1. How terrible it will be for those who make unfair laws,and those who write laws that make life hard for people.
2. They are not fair to the poor,and they rob my people of their rights.They allow people to steal from widowsand to take from orphans what really belongs to them.
3. How will you explain the things you have done?What will you do when your destruction comes from far away?Where will you run for help?Where will you hide your riches then?
4. You will have to bow down among the captivesor fall down among the dead bodies.But the Lord is still angry;his hand is still raised to strike down the people.
5. God says, “How terrible it will be for the king of Assyria.I use him like a rod to show my anger;in anger I use Assyria like a club.
6. I send it to fight against a nation that is separated from God.I am angry with those people,so I command Assyria to fight against them,to take their wealth from them,to trample them down like dirt in the streets.
7. But Assyria’s king doesn’t understand that I am using him;he doesn’t know he is a tool for me.He only wants to destroy other peopleand to defeat many nations.
8. The king of Assyria says to himself,‘All of my commanders are like kings.
9. The city Calno is like the city Carchemish.The city Hamath is like the city Arpad.The city Samaria is like the city Damascus.