aWoe to the bloody city, completely full of lies and pillage; Her prey never departs.
2The anoise of the whip, The noise of the rattling of the wheel, Galloping horses And 1bounding chariots!
3Horsemen charging, Swords flashing, aspears gleaming, bMany slain, a mass of corpses, And 1 ccountless dead bodies-- They stumble over 2the dead bodies!
4All because of the amany harlotries of the harlot, The charming one, the bmistress of sorceries, Who csells nations by her harlotries And families by her sorceries.
5"Behold, aI am against you," declares the LORD of hosts; "And I will 1 blift up your skirts over your face, And cshow to the nations your nakedness And to the kingdoms your disgrace.
6"I will athrow 1filth on you And bmake you vile, And set you up as a cspectacle.
7"And it will come about that all who see you Will 1shrink from you and say, `Nineveh is devastated! aWho will grieve for her?' Where will I seek comforters for you?"
8Are you better than 1 aNo-amon, Which was situated by the bwaters of the Nile, With water surrounding her, Whose rampart was 2the sea, Whose wall consisted of 2the sea?
9aEthiopia was her might, And Egypt too, without limits. bPut and cLubim were among 1her helpers.
10Yet she abecame an exile, She went into captivity; Also her bsmall children were dashed to pieces cAt the head of every street; They dcast lots for her honorable men, And all her great men were bound with fetters.
11You too will become adrunk, You will be bhidden. You too will search for a refuge from the enemy.
12All your fortifications are afig trees with 1 bripe fruit-- When shaken, they fall into the eater's mouth.
13Behold, your people are awomen in your midst! The gates of your land are bopened wide to your enemies; Fire consumes your gate bars.
14aDraw for yourself water for the siege! bStrengthen your fortifications! Go into the clay and tread the mortar! Take hold of the brick mold!
15There afire will consume you, The sword will cut you down; It will bconsume you as the locust does. Multiply yourself like the creeping locust, Multiply yourself like the swarming locust.
16You have increased your atraders more than the stars of heaven-- The creeping locust 1strips and flies away.
17Your 1 aguardsmen are like the swarming locust. Your bmarshals are like hordes of grasshoppers Settling in the stone walls on a cold day. The sun rises and they flee, And the place where they are is not known.
18Your shepherds are asleeping, O bking of Assyria; Your cnobles are lying down. Your people are dscattered on the mountains And there is no one to regather them.
19There is ano relief for your breakdown, Your bwound is incurable. All who hear 1about you Will cclap their hands over you, For on whom has not your evil passed continually?