Historical

⁷ The Lord is good.
    When people are in trouble,
    they can go to him for safety.
He takes good care of those
    who trust in him.
⁸ But he will destroy Nineveh
    with a powerful flood.
He will chase his enemies
    into the place of darkness.

⁹ The Lord will put an end
    to anything they plan against him.
He won’t allow Assyria to win the battle
    over his people a second time.
¹⁰ His enemies will be tangled up among thorns.
    Their wine will make them drunk.
    They’ll be burned up like dry straw.
¹¹ Nineveh, a king has marched out from you.
    He makes evil plans against the Lord.
    He thinks about how he can do what is wrong.

“His army has many soldiers.
    Other nations are helping them.
    But they will be destroyed and pass away.
Judah, I punished you.
    But I will not do it anymore.
¹³ Now I will break Assyria’s yoke off your neck.
    I will tear off the ropes that hold you.”

¹⁴ Nineveh, the Lord has given an order concerning you.
    He has said, “You will not have any children
    to carry on your name.
I will destroy the wooden and metal statues
    that are in the temple of your gods.
I will get your grave ready for you.
    You are worthless.”

¹⁵ Look at the mountains of Judah!
    I see a messenger running to bring good news!
    He’s telling us that peace has come!
People of Judah, celebrate your feasts.
    Carry out your promises.
The evil Assyrians won’t attack you again.
    They’ll be completely destroyed.

² Assyria once took everything of value from God’s people.
    Its army destroyed all their vines.
But the Lord will bring back
    the glory of Jacob’s people.
    He’ll make Israel glorious again.

³ The shields of the soldiers are red.
    The warriors are dressed in bright red uniforms.
The metal on their chariots flashes
    when they are prepared for war.
    Their spears made out of juniper are ready to use.
⁴ The chariots race through the main streets.
    They rush back and forth through them.
They look like flaming torches.
    They dart around like lightning.

⁵ Nineveh sends for their special troops.
But they trip and fall on their way.
    They run toward the city wall.
    They keep their shield in front of them.
⁶ The attackers open the gates that hold back
    the waters of the river.
    And the palace falls down.
⁷ The attackers order that Nineveh’s people
    be taken away as prisoners.
The female slaves sound like doves as they mourn.
    They beat their chests.
⁸ Nineveh is like a pool
    whose water is draining away.
“Stop running away!” someone cries out.
    But no one turns back.
⁹ “Steal the silver!” the attackers shout.
    “Grab the gold!”
The supply is endless.
    There is plenty of wealth
    among all the city’s treasures.
¹⁰ Nineveh is destroyed, robbed and stripped!
    Hearts melt away in fear.
    Knees give way.
Bodies tremble with fear.
    Everyone’s face turns pale.

¹¹ Assyria is like a lion.
    Where is the lions’ den now?
    Where did they feed their cubs?
Where did all the lions go?
    In their den they had nothing to fear.
¹² The lion killed enough for his cubs to eat.
    He choked what he caught for his mate.
He filled his home with what he had killed.
    He brought to his dens what he had caught.

¹³ “Nineveh, I am against you,”
    announces the Lord who rules over all.
“I will burn up your chariots with fire.
    Your young lions will be killed by swords.
    I will leave you nothing on earth to catch.
The voices of your messengers
    will no longer be heard.”

⁵ “Nineveh, I am against you,”
    announces the Lord who rules over all.
“I will pull your skirts up over your face.
    I will show the nations your naked body.
    Kingdoms will make fun of your shame.
⁶ I will throw garbage at you.
    I will look down on you.
    I will make an example out of you.
⁷ All those who see you will run away from you.
    They will say, ‘Nineveh is destroyed.
    Who will mourn over it?’
Where can I find someone
    to comfort your people?”

⁸ Nineveh, are you better than Thebes
    on the Nile River?
There was water all around that city.
    The river helped to keep it safe.
    The waters were like a wall around it.
⁹ Cush and Egypt gave it all the strength it needed.
    Put and Libya also helped it.
¹⁰ But Thebes was captured anyway.
    Its people were taken away as prisoners.
Its babies were smashed to pieces
    at every street corner.
The Assyrian soldiers cast lots
    for all its nobles.
They put them in chains
    and made slaves out of them.
¹¹ People of Nineveh, you too will get drunk.
    You will try to hide from your enemies.
    You will look for a place of safety.

¹² All your forts are like fig trees
    that have their first ripe fruit on them.
When the trees are shaken,
    the figs fall into the mouths
    of those who eat them.
¹³ Look at your troops.
    All of them are weak.
The gates of your forts
    are wide open to your enemies.
    Fire has destroyed the bars that lock your gates.

¹⁴ Prepare for the attack by storing up water!
    Make your walls as strong as you can!
Make some bricks out of clay!
    Mix the mud to hold them together!
    Use them to repair the walls!
¹⁵ In spite of all your hard work,
    fire will burn you up inside your city.
Your enemies will cut you down with their swords.
    They will destroy you
    just as a swarm of locusts eats up crops.
Multiply like grasshoppers!
    Increase your numbers like locusts!
¹⁶ You have more traders
    than the number of stars in the sky.
But like locusts they strip the land.
    Then they fly away.
¹⁷ Your guards are like grasshoppers.
    Your officials are like swarms of locusts.
    They settle in the walls on a cold day.
But when the sun appears, they fly away.
    And no one knows where they go.

¹⁸ King of Assyria, your leaders are asleep.
    Your nobles lie down to rest.
Your people are scattered on the mountains.
    No one is left to gather them together.
¹⁹ Nothing can heal your wounds.
    You will die of them.
All those who hear the news about you clap their hands.
    That’s because you have fallen from power.
Is there anyone who has not suffered
    because of how badly you treated them?

“Look at the nations. Watch them.
    Be totally amazed at what you see.
I am going to do something in your days
    that you would never believe.
You would not believe it
    even if someone told you about it.
⁶ I am going to send the armies of Babylon to attack you.
    They are very mean. They move quickly.
They sweep across the whole earth.
    They take over homes
    that do not belong to them.
⁷ They terrify others.
    They do not recognize any laws but their own.
    That is how proud they are.
⁸ Their horses are faster than leopards.
    They are meaner than wolves at sunset.
Their horsemen charge straight into battle.
    They ride in from far away.
They come down like an eagle
    diving for its food.
⁹ All of them are ready and willing to destroy others.
    Their huge armies advance like a wind out of the desert.
    They gather prisoners like sand.
¹⁰ They mock kings
    and make fun of rulers.
They laugh at all the cities
    that have high walls around them.
They build dirt ramps against the walls
    and capture the cities.
¹¹ They sweep past like the wind.
    Then they go on their way.
They are guilty.
    They worship their own strength.”

2 I will go up to the lookout tower.
    I’ll station myself on the city wall.
I’ll wait to see how the Lord will reply to me.
    Then I’ll try to figure out how his reply answers what I’ve complained about.

“Write down the message I am giving you.
    Write it clearly on the tablets you use.
Then a messenger can read it
    and run to announce it.
³ The message I give you
    waits for the time I have appointed.
It speaks about what is going to happen.
    And all of it will come true.
It might take a while.
    But wait for it.
You can be sure it will come.
    It will happen when I want it to.

⁴ “The Babylonians are very proud.
    What they want is not good.

“But the person who is godly
    will live by his faithfulness.

⁵ “Wine makes the Babylonians do foolish things.
    They are proud. They never rest.
Like the grave, they are always hungry for more.
    Like death, they are never satisfied.
They gather all the nations to themselves.
    They take all those people away as prisoners.

“ ‘How terrible it will be for you
    who pile up stolen goods!
You get rich by cheating others.
    How long will this go on?’
⁷ Those you owe money to will suddenly rise up.
They will wake up
    and make you tremble with fear.
Then they will take away
    everything you have.
⁸ You have robbed many nations.
    So the nations that are left will rob you.
You have spilled human blood.
    You have destroyed lands and cities
    and everyone in them.

⁹ “How terrible it will be for the Babylonians!
    They build their kingdom with money
    that they gained by cheating others.
They have tried to make the kingdom
    as secure as possible.
    After all, they did not want to be destroyed.
¹⁰ They have planned to wipe out many nations.
    But they have brought shame on their own kingdom.
    So they must pay with their own lives.
¹¹ The stones in the walls of their homes will cry out.
    And the wooden beams will echo that cry.

¹² “How terrible it will be for the Babylonians!
    They build cities by spilling the blood of others.
    They establish towns by doing what is wrong.
¹³ I am the Lord who rules over all.
    Human effort is no better than wood that feeds a fire.
    So the nations wear themselves out for nothing.
¹⁴ The oceans are full of water.
    In the same way, the earth will be filled
    with the knowledge of my glory.

¹⁵ “How terrible it will be for the Babylonians!
    They give drinks to their neighbors.
They pour the drinks from wineskins
    until their neighbors are drunk.
    They want to look at their naked bodies.
¹⁶ But the Babylonians will be filled
    with shame instead of glory.
So now it is their turn to drink
    and be stripped of their clothes.
The cup of anger in my powerful right hand
    is going to punish them.
    They will be covered with shame instead of glory.
¹⁷ The harm they have done to Lebanon
    will bring them down.
Because they have killed so many animals,
    animals will terrify them.
They have spilled human blood.
    They have destroyed lands and cities
    and everyone in them.

¹⁸ “If someone carves a statue of a god, what is it worth?
    What value is there in a god
    that teaches lies?
The one who trusts in this kind of god
    worships his own creation.
    He makes statues of gods that can’t speak.
¹⁹ How terrible it will be for the Babylonians!
    They say to a wooden god, ‘Come to life!’
They say to a stone god, ‘Wake up!’
    Can those gods give advice?
They are covered with gold and silver.
    They can’t even breathe.”

²⁰ The Lord is in his holy temple.
    Let the whole earth be silent in front of him.

³ God came from Teman.
    The Holy One came from Mount Paran.
His glory covered the heavens.
    His praise filled the earth.
⁴ His glory was like the sunrise.
    Rays of light flashed from his mighty hand.
    His power was hidden there.
⁵ He sent plagues ahead of him.
    Sickness followed behind him.
⁶ When he stood up, the earth shook.
    When he looked at the nations,
    they trembled with fear.
The age-old mountains crumbled.
    The ancient hills fell down.
    But he marches on forever.
⁷ I saw the tents of Cushan in trouble.
    The people of Midian were suffering greatly.

⁸ Lord, were you angry with the rivers?
    Were you angry with the streams?
Were you angry with the Red Sea?
    You rode your horses and chariots
    to overcome it.
⁹ You got your bow ready to use.
    You asked for many arrows.
You broke up the surface
    of the earth with rivers.
¹⁰ The mountains saw you and shook.
    Floods of water swept by.
The sea roared.
    It lifted its waves high.

¹¹ The sun and moon stood still in the sky.
    They stopped because your flying arrows flashed by.
    Your gleaming spear shone like lightning.
¹² When you were angry, you marched across the earth.
    Because of your anger you destroyed the nations.
¹³ You came out to set your people free.
    You saved your chosen ones.
You crushed Pharaoh, the leader of that evil land of Egypt.
    You stripped him from head to foot.
¹⁴ His soldiers rushed out to scatter us.
    They were laughing at us.
    They thought they would easily destroy us.
They saw us as weak people who were trying to hide.
    So you wounded Pharaoh’s head with his own spear.
¹⁵ Your horses charged into the Red Sea.
    They stirred up the great waters.

¹⁶ I listened and my heart pounded.
    My lips trembled at the sound.
My bones seemed to rot.
    And my legs shook.
But I will be patient.
    I’ll wait for the day of trouble to come on Babylon.
    It’s the nation that is attacking us.
¹⁷ The fig trees might not bud.
    The vines might not produce any grapes.
The olive crop might fail.
    The fields might not produce any food.
There might not be any sheep in the pens.
    There might not be any cattle in the barns.
¹⁸ But I will still be glad
    because of what the Lord has done.
    God my Savior fills me with joy.

¹⁹ The Lord and King gives me strength.
    He makes my feet like the feet of a deer.
    He helps me walk on the highest places.