| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 1What sorrow awaits Nineveh, the city of murder and lies! She is crammed with wealth and is never without victims. | 1Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without prey. |
| 2Hear the crack of whips, the rumble of wheels! Horses’ hooves pound, and chariots clatter wildly. | 2The crack of the whip, the rumble of the wheel, galloping horse and bounding chariot! |
| 3See the flashing swords and glittering spears as the charioteers charge past! There are countless casualties, heaps of bodies— so many bodies that people stumble over them. | 3Charging horseman, flashing sword, shining spear; heaps of slain, mounds of corpses, dead bodies without end—they stumble over their dead— |
| 4All this because Nineveh, the beautiful and faithless city, mistress of deadly charms, enticed the nations with her beauty. She taught them all her magic, enchanting people everywhere. | 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“I am your enemy!” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. “And now I will lift your skirts and show all the earth your nakedness and shame. | 5“Behold, I am against you,” declares the LORD 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 cover you with filth and show the world how vile you really are. | 6I will pelt you with filth and treat you with contempt; I will make a spectacle of you. |
| 7All who see you will shrink back and say, ‘Nineveh lies in ruins. Where are the mourners?’ Does anyone regret your destruction?” | 7Then all who see you will recoil from you and say, ‘Nineveh is devastated; who will grieve for her?’ Where can I find comforters for you?” |
| 8Are you any better than the city of Thebes, situated on the Nile River, surrounded by water? She was protected by the river on all sides, walled in by water. | 8Are you better than Thebes, stationed by the Nile with water around her, whose rampart was the sea, whose wall was the water? |
| 9Ethiopia and the land of Egypt gave unlimited assistance. The nations of Put and Libya were among her allies. | 9Cush and Egypt were her boundless strength; Put and Libya were her allies. |
| 10Yet Thebes fell, and her people were led away as captives. Her babies were dashed to death against the stones of the streets. Soldiers threw dice to get Egyptian officers as servants. All their leaders were bound in chains. | 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. |
| 11And you, Nineveh, will also stagger like a drunkard. You will hide for fear of the attacking enemy. | 11You too will become drunk; you will go into hiding and seek refuge from the enemy. |
| 12All your fortresses will fall. They will be devoured like the ripe figs that fall into the mouths of those who shake the trees. | 12All your fortresses are fig trees with the first ripe figs; when shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater! |
| 13Your troops will be as weak and helpless as women. The gates of your land will be opened wide to the enemy and set on fire and burned. | 13Look at your troops—they are like your women! The gates of your land are wide open to your enemies; fire consumes their bars. |
| 14Get ready for the siege! Store up water! Strengthen the defenses! Go into the pits to trample clay, and pack it into molds, making bricks to repair the walls. | 14Draw your water for the siege; strengthen your fortresses. Work the clay and tread the mortar; repair the brick kiln! |
| 15But the fire will devour you; the sword will cut you down. The enemy will consume you like locusts, devouring everything they see. There will be no escape, even if you multiply like swarming locusts. | 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! |
| 16Your merchants have multiplied until they outnumber the stars. But like a swarm of locusts, they strip the land and fly away. | 16You have multiplied your merchants more than the stars of the sky. The young locust strips the land and flies away. |
| 17Your guards and officials are also like swarming locusts that crowd together in the hedges on a cold day. But like locusts that fly away when the sun comes up, all of them will fly away and disappear. | 17Your guards are like the swarming locust, and your scribes 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. |
| 18Your shepherds are asleep, O Assyrian king; your princes lie dead in the dust. Your people are scattered across the mountains with no one to gather them together. | 18O king of Assyria, 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 wound; your injury is fatal. All who hear of your destruction will clap their hands for joy. Where can anyone be found who has not suffered from your continual cruelty? | 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? |
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