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

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

There the fire will consume ¹  you; the sword will cut you down; it will devour ²  you like the young locust would.Multiply yourself ³  like the young locust; multiply yourself like the flying locust!

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 

This is what the Lord says: ¹  “Even though ²  they are powerful ³  – and what is more, ⁴  even though their army is numerous ⁵  – nevertheless, ⁶  they will be destroyed ⁷  and trickle away! ⁸  Although I afflicted you, I will afflict you no more. ⁹ 

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

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 

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

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 

(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 

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 

I am against you,” declares the Lord who commands armies. ¹  “I will strip off your clothes! ²  I will show your nakedness to the nations and your shame to the kingdoms;

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.

“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.”

(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.”

“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  –

Increase ¹  your merchants more than the stars of heaven! They are like ²  the young locust which sheds ³  its skin and flies away.

The lion tore apart as much prey as his cubs needed ¹  and strangled prey to provide food ²  for his lionesses; he filled ³  his lairs with prey and his dens with torn flesh.

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 

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