Nineveh’s Downfall

3 Woe to the city of blood, k

totally deceitful,

full of plunder,

never without prey. l

2 The crack of the whip

and rumble of the wheel,

galloping horse

and jolting chariot! m

3 Charging horseman,

flashing sword,

shining spear;

heaps of slain,

mounds of corpses, n

dead bodies without end o—

they stumble over their dead.

4 Because of the continual prostitution of the prostitute,

the attractive mistress of sorcery,

who betrays nations by her prostitution

and clans by her witchcraft, p

5 I am against you. q

This is the declaration of the Lord of * Hosts.

I will lift your skirts over your face

and display your nakedness to nations,

your shame to kingdoms. r

6 I will throw filth on you

and treat you with contempt; s

I will make a spectacle of you.

7 Then all who see you will recoil from you, saying, t

“Nineveh is devastated;

who will show sympathy to her?”

Where can I find anyone to comfort you?

8 Are you better than Thebes u v

that sat along the Nile

with water surrounding her,

whose rampart was the sea,

the river w x her wall?

9 * Cush and Egypt were her endless source of strength;

Put and Libya were among her y allies.

10 Yet she became an exile;

she went into captivity.

Her children were also dashed to pieces z

at the head of every street.

They cast lots for her dignitaries, a

and all her nobles were bound in chains.

11 You b also will become drunk;

you will hide yourself. c

You also will seek refuge from the enemy.

12 All your fortresses are fig trees

with figs that ripened first;

when shaken, they fall—

right into the mouth of the eater!

13 Look, your troops are like women among you;

the gates of your land

are wide open to your enemies.

Fire will devour the bars of your gates.

14 Draw water for the siege;

strengthen your fortresses.

Step into the clay and tread the mortar;

take hold of the brick-mold!

15 The fire will devour you there;

the sword will cut you down.

It will devour you like the young locust. d

Multiply yourselves like the young locust,

multiply like the swarming locust!

16 You have made your merchants e

more numerous than the stars of the sky.

The young locust strips f the land

and flies away.

17 Your court officials are like the swarming locust,

and your scribes like clouds of locusts,

which settle on the walls on a cold day;

when the sun rises, they take off,

and no one knows where they are.

18 King of Assyria, your shepherds slumber; g

your officers sleep.

Your people are scattered across the mountains h

with no one to gather them together. i

19 There is no remedy for your injury;

your wound is severe. j

All who hear the news about you

will clap their hands because of you, k

for who has not experienced

your constant cruelty?