Draw yourselves water for a siege! ¹  Strengthen your fortifications! Trample the mud ²  and tread the clay! Make mud bricks to strengthen your walls! ³ 

Your courtiers ¹  are like locusts, your officials ²  are like a swarm of locusts! They encamp in the walls on a cold day, yet when the sun rises, they ³  fly away; ⁴  and no one knows where they ⁵  are. ⁶ 

The Lord has issued a decree against you: ¹  “Your dynasty will come to an end. ²  I will destroy the idols and images in the temples of your gods. I will desecrate ³  your grave – because you are accursed!” ⁴ 

Your shepherds ¹  are sleeping, O king of Assyria! Your officers ²  are slumbering! ³  Your people are scattered like sheep ⁴  on the mountains and there is no one to regather them!

The chariot drivers will crack their whips; ¹  the chariot wheels will shake the ground; ²  the chariot horses ³  will gallop; ⁴  the war chariots ⁵  will bolt forward! ⁶ 

I will pelt you with filth; ¹  I will treat you with contempt; I will make you a public spectacle.

No one can withstand ¹  his indignation! ²  No one can resist ³  his fierce anger! ⁴  His wrath is poured out like volcanic fire, boulders are broken up ⁵  as he approaches. ⁶ 

Woe to the city guilty of bloodshed! ¹  She is full of lies; ²  she is filled with plunder; ³  she has hoarded her spoil! ⁴ 

Everyone who sees you will turn away from you in disgust; they will say, ‘Nineveh has been devastated! Who will lament for her?’ There will be no one to comfort you!” ¹ 

“I am against you!” declares ¹  the Lord who commands armies: ²  “I will burn your chariots ³  with fire; ⁴  the sword will devour your young lions; ⁵  you will no longer prey upon the land; ⁶  the voices of your messengers ⁷  will no longer be heard.”

But with an overwhelming flood ¹  he will make a complete end of Nineveh; ²  he will drive ³  his enemies into darkness.

Surely they will be totally consumed ¹  like ²  entangled thorn bushes, ³  like the drink of drunkards, ⁴  like very ⁵  dry stubble.

Yet she went into captivity as an exile; ¹  even her infants were smashed to pieces ²  at the head of every street. They cast lots ³  for her nobility; ⁴  all her dignitaries were bound with chains.

You too will act like drunkards; ¹  you will go into hiding; ²  you too will seek refuge from the enemy.

(2:2) The watchmen of Nineveh shout: ¹  “An enemy who will scatter you ²  is marching out ³  to attack you!” ⁴  “Guard ⁵  the rampart! ⁶  Watch the road! Prepare yourselves for battle! ⁷  Muster your mighty strength!” ⁸ 

You are no more secure ¹  than Thebes ²  – she was located on the banks of the Nile; the waters surrounded her, her ³  rampart ⁴  was the sea, the water ⁵  was her wall.

Your warriors will be like women in your midst; the gates of your land will be wide open ¹  to your enemies; fire will consume ²  the bars of your gates. ³ 

Her conquerors cry out: ¹  “Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold!” There is no end to the treasure; riches of every kind of precious thing.

The shields of his warriors are dyed red; ¹  the mighty soldiers are dressed in scarlet garments. ²  The metal fittings ³  of the chariots ⁴  shine like ⁵  fire ⁶  on the day of battle; ⁷  the soldiers brandish ⁸  their spears. ⁹ 

Nineveh was like a pool ¹  of water ²  throughout her days, ³  but now ⁴  her people ⁵  are running away; ⁶  she cries out: ⁷  “Stop! Stop!” – but no one turns back. ⁸