And now, ¹  I will break Assyria’s ²  yoke bar ³  from your neck; ⁴  I will tear apart the shackles ⁵  that are on you.” ⁶ 

The charioteers ¹  will charge ahead; ²  their swords ³  will flash ⁴  and their spears ⁵  will glimmer! ⁶  There will be many people slain; ⁷  there will be piles of the dead, and countless casualties ⁸  – so many that people ⁹  will stumble over the corpses.

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.

Cush ¹  and Egypt had limitless strength; ²  Put and the Libyans ³  were among ⁴  her ⁵  allies. ⁶ 

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 

Nineveh ¹  is taken into exile ²  and is led away; ³  her slave girls moan ⁴  like doves ⁵  while they beat ⁶  their breasts. ⁷ 

The mountains tremble before him, ¹  the hills convulse; ²  the earth is laid waste ³  before him, the world and all its inhabitants ⁴  are laid waste. ⁵ 

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 

(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 

(2:1) ¹  Look! A herald is running ²  on the mountains! A messenger is proclaiming deliverance: ³  “Celebrate your sacred festivals, O Judah! Fulfill your sacred vows to praise God! ⁴  For never again ⁵  will the wicked ⁶  Assyrians ⁷  invade ⁸  you, they ⁹  have been completely destroyed.”

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 is good ¹  – indeed, ²  he is a fortress ³  in time of distress, ⁴  and he protects ⁵  those who seek refuge ⁶  in him.

From you, O Nineveh, ¹  one has marched forth who plots evil against the Lord, a wicked military strategist. ² 

All your fortifications will be like fig trees ¹  with first-ripe fruit: ²  If they are shaken, ³  their figs ⁴  will fall ⁵  into the mouth of the eater! ⁶ 

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 

Where now is the den of the lions, ¹  the feeding place ²  of the young lions, where ³  the lion, lioness, ⁴  and lion cub once prowled ⁵  and no one disturbed them? ⁶ 

“Because ¹  you have acted like a wanton prostitute ²  – a seductive mistress who practices sorcery, ³  who ⁴  enslaves ⁵  nations by her harlotry, ⁶  and entices peoples by her sorcery ⁷  –

The Lord is a zealous ¹  and avenging ²  God; the Lord is avenging and very angry. ³  The Lord takes vengeance ⁴  against his foes; he sustains his rage ⁵  against his enemies.

Your destruction is like an incurable wound; ¹  your demise is like a fatal injury! ²  All who hear what has happened to you ³  will clap their hands for joy, ⁴  for no one ever escaped your endless cruelty! ⁵