| New International Version | International Standard Version |
| 1Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without victims! | 1Woe to this city, contaminated with shed blood, all full of lies and robberies— it is never without victims! |
| 2The crack of whips, the clatter of wheels, galloping horses and jolting chariots! | 2The crack of whips and the clamor of wheels! The galloping horses and the bounding chariots! |
| 3Charging cavalry, flashing swords and glittering spears! Many casualties, piles of dead, bodies without number, people stumbling over the corpses-- | 3The cavalry attacks— the flashing sword and the glittering spear! Many are the slain— so many casualties!— No end to bodies, and the soldiers trip over the corpses. |
| 4all because of the wanton lust of a prostitute, alluring, the mistress of sorceries, who enslaved nations by her prostitution and peoples by her witchcraft. | 4Innumerable are the harlotries of this well-favored whore, this mistress of witchcraft, who enslaves nations through her fornication and families through her sorcery. |
| 5"I am against you," declares the LORD Almighty. "I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show the nations your nakedness and the kingdoms your shame. | 5"Look, I am against you," declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, "so I will pull up your dress over your face. I will show your nakedness to the nations, and your disgrace to the kingdoms. |
| 6I will pelt you with filth, I will treat you with contempt and make you a spectacle. | 6I will hurl abominable filth upon you, making you look foolish, and making an example of you. |
| 7All who see you will flee from you and say, 'Nineveh is in ruins--who will mourn for her?' Where can I find anyone to comfort you?" | 7It will be that everyone who looks at you will run away, saying, 'Nineveh has been violently overthrown! Who will mourn for her? Where will I find anyone to comfort you?'" |
| 8Are you better than Thebes, situated on the Nile, with water around her? The river was her defense, the waters her wall. | 8"Are you any better than Thebes, which sits by the upper Nile, surrounded by water? The sea was her defense, the waters her wall of protection. |
| 9Cush and Egypt were her boundless strength; Put and Libya were among her allies. | 9Sudan was her source of strength, along with Egypt— there were no limits. Put and the Libyans were her allies. |
| 10Yet she was taken captive and went into exile. Her infants were dashed to pieces at every street corner. Lots were cast for her nobles, and all her great men were put in chains. | 10But she, too, was exiled— she went into captivity! Her young children were dashed to pieces at every crossroad of their streets, and her famous citizens were sold by lottery, while all of her aristocrats were put in chains. |
| 11You too will become drunk; you will go into hiding and seek refuge from the enemy. | 11You will also become drunk. You will disappear, trying to hide from your enemies. |
| 12All your fortresses are like fig trees with their first ripe fruit; when they are shaken, the figs fall into the mouth of the eater. | 12All your defenses are like fig trees with ripe early fruit— when shaken, it falls right into the devourer's mouth. |
| 13Look at your troops-- they are all weaklings. The gates of your land are wide open to your enemies; fire has consumed the bars of your gates. | 13Look at your people— they are women! Your borders stand wide open to your enemies, while fire consumes the bars of your gates." |
| 14Draw water for the siege, strengthen your defenses! Work the clay, tread the mortar, repair the brickwork! | 14"Draw water, because a siege is coming! Strengthen your fortresses! Make the clay good and strong! Mix the mortar! Go get your brick molds! |
| 15There the fire will consume you; the sword will cut you down-- they will devour you like a swarm of locusts. Multiply like grasshoppers, multiply like locusts! | 15In that place fire will consume you, the sword will cut you down, consuming you as locusts do. Multiply yourself like locusts, increase like swarming grasshoppers. |
| 16You have increased the number of your merchants till they are more numerous than the stars in the sky, but like locusts they strip the land and then fly away. | 16You added to your inventory of businessmen— they number more than the stars of heaven. The creeping locust sheds its skin and flies away. |
| 17Your guards are like locusts, your officials like swarms of locusts that settle in the walls on a cold day-- but when the sun appears they fly away, and no one knows where. | 17Your imperial guards are like the swarming grasshopper; your marshals are like hordes of grasshoppers, settling in the stone walls on a chilly day. The sun rises, and they flee away; no one knows where they went. |
| 18King of Assyria, your shepherds slumber; your nobles lie down to rest. Your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them. | 18Hey king of Assyria! Your shepherds are asleep and your nobles are lying down! Your people lie scattered on the mountains, and there is no one to gather them together. |
| 19Nothing can heal you; your wound is fatal. All who hear the news about you clap their hands at your fall, for who has not felt your endless cruelty? | 19There is no healing for your injury— your wound is fatal. Everyone who hears about you will applaud, because who hasn't escaped your endless evil?" |
| New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. | The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. |
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