33 Woe to you, Assyrians,^[a] who have destroyed everything around you but have never felt destruction for yourselves. You expect others to respect their promises to you, while you betray them! Now you, too, will be betrayed and destroyed.

² But to us, O Lord, be merciful, for we have waited for you. Be our strength each day and our salvation in the time of trouble. ³ The enemy runs at the sound of your voice. When you stand up, the nations flee. ⁴ Just as locusts strip the fields and vines, so Jerusalem will strip the fallen army of Assyria!^[b]

⁵ The Lord is very great and lives in heaven. He will make Jerusalem the home of justice and goodness and righteousness. ⁶ An abundance of salvation is stored up for Judah in a safe place, along with wisdom and knowledge and reverence for God.

⁷ But now your ambassadors weep in bitter disappointment, for Assyria has refused their cry for peace. ⁸ Your roads lie in ruins; travelers detour on back roads. The Assyrians have broken their peace pact^[c] and care nothing for the promises they made in the presence of witnesses—they have no respect for anyone. ⁹ All the land of Israel is in trouble; Lebanon has been destroyed; Sharon has become a wilderness; Bashan and Carmel are plundered.

¹⁰ But the Lord says: I will stand up and show my power and might. ¹¹ You Assyrians will gain nothing by all your efforts. Your own breath will turn to fire and kill you. ¹² Your armies will be burned to lime, like thorns cut down and tossed in the fire. ¹³ Listen to what I have done, O nations far away! And you that are near, acknowledge my might!

¹⁴ The sinners among my people shake with fear. “Which one of us,” they cry, “can live here in the presence of this all-consuming, everlasting fire?” ¹⁵ I will tell you who can live here: All who are honest and fair, who reject making profit by fraud, who hold back their hands from taking bribes, who refuse to listen to those who plot murder, who shut their eyes to all enticement to do wrong. ¹⁶ Such as these shall dwell on high. The rocks of the mountains will be their fortress of safety; food will be supplied to them, and they will have all the water they need.

¹⁷ Your eyes will see the King in his beauty and the highlands of heaven far away. ¹⁸ Your mind will think back to this time of terror when the Assyrian officers outside your walls are counting your towers and estimating how much they will get from your fallen city. ¹⁹ But soon they will all be gone. These fierce, violent people with a strange, jabbering language you can’t understand will disappear.

²⁰ Instead you will see Jerusalem at peace, a place where God is worshiped, a city quiet and unmoved. ²¹ The glorious Lord will be to us as a wide river of protection, and no enemy can cross. ²² For the Lord is our Judge, our Lawgiver and our King; he will care for us and 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 win their share. ²⁴ The people of Israel will no longer say, “We are sick and helpless,” for the Lord will forgive them their sins and bless them.