Woe to Nineveh
1 Woe to Ezek. 24:9;[Hab. 2:12] the bloody city,
all full of lies and plunder—
[ch. 2:12]no end to the prey!
2 The crack of the whip, and [ch. 2:4] rumble of the wheel,
[Judg. 5:22] galloping horse and [Joel 2:5]bounding chariot!
3 Horsemen charging,
flashing sword and Hab. 3:11glittering spear,
[2 Kgs. 19:35]hosts of slain,
heaps of corpses,
dead bodies without end—
they stumble over the bodies!
4 And all for the countless whorings of the [Rev. 17:2;18:3] prostitute,
[Isa. 47:9,12]graceful and of deadly charms,
who betrays nations with her whorings,
and peoples with her charms.
5 [See ch. 2:13above] Behold, I am against you,
declares the Lord of hosts,
and Jer. 13:22,26;[Isa. 3:17;47:3] will lift up your skirts over your face;
and I will make nations look at Hab. 2:16your nakedness
and kingdoms at your shame.
6 I will throw filth at you
and Mal. 2:9;[ch. 1:14] treat you with contempt
and make you Heb. 10:33;[1 Cor. 4:9]a spectacle.
7 And all who look at you Jer. 51:9;Rev. 18:10will shrink from you and say,
"Wasted is [Zeph. 2:13]; See ch. 1:1Nineveh; Isa. 51:19;Jer. 15:5who will grieve for her?"
Lam. 1:2,9,16,17,21Where shall I seek comforters for you?
8 [Amos 6:2] Are you better than Jer. 46:25Thebes3:8 Hebrew No-amon
that sat [Ezek. 29:3]by the Nile,
with water around her,
her rampart a sea,
and water her wall?
9 See Dan. 11:43Cush was her strength;
Egypt too, and that without limit;
Gen. 10:6Put and the See 2 Chr. 12:3Libyans were her3:9 Hebrew your helpers.
10 Isa. 20:4Yet she became an exile;
she went into captivity;
Isa. 13:16her infants were dashed in pieces
at the head of every street;
for her honored men Joel 3:3;Obad. 11lots were cast,
[Ps. 149:8]and all her great men were bound in chains.
11 Jer. 25:17,27;[Ps. 75:8;Isa. 51:17;Obad. 16] You also will be drunken;
you will go into hiding;
[Jer. 4:5,6]you will seek a refuge from the enemy.
12 All your fortresses are [Rev. 6:13]like fig trees
with first-ripe figs—
if shaken they fall
into the mouth of the eater.
13 Behold, your troops
Isa. 19:16;Jer. 51:30are women in your midst.
The gates of your land
are wide open to your enemies;
fire has devoured your bars.
14 [Isa. 22:11] Draw water for the siege;
[See ver. 11above]strengthen your forts;
go into the clay;
tread the mortar;
take hold of the brick mold!
15 There will the fire devour you;
the sword will cut you off.
It will [Joel 2:3] devour you [Joel 1:4,6]like the locust.
Multiply yourselves [Joel 1:4,6]like the locust;
multiply [Joel 1:4,6]like the grasshopper!
16 You increased [Ezek. 27:23,24] your merchants
more than the stars of the heavens.
[See ver. 15above]The locust spreads its wings and flies away.
17 Your [Isa. 10:8] princes3:17 Or guards are [See ver. 15above] like grasshoppers,
Jer. 51:27your scribes3:17 Or marshals like clouds of locusts
settling on the fences
in a day of cold—
when the sun rises, they fly away;
no one knows where they are.
18 Your shepherds [Ps. 76:5] are asleep,
O king of Assyria;
ch. 2:5your nobles slumber.
Your people [1 Kgs. 22:17]are scattered on the mountains
with none to gather them.
19 There is no easing your hurt;
Jer. 10:19;Mic. 1:9your wound is grievous.
All who hear the news about you
Lam. 2:15;[Zeph. 2:15] clap their hands over you.
For [Isa. 37:18]upon whom has not come
your unceasing evil?
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