Woe to Nineveh

1Woe to the city of blood,

full of lies,

full of plunder,

never without victims!

2The crack of whips,

the clatter of wheels,

galloping horses

and jolting chariots!

3Charging cavalry,

flashing swords

and glittering spears!

Many casualties,

piles of dead,

bodies without number,

people stumbling over the corpses –

4all because of the wanton lust of a prostitute,

alluring, the mistress of sorceries,

who enslaved nations by her prostitution

and peoples by her witchcraft.

5‘I am against you,’ declares the Lord Almighty.

‘I will lift your skirts over your face.

I will show the nations your nakedness

and the kingdoms your shame.

6I will pelt you with filth,

I will treat you with contempt

and make you a spectacle.

7All who see you will flee from you and say,

“Nineveh is in ruins – who will mourn for her?”

Where can I find anyone to comfort you?’

8Are you better than Thebes,

situated on the Nile,

with water around her?

The river was her defence,

the waters her wall.

9Cush3:9 That is, the upper Nile region and Egypt were her boundless strength;

Put and Libya were among her allies.

10Yet she was taken captive

and went into exile.

Her infants were dashed to pieces

at every street corner.

Lots were cast for her nobles,

and all her great men were put in chains.

11You too will become drunk;

you will go into hiding

and seek refuge from the enemy.

12All your fortresses are like fig-trees

with their first ripe fruit;

when they are shaken,

the figs fall into the mouth of the eater.

13Look at your troops –

they are all weaklings.

The gates of your land

are wide open to your enemies;

fire has consumed the bars of your gates.

14Draw water for the siege,

strengthen your defences!

Work the clay,

tread the mortar,

repair the brickwork!

15There the fire will consume you;

the sword will cut you down –

and it will devour you like a swarm of locusts.

Multiply like grasshoppers,

multiply like locusts!

16You have increased the number of your merchants

till they are more numerous than the stars in the sky,

but like locusts they strip the land

and then fly away.

17Your guards are like locusts,

your officials like swarms of locusts

that settle in the walls on a cold day –

but when the sun appears they fly away,

and no-one knows where.

18King of Assyria, your shepherds3:18 That is, rulers slumber;

your nobles lie down to rest.

Your people are scattered on the mountains

with no-one to gather them.

19Nothing can heal you;

your wound is fatal.

All who hear the news about you

clap their hands at your fall,

for who has not felt

your endless cruelty?