| New Living Translation | New American Standard Bible 1995 |
| 1What sorrow awaits Nineveh, the city of murder and lies! She is crammed with wealth and is never without victims. | 1Woe to the bloody city, completely full of lies and pillage; Her prey never departs. |
| 2Hear the crack of whips, the rumble of wheels! Horses’ hooves pound, and chariots clatter wildly. | 2The noise of the whip, The noise of the rattling of the wheel, Galloping horses And bounding chariots! |
| 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. | 3Horsemen charging, Swords flashing, spears gleaming, Many slain, a mass of corpses, And countless dead bodies-- They stumble over the dead bodies! |
| 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. | 4All 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 6I will cover you with filth and show the world how vile you really are. | 6"I will throw filth on you And make you vile, And set you up as a spectacle. |
| 7All who see you will shrink back and say, ‘Nineveh lies in ruins. Where are the mourners?’ Does anyone regret your destruction?” | 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?" |
| 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. | 8Are 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? |
| 9Ethiopia and the land of Egypt gave unlimited assistance. The nations of Put and Libya were among her allies. | 9Ethiopia was her might, And Egypt too, without limits. Put and Lubim were among her helpers. |
| 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. | 10Yet 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. |
| 11And you, Nineveh, will also stagger like a drunkard. You will hide for fear of the attacking enemy. | 11You too will become drunk, You will be hidden. You too will search for a refuge from the enemy. |
| 12All your fortresses will fall. They will be devoured like the ripe figs that fall into the mouths of those who shake the trees. | 12All your fortifications are fig trees with ripe fruit-- When shaken, they fall into the eater's mouth. |
| 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. | 13Behold, your people are women in your midst! The gates of your land are opened wide to your enemies; Fire consumes your gate bars. |
| 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. | 14Draw for yourself water for the siege! Strengthen your fortifications! Go into the clay and tread the mortar! Take hold of the brick mold! |
| 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. | 15There 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. |
| 16Your merchants have multiplied until they outnumber the stars. But like a swarm of locusts, they strip the land and fly away. | 16You have increased your traders more than the stars of heaven-- The creeping locust strips and flies away. |
| 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. | 17Your 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. |
| 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. | 18Your 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. |
| 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? | 19There 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? |
| 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. | New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org |
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