Judgment on Nineveh

1Woe to the city of blood,

full of lies,

full of plunder,

never without prey.

2The crack of the whip,

the rumble of the wheel,

galloping horse

and bounding chariot!

3Charging horseman,

flashing sword,

shining spear;

heaps of slain,

mounds of corpses,

dead bodies without end—

they stumble over their dead—

4because of the many harlotries of the harlot,

the seductive mistress of sorcery,

who betrays nations by her prostitution

and clans by her witchcraft.

5“Behold, I am against you,”

declares the LORD {YHWH} of Hosts.

“I will lift your skirts over your face.

I will show your nakedness to the nations

and your shame to the kingdoms.

6I will pelt you with filth

and treat you with contempt;

I will make a spectacle of you.

7Then all who see you

will recoil from you and say,

‘Nineveh (abode of Ninus) is devastated;

who will grieve for her?’

Where can I find

comforters for you?”

8Are you better than Thebes (disrupting) \No-amon/,a

stationed by the Nile with water around her,

whose rampart was the sea,

whose wall was the water?

9Cush (the upper Nile region)b and Egypt (land of bondage) were her boundless strength;

Put (a bow) and Libya (empty-hearted Da 11:43 / afflicted Jer 46:9) were her allies.

10Yet she became an exile;

she went into captivity.

Her infants were dashed to pieces

at the head of every street.

They cast lots for her dignitaries,

and all her nobles were bound in chains.

11You too will become drunk;

you will go into hiding

and seek refuge from the enemy.

12All your fortresses are fig trees

with the first ripe figs;

when shaken, they fall

into the mouth of the eater!

13Look at your troops—

they are like your women!

The gates of your land

are wide open to your enemies;

fire consumes their bars.

14Draw your water for the siege;

strengthen your fortresses.

Work the clay and tread the mortar;

repair the brick kiln!

15There the fire will devour you;

the sword will cut you down

and consume you like a young locust.

Make yourself many like the young locust;

make yourself many like the swarming locust!

16You have multiplied your merchants

more than the stars of the sky.

The young locust strips the land

and flies away.

17Your guards (princes)c are like the swarming locust,

and your scribes (marshals)d like clouds of locusts

that settle on the walls on a cold day.

When the sun rises, they fly away,

and no one knows where.

18O king of Assyria (a step), your shepherds slumber;

your officers sleep.

Your people are scattered on the mountains

with no one to gather them.

19There is no healing for your injury;

your wound is severe.

All who hear the news of you

applaud your downfall,

for who has not experienced

your constant cruelty?