New Living Translation NLT
New International Version NIV
1 What sorrow awaits you Assyrians, who have destroyed others but have never been destroyed yourselves. You betray others, but you have never been betrayed. When you are done destroying, you will be destroyed. When you are done betraying, you will be betrayed.
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Woe to you, destroyer, you who have not been destroyed! Woe to you, betrayer, you who have not been betrayed! When you stop destroying, you will be destroyed; when you stop betraying, you will be betrayed.
2 But LORD, be merciful to us, for we have waited for you. Be our strong arm each day and our salvation in times of trouble.
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LORD, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress.
3 The enemy runs at the sound of your voice. When you stand up, the nations flee!
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At the uproar of your army, the peoples flee; when you rise up, the nations scatter.
4 Just as caterpillars and locusts strip the fields and vines, so the fallen army of Assyria will be stripped!
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Your plunder, O nations, is harvested as by young locusts; like a swarm of locusts people pounce on it.
5 Though the LORD is very great and lives in heaven, he will make Jerusalem his home of justice and righteousness.
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The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with his justice and righteousness.
6 In that day he will be your sure foundation, providing a rich store of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The fear of the LORD will be your treasure.
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He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure.
7 But now your brave warriors weep in public. Your ambassadors of peace cry in bitter disappointment.
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Look, their brave men cry aloud in the streets; the envoys of peace weep bitterly.
8 Your roads are deserted; no one travels them anymore. The Assyrians have broken their peace treaty and care nothing for the promises they made before witnesses. They have no respect for anyone.
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The highways are deserted, no travelers are on the roads. The treaty is broken, its witnesses are despised, no one is respected.
9 The land of Israel wilts in mourning. Lebanon withers with shame. The plain of Sharon is now a wilderness. Bashan and Carmel have been plundered.
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The land dries up and wastes away, Lebanon is ashamed and withers; Sharon is like the Arabah, and Bashan and Carmel drop their leaves.
10 But the LORD says: “Now I will stand up. Now I will show my power and might.
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“Now will I arise,” says the LORD. “Now will I be exalted; now will I be lifted up.
11 You Assyrians produce nothing but dry grass and stubble. Your own breath will turn to fire and consume you.
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You conceive chaff, you give birth to straw; your breath is a fire that consumes you.
12 Your people will be burned up completely, like thornbushes cut down and tossed in a fire.
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The peoples will be burned to ashes; like cut thornbushes they will be set ablaze.”
13 Listen to what I have done, you nations far away! And you that are near, acknowledge my might!”
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You who are far away, hear what I have done; you who are near, acknowledge my power!
14 The sinners in Jerusalem shake with fear. Terror seizes the godless. “Who can live with this devouring fire?” they cry. “Who can survive this all-consuming fire?”
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The sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling grips the godless: “Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?”
15 Those who are honest and fair, who refuse to profit by fraud, who stay far away from bribes, who refuse to listen to those who plot murder, who shut their eyes to all enticement to do wrong—
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Those who walk righteously and speak what is right, who reject gain from extortion and keep their hands from accepting bribes, who stop their ears against plots of murder and shut their eyes against contemplating evil—
16 these are the ones who will dwell on high. The rocks of the mountains will be their fortress. Food will be supplied to them, and they will have water in abundance.
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they are the ones who will dwell on the heights, whose refuge will be the mountain fortress. Their bread will be supplied, and water will not fail them.
17 Your eyes will see the king in all his splendor, and you will see a land that stretches into the distance.
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Your eyes will see the king in his beauty and view a land that stretches afar.
18 You will think back to this time of terror, asking, “Where are the Assyrian officers who counted our towers? Where are the bookkeepers who recorded the plunder taken from our fallen city?”
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In your thoughts you will ponder the former terror: “Where is that chief officer? Where is the one who took the revenue? Where is the officer in charge of the towers?”
19 You will no longer see these fierce, violent people with their strange, unknown language.
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You will see those arrogant people no more, people whose speech is obscure, whose language is strange and incomprehensible.
20 Instead, you will see Zion as a place of holy festivals. You will see Jerusalem, a city quiet and secure. It will be like a tent whose ropes are taut and whose stakes are firmly fixed.
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Look on Zion, the city of our festivals; your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful abode, a tent that will not be moved; its stakes will never be pulled up, nor any of its ropes broken.
21 The LORD will be our Mighty One. He will be like a wide river of protection that no enemy can cross, that no enemy ship can sail upon.
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There the LORD will be our Mighty One. It will be like a place of broad rivers and streams. No galley with oars will ride them, no mighty ship will sail them.
22 For the LORD is our judge, our lawgiver, and our king. He will care for us and save us.
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For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; it is he who will save us.
23 The enemies’ sails hang loose on broken masts with useless tackle. Their treasure will be divided by the people of God. Even the lame will take their share!
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Your rigging hangs loose: The mast is not held secure, the sail is not spread. Then an abundance of spoils will be divided and even the lame will carry off plunder.
24 The people of Israel will no longer say, “We are sick and helpless,” for the LORD will forgive their sins.
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No one living in Zion will say, “I am ill”; and the sins of those who dwell there will be forgiven.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.