3:1 O city of blood, wholly false, full of
unrighteousness; the prey shall not be handled.
3:2 The noise of whips, and the noise of the rumbling of wheels, and of the
pursuing horse, and of the bounding chariot,
3:3 and of the mounting rider, and of the glittering sword, and of the
gleaming arms, and of a multitude of slain, and of heavy falling: and there
was no end to her nations, but they shall be weak in their bodies
3:4 because of the abundance of fornication: [she is] a fair harlot, and
well-favoured, skilled in sorcery, that sells the nations by her
fornication, and peoples by her sorceries.
3:5 Behold, I am against thee, saith Yehovah Elohim Almighty, and I will
uncover thy skirts in thy presence, and I will shew the nations thy shame,
and the kingdoms thy disgrace.
3:6 And I will cast abominable filth upon thee according to thine unclean
ways, and will make thee a public example.
3:7 And it shall be [that] every one that sees thee shall go down from thee,
and shall say, Wretched Nineve! who shall lament for her? whence shall I
seek comfort for her?
3:8 Prepare thee a portion, tune the chord, prepare a portion for Ammon: she
that dwells among the rivers, water is round about her, whose dominion is
the sea, and whose walls are water.
3:9 And Ethiopia is her strength, and Egypt; and there was no limit of the
flight [of her enemies]; and the Libyans became her helpers.
3:10 Yet she shall go as a prisoner into captivity, and they shall dash her
infants against the ground at the top of all her ways: and they shall cast
lots upon all her glorious [possessions], and all her nobles shall be bound
in chains.
3:11 And thou shalt be drunken, and shalt be overlooked; and thou shalt seek
for thyself strength because of [thine] enemies.
3:12 All thy strong-holds are as fig-trees having watchers: if they be
shaken, they shall fall into the mouth of the eater.
3:13 Behold, thy people within thee are as women: the gates of thy land
shall surely be opened to thine enemies: the fire shall devour thy bars.
3:14 Draw thee water for a siege, and well secure thy strong-holds: enter
into the clay, and be thou trodden in the chaff, make [the fortifications]
stronger than brick.
3:15 There the fire shall devour thee; the sword shall utterly destroy thee,
it shall devour thee as the locust, and thou shalt be pressed down as a
palmerworm.
3:16 Thou hast multiplied thy merchandise beyond the stars of heaven: the
palmerworm has attacked [it], and has flown away.
3:17 Thy mixed [multitude] has suddenly departed as the grasshopper, as the
locust perched on a hedge in a frosty day; the sun arises, and it flies off,
and knows not its place: woe to them!3:18 Thy shepherds have slumbered, the
Assyrian king has laid low thy mighty men: thy people departed to the
mountains, and there was none to receive [them].
3:19 There is no healing for thy bruise; thy wound has rankled: all that
hear the report of thee shall clap their hands against thee; for upon whom
has not thy wickedness passed continually? |
3:1 Woe to the bloody city! it is all full
of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not;
3:2 The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of
the pransing horses, and of the jumping chariots.
3:3 The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear:
and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcases; and there
is none end of their corpses; they stumble upon their corpses:
3:4 Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot,
the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and
families through her witchcrafts.
3:5 Behold, I am against thee, saith Yehovah of hosts; and I will discover
thy skirts upon thy face, and I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and the
kingdoms thy shame.
3:6 And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will
set thee as a gazingstock.
3:7 And it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon thee shall flee
from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her? whence shall
I seek comforters for thee?
3:8 Art thou better than populous No, that was situate among the rivers,
that had the waters round about it, whose rampart was the sea, and her wall
was from the sea?
3:9 Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite; Put and Lubim
were thy helpers.
3:10 Yet was she carried away, she went into captivity: her young children
also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets: and they cast lots
for her honourable men, and all her great men were bound in chains.
3:11 Thou also shalt be drunken: thou shalt be hid, thou also shalt seek
strength because of the enemy.
3:12 All thy strong holds shall be like fig trees with the firstripe figs:
if they be shaken, they shall even fall into the mouth of the eater.
3:13 Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women: the gates of thy
land shall be set wide open unto thine enemies: the fire shall devour thy
bars.
3:14 Draw thee waters for the siege, fortify thy strong holds: go into clay,
and tread the morter, make strong the brickkiln.
3:15 There shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off, it
shall eat thee up like the cankerworm: make thyself many as the cankerworm,
make thyself many as the locusts.
3:16 Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven: the
cankerworm spoileth, and fleeth away.
3:17 Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy captains as the great
grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun
ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.
3:18 Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell in the
dust: thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them.
3:19 There is no healing of thy bruise; thy wound is grievous: all that hear
the bruit of thee shall clap the hands over thee: for upon whom hath not thy
wickedness passed continually? |