For the Lord will rise up, as he did at Mount Perazim, ¹  he will rouse himself, as he did in the Valley of Gibeon, ²  to accomplish his work, his peculiar work, to perform his task, his strange task. ³ 

¹ “Foreigners will take care of ²  your sheep; foreigners will work in your fields and vineyards.

A blacksmith works with his tool ¹  and forges metal over the coals. He forms it ²  with hammers; he makes it with his strong arm. He gets hungry and loses his energy; ³  he drinks no water and gets tired.

I will lay siege to you on all sides; ¹  I will besiege you with troops; ²  I will raise siege works against you.

But I thought, ¹  “I have worked in vain; I have expended my energy for absolutely nothing.” ²  But the Lord will vindicate me; my God will reward me. ³ 

The Lord who commands armies will pronounce a blessing over the earth, saying, ¹  “Blessed be my people, Egypt, and the work of my hands, Assyria, and my special possession, ²  Israel!”

They will not work in vain, or give birth to children that will experience disaster. ¹  For the Lord will bless their children and their descendants. ² 

Those who try to hide their plans from the Lord are as good as dead, ¹  who do their work in secret and boast, ²  “Who sees us? Who knows what we’re doing?” ³ 

This is what the Lord says, the Holy One of Israel, ¹  the one who formed him, concerning things to come: ²  “How dare you question me ³  about my children! How dare you tell me what to do with ⁴  the work of my own hands!

The Lord swears an oath by his right hand, by his strong arm: ¹  “I will never again give your grain to your enemies as food, and foreigners will not drink your wine, which you worked hard to produce.

One who argues with his creator is in grave danger, ¹  one who is like a mere ²  shard among the other shards on the ground! The clay should not say to the potter, ³  “What in the world ⁴  are you doing? Your work lacks skill!” ⁵ 

¹ Certainly you must have heard! ²  Long ago I worked it out, in ancient times I planned ³  it, and now I am bringing it to pass. The plan is this: Fortified cities will crash into heaps of ruins. ⁴ 

Having suffered, he will reflect on his work, he will be satisfied when he understands what he has done. ¹  “My servant ²  will acquit many, ³  for he carried their sins. ⁴ 

So this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria: ‘He will not enter this city, nor will he shoot an arrow here. ¹  He will not attack it with his shielded warriors, ²  nor will he build siege works against it.

Their webs cannot be used for clothing; they cannot cover themselves with what they make. Their deeds are sinful; they commit violent crimes. ¹ 

Their land is full of worthless idols; they worship ¹  the product of their own hands, what their own fingers have fashioned.

Look, you are nothing, and your accomplishments are nonexistent; the one who chooses to worship you is disgusting. ¹ 

Look, all of them are nothing, ¹  their accomplishments are nonexistent; their metal images lack any real substance. ² 

The powerful will be like ¹  a thread of yarn, their deeds like a spark; both will burn together, and no one will put out the fire.

They will no longer trust in ¹  the altars their hands made, or depend on the Asherah poles and incense altars their fingers made. ²