Nineveh’s Downfall

1Woe to the city of blood,a

totally deceitful,

full of plunder,

never without prey.b

2The crack of the whip

and rumble of the wheel,

galloping horse

and jolting chariot!a

3Charging horseman,

flashing sword,

shining spear;

heaps of slain,

mounds of corpses,a

dead bodies without endb —

they stumble over their dead.

4Because of the continual prostitution of the prostitute,

the attractive mistress of sorcery,

who treats nations and clans like merchandise

by her prostitution and sorcery,a

5I am against you.a

This is the declaration of the Lord of Armies.

I will lift your skirts over your face

and display your nakedness to nations,

your shame to kingdoms.b

6I will throw filth on you

and treat you with contempt;a

I will make a spectacle of you.

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

“Nineveh is devastated;

who will show sympathy to her? ”

Where can I find anyone to comfort you?

8Are you better than Thebesa a

that sat along the Nile

with water surrounding her,

whose rampart was the sea,

the riverB C her wall?

9Cush and Egypt were her endless source of strength;

Put and Libya were among herA allies.

10Yet she became an exile;

she went into captivity.

Her children were also dashed to piecesa

at the head of every street.

They cast lots for her dignitaries,b

and all her nobles were bound in chains.

11YouA also will become drunk;

you will hide.B

You also will seek refuge from the enemy.

12All your fortresses are fig trees

with figs that ripened first;

when shaken, they fall —

right into the mouth of the eater!

13Look, your troops are like women among you;

your land’s city gates

are wide open to your enemies.

Fire will devour the bars of your gates.

14Draw water for the siege;

strengthen your fortresses.

Step into the clay and tread the mortar;

take hold of the brick-mold!

15The fire will devour you there;

the sword will cut you down.

It will devour you like the young locust.a

Multiply yourselves like the young locust;

multiply like the swarming locust!

16You have made your merchantsa

more numerous than the stars of the sky.

The young locust stripsA the land

and flies away.

17Your 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.

18King of Assyria, your shepherds slumber;a

your officers sleep.

Your people are scattered across the mountainsb

with no one to gather them together.c

19There is no remedy for your injury;

your wound is severe.a

All who hear the news about you

will clap their hands because of you,b

for who has not experienced

your constant cruelty?