| New King James Version | New Living Translation |
| 1Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery. Its victim never departs. | 1What sorrow awaits Nineveh, the city of murder and lies! She is crammed with wealth and is never without victims. |
| 2The noise of a whip And the noise of rattling wheels, Of galloping horses, Of clattering chariots! | 2Hear the crack of whips, the rumble of wheels! Horses’ hooves pound, and chariots clatter wildly. |
| 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— | 3See the flashing swords and glittering spears as the charioteers charge past! There are countless casualties, heaps of bodies— so many bodies that people stumble over them. |
| 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 this because Nineveh, the beautiful and faithless city, mistress of deadly charms, enticed the nations with her beauty. She taught them all her magic, enchanting people everywhere. |
| 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 your enemy!” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. “And now I will lift your skirts and show all the earth your nakedness and shame. |
| 6I will cast abominable filth upon you, Make you vile, And make you a spectacle. | 6I will cover you with filth and show the world how vile you really are. |
| 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 shrink back and say, ‘Nineveh lies in ruins. Where are the mourners?’ Does anyone regret your destruction?” |
| 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 any better than the city of Thebes, situated on the Nile River, surrounded by water? She was protected by the river on all sides, walled in by water. |
| 9Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, And it was boundless; Put and Lubim were your helpers. | 9Ethiopia and the land of Egypt gave unlimited assistance. The nations of 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 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 to get Egyptian officers as servants. All their leaders were bound in chains. |
| 11You also will be drunk; You will be hidden; You also will seek refuge from the enemy. | 11And you, Nineveh, will also stagger like a drunkard. You will hide for fear of the attacking 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 will fall. They will be devoured like the ripe figs that fall into the mouths of those who shake the trees. |
| 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. | 13Your 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. |
| 14Draw your water for the siege! Fortify your strongholds! Go into the clay and tread the mortar! Make strong the brick kiln! | 14Get 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. |
| 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! | 15But 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. |
| 16You have multiplied your merchants more than the stars of heaven. The locust plunders and flies away. | 16Your merchants have multiplied until they outnumber the stars. But like a swarm of locusts, they strip the land and 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 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. |
| 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. | 18Your 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. |
| 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 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? |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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