Flocks and herds ¹  will lie down in the middle of it, as well as every kind of wild animal. ²  Owls ³  will sleep in the tops of its support pillars; they will hoot through the windows. ⁴  Rubble will cover the thresholds; ⁵  even the cedar work ⁶  will be exposed to the elements. ⁷ 

The Lord ¹  will attack the north ²  and destroy Assyria. He will make Nineveh a heap of ruins; it will be as barren ³  as the desert.

The Lord’s great day of judgment ¹  is almost here; it is approaching very rapidly! There will be a bitter sound on the Lord’s day of judgment; at that time warriors will cry out in battle. ² 

Those who are left from the kingdom of Judah ¹  will take possession of it. ²  By the sea ³  they ⁴  will graze, in the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down in the evening, for the Lord their God will intervene for them ⁵  and restore their prosperity. ⁶ 

She is disobedient; ¹  she refuses correction. ²  She does not trust the Lord; she does not seek the advice of ³  her God.

On that day they will say ¹  to Jerusalem, “Don’t be afraid, Zion! Your hands must not be paralyzed from panic! ² 

Her princes ¹  are as fierce as roaring lions; ²  her rulers ³  are as hungry as wolves in the desert, ⁴  who completely devour their prey by morning. ⁵ 

Her prophets are proud; ¹  they are deceitful men. Her priests defile what is holy; ²  they break God’s laws. ³ 

“On the day of the Lord’s sacrificial meal, I will punish the princes ¹  and the king’s sons, and all who wear foreign styles of clothing. ² 

“As for those who grieve because they cannot attend the festivals – I took them away from you; they became tribute and were a source of shame to you. ¹ 

At that time I will search through Jerusalem with lamps. I will punish the people who are entrenched in their sin, ¹  those who think to themselves, ²  ‘The Lord neither rewards nor punishes.’ ³ 

Seek the Lord’s favor, ¹  all you humble people ²  of the land who have obeyed his commands! ³  Strive to do what is right! ⁴  Strive to be humble! ⁵  Maybe you will be protected ⁶  on the day of the Lord’s angry judgment.

This is how the once-proud city will end up ¹  – the city that was so secure. ²  She thought to herself, ³  “I am unique! No one can compare to me!” ⁴  What a heap of ruins she has become, a place where wild animals live! Everyone who passes by her taunts her ⁵  and shakes his fist. ⁶ 

The Lord will terrify them, ¹  for ²  he will weaken ³  all the gods of the earth. All the distant nations will worship the Lord in their own lands. ⁴ 

I thought, ¹  ‘Certainly you will respect ²  me! Now you will accept correction!’ If she had done so, her home ³  would not be destroyed ⁴  by all the punishments I have threatened. ⁵  But they eagerly sinned in everything they did. ⁶ 

The filthy, ¹  stained city is as good as dead; the city filled with oppressors is finished! ² 

That day will be a day of God’s anger, ¹  a day of distress and hardship, a day of devastation and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and dark skies,

Wail, you who live in the market district, ¹  for all the merchants ²  will disappear ³  and those who count money ⁴  will be removed. ⁵ 

I will leave in your midst a humble and meek group of people, ¹  and they will find safety in the Lord’s presence. ² 

Therefore you must wait patiently ¹  for me,” says the Lord, “for the day when I attack and take plunder. ²  I have decided ³  to gather nations together and assemble kingdoms, so I can pour out my fury on them – all my raging anger. For ⁴  the whole earth will be consumed by my fiery anger.