⁵ “Behold, I am against you,” says the Lord of hosts;
“I will lift your skirts over your face,
I will show the nations your nakedness,
And the kingdoms your shame.
⁶ I will cast abominable filth upon you,
Make you vile,
And make you a spectacle.
⁷ It shall come to pass that all who look upon you
Will flee from you, and say,
‘Nineveh is laid waste!
Who will bemoan her?’
Where shall I seek comforters for you?”

⁸ Are you better than No Amon^[a]
That was situated by the River,^[b]
That had the waters around her,
Whose rampart was the sea,
Whose wall was the sea?
⁹ Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength,
And it was boundless;
Put and Lubim were your^[c] helpers.
¹⁰ Yet she was carried away,
She went into captivity;
Her young children also were dashed to pieces
At the head of every street;
They cast lots for her honorable men,
And all her great men were bound in chains.
¹¹ You also will be drunk;
You will be hidden;
You also will seek refuge from the enemy.

¹² All your strongholds are fig trees with ripened figs:
If they are shaken,
They fall into the mouth of the eater.
¹³ Surely, your people in your midst are women!
The gates of your land are wide open for your enemies;
Fire shall devour the bars of your gates.

¹⁴ Draw your water for the siege!
Fortify your strongholds!
Go into the clay and tread the mortar!
Make strong the brick kiln!
¹⁵ There the fire will devour you,
The sword will cut you off;
It will eat you up like a locust.

Make yourself many—like the locust!
Make yourself many— like the swarming locusts!
¹⁶ You have multiplied your merchants more than the stars of heaven.
The locust plunders and flies away.
¹⁷ Your commanders are like swarming locusts,
And your generals like great grasshoppers,
Which camp in the hedges on a cold day;
When the sun rises they flee away,
And the place where they are is not known.

¹⁸ Your shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria;
Your nobles rest in the dust.
Your people are scattered on the mountains,
And no one gathers them.
¹⁹ Your injury has no healing,
Your wound is severe.
All who hear news of you
Will clap their hands over you,
For upon whom has not your wickedness passed continually?