1
Woe to the city of bloods*! All of her is full of denial* and rapine; the prey departs not;
2
the voice of a whip, and the voice of the quaking of the wheels, and of the trotting horses, and of the skipping chariots.
3
The horseman makes both the flame of the sword and the lightning of the spear to go··up; and there is a multitude of slain, and a heavy heap of corpses, and no end of bodies—they stumble on◦ their bodies—
4
from the multitude of the harlotries of the harlot of good grace*, the mistress◦ of sorceries, who sells nations by her harlotries, and families by her sorceries.
5
Behold, I◦ am against▵ thee, says◦ Jehovah of Armies; and I will reveal thy skirts on thy faces, and I will cause nations to see thy nakedness, and kingdoms thy disgrace.
6
And I will cast detestable things on thee, and disparage thee, and will set thee as something to··see.
7
And it shall be, that all they who see thee shall flee··away from thee, and say, Nineveh is devastated; who will be··sorry for her? Whence◦ shall I seek comforters for thee?
8
Art· thou ·better than No of Amon, that was sitting on◦ the rivers◦, with the waters all around her, whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was from the sea?
9
Cush was her strength*, and Egypt, and there was no end of them; Put and Lubim were thy help.
10
Yet even she◦ was exiled, she went◦ into captivity; even her babes were dashed at the head of all the streets; and they cast▵ lots upon her honored◦ ones, and all her great ones were chained◦ in shackles.
11
Thou◦ also shalt be··drunken; thou shalt be hidden◦; thou◦ also shalt seek a stronghold away from the enemy.
12
All thy fortresses shall be like fig··trees with the firstfruits: if swayed, then they shall fall on the mouth of the eater.
13
Behold, thy people in the midst··of thee are women; the gates of thy land opening shall be opened to thine enemies; the fire shall eat··up thy bars.
14
Draw◦ for thyself waters for the siege; make··firm thy fortifications; come into the mud and trample the clay; repair the brickkiln.
15
There shall the fire eat· thee ·up; the sword shall cut· thee ·off; it shall eat· thee ·up as the grub. Multiply thyself as the grub! Multiply thyself as the locust!
16
Thou hast multiplied thy merchants more than the stars of the heavens; the grub strips, and flies away.*
17
Thy crowned◦ are as the locust, and thine emperors as the locust◦ of locusts◦, which camp in the fences in the day of cold, but the sun rises◦ and they flee··away, and their place is not known where◦ they are.
18
Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria; thy magnificent ones shall inhabit the dust; thy people are spread··out on the mountains, and no··one brings· them ·together.
19
There is no scar for healing* thy breaking; thy blow◦ is desperate*; all who hear the rumor of thee shall clap◦ the palm of the hands against thee, for upon whom has not thine evil passed continually?
