Judgment on Aram and Samaria
8The Lord sent a word against Jacob,
and it falls upon Israel.
9All the people will know,
including Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,
who say with pride and with an arrogant heart,
10“The mud bricks have fallen down,
but we will build with cut stone.
The sycamore fig trees have been cut down,
but we will replace them with cedars.”
11Then the Lord will raise up Rezin's adversaries against him,
and he will stir up his enemies.
12Arameans from the east and Philistines from the west
will devour Israel with an open mouth.
Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
and his hand is still stretched out, ready to strike.
13But the people have not returned to the one who struck them,
nor have they sought the Lord of Armies.
14Therefore, in one day the Lord will cut off from Israel
head and tail, palm branch and reed.
15The elder and the honored man are the head,
and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail.
16It is the leaders of this people who lead them astray,
and those who are led by them are destroyed.
17Therefore, the Lord will not rejoice over their young men,
nor will he have compassion on their fatherless and widows,
because everyone is godless and an evildoer,
and every mouth speaks foolishness.
Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
and his hand is still stretched out, ready to strike.
18Now wickedness burns like a fire.
It devours the briers and thorns.
Look, it flares up in the thickets of the forest,
and it swirls upward in a column of smoke.
19By the wrath of the Lord of Armies, the land is burned up,
and the people are the fuel for the fire.
No one spares his brother.
20On the right hand they will gobble down food, but they will still be hungry.
On the left hand they will keep eating, but they will not be satisfied.
Everyone will eat the flesh of his own arm.[] 21Manasseh will be against Ephraim, and Ephraim against Manasseh,
and together they will be against Judah.
Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
and his hand is still stretched out, ready to strike.
Judgment on Corrupt Rulers
101Woe to those who prescribe unjust decrees,
and to those who issue oppressive rulings,
2to deprive the needy of justice,
and to rob the poor among my people of their rights,
to plunder widows,
and to make the fatherless their prey!
3What will you do when the day comes to settle accounts,
during the devastation that will descend from far away?
To whom will you flee for help?
Where will you leave your wealth?
4The only thing left for you will be to kneel among the prisoners
and to fall under the dead bodies.
Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
and his hand is still stretched out, ready to strike.
The Proud Assyrian Is God's Instrument
5Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger.
The club of my rage is in his hand!
6I will send him against a godless nation
and against the people who anger me.
I will command him to take the plunder,
to seize the spoils,
and to tread them down like mud in the streets.
7But he does not intend to do this.
This is not what he has in mind.
The intention of his heart is to destroy
and to cut off more than just a few nations.
8This is what he says:
Aren't all of my officials kings?
9Isn't Kalno like Carchemish?
Isn't Hamath like Arpad?
Isn't Samaria like Damascus?
10Just as my hand has reached the kingdoms of those petty gods,
kingdoms whose images were greater than those of Jerusalem and of Samaria,
11just as I have done to Samaria and her petty gods,
will I not do the same to Jerusalem and her worthless idols?
