1Woe unto them that decree unrighteous chukim,
and that write decrees of oppression;

2To turn aside the needy from their rights,
and to withhold mishpat from the aniyyei Ami,
that almanot may be their prey,
and that they may rob the yetomim!

3And what will ye do in the Yom Pekuddah (Day Of Visitation, Reckoning)
and in the desolation which shall come from afar?
To whom will ye flee for ezrah (help)?
And where will ye leave your kavod (glory, riches)?

4Without Me they shall bow down under the prisoners,
and they shall fall under the slain.
For all this His anger is not turned away,
but His yad is upraised still.

5O Ashur, the rod of Mine anger,
in whose yad is the mateh of My wrath.

6I will send him against a Goy Chanef,
and against the people of My wrath will I give him a charge,
to take the spoil, and to take the plunder,
and to tread them down like the chomer chutzot (mire of the streets).

7But he intendeth not so,
neither doth his mind so consider;
but it is in his lev
to make an end of Goyim not a few.

8For he saith,
Are not my sarim altogether melachim?

9Is not Kalno like Karkemish?
Is not Chamat like Arpad?
Is not Shomron like Damascus?

10Just as my yad hath found
the mamlechot haelil,
whose pesilim (molten images) did excel
them of Yerushalayim and of Shomron;

11Shall I not, as I have done
unto Shomron and her elilim,
so do to Yerushalayim
and her atzabim (images)?

12Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when Adonoi hath performed His whole work upon Mount Tziyon and on Yerushalayim, I will punish the fruit of the proud lev of Melech Ashur, and the tiferet of his haughty eyes.

13For he saith,
By the ko'ach of my yad I have done it,
and by my chochmah; for I have binah;
and I have removed the boundaries of the nations,
and have plundered their treasures,
and like the mighty I have subdued those on thrones;

14And my yad hath found like a ken (nest)
the riches of the nations;
and like one gathereth beitzim (eggs) that are left,
have I gathered kol ha'aretz;
and there was none that moved the wing,
or opened the beak, or peeped.

15Shall the garzen (axe) boast itself against Him that cuts therewith?
Or shall the masor (saw) magnify itself against Him that useth it?
As if the shevet (rod) should shake itself against them that lift it up,
or as if the matteh (staff) should lift up itself,
as if it were not etz.

16Therefore shall HaAdon Hashem Tzva'os
send among his fat ones leanness;
and instead of his kavod there will be kindled a burning
like the blazing of eish.

17And the Ohr Yisroel shall become an eish,
and His Kadosh a flame;
and shall burn and consume its thistles
and its thorns in Yom Echad;

18And shall consume the kavod of his forest and his fertile land,
even to nefesh and basar;
and shall be as a sick man wasting away.

19And the remnant of the etz of his forest shall be few,
that a na'ar could record them.

20And it shall come to pass in Yom Hahu, that the remnant of Yisroel, and such as are escaped of Bais Ya'akov, shall no longer lean upon him that smote them; but shall lean upon Hashem Kadosh Yisroel be'emes.

21The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Ya'akov, unto El Gibbor. ²⁴

22For though thy people Yisroel be like the chol hayam, only a remnant of them shall return; destruction is decreed, overwhelming tzedakah.

23For Adonoi Hashem Tzva'os shall carry out kalah (destruction) decreed, even upon the kol ha'aretz.

24Therefore thus saith Adonoi Hashem Tzva'os, O My people that dwellest in Tziyon, be not afraid of Ashur; if he strike thee with the shevet, and lift his matteh against thee, in the manner of Mitzrayim.

25For yet a very little while, and the za'am (anger, indignation) shall pass, and Mine wrath turn for their destruction.

26And Hashem Tzva'os shall stir up a shot (whip) for him as when He struck down Midyan at the Tzur Orev; and as His matteh was over the yam, so shall He raise it after the manner of Mitzrayim.

27And it shall come to pass in Yom Hahu, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his ol from off thy neck, and the ol shall be broken from fatness.

28He comes to Ayat,
passes through Migron;
at Michmas he hath left his supplies;

29They are crossing the pass;
they have taken up their lodging at Geva;
Ramah is afraid;
Givat Sha'ul has fled.

30Lift up thy voice, O Bat-Gallim;
Listen O Layshah, O poor Anatot.

31Madmenah hurries away;
the inhabitants of Gevim gather themselves to flee.

32As yet shall he remain at Nov this very day;
he shall shake his fist against the Har Bat Tziyon,
the Givat Yerushalayim.

33Hinei, HaAdon Hashem Tzva'os,
shall chop the bough with great power;
and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down;
the haughty shall be humbled.

34And He shall cut down the thickets of the forest with barzel (iron),
and Levanon shall fall by Adir (the Majestic Mighty One, i.e., Hashem).