1 W oe to the bloody city, completely full of lies and pillage; Her prey never departs.

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

2 T he noise of the whip, The noise of the rattling of the wheel, Galloping horses And bounding chariots!

The 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.

3 H orsemen charging, Swords flashing, spears gleaming, Many slain, a mass of corpses, And countless dead bodies— They stumble over the dead bodies!

The 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,

4 A ll 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.

because 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.

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.

Here 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.

6 “ I will throw filth on you And make you vile, And set you up as a spectacle.

And I will cast abominable filth upon thee and make thee vile and will set thee as dung.

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?”

And 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?

8 A re 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?

¶ 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?

9 E thiopia was her might, And Egypt too, without limits. Put and Lubim were among her helpers.

Ethiopia was thy strength and Egypt with no limit; Put and Libia went to thy aid.

10 Y et 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.

Yet 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.

11 Y ou too will become drunk, You will be hidden. You too will search for a refuge from the enemy.

Thou also shalt be drunken; thou shalt be encompassed; thou also shalt seek strength because of the enemy.

12 A ll your fortifications are fig trees with ripe fruit— When shaken, they fall into the eater’s mouth.

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

13 B ehold, your people are women in your midst! The gates of your land are opened wide to your enemies; Fire consumes your gate bars.

Behold, 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.

14 D raw for yourself water for the siege! Strengthen your fortifications! Go into the clay and tread the mortar! Take hold of the brick mold!

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

15 T here 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.

There 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.

16 Y ou have increased your traders more than the stars of heaven— The creeping locust strips and flies away.

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

17 Y our 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.

Thy 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.

18 Y our 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.

Thy 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.

19 T here 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?

There 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?