The Holy Bible

Woe to Nineveh

She is filled with lies, filled with plunder,
and never without victims! 2 The crack of whips,
the rumble of wheels, galloping horses,
and jolting chariots! 3 Horsemen charging,
flashing swords, and glittering spears! Many casualties,
piles of dead, heaps of corpses—
people stumble over the bodies of their dead— 4 all because of the ceaseless debauchery
of the seductive harlot, the mistress of sorceries, who enslaved nations by her prostitution,
and peoples by her witchcraft,

5 “Behold, I am against you,” declares the Lord of Hosts.
“I will lift your skirts over your face, and I will show the nations your nakedness,
and kingdoms your shame. 6 I will pelt you with filth
and treat you with contempt; I will make a spectacle of you. 7 All who look upon you
will flee from you and say, ‘Ninevah is laid waste;
who can have sympathy for her?’ Where can I find anyone to comfort you?”

8 Are you better than Thebes,
that was situated by the Nile, and surrounded by water? The river was her rampart,
the waters her wall. 9 Cush and Egypt were her boundless strength;
Put and Libya were among her allies. 10 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 nobles,
and all her great men were bound with chains. 11 You too will become drunk;
you will hide yourself, and you will seek refuge from the enemy.

12 All your fortresses are like fig trees
with their first ripe figs: when they are shaken,
their figs fall straight into the mouth of the eater! 13 Look at your troops—
they are all like women! The gates of your land
are wide open to your enemies. Fire will devour the bars of your gates.

14 Draw water for the siege!
Fortify your strongholds! Work the clay
and tread the mortar! Make strong the brickwork! 15 The fire will devour you there;
the sword will cut you down. It will devour you like young locusts. Multiply yourselves like locusts;
multiply like the plague of swarming locusts. 16 You have increased the number of your merchants
until they are more numerous than the stars of the heavens, but like young locusts they strip the land
and then fly away. 17 Your officials are like locusts,
and your commanders like swarms of locusts that settle on the walls on a cold day— but when the sun rises they fly away,
and no one knows where they have gone.

18 O king of Assyria, your shepherds slumber;
your nobles sleep. Your people are scattered on the mountains
with no one to gather them. 19 Your injury will never heal;
your wound is fatal. All who hear the news about you
will clap his hands together at your fall; for who has not experienced
your endless cruelty?