⁵ Woe to ^(A)Assyria, the ^(B)rod of My anger
And the staff in whose hands is ^(C)My indignation,
⁶ I send it against a ^(D)godless nation
And command it against the ^(E)people of My fury
To capture spoil and ^(F)to seize plunder,
And to ^[a]trample them down like ^(G)mud in the streets.
⁷ But it ^(H)does not intend to act in this way,
And it does not think in its heart in this way,
Rather, what is in its heart is to destroy
And to cut off ^[b]many nations.
⁸ For it says, “Are not my princes ^[c]all kings?
⁹ Is not ^(I)Calno like ^(J)Carchemish,
Or ^(K)Hamath like Arpad,
Or ^(L)Samaria like ^(M)Damascus?
¹⁰ As my hand has reached to the ^(N)kingdoms of the idols,
Whose graven images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
¹¹ Shall I not ^[d]do to Jerusalem and her images
Just as I have done to Samaria and ^(O)her idols?”

“By the power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this,
For I have understanding;
And I ^(S)removed the boundaries of the peoples
And plundered their treasures,
And like a mighty man I brought down ^[f]their inhabitants,
¹⁴ And my hand reached for the wealth of the peoples like a ^(T)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.”