3:1 Woe to the bloody city, completely full of lies and pillage;
Her prey does not leave.
3:2 The sound of the whip,
The sound of the roar of the wheel,
Galloping horses
And ①bounding chariots!
▷ ①Lit leaping
3:3 Horsemen charging,
Swords flashing, spears gleaming,
Many killed, a mass of corpses,
And there is no end to the dead bodies—
They stumble over ①the dead bodies!
▷ ①Lit their
3:4 All because of the many sexual acts of the prostitute,
The charming one, the mistress of sorceries,
Who sells nations by her sexual acts,
And families by her sorceries.
3:5 “Behold, I am against you,” declares the LORD of armies;
“And I will ①lift up your skirts over your face,
And show the nations your nakedness,
And the kingdoms your shame.
▷ ①Lit uncover your private parts
3:6 I will throw filth on you
And declare you worthless,
And set you up as a spectacle.
3:7 And it will come about that all who see you
Will ①shrink from you and say,
‘Nineveh is devastated!
Who will have sympathy for her?’
Where shall I seek comforters for you?”
▷ ①Lit flee
3:8 Are you better than ①No-amon,
Which was situated by the canals of the Nile,
With water surrounding her,
Whose rampart was ②the sea,
Whose wall consisted of ③the sea?
▷ ①I.e., the city of Amon: Thebes ②I.e., the Nile ③I.e., the Nile
3:9 Ethiopia was her might,
Egypt too, without limits.
Put and Lubim were among ①her helpers.
▷ ①Lit your
3:10 Yet she became an exile,
She went into captivity;
Also her small children were smashed to pieces
At the head of every street;
They cast lots for her honorable men,
And all her great men were bound with shackles.
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 ①ripe fruit—
When shaken, they fall into the eater’s mouth.
▷ ①Lit first fruits
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 a 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 creeping locust consumes a crop.
Multiply yourself like the creeping locust,
Multiply yourself like the migratory locust.
3:16 You have made your traders more numerous than the stars of heaven—
The creeping locust sheds its skin and flies away.
3:17 Your courtiers are like the migratory locust.
Your officials are like a swarm of locusts
Settling in the stone shelters 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 officers are lying down.
Your people are scattered on the mountains
And there is no one to gather them.
3:19 There is no relief for your collapse,
Your wound is incurable.
All who hear ①about you
Will clap their hands over you,
For upon whom has your evil not come continually?
▷ ①Lit your report