²⁰ In that day the Lord will hire a “razor” from beyond the Euphrates River^[a]—the king of Assyria—and use it to shave off everything: your land, your crops, and your people.^[b]

A Sign of the Coming Judgment

5 “Son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a razor to shave your head and beard. Use a scale to weigh the hair into three equal parts. ² Place a third of it at the center of your map of Jerusalem. After acting out the siege, burn it there. Scatter another third across your map and chop it with a sword. Scatter the last third to the wind, for I will scatter my people with the sword. ³ Keep just a bit of the hair and tie it up in your robe. ⁴ Then take some of these hairs out and throw them into the fire, burning them up. A fire will then spread from this remnant and destroy all of Israel.

⁷ Therefore, the Lord will overwhelm them with a mighty flood from the Euphrates River^[a]—the king of Assyria and all his glory. This flood will overflow all its channels

²⁰ Yes, I have given him the land of Egypt as a reward for his work, says the Sovereign Lord, because he was working for me when he destroyed Tyre.

¹⁸ “Son of man, the army of King Nebuchadnezzar^[a] of Babylon fought so hard against Tyre that the warriors’ heads were rubbed bare and their shoulders were raw and blistered. Yet Nebuchadnezzar and his army won no plunder to compensate them for all their work.

⁶ Now I will give your countries to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who is my servant. I have put everything, even the wild animals, under his control. ⁷ All the nations will serve him, his son, and his grandson until his time is up. Then many nations and great kings will conquer and rule over Babylon.

Destruction of the Earth

Judgment against Assyria