1 ¶ Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; stealing does not depart from her!

It is bad for the city of blood, full of lies and stolen riches! There is no end of her prizes of war!

2 T he noise of the whip and the noise of the rattling of the wheels and of the prancing horses and of the jumping chariots shall be heard in thee.

The noise of the whip, the noise of the wheel, running horses and rolling war-wagons!

3 T he horseman lifts up both the bright sword and the glittering spear, and there is a multitude of slain and a great number of carcasses; and there shall be no end of their corpses; they stumble upon their corpses,

Horsemen rushing to battle, swords and spears shining, many dead, too many dead bodies to number! They fall over the dead bodies!

4 b ecause of the multitude of the whoredoms of the harlot of beautiful grace, the mistress of witchcrafts that sells the Gentiles into slavery through her whoredoms and peoples through her witchcrafts.

All this is because of the many sins of the woman who sells the use of her body. She tempts with her beauty and uses witchcraft. She sells nations by her sinful acts, and families by her witchcraft.

5 H ere I am against thee, saith the LORD of the hosts, and I will uncover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will show the Gentiles thy nakedness and the kingdoms thy shame.

“I am against you,” says the Lord of All. “I will lift up your clothing over your face and let the nations see your body. The nations will see your shame.

6 A nd I will cast abominable filth upon thee and make thee vile and will set thee as dung.

I will throw dirt on you and make you unclean. People will look at you and see how bad you are.

7 A nd it shall come to pass, that all those that look upon thee shall flee from thee and say, Nineveh is laid waste; who will bemoan her? from where shall I seek comforters for thee?

All who see you will leave you and say, ‘Nineveh is destroyed! Who will have sorrow for her?’ Where can I find anyone to comfort you?”

8 ¶ Art thou better than populous No that was situated among the rivers, that had the waters round about it, whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was from the sea?

Are you better than Thebes, which is by the Nile River? Water was all around her. The sea kept her safe, for the water was her wall.

9 E thiopia was thy strength and Egypt with no limit; Put and Libia went to thy aid.

Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, with too many to number. Put and Lubim were among her helpers.

10 Y et she was carried away, she went into captivity; her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets: and they cast lots for her honourable men, and all her nobles were bound in chains.

Yet she was taken away to a strange land. She was taken away in chains. Her small children were beaten to death at every street corner. They drew names to see who would get her men of honor. And all her great men were put in chains.

11 T hou also shalt be drunken; thou shalt be encompassed; thou also shalt seek strength because of the enemy.

You also will become drunk. You will be hidden. You will look for a safe place from those who hate you.

12 A ll thy strongholds are like fig trees with the firstripe figs; if they are shaken, they even fall into the mouth of the eater.

All your strong towers are like fig trees with first-fruits. When they are shaken, they fall into the mouth of the one who eats them.

13 B ehold, thy people in the midst of thee shall be like women; the gates of thy land shall be set wide open unto thine enemies; the fire shall devour thy bars.

Your soldiers are all women. The gates of your land are opened wide to those who hate you. Fire destroys your gates.

14 D raw thee waters for the siege, fortify thy strong holds: go into clay, and tread the mortar, make strong the brickkiln.

Store up water to drink when you are shut in by armies! Make your walls stronger! Go into the clay to make more clay blocks for building!

15 T here shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off; it shall eat thee up like the cankerworm: make thyself many as the cankerworm, make thyself many as the locusts.

There the fire will destroy you. The sword will kill you. It will destroy you like the locust. Make yourselves as many as the locusts, as many as the flying locusts.

16 T hou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven; the cankerworm spoils and flies away.

You have more traders than the stars of heaven. The locust destroys everything from the land and flies away.

17 T hy princes shall be as the locusts and thy captains as the great grasshoppers which camp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun arises, they flee away, and it is not known where they were.

Your watchmen are like the flying locusts. Your leaders are like clouds of locusts. They stay in the stone walls on a cold day. When the sun rises they fly away and no one knows where they are.

18 T hy shepherds have slumbered, O king of Assyria; thy valiant ones are at rest; thy people scattered themselves upon the mountains, and there is no one to unite them.

Your shepherds are sleeping, O king of Assyria. Your leaders are lying down. Your people have gone everywhere on the mountains. And there is no one to gather them together again.

19 T here is no cure for thy destruction; thy wound is grievous; all that hear thy story shall clap their hands over thee; for upon whom has not thy wickedness passed continually?

Nothing can heal your hurt. Your sore cannot be cured. All who hear about you will clap their hands over you. For who has not suffered under your sinful ways again and again?