afar?
To whom will you flee for help?
And where will you leave your wealth?
4 Nothing remains but to crouch among the captives
Or fall among those killed.
In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away
And His hand is still stretched out.
5 Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger
And the staff in whose hands is My indignation,
6 I send it against a godless nation
And commission it against the people of My fury
To capture spoils and to seize plunder,
And to trample them down like mud in the streets.
7 Yet it does not so intend,
Nor does it plan so in its heart,
But rather it is its purpose to destroy
And to eliminate many nations.
8 For it says, “Are not my officers all kings?
9 Is not Calno like Carchemish,
Or Hamath like Arpad,
Or Samaria like Damascus?
10 As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols,
Whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11 Shall I not do the same to Jerusalem and her images
Just as I have done to Samaria and her idols?”
12 So it will be that when the Lord has completed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the arrogant pride of his eyes.” 13 For he has said,
“By the power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this,
Because I have understanding;
And I removed the boundaries of the peoples
And plundered their treasures,
And like a powerful man I brought down their inhabitants,
14 And my hand reached to the riches of the peoples like a nest,
And as one gathers abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth;
And there was not one that flapped its wing, opened its beak, or chirped.”
15 Is the axe to boast itself over the one who chops with it?
Is the saw to exalt itself over the one who wields it?
That would be like a club wielding those who lift it,
Or like a rod lifting the one who is not wood.
16 Therefore the Lord, the God of armies, will send a wasting disease among his stout warriors;
And under his glory a fire will be kindled like a burning flame.
17 And the Light of Israel will become a fire and Israel’s Holy One a flame,
And it will burn and devour his thorns and his briars in a single day.
18 And He will destroy the glory of his forest and of his fruitful garden, both soul and body,
And it will be as when a sick person wastes away.
19 And the rest of the trees of his forest will be so small in number
That a child could write them down.
20 Now on that day the remnant of Israel, and those of the house of Jacob who have escaped, will no longer rely on the one who struck them, but will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.
21 A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.
22 For though your people, Israel, may be like the sand of the sea,
Only a remnant within them will return;
A destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness.
23 For a complete destruction, one that is determined, the Lord God of armies will execute in the midst of the whole land.
24 Therefore this is what the Lord God of armies says: “My people, you who dwell in Zion, do not fear the Assyrian who strikes you with the rod, and lifts up his staff against you the way Egypt did. 25 For in a very little while My indignation against you will be ended and My anger will be directed toward their destruction.” 26 The Lord of armies will wield a whip against him like the defeat of Midian at the rock of Oreb; and His staff will be over the sea, and He will lift it up the way He did in Egypt. 27 So it will be on that day, that his burden will be removed from your shoulders, and his yoke from your neck; and the yoke will be broken because of fatness.
28 He has come against Aiath,
He has passed through Migron;
At Michmash he deposited his baggage.
29 They have gone through the pass, saying,
“Geba will be our encampment for the night.”
Ramah is terrified, and Gibeah of Saul has fled.
30 Cry aloud with your voice, daughter of Gallim!
Pay attention, Laishah and wretched Anathoth!
31 Madmenah has fled.
The inhabitants of Gebim have sought refuge.
32 Yet today he will halt at Nob;
He shakes his fist at the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.
33 Behold, the Lord, the God of armies, will lop off the branches with terrifying power;
Those also who are tall in stature will be cut down,
And those who are lofty will be brought low.
34 He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an iron axe,
And Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One.
1 Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse,
And a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him,
The spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The spirit of counsel and strength,
The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 And He will delight in the fear of the Lord,
And He will not judge by what His eyes see,
Nor make decisions by what His ears hear;
4 But with righteousness He will judge the poor,
And decide with fairness for the humble of the earth;
And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.
5 Also righteousness will be the belt around His hips,
And faithfulness the belt around His waist.
6 And the wolf will dwell with the lamb,
And the leopard will lie down with the young goat,
And the calf and the young lion and the fattened steer will be together;
And a little boy will lead them.
7 Also the cow and the bear will graze,
Their young will lie down together,
And the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra,
And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den.
9 They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain,
For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
As the waters cover the sea.
10 Then on that day
The nations will resort to the root of Jesse,
Who will stand as a signal flag for the peoples;
And His resting place will be glorious.
11 Then it will happen on that day that the Lord
Will again recover with His hand the second time
The remnant of His people who will remain,
From Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath,
And from the islands of the sea.
12 And He will lift up a flag for the nations
And assemble the banished ones of Israel,
And will gather the dispersed of Judah
From the four corners of the earth.
13 Then the jealousy of Ephraim will depart,
And those who harass Judah will be eliminated;
Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah,
And Judah will not harass Ephraim.
14 They will swoop down on the slopes of the Philistines on the west;
Together they will plunder the people of the east;
They will possess Edom and Moab,
And the sons of Ammon will be subject to them.
15 And the Lord will utterly destroy
The tongue of the Sea of Egypt;
And He will wave His hand over the Euphrates River
With His scorching wind;
And He will strike it into seven streams
And make people walk over in dry sandals.
16 And there will be a highway from Assyria
For the remnant of His people who will be left,
Just as there was for Israel
On the day that they came up out of the land of Egypt.
11 I have become foolish; you yourselves compelled me. Actually I should have been commended by you, since I was in no respect inferior to the most eminent apostles, even though I am a nobody. 12 The distinguishing marks of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs, wonders, and miracles. 13 For in what respect were you treated as inferior to the rest of the churches, except that I myself did not become a burden to you? Forgive me this wrong!
14 Here for this third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be a burden to you; for I do not seek what is yours, but you; for children are not responsible to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. 15 I will most gladly spend and be expended for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less? 16 But be that as it may, I did not burden you myself; nevertheless, devious person that I am, I took you in by deceit. 17 Certainly I have not taken advantage of you through any of those whom I have sent to you, have I? 18 I urged Titus to go, and I sent the brother with him. Titus did not take any advantage of you, did he? Did we not conduct ourselves in the same spirit and walk in the same steps?
19 All this time you have been thinking that we are defending ourselves to you. Actually, it is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ; and all for building you up, beloved. 20 For I am afraid that perhaps when I come I may find you to be not what I wish, and may be found by you to be not what you wish; that perhaps there will be strife, jealousy, angry tempers, selfishness, slanders, gossip, arrogance, disturbances; 21 I am afraid that when I come again my God may humiliate me before you, and I may mourn over many of those who have sinned in the past and not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and indecent behavior which they have practiced.
1 Be gracious to me, God, for a man has trampled upon me;
Fighting all day long he oppresses me.
2 My enemies have trampled upon me all day long,
For they are many who fight proudly against me.
3 When I am afraid,
I will put my trust in You.
4 In God, whose word I praise,
In God I have put my trust;
I shall not be afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?
5 All day long they distort my words;
All their thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They attack, they lurk,
They watch my steps,
As they have waited to take my life.
7 Because of their wickedness, will there be an escape for them?
In anger make the peoples fall down, God!
8 You have taken account of my miseries;
Put my tears in Your bottle.
Are they not in Your book?
9 Then my enemies will turn back on the day when I call;
This I know, that God is for me.
10 In God, whose word I praise,
In the Lord, whose word I praise,
11 In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid.
What can mankind do to me?
12 Your vows are binding upon me, God;
I will render thanksgiving offerings to You.
13 For You have saved my soul from death,
Indeed my feet from stumbling,
So that I may walk before God
In the light of the living.
6 Do not eat the bread of a selfish person;
Or desire his delicacies;
7 For as he thinks within himself, so he is.
He says to you, “Eat and drink!”
But his heart is not with you.
8 You will vomit up the morsel you have eaten
And waste your compliments.
