10:1 Those who enact unjust policies are as good as dead,¹
those who are always instituting unfair regulations;²
10:2 to keep the poor from getting fair treatment,
and deprive³ the oppressed among my people of justice;
so they can steal what widows own,
and loot what belongs to orphans.⁴
10:3 What will you do on judgment day,⁵
when destruction arrives from a distant place?
To whom will you run for help?
Where will you leave your wealth?
10:4 You will have no place to go, except to kneel with the prisoners,
or among those who have been killed.⁶
Despite all this, his anger does not subside,
and his hand is ready to strike again.⁷

10:5 Assyria, the club I use to vent my anger, is as good as dead,⁸
a cudgel with which I angrily punish.⁹
10:6 I sent him¹⁰ against a godless¹¹ nation,
I ordered him to attack the people with whom I was angry;¹²
to take plunder and to carry away loot,
to trample them down¹³ like dirt in the streets.
10:7 But he does not agree with this,
his mind does not reason this way;¹⁴
for his goal is to destroy,
and to eliminate many nations.¹⁵
10:8 Indeed,¹⁶ he says:
“Are not my officials all kings?
10:9 Is not Calneh like Carchemish?
Hamath like Arpad?
Samaria like Damascus?¹⁷
10:10 I overpowered kingdoms ruled by idols,¹⁸
whose carved images were more impressive than Jerusalem’s or Samaria’s.
10:11 As I have done to Samaria and its idols,
so I will do to Jerusalem and its idols.”¹⁹

10:12 But when the sovereign master finishes judging²⁰ Mount Zion and Jerusalem, then I²¹ will punish the king of Assyria for what he has proudly planned and for the arrogant attitude he displays.²² 10:13 For he says:

“By my strong hand I have accomplished this,
by my strategy that I devised.
I invaded the territory of nations,²³
and looted their storehouses;
Like a mighty conqueror,²⁴ I brought down rulers.²⁵
10:14 My hand discovered the wealth of the nations, as if it were in a nest;
as one gathers up abandoned eggs,
I gathered up the whole earth.
There was no wing flapping,
or open mouth chirping.”²⁶
10:15 Does an axe exalt itself over the one who wields it,
or a saw magnify itself over the one who cuts with it?²⁷
As if a scepter should brandish the one who raises it,
or a staff should lift up what is not made of wood!
10:16 For this reason²⁸ the sovereign master, the LORD who leads armies, will make his healthy ones emaciated.²⁹ His majestic glory will go up in smoke.³⁰
10:17 The Light of Israel³¹ will become a fire,
their sovereign king³² will become a flame;
it will burn and consume the Assyrian king’s³³ briers,
and his thorns in one day.
10:18 The splendor of his forest and his orchard
will be completely destroyed,³⁴
as when a sick man’s life ebbs away.³⁵
10:19 There will be so few trees left in his forest,
a child will be able to count them.³⁶
10:20 At that time³⁷ those left in Israel, those who remain of the family³⁸ of Jacob, will no longer rely on one who abuses them.³⁹ Instead they will truly⁴⁰ rely on the LORD, Israel’s sovereign king.⁴¹ 10:21 A remnant will come back, a remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.⁴² 10:22 For though your people, Israel, are as numerous as⁴³ the sand on the seashore, only a remnant will come back.⁴⁴ Destruction has been decreed;⁴⁵ just punishment⁴⁶ is about to engulf you.⁴⁷ 10:23 The sovereign master, the LORD who leads armies, is certainly ready to carry out the decreed destruction throughout the land.⁴⁸
10:24 So⁴⁹ here is what the sovereign master, the LORD who leads armies, says: “My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of Assyria, even though they beat you with a club and lift their cudgel against you as Egypt did.⁵⁰ 10:25 For very soon my fury⁵¹ will subside, and my anger will be directed toward their destruction. 10:26 The LORD who leads armies is about to beat them⁵² with a whip, similar to the way he struck down Midian at the rock of Oreb.⁵³ He will use his staff against the sea, lifting it up as he did in Egypt.⁵⁴
10:27 At that time⁵⁵
the LORD will remove their burden from your shoulders,⁵⁶
and their yoke from your neck;
the yoke will be taken off because your neck will be too large.⁵⁷
10:28⁵⁸ They⁵⁹ attacked⁶⁰ Aiath,
moved through Migron,
depositing their supplies at Micmash.
10:29 They went through the pass,
spent the night at Geba.
Ramah trembled,
Gibeah of Saul ran away.
10:30 Yell out, daughter of Gallim!
Pay attention, Laishah!
Answer her, Anathoth!⁶¹
10:31 Madmenah flees,
the residents of Gebim have hidden.
10:32 This very day, standing in Nob,
they shake their fist at Daughter Zion’s mountain,⁶²
at the hill of Jerusalem.
10:33 Look the sovereign master, the LORD who leads armies,
is ready to cut off the branches with an axe.⁶³
The tallest trees⁶⁴ will be cut down,
the loftiest ones will be brought low.
10:34 The thickets of the forest will be chopped down with an axe,
and mighty Lebanon will fall.⁶⁵