Asīrija ir Dieva rīkste
1 Vai! tiem,
kas netaisnus likumus pasludina,
vai! rakstvežiem,
kas apspiešanu perina,
2 kas sagroza trūcīgā tiesu,
manas tautas nabagiem taisnību atrauj,
pat no atraitnes izplēš laupījumu
un bāreņus aptīra!
3 Ko jūs darīsiet soda dienā –
postā, kas no tālienes nāks?
Pie kā pēc palīga bēgsiet,
kur savu godību pametīsiet?
4 Ar cietumniekiem rāposiet,
kopā ar nokautajiem kritīsiet –
vēl viņa dusmas nerimsies,
vēl pacelta viņa roka!
5 Vai! – Asīrija ir mana dusmu nūja,
tiem rokā ir mana niknuma spieķis!
6 Pret bezgožu tautu es sūtīju tos,
tautai, kas mani dusmo, tos uzrīdīju!
Lai laupa, kas laupāms,
lai grābj, kas grābjams,
lai samin kā mēslus uz ielas!
7 Bet viņam tā nešķiet,
tā viņš nedomā savā sirdī,
jo viņam prātā ir iznīcināt
un iznīdēt ne mazumu tautu!
8 Viņš saka:
“Vai mani vadoņi visi nav ķēniņi?
9 Vai ne tāda pati kā Karkemīša ir Kalne,
vai tad Arpada nav kā Hamāta,
vai tad Damaska nav kā Samarija?!
10 Mana roka ir ķērusi tādu dievu valstis,
kam lielāki tēli nekā Jeruzālemē un Samarijā –
11 kādēļ lai nedaru Jeruzālemei un tās veidoliem,
kā es darīju Samarijai un tās dievekļiem?!”
12 Kad Kungs bija beidzis visus savus darbus Ciānas kalnā un Jeruzālemē, viņš sacīja: “Es piemeklēšu lielīgās sirds augli – Asīrijas ķēniņu un viņa acu augsto lepnību!” 13 Viņš saka:
“Ar savu stipro roku es darīšu,
un ar savu gudrību, jo es saprotu –
es nojaukšu tautu robežas,
tiem dārgumus nolaupīšu,
kā vērsis nobadīšu tos, kas tur mīt!
14 Kā ligzdu mana roka atrada tautu bagātību,
kā vāc atstātas olas, tā es visu savācu!
Neviens ne spārnu nepakustināja,
ne muti papleta, ne iečiepstējās!”
15 Vai lai cirvis dižojas cirtēja priekšā?
Vai lai zāģis lielās tam, kas to velk?
Vai tad nūja šūpo savu vēzētāju –
vai miets spēs cilāt to, kas to cēlis?!
16 Tādēļ Kungs, Pulku Kungs, uzsūtīs
viņa branguļiem diloni,
viņa godībai apakšā sāks gruzdēt karsonis –
kā uguns degs!
17 Tad Israēla gaisma par uguni kļūs
un tā Svētais par liesmu!
Degs un rīs viņa dzelkšņus
un viņa ērkšķus tajā dienā!
18 Viņa meža un vīnadārza godību,
viņa dvēsele un viņa miesu tas piebeigs,
kā mirējs viņš izdēdēs!
19 Viņam mežā tik pāris koku paliks,
pat zēns varēs tos saskaitīt!
Atlikums atgriezīsies
20 Tajā dienā būs tā – Israēlā atlikušie, tie no Jēkaba nama, kas izglābušies, vairs neglaudīsies pie tā, kas viņus sita, un uzticīgi glaudīsies pie Kunga, Israēla Svētā. 21 Atlikums, Jēkaba atlikums, atgriezīsies pie Varoņa Dieva! 22 Israēl, kaut tev būtu ļaužu kā jūras smilšu – no tiem atgriezīsies tik atlikums! Gals ir lemts, taisnība pludo! 23 Jo beigas ir noliktas! Kungs, Pulku Kungs, tā darīs visai zemei!
24 Tādēļ tā saka Kungs, Pulku Kungs: “Mana tauta, kas Ciānā mīti! Nebaidies no Asīrijas – ar nūju tie sitīs, un viņu spieķis celsies pret tevi, kā bija Ēģiptē! 25 Vēl mazliet un beigsies niknums, un manas dusmas tos nīdēs!” 26 Tad Pulku Kungs ņems rīksti pret tiem, kā bija tad, kad pie Orēba klints sita Midjānu, un savu nūju pret jūru viņš cels kā Ēģiptē!
27 Tajā dienā būs tā –
viņš noņems tev nastu no pleciem
un nūju no tava kakla –
pagalam būs to jūgs viņu treknuma dēļ!
28 Viņš nāca uz Ajatu, gāja caur Migronu,
Mihmāsā savus vezumus atstāja!
29 Viņi pārejai pārgāja, Gibā pa nakti palika –
drebēja Rāma, Saula Giba bēga!
30 Brēc pilnā rīklē, Galīmas meita!
Ieklausies, Lajiša! Atbildi, Anātota!
31 Madmēna aizlaidusies!
Gēbīmā mītošie glābjas!
32 Jau šodien tie Nobā stāvēs,
kratīs dūres pie Ciānas meitas kalna,
pie Jeruzālemes pakalna!
33 Redzi, Kungs, Pulku Kungs,
viņš briesmīgs –
apcirtīs zarus, kas augstin augsti,
tie gulēs zemē,
pauguri kļūs par ielejām!
34 Meža biezokņus viņš apkapās ar dzelzi –
Lebanona krāšņums tiks nogāzts!
1 You are doomed! You make unjust laws that oppress my people. 2 That is how you keep the poor from having their rights and from getting justice. That is how you take the property that belongs to widows and orphans. 3 What will you do when God punishes you? What will you do when he brings disaster on you from a distant country? Where will you run to find help? Where will you hide your wealth? 4 You will be killed in battle or dragged off as prisoners. Yet even so the Lord's anger will not be ended; his hand will still be stretched out to punish.
The Emperor of Assyria as the Instrument of God
5 The Lord said, “Assyria! I use Assyria like a club to punish those with whom I am angry. 6 I sent Assyria to attack a godless nation, people who have made me angry. I sent them to loot and steal and trample the people like dirt in the streets.”
7 But the Assyrian emperor has his own violent plans in mind. He is determined to destroy many nations. 8 He boasts, “Every one of my commanders is a king! 9 I conquered the cities of Calno and Carchemish, the cities of Hamath and Arpad. I conquered Samaria and Damascus. 10 I reached out to punish those kingdoms that worship idols, idols more numerous than those of Jerusalem and Samaria. 11 I have destroyed Samaria and all its idols, and I will do the same to Jerusalem and the images that are worshiped there.”
12 But the Lord says, “When I finish what I am doing on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, I will punish the emperor of Assyria for all his boasting and all his pride.”
13 The emperor of Assyria boasts, “I have done it all myself. I am strong and wise and clever. I wiped out the boundaries between nations and took the supplies they had stored. Like a bull I have trampled the people who live there. 14 The nations of the world were like a bird's nest, and I gathered their wealth as easily as gathering eggs. Not a wing fluttered to scare me off; no beak opened to scream at me!”
15 But the Lord says, “Can an ax claim to be greater than the one who uses it? Is a saw more important than the one who saws with it? A club doesn't lift up a person; a person lifts up a club.”
16 The Lord Almighty is going to send disease to punish those who are now well-fed. In their bodies there will be a fire that burns and burns. 17 God, the light of Israel, will become a fire. Israel's holy God will become a flame, which in a single day will burn up everything, even the thorns and thistles. 18 The rich forests and farmlands will be totally destroyed, in the same way that a fatal sickness destroys someone. 19 There will be so few trees left that even a child will be able to count them.
A Few Will Come Back
20 A time is coming when the people of Israel who have survived will not rely any more on the nation that almost destroyed them. They will truly put their trust in the Lord, Israel's holy God. 21 A few of the people of Israel will come back to their mighty God. 22 Even though now there are as many people of Israel as there are grains of sand by the sea, only a few will come back. Destruction is in store for the people, and it is fully deserved. 23 Yes, throughout the whole country the Sovereign Lord Almighty will bring destruction, as he said he would.
The Lord Will Punish Assyria
24 The Sovereign Lord Almighty says to his people who live in Zion, “Do not be afraid of the Assyrians, even though they oppress you as the Egyptians used to do. 25 In only a little while I will finish punishing you, and then I will destroy them. 26 I, the Lord Almighty, will beat them with my whip as I did the people of Midian at Oreb Rock. I will punish Assyria as I punished Egypt. 27 When that time comes, I will free you from the power of Assyria, and their yoke will no longer be a burden on your shoulders.”
The Invader Attacks
28 The enemy army has captured the city of Ai! They have passed through Migron! They left their supplies at Michmash! 29 They have crossed the pass and are spending the night at Geba! The people in the town of Ramah are terrified, and the people in King Saul's hometown of Gibeah have run away. 30 Shout, people of Gallim! Listen, people of Laishah! Answer, people of Anathoth! 31 The people of Madmenah and Gebim are running for their lives. 32 Today the enemy are in the town of Nob, and there they are shaking their fists at Mount Zion, at the city of Jerusalem.
33 The Lord Almighty will bring them crashing down like branches cut off a tree. The proudest and highest of them will be cut down and humiliated. 34 The Lord will cut them down as trees in the heart of the forest are cut down with an ax, as even the finest trees of Lebanon fall!
