1  Woe to the ^xbloody city,

all full of lies and plunder—

no end to the prey!

2  The crack of the whip, and rumble of the wheel,

galloping horse and bounding chariot!

3  Horsemen charging,

flashing sword and ^yglittering spear,

hosts of slain,

heaps of corpses,

dead bodies without end—

they stumble over the bodies!

4  And all for the countless whorings of the ^zprostitute,

graceful and of deadly ^acharms,

who betrays nations with her whorings,

and peoples with her charms.

5  ^bBehold, I am against you,

declares the Lord of hosts,

and will ^clift up your skirts over your face;

and I will make nations look at your nakedness

and kingdoms at your shame.

6  I will throw filth at you

and treat you with contempt

and make you a spectacle.

7  And all who look at you will shrink from you and say,

“Wasted is Nineveh; ^dwho will grieve for her?”

Where shall I seek comforters for you?

8  ^eAre you better than ^fThebes¹

that sat by the Nile,

with water around her,

her rampart a sea,

and water her wall?

9  Cush was her strength;

Egypt too, and that without limit;

Put and the Libyans were her² helpers.

10  Yet ^gshe became an exile;

she went into captivity;

^hher infants were dashed in pieces

at the head of every street;

for her honored men ⁱlots were cast,

and all her great men were bound in chains.

11  You also will be drunken;

you will go into hiding;

you will seek a refuge from the enemy.

12  All your fortresses are like fig trees

with ^jfirst-ripe figs—

if shaken they fall

into the mouth of the eater.

13  Behold, your troops

are ^kwomen in your midst.

The ^lgates of your land

are wide open to your enemies;

fire has devoured your bars.

14  Draw water for the siege;

strengthen your forts;

go into the clay;

tread the mortar;

take hold of the brick mold!

15  There will the fire devour you;

the sword will cut you off.

It will devour you like the locust.

Multiply yourselves like the locust;

multiply like the grasshopper!

16  You increased your merchants

more than the stars of the heavens.

The locust spreads its wings and flies away.

17  Your princes³ are like grasshoppers,

your scribes⁴ like clouds of locusts

settling on the fences

in a day of cold—

when the sun rises, they fly away;

no one knows where they are.

18  Your shepherds are asleep,

O king of Assyria;

your nobles slumber.

^mYour people are scattered on the mountains

with none to gather them.

19  There is no easing your hurt;

ⁿyour wound is grievous.

All who hear the news about you

^oclap their hands over you.

For upon whom has not come

your unceasing evil?