Isaiah 10:5-19

God says, “How terrible it will be for the king of Assyria. I use him like a rod to show my anger; in anger I use Assyria like a club. I send it to fight against a nation that is separated from God. I am angry with those people, so I command Assyria to fight against them, to take their wealth from them, to trample them down like dirt in the streets. But Assyria’s king doesn’t understand that I am using him; he doesn’t know he is a tool for me. He only wants to destroy other people and to defeat many nations. The king of Assyria says to himself, ‘All of my commanders are like kings. The city Calno is like the city Carchemish. The city Hamath is like the city Arpad. The city Samaria is like the city Damascus. I defeated those kingdoms that worship idols, and those idols were more than the idols of Jerusalem and Samaria. As I defeated Samaria and her idols, I will also defeat Jerusalem and her idols.’ ” When the Lord finishes doing what he planned to Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will punish Assyria. The king of Assyria is very proud, and his pride has made him do these evil things, so God will punish him. The king of Assyria says this: “By my own power I have done these things; by my wisdom I have defeated many nations. I have taken their wealth, and, like a mighty one, I have taken their people. I have taken the riches of all these people, like a person reaching into a bird’s nest. I have taken these nations, like a person taking eggs. Not one raised a hand or opened its mouth to stop me.” An ax is not better than the person who swings it. A saw is not better than the one who uses it. A stick cannot control the person who picks it up. A club cannot pick up the person! So the Lord GOD All-Powerful will send a terrible disease upon Assyria’s soldiers. The strength of Assyria will be burned up like a fire burning until everything is gone. God, the Light of Israel, will be like a fire; the Holy One will be like a flame. He will be like a fire that suddenly burns the weeds and thorns. The fire burns away the great trees and rich farmlands, destroying everything. It will be like a sick person who wastes away. The trees left standing will be so few that even a child could count them.