4 Without Me they shall bow down among the aprisoners, And they shall fall1 among the slain.” bFor all this His anger is not turned away, But His hand is stretched out still.
Arrogant Assyria Also Judged
5 “Woe to Assyria, athe rod of My anger And the staff in whose hand is My indignation.
6 I will send him against aan ungodly nation, And against the people of My wrath I will bgive him charge, To seize the spoil, to take the prey, And to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
7aYet he does not mean so, Nor does his heart think so; But itis in his heart to destroy, And cut off not a few nations.
8aFor he says, ‘Are not my princes altogether kings?
9Is not aCalno blike Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria clike Damascus?
10 As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols, Whose carved images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11 As I have done to Samaria and her idols, Shall I not do also to Jerusalem and her idols?’ ”
12 Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Lord has1 performed all His work aon Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, thatHewillsay,b“I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty looks.”
13aFor he says: “By the strength of my hand I have done it, And by my wisdom, for I am prudent; Also I have removed the boundaries of the people, And have robbed their treasuries; So I have put down the inhabitants like a1 valiant man.
14aMy hand has found like a nest the riches of the people, And as one gathers eggs thatare left, I have gathered all the earth; And there was no one who moved his wing, Nor opened his mouth with even a peep.”
Isaiah, the key prophet at the beginning of this period, is very interested in a dominating Gentile power, the Assyrians, and its threat to Israel and Judah. He begins to trumpet a warning to them of the impending commencement of the times of the Gentiles. Assyria is the first great Gentile power, but not the most influential.
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