¹⁰ And have I now come to send destruction on this land without the Lord's authority? It was the Lord himself who said to me, Go up against this land and make it waste.

¹⁸ Then he said to him, I am a prophet like you; and an angel said to me by the word of the Lord, Take him back with you and give him food and water. But he said false words to him.

²⁵ And have I now come up to send destruction on this place without the Lord's authority? It was the Lord himself who said to me, Go up against this land and make it waste.

²¹ But he sent representatives to him, saying, What have I to do with you, O king of Judah? I have not come against you this day, but against those with whom I am at war; and God has given me orders to go forward quickly: keep out of God's way, for he is with me, or he will send destruction on you.

⁵ Ho! Assyrian, the rod of my wrath, the instrument of my punishment!

⁶ I will send him against a nation of wrongdoers, and against the people of my wrath I will give him orders, to take their wealth in war, crushing them down like the dust in the streets.

⁷ But this is not what is in his mind, and this is not his design; but his purpose is destruction, and the cutting off of more and more nations.

²⁸ But I have knowledge of your getting up and your resting, of your going out and your coming in.

⁶ If the horn is sounded in the town will the people not be full of fear? will evil come on a town if the Lord has not done it?