Judgment on Nineveh 1 UEB Woe to the city full of blood! It is all full of lies and stolen property; victims are always in her. BSB BSB: Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without prey.
2 UEB But now there is the noise of whips and the sound of rattling wheels, prancing horses, and bounding chariots. BSB BSB: The crack of the whip, the rumble of the wheel, galloping horse and bounding chariot!
3 UEB There are attacking horsemen, flashing swords, glittering spears, heaps of corpses, great piles of bodies. There is no end to the bodies; their attackers stumble over them. BSB BSB: Charging horseman, flashing sword, shining spear; heaps of slain, mounds of corpses, dead bodies without end—they stumble over their dead—
4 UEB This is happening because of the lustful actions of the beautiful prostitute, the expert in witchcraft, who sells nations through her prostitution, and peoples through her acts of witchcraft. BSB BSB: because of the many harlotries of the harlot, the seductive mistress of sorcery, who betrays nations by her prostitution and clans by her witchcraft.
5 UEB "See, I am against you—this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts—I will raise up your skirt over your face and show your private parts to the nations, your shame to the kingdoms. BSB BSB: “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.
6 UEB I will throw disgusting filth on you and make you vile; I will make you someone that everyone will look at. BSB BSB: I will pelt you with filth and treat you with contempt; I will make a spectacle of you.
7 UEB It will come about that everyone who looks at you will flee from you and say, 'Nineveh is destroyed; who will weep for her?' Where can I find anyone to comfort you?" BSB BSB: Then all who see you will recoil from you and say, ‘Nineveh is devastated; who will grieve for her?’ Where can I find comforters for you?”
8 UEB Nineveh, are you better than Thebes, that was built on the Nile River, that had water around her, whose defense was the ocean, whose wall was the sea itself? BSB BSB: Are you better than Thebes, stationed by the Nile with water around her, whose rampart was the sea, whose wall was the water?
9 UEB Cush and Egypt were her strength, and there was no end to it; Put and Libya were allies to her. BSB BSB: Cush and Egypt were her boundless strength; Put and Libya were her allies.
10 UEB Yet Thebes was carried away; she went into captivity; her young children were dashed in pieces at the head of every street; her enemies threw lots for her honorable men, and all her great men were bound in chains. BSB BSB: 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.
11 UEB You also will become drunk; you will try to hide, and you will also look for a refuge from your enemy. BSB BSB: You too will become drunk; you will go into hiding and seek refuge from the enemy.
12 UEB All your fortresses will be like fig trees with the earliest ripe figs: if they are shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater. BSB BSB: All your fortresses are fig trees with the first ripe figs; when shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater!
13 UEB See, the people among you are women; the gates of your land have been opened wide to your enemies; fire has devoured their bars. BSB BSB: Look at your troops—they are like your women! The gates of your land are wide open to your enemies; fire consumes their bars.
14 UEB Go draw water for the siege; strengthen your fortresses; go into the clay and tread the mortar; pick up the molds for the bricks. BSB BSB: Draw your water for the siege; strengthen your fortresses. Work the clay and tread the mortar; repair the brick kiln!
15 UEB Fire will devour you there, and the sword will destroy you. It will devour you as young locusts devour everything. Make yourselves as many as the young locusts, as many as the full-grown locusts. BSB BSB: 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!
16 UEB You have multiplied your merchants more than the stars in the heavens; but they are like young locusts: they plunder the land and then fly away. BSB BSB: You have multiplied your merchants more than the stars of the sky. The young locust strips the land and flies away.
17 UEB Your princes are as many as the full-grown locusts, and your generals are like swarms of them that camp in the walls on a cold day. But when the sun rises they fly away to no one knows where. BSB BSB: 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.
18 UEB King of Assyria, your shepherds are asleep; your rulers are lying down resting. Your people are scattered on the mountains, and there is no one to gather them. BSB BSB: O king of Assyria, your shepherds slumber; your officers sleep. Your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them.
19 UEB No healing is possible for your wounds. Your wounds are severe. Everyone who hears the news about you will clap their hands in joy over you. Who has escaped your constant wickedness? BSB BSB: 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?