Woe to the city of blood , full of lies , full of plunder , never without prey.
The crack of the whip , the rumble ... of the wheel , galloping horse and bounding chariot !
Charging horseman , flashing sword , shining spear ; heaps of slain , mounds of corpses , dead bodies without end — they stumble over their dead —
because of the many harlotries of the harlot , vvv the seductive mistress of sorcery , who betrays nations by her prostitution and clans by her witchcraft.
“ 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.
I will pelt you with filth and treat you with contempt ; I will make a spectacle of you.
Then all who see you will recoil from you and say , ‘ Nineveh is devastated ; who will grieve Where can I find comforters
Are you better than Thebes ... , stationed by the Nile with water around whose rampart was the sea , whose wall was the water ?
Cush and Egypt were her boundless ... strength ; Put and Libya were her allies.
Yet 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.
You too will become drunk ; you will go into hiding - and seek refuge from the enemy.
All your fortresses are fig trees with the first ripe figs ; when shaken , they fall into the mouth of the eater !
Look at your troops — they are like your women ... ! The gates of your land are wide open ... to your enemies ; fire consumes their bars.
Draw water for the siege ; strengthen your fortresses. Work the clay and tread the mortar ; repair the brick (kiln) !
There 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 !
You have multiplied your merchants more than the stars of the sky. The young locust strips the land and flies away.
Your 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.
O king of Assyria , your shepherds slumber ; your officers sleep. Your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them.
There 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 ?