The Lord is slow to get angry, but his power is great, and he never lets the guilty go unpunished. He displays his power in the whirlwind and the storm. The billowing clouds are the dust beneath his feet.

But he will sweep away his enemies in an overwhelming flood. He will pursue his foes into the darkness of night.

This is what the Lord says: “Though the Assyrians have many allies, they will be destroyed and disappear. O my people, I have punished you before, but I will not punish you again.

Even though the destroyer has destroyed Judah, the Lord will restore its honor. Israel’s vine has been stripped of branches, but he will restore its splendor.

Nineveh is like a leaking water reservoir! The people are slipping away. “Stop, stop!” someone shouts, but no one even looks back.

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.

Your merchants have multiplied until they outnumber the stars. But like a swarm of locusts, they strip the land and fly away.

Your guards 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.