1Ah, city of crime,Utterly treacherous,Full of violence,Where killing never stops!
2Crack of whipAnd rattle of wheel,Galloping steedAnd bounding chariot!
3Charging cavalry,Flashing swords,And glittering spears!Hosts of slainAnd heaps of corpses,Dead bodies without number—They stumble over bodies.
4Because of the countless whoredoms of the whore,The winsome mistress of sorcery,Who ensnaredaensnared Meaning of Heb. uncertain. nations with her whoredomsAnd peoples with her sorcery,
5I am going to deal with you—declares GOD of Hosts.I will lift up your skirts over your faceAnd display your nakedness to the nationsAnd your shame to kingdoms.
6I will throw loathsome things over youAnd disfigure youAnd make a spectacle of you.
7All who see you will recoil from youAnd will say,“Nineveh has been ravaged!”Who will console her?Where shall I look forAnyone to comfort you?
8Were you any better than No-amon,bNo-amon Amon was the tutelary deity of No (Thebes; cf. Jer. 46.25), which the Assyrians had sacked in 663 BCE. Which sat by the Nile,Surrounded by water—Its rampart a river,criver Heb. “sea.” Its wall consisting of sea?
9Populous CushAnd teeming Egypt,Put and the Libyans—They were herdher Heb. “your.” helpers.
10Yet even she was exiled,She went into captivity.Her babes, too, were dashed in piecesAt every street corner.Lots were cast for her nobles,And all her dignitaries were bound in chains.
11You too shall be drunkAnd utterly overcome;eovercome Meaning of Heb. uncertain. You too shall seekA refuge from the enemy.
12All your forts are fig treesWithfWith Emendation yields “Your troops are”; cf. next verse. ripe fruit;If shaken they will fallInto the mouths of devourers.
13Truly, the troops within you are women;The gates of your land have opened themselvesTo your enemies;Fire has consumed your gate bars.
14Draw water for the siege,Strengthen your forts;Tread the clay,Trample the mud,Grasp the brick mold!
15There fire will devour you,The sword will put an end to you;It will devour you like the grub.Multiply like grubs,Multiply like locusts!gMultiply like grubs, Multiply like locusts Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
16You had more tradersThan the sky has stars—The grubs cast their skins and fly away.
17Your guards were like locusts,Your marshals like piles of hoppersThat settle on the stone fencesOn a chilly day;When the sun comes out, they fly away,And where they are nobody knows.
18Your shepherds are slumbering,O king of Assyria;Your sheepmasters are lying inert;hlying inert Lit. “dwelling”; emendation yields “asleep.” Your people are scatterediscattered Meaning of Heb. uncertain. over the hills,And there is none to gather them.
19There is no healingjhealing Heb. kehah, a variant of gehah; see Prov. 17.22. for your injury;Your wound is grievous.All who hear the news about youClap their hands over you.For who has not sufferedFrom your constant malice?