(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.”

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

Whatever ¹  you plot ²  against the Lord, he will completely destroy! ³  Distress ⁴  will not arise ⁵  a second time.

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 

Destruction, devastation, and desolation! ¹  Their hearts faint, ²  their knees tremble, ³  each stomach churns, ⁴  each face ⁵  turns ⁶  pale! ⁷ 

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