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New International Reader’s Version

Trouble for Assyria and help for God’s people

1 How terrible it will be for you, you who destroy others! Assyria, you haven’t been destroyed yet. How terrible for you, you who turn against others! Others haven’t turned against you yet. When you stop destroying, you will be destroyed. When you stop turning against others, others will turn against you. 2 LORD, have mercy on us. We long for you to help us. Make us strong every morning. Save us when we’re in trouble. 3 At the roar of your army, the nations run away. When you rise up against them, they scatter. 4 Nations, what you have taken in battle is destroyed. It’s as if young locusts had eaten it up. Like large numbers of locusts, people rush to get it. 5 The LORD is honoured. He lives in heaven. He will make sure Zion’s people only do what is fair and right. 6 He will be the firm foundation for their entire lives. He will give them all the wisdom, knowledge and saving power they will ever need. Respect for the LORD is the key to that treasure. 7 Look! Judah’s brave men cry out loud in the streets. The messengers who were sent to bring peace weep bitter tears. 8 The wide roads are deserted. No one travels on them. Our peace treaty with Assyria is broken. Those who witnessed it are looked down on. No one is respected. 9 The land dries up and wastes away. Lebanon is full of shame and dries up. The rich land of Sharon is like the Arabah Desert. The trees of Bashan and Carmel drop their leaves. 10 ‘Now I will take action,’ says the LORD. ‘Now I will be honoured. Now I will be respected. 11 Assyria, your plans and actions are like straw. Your anger is a fire that will destroy you. 12 The nations will be burned to ashes. They will be like bushes that are cut down and set on fire. 13 ‘You nations far away, listen to what I have done! My people who are near, recognise how powerful I am! 14 The sinners in Zion are terrified. They tremble with fear. They say, “Who of us can live through the LORD’s destroying fire? Who of us can live through the fire that burns for ever?” 15 People must do what is right. They must be honest and tell the truth. They must not get rich by cheating others. Their hands must not receive money from those who want special favours. They must not let their ears listen to plans to commit murder. They must close their eyes to even thinking about doing what is evil. 16 People like that will be kept safe. It will be as if they were living on high mountains. It will be as if they were living in a mountain fort. They will have all the food they need. And they will never run out of water.’ 17 People of Judah, you will see the king in all his glory and majesty. You will view his kingdom spreading far and wide. 18 You will think about what used to terrify you. You will say to yourself, ‘Where is that chief officer of Assyria? Where is the one who forced us to send gifts to his king? Where is the officer in charge of the towers that were used when we were attacked?’ 19 You won’t see those proud people anymore. They spoke a strange language. None of us could understand it. 20 Just look at Zion! It’s the city where we celebrate our regular feasts. Turn your eyes towards Jerusalem. It will be a peaceful place to live in. It will be like a tent that will never be moved. Its stakes will never be pulled up. None of its ropes will be broken. 21 There the LORD will be our Mighty One. It will be like a place of wide rivers and streams. No boat with oars will travel on them. No mighty ship will sail on them. 22 That’s because the LORD is our judge. The LORD gives us our law. The LORD is our king. He will save us. 23 The ropes on your ship hang loose. The mast isn’t very secure. The sail isn’t spread out. But the LORD will strike down the Assyrians. Then a large amount of goods will be taken from them and divided up. Even people who are disabled will carry off some of it. 24 No one living in Zion will ever say again, ‘I’m ill.’ And the sins of those who live there will be forgiven.

English Standard Version

O Lord, Be Gracious to Us

1 Ah, you destroyer, who yourself have not been destroyed, you traitor, whom none has betrayed! When you have ceased to destroy, you will be destroyed; and when you have finished betraying, they will betray you. (Isa 17:14; Isa 21:2) 2 O Lord, be gracious to us; we wait for you. Be our arm every morning, our salvation in the time of trouble. (Isa 25:9; Isa 26:8) 3 At the tumultuous noise peoples flee; when you lift yourself up, nations are scattered, (2Ki 19:7; Isa 17:13) 4 and your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers; as locusts leap, it is leapt upon. (Joe 2:4) 5 The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness, (Isa 2:17; Isa 5:15) 6 and he will be the stability of your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is Zion’s^[1] treasure. (Isa 39:8) 7 Behold, their heroes cry in the streets; the envoys of peace weep bitterly. (2Ki 18:37; Isa 36:22) 8 The highways lie waste; the traveler ceases. Covenants are broken; cities^[2] are despised; there is no regard for man. (Jud 5:6; 2Ki 18:14; Isa 33:1) 9 The land mourns and languishes; Lebanon is confounded and withers away; Sharon is like a desert, and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves. (Isa 24:4; Na 1:4) 10 “Now I will arise,” says the Lord, “now I will lift myself up; now I will be exalted. (Ps 12:5; Ps 68:1; Isa 10:26) 11 You conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble; your breath is a fire that will consume you. (Ps 7:14; Ps 80:16; Isa 10:16; Isa 59:4)

Ps 7:14Ps 80:16Isa 10:16Isa 59:4

12 And the peoples will be as if burned to lime, like thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire.” (Isa 33:11) 13 Hear, you who are far off, what I have done; and you who are near, acknowledge my might. 14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling has seized the godless: “Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?” (Ps 15:1; Ps 24:3; Isa 66:15; Heb 12:29)

Ps 15:1Ps 24:3Isa 66:15Heb 12:29

15 He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, who despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed and shuts his eyes from looking on evil, (Ps 15:2; Ps 24:4; Ps 119:37) 16 he will dwell on the heights; his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks; his bread will be given him; his water will be sure. (Isa 30:23; Isa 30:25) 17 Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty; they will see a land that stretches afar. (Isa 6:5; Isa 54:2; Zec 9:9) 18 Your heart will muse on the terror: “Where is he who counted, where is he who weighed the tribute? Where is he who counted the towers?” (2Ki 18:14; Ps 37:10; Ps 48:12) 19 You will see no more the insolent people, the people of an obscure speech that you cannot comprehend, stammering in a tongue that you cannot understand. (De 28:49; 2Ki 19:32; Isa 28:11) 20 Behold Zion, the city of our appointed feasts! Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an untroubled habitation, an immovable tent, whose stakes will never be plucked up, nor will any of its cords be broken. (Isa 32:18; Isa 33:6) 21 But there the Lord in majesty will be for us a place of broad rivers and streams, where no galley with oars can go, nor majestic ship can pass. (Ps 46:4; Ps 48:7; Isa 2:16) 22 For the Lord is our judge; the Lord is our lawgiver; the Lord is our king; he will save us. (Jud 2:16; 1Sa 12:13; Jas 4:12) 23 Your cords hang loose; they cannot hold the mast firm in its place or keep the sail spread out. Then prey and spoil in abundance will be divided; even the lame will take the prey. (Ge 49:27; Ps 68:12) 24 And no inhabitant will say, “I am sick”; the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity. (Isa 1:5; Isa 1:25; Jer 50:20)