⁷ But he has other plans;
    he schemes in secret;
    destruction is on his mind,
    extermination of nation after nation.
⁸ He says: Aren’t my commanders all kings?
⁹     Isn’t Calno like Carchemish?
    Isn’t Hamath like Arpad?
    Isn’t Samaria like Damascus?
¹⁰ Just as I took control of idolatrous kingdoms
    with more images than Jerusalem and Samaria,
¹¹     just as I did to Samaria and her false gods,
    won’t I also do this to Jerusalem and her idols?

¹³ He said, “By my own strength I have achieved it,
    and by my wisdom, since I’m so clever.
    I disregarded national boundaries; I raided their treasures;
    I knocked down their rulers like a bull.

¹⁴     My hand found the wealth of the peoples
    as if it were in a nest.
Just as one gathers abandoned eggs,
    I have gathered the entire earth;
    no creature fluttered a wing or opened a mouth to chirp.”