² Weep, you cypress trees, for all the ruined cedars;
    the most majestic ones have fallen.
Weep, you oaks of Bashan,
    for the thick forests have been cut down.

⁸ Are you any better than the city of Thebes,^[a]
    situated on the Nile River, surrounded by water?
She was protected by the river on all sides,
    walled in by water.
⁹ Ethiopia^[b] and the land of Egypt
    gave unlimited assistance.
The nations of Put and Libya
    were among her allies.
¹⁰ Yet Thebes fell,
    and her people were led away as captives.
Her babies were dashed to death
    against the stones of the streets.
Soldiers threw dice^[c] to get Egyptian officers as servants.
    All their leaders were bound in chains.

¹¹ And you, Nineveh, will also stagger like a drunkard.
    You will hide for fear of the attacking enemy.
¹² All your fortresses will fall.
    They will be devoured like the ripe figs
that fall into the mouths
    of those who shake the trees.
¹³ Your troops will be as weak
    and helpless as women.
The gates of your land will be opened wide to the enemy
    and set on fire and burned.
¹⁴ Get ready for the siege!
    Store up water!
    Strengthen the defenses!
Go into the pits to trample clay,
    and pack it into molds,
    making bricks to repair the walls.

¹⁵ But the fire will devour you;
    the sword will cut you down.
The enemy will consume you like locusts,
    devouring everything they see.
There will be no escape,
    even if you multiply like swarming locusts.
¹⁶ Your merchants have multiplied
    until they outnumber the stars.
But like a swarm of locusts,
    they strip the land and fly away.
¹⁷ Your guards^[d] and officials are also like swarming locusts
    that crowd together in the hedges on a cold day.
But like locusts that fly away when the sun comes up,
    all of them will fly away and disappear.

¹⁸ Your shepherds are asleep, O Assyrian king;
    your princes lie dead in the dust.
Your people are scattered across the mountains
    with no one to gather them together.
¹⁹ There is no healing for your wound;
    your injury is fatal.
All who hear of your destruction
    will clap their hands for joy.
Where can anyone be found
    who has not suffered from your continual cruelty?

6 What sorrow awaits you who lounge in luxury in Jerusalem,^[a]
    and you who feel secure in Samaria!
You are famous and popular in Israel,
    and people go to you for help.

“To whom would you compare your greatness?
³ You are like mighty Assyria,
    which was once like a cedar of Lebanon,
with beautiful branches that cast deep forest shade
    and with its top high among the clouds.

¹⁵ until at last the Spirit is poured out
    on us from heaven.
Then the wilderness will become a fertile field,
    and the fertile field will yield bountiful crops.

¹⁶ Justice will rule in the wilderness
    and righteousness in the fertile field.
¹⁷ And this righteousness will bring peace.
    Yes, it will bring quietness and confidence forever.
¹⁸ My people will live in safety, quietly at home.
    They will be at rest.
¹⁹ Even if the forest should be destroyed
    and the city torn down,

³³ But look! The Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
    will chop down the mighty tree of Assyria with great power!
He will cut down the proud.
    That lofty tree will be brought down.
³⁴ He will cut down the forest trees with an ax.
    Lebanon will fall to the Mighty One.^[a]