3:1 Woe to the bloody city, completely full of lies {and} pillage; {Her} prey never departs. |
3:2 The noise of the whip, The noise of the rattling of the wheel, Galloping horses And bounding chariots! |
3:3 Horsemen charging, Swords flashing, spears gleaming, Many slain, a mass of corpses, And countless dead bodies-- They stumble over the dead bodies! |
3:4 {All} because of the many harlotries of the harlot, The charming one, the mistress of sorceries, Who sells nations by her harlotries And families by her sorceries. |
3:5 "Behold, I am against you, declares the LORD of hosts; "And I will lift up your skirts over your face, And show to the nations your nakedness And to the kingdoms your disgrace." |
3:6 "I will throw filth on you And make you vile, And set you up as a spectacle. |
3:7 "And it will come about that all who see you Will shrink from you and say, `Nineveh is devastated! Who will grieve for her?' Where will I seek comforters for you?" |
3:8 Are you better than No-amon, Which was situated by the waters of the Nile, With water surrounding her, Whose rampart {was} the sea, Whose wall {consisted} of the sea? |
3:9 Ethiopia was {her} might, And Egypt too, without limits. Put and Lubim were among her helpers. |
3:10 Yet she became an exile, She went into captivity; Also her small children were dashed to pieces At the head of every street; They cast lots for her honorable men, And all her great men were bound with fetters. |
3:11 You too will become drunk, You will be hidden. You too will search for a refuge from the enemy. |
3:12 All your fortifications are fig trees with ripe fruit-- When shaken, they fall into the eater's mouth. |
3:13 Behold, your people are women in your midst! The gates of your land are opened wide to your enemies; Fire consumes your gate bars. |
3:14 Draw for yourself water for the siege! Strengthen your fortifications! Go into the clay and tread the mortar! Take hold of the brick mold! |
3:15 There fire will consume you, The sword will cut you down; It will consume you as the locust {does.} Multiply yourself like the creeping locust, Multiply yourself like the swarming locust. |
3:16 You have increased your traders more than the stars of heaven-- The creeping locust strips and flies away. |
3:17 Your guardsmen are like the swarming locust. Your marshals are like hordes of grasshoppers Settling in the stone walls on a cold day. The sun rises and they flee, And the place where they are is not known. |
3:18 Your shepherds are sleeping, O king of Assyria; Your nobles are lying down. Your people are scattered on the mountains And there is no one to regather {them.} |
3:19 There is no relief for your breakdown, Your wound is incurable. All who hear about you Will clap {their} hands over you, For on whom has not your evil passed continually? |