Demonstrations

⁴ Now Nebuchadnezzar said:— I will ascend to heaven and exalt my throne above the stars of God and sit in the lofty mountains that are in the borders of the North. Isaiah said concerning him:— Because your heart has thus exalted you, therefore you shall be brought down to Sheol, and all that look upon you shall be astonished at you. And Sennacherib also said thus:— I will go up to the summit of the mountains and to the shoulders of Lebanon. I will dig and drink water and will dry up with my horses' hoofs all the deep rivers. And because he thus exalted himself, Isaiah again said concerning him:— Why does the axe boast itself against him that cuts with it, or the saw exalt itself against him that saws with it, or the rod lift itself up against him that wields it? For you, Sennacherib, art the axe in the hands of Him that cuts, and you are the saw in the hands of Him that saws, and the rod in the hand of Him that wields you for chastisement, and you are the staff for smiting.

You are sent against the fickle people, and again you are ordained against the stubborn people, that you may carry away the captivity and take the spoil; and you have made them as the mire of the streets for all men and for all the Gentiles. And when you have done all these things, why are you exalted against Him Who holds you, and why do you boast against Him Who saws with you, and why have you reviled the holy city? And hast said to the children of Jerusalem:— Can your God deliver you from my hand? And you have dared to say:— Who is the Lord that He shall deliver you from my hands? Because of this, hear the word of the Lord, saying:— I will crush the Assyrian in My land, and on My mountains will I tread him down. And when he shall have been crushed and trodden down, the Virgin, the daughter of Zion, will despise him, and the daughter of Jerusalem will shake her head and say:— Whom have you reviled and blasphemed, and against whom have you lifted up your voice?

You have lifted up your eyes towards heaven against the Holy One of Israel, and by the hands of your messengers you have reviled the Lord. Now see that the hook has been forced into your nostrils, and the bridle into your lips, and you have turned back with your heart crushed, who camest with your heart uplifted</em>. And his slaying was by the hands of his loved ones; and in the house of his confidence, there was he overthrown, and fell before his god. And truly it was right, my beloved, that his body should thus become a sacrifice and offering before that god on whom he relied, and in his temple, as a memorial for his idol.