| New International Version | New Living Translation |
| 1Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without victims! | 1What sorrow awaits Nineveh, the city of murder and lies! She is crammed with wealth and is never without victims. |
| 2The crack of whips, the clatter of wheels, galloping horses and jolting chariots! | 2Hear the crack of whips, the rumble of wheels! Horses’ hooves pound, and chariots clatter wildly. |
| 3Charging cavalry, flashing swords and glittering spears! Many casualties, piles of dead, bodies without number, people stumbling over the corpses-- | 3See the flashing swords and glittering spears as the charioteers charge past! There are countless casualties, heaps of bodies— so many bodies that people stumble over them. |
| 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. | 4All this because Nineveh, the beautiful and faithless city, mistress of deadly charms, enticed the nations with her beauty. She taught them all her magic, enchanting people everywhere. |
| 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“I am your enemy!” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. “And now I will lift your skirts and show all the earth your nakedness and shame. |
| 6I will pelt you with filth, I will treat you with contempt and make you a spectacle. | 6I will cover you with filth and show the world how vile you really are. |
| 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?" | 7All who see you will shrink back and say, ‘Nineveh lies in ruins. Where are the mourners?’ Does anyone regret your destruction?” |
| 8Are you better than Thebes, situated on the Nile, with water around her? The river was her defense, the waters her wall. | 8Are you any better than the city of Thebes, situated on the Nile River, surrounded by water? She was protected by the river on all sides, walled in by water. |
| 9Cush and Egypt were her boundless strength; Put and Libya were among her allies. | 9Ethiopia and the land of Egypt gave unlimited assistance. The nations of Put and Libya were among 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. | 10Yet Thebes fell, and her people were led away as captives. Her babies were dashed to death against the stones of the streets. Soldiers threw dice to get Egyptian officers as servants. All their leaders were bound in chains. |
| 11You too will become drunk; you will go into hiding and seek refuge from the enemy. | 11And you, Nineveh, will also stagger like a drunkard. You will hide for fear of the attacking enemy. |
| 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 fortresses will fall. They will be devoured like the ripe figs that fall into the mouths of those who shake the trees. |
| 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. | 13Your troops will be as weak and helpless as women. The gates of your land will be opened wide to the enemy and set on fire and burned. |
| 14Draw water for the siege, strengthen your defenses! Work the clay, tread the mortar, repair the brickwork! | 14Get ready for the siege! Store up water! Strengthen the defenses! Go into the pits to trample clay, and pack it into molds, making bricks to repair the walls. |
| 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! | 15But the fire will devour you; the sword will cut you down. The enemy will consume you like locusts, devouring everything they see. There will be no escape, even if you multiply like swarming locusts. |
| 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. | 16Your merchants have multiplied until they outnumber the stars. But like a swarm of locusts, they strip the land and fly 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 guards and officials are also like swarming locusts that crowd together in the hedges on a cold day. But like locusts that fly away when the sun comes up, all of them will fly away and disappear. |
| 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. | 18Your shepherds are asleep, O Assyrian king; your princes lie dead in the dust. Your people are scattered across the mountains with 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 wound; your injury is fatal. All who hear of your destruction will clap their hands for joy. Where can anyone be found who has not suffered from your continual cruelty? |
| 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. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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