| New King James Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery. Its victim never departs. | 1Woe to the city of blood, totally deceitful, full of plunder, never without prey. |
| 2The noise of a whip And the noise of rattling wheels, Of galloping horses, Of clattering chariots! | 2The crack of the whip and rumble of the wheel, galloping horse and jolting chariot! |
| 3Horsemen charge with bright sword and glittering spear. There is a multitude of slain, A great number of bodies, Countless corpses— They stumble over the corpses— | 3Charging horseman, flashing sword, shining spear; heaps of slain, mounds of corpses, dead bodies without end-- they stumble over their dead. |
| 4Because of the multitude of harlotries of the seductive harlot, The mistress of sorceries, Who sells nations through her harlotries, And families through her sorceries. | 4Because of the continual prostitution of the prostitute, the attractive mistress of sorcery, who betrays nations by her prostitution and clans by her witchcraft, |
| 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. | 5I am against you. This is the declaration of the LORD of Hosts. I will lift your skirts over your face and display your nakedness to nations, your shame to kingdoms. |
| 6I will cast abominable filth upon you, Make you vile, And make you a spectacle. | 6I will throw filth on you and treat you with contempt; I will make a spectacle of you. |
| 7It 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?” | 7Then all who see you will recoil from you, saying," Nineveh is devastated; who will show sympathy to her?" Where can I find anyone to comfort you? |
| 8Are you better than No Amon That was situated by the River, That had the waters around her, Whose rampart was the sea, Whose wall was the sea? | 8Are you better than Thebes that sat along the Nile with water surrounding her, whose rampart was the sea, the river her wall? |
| 9Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, And it was boundless; Put and Lubim were your helpers. | 9Cush and Egypt were her endless source of strength; Put and Libya were among her allies. |
| 10Yet 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. | 10Yet she became an exile; she went into captivity. Her children were also dashed to pieces at the head of every street. They cast lots for her dignitaries, and all her nobles were bound in chains. |
| 11You also will be drunk; You will be hidden; You also will seek refuge from the enemy. | 11You also will become drunk; you will hide yourself. You also will seek refuge from the enemy. |
| 12All your strongholds are fig trees with ripened figs: If they are shaken, They fall into the mouth of the eater. | 12All your fortresses are fig trees with figs that ripened first; when shaken, they fall-- right into the mouth of the eater! |
| 13Surely, 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. | 13Look, your troops are like women among you; the gates of your land are wide open to your enemies. Fire will devour the bars of your gates. |
| 14Draw your water for the siege! Fortify your strongholds! Go into the clay and tread the mortar! Make strong the brick kiln! | 14Draw water for the siege; strengthen your fortresses. Step into the clay and tread the mortar; take hold of the brick-mold! |
| 15There 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! | 15The fire will devour you there; the sword will cut you down. It will devour you like the young locust. Multiply yourselves like the young locust, multiply like the swarming locust! |
| 16You have multiplied your merchants more than the stars of heaven. The locust plunders and flies away. | 16You have made your merchants more numerous than the stars of the sky. The young locust strips the land and flies away. |
| 17Your 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. | 17Your court officials are like the swarming locust, and your scribes like clouds of locusts, which settle on the walls on a cold day; when the sun rises, they take off, and no one knows where they are. |
| 18Your shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria; Your nobles rest in the dust. Your people are scattered on the mountains, And no one gathers them. | 18King of Assyria, your shepherds slumber; your officers sleep. Your people are scattered across the mountains with no one to gather them together. |
| 19Your 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? | 19There is no remedy for your injury; your wound is severe. All who hear the news about you will clap their hands because of you, for who has not experienced your constant cruelty? |
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