| New King James Version | New International Version |
| 1Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery. Its victim never departs. | 1Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without victims! |
| 2The noise of a whip And the noise of rattling wheels, Of galloping horses, Of clattering chariots! | 2The crack of whips, the clatter of wheels, galloping horses and jolting chariots! |
| 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 cavalry, flashing swords and glittering spears! Many casualties, piles of dead, bodies without number, people stumbling over the corpses-- |
| 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. | 4all because of the wanton lust of a prostitute, alluring, the mistress of sorceries, who enslaved nations by her prostitution and peoples 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. | 5"I am against you," declares the LORD Almighty. "I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show the nations your nakedness and the kingdoms your shame. |
| 6I will cast abominable filth upon you, Make you vile, And make you a spectacle. | 6I will pelt you with filth, I will treat you with contempt and make you a spectacle. |
| 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?” | 7All who see you will flee from you and say, 'Nineveh is in ruins--who will mourn for 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, situated on the Nile, with water around her? The river was her defense, the waters her wall. |
| 9Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, And it was boundless; Put and Lubim were your helpers. | 9Cush and Egypt were her boundless 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 was taken captive and went into exile. Her infants were dashed to pieces at every street corner. Lots were cast for her nobles, and all her great men were put in chains. |
| 11You also will be drunk; You will be hidden; You also will seek refuge from the enemy. | 11You too will become drunk; you will go into hiding and 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 like fig trees with their first ripe fruit; when they are shaken, the figs fall 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 at your troops-- they are all weaklings. The gates of your land are wide open to your enemies; fire has consumed 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 defenses! Work the clay, tread the mortar, repair the brickwork! |
| 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! | 15There the fire will consume you; the sword will cut you down-- they will devour you like a swarm of locusts. Multiply like grasshoppers, multiply like locusts! |
| 16You have multiplied your merchants more than the stars of heaven. The locust plunders and flies away. | 16You have increased the number of your merchants till they are more numerous than the stars in the sky, but like locusts they strip the land and then fly 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 guards are like locusts, your officials like swarms of locusts that settle in the walls on a cold day-- but when the sun appears they fly away, and no one knows where. |
| 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 nobles lie down to rest. Your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them. |
| 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? | 19Nothing can heal you; your wound is fatal. All who hear the news about you clap their hands at your fall, for who has not felt your endless cruelty? |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. |
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