“For this reason I will bring the worst of the heathen, and they will possess their houses. And I will also make the pride of the strong to cease, and their holy places will be profaned. Destruction comes and they will seek peace, and there will be none.”
Because of the behaviour of Israel ‘the worst of the heathen' would come against them and take possession of all they had. The Assyrians were a fierce enemy, renowned for their cruelty, and it would be fully revealed in their actions towards Israel. The result is that those who prided themselves on their strength and position would cease to have cause for pride, for they would be humbled into the dust. Their ‘holy places' is probably a reference to the high places which they saw as holy, these will be profaned. But it may signify that even the holy places of Yahweh will be profaned, that there will be nowhere at all to seek God. Either way what they relied on for ‘spiritual' sustenance would have gone. Destruction would come and they would be unable to find peace anywhere. There would be no peace. It would no longer exist. They would be unable to avoid strife and violence.