Study Desk

Woe to ^(k)Assyria, the ^(l)rod of My anger And the staff in whose hands is ^(m)My indignation,

I send it against a ⁽ⁿ⁾godless nation And commission it against the ^(o)people of My fury To capture booty and ^(p)to seize plunder, And to ^[g]trample them down like ^(q)mud in the streets.

Yet it ^(r)does not so intend, Nor does ^[h]it plan so in its heart, But rather it is ^[i]its purpose to destroy And to cut off ^[j]many nations.

For it says, "Are not my princes ^[k]all kings?

"Is not ^(s)Calno like ^(t)Carchemish, Or ^(u)Hamath like Arpad, Or ^(v)Samaria like ^(w)Damascus?

"As my hand has reached to the ^(x)kingdoms of the idols, Whose graven images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,

Shall I not ^[l]do to Jerusalem and her images Just as I have done to Samaria and ^(y)her idols?"

So it will be that when the Lord has completed all His ^(z)work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, "I will ^[m]punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and ^(aa)the pomp of ^[n]his haughtiness."

For ^(ab)he has said, "By the power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this, For I have understanding; And I ^(ac)removed the boundaries of the peoples And plundered their treasures, And like a mighty man I brought down ^[o]their inhabitants,

And my hand reached to the riches of the peoples like a ^(ad)nest, And as one gathers abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth; And there was not one that flapped its wing or opened its beak or chirped."

Is the ^(ae)axe to ^(af)boast itself over the one who chops with it? Is the saw to exalt itself over the one who wields it? That would be like ^(ag)a ^[p]club wielding those who lift it, Or like ^(ah)a rod lifting him who is not wood.

Therefore the Lord, the ^[q] God of hosts, will send a ^(ai)wasting disease among his ^(aj)stout warriors; And under his ^(ak)glory a fire will be kindled like a burning flame.

And the ^(al)light of Israel will become a fire and his ^(am)Holy One a flame, And it will ^(an)burn and devour his thorns and his briars in a single day.

And He will ^(ao)destroy the glory of his forest and of his fruitful garden, both soul and body, And it will be as when a sick man wastes away.

And the ^(ap)rest of the trees of his forest will be so small in number That a child could write them down.