14. I've taken the wealth of the nations. It was as easy as reaching into a bird's nest. I've gathered the riches of all of those countries. It was as easy as gathering eggs that have been left in a nest. Not a single baby bird flapped its wings. Not one of them opened its mouth to chirp.' "
15. Does an ax claim to be more important than the one who swings it? Does a saw brag that it is better than the one who uses it? That would be like a stick swinging someone who picks it up! It would be like a war club waving the one who carries it!
16. So the Lord who rules over all will send a sickness. The Lord will send it on the king of Assyria's strong fighting men. It will make them weaker and weaker. The army he was so proud of will be completely destroyed. It will be as if it had been burned up in a fire.
17. The Lord is the light of Israel. He will become a fire. Israel 's Holy One will become a flame. In a single day he will burn up all of Assyria's bushes. He will destroy all of their thorns.
18. He will completely destroy the beauty of their forests and rich farm lands. The Assyrian army will be like a sick man who becomes weaker and weaker.
19. It will be like the trees of their forests. So few of them will be left standing that even a child could count them.
20. In days to come, some people will still be left alive in Israel. They will be from Jacob's family line. But they won't depend any longer on the nation that struck them down. Instead, they will truly depend on the Lord. He is the Holy One of Israel.
21. The people of Jacob who are still alive will return to the Mighty God.
22. Israel , your people might be as many as the grains of sand by the sea. But only a few of them will return. The Lord has handed down a death sentence. He will destroy his people. What he does is right.
23. The Lord who rules over all will carry out his sentence. The Lord will destroy the whole land.