Nah 3 | ESV | STEP | Woe to the bloody city , all full of lies and plunder

1 Woe to ^athe bloody city,
all full of lies and plunder—
^bno end to the prey!
2 The crack of the whip, and ^crumble of the wheel,
^dgalloping horse and ^ebounding chariot!
3 Horsemen charging,
flashing sword and ^fglittering spear,
^ghosts of slain,
heaps of corpses,
dead bodies without end—
they stumble over the bodies!
4 And all for the countless whorings of the ^hprostitute,
ⁱgraceful and of deadly charms,
who betrays nations with her whorings,
and peoples with her charms.
5 ^jBehold, I am against you,
declares the Lord of hosts,
and ^kwill lift up your skirts over your face;
and I will make nations look at ^lyour nakedness
and kingdoms at your shame.
6 I will throw filth at you
and ^mtreat you with contempt
and make you ⁿa spectacle.
7 And all who look at you ^owill shrink from you and say,
“Wasted is ^pNineveh; ^qwho will grieve for her?”
^rWhere shall I seek comforters for you?
8 ^sAre you better than ^tThebes ^{▼▼Hebrew No-amon}
that sat ^vby the Nile,
with water around her,
her rampart a sea,
and water her wall?
9 ^wCush was her strength;
Egypt too, and that without limit;
^xPut and the ^yLibyans were her ^{▼▼Hebrew your} helpers.
10 ^aaYet she became an exile;
she went into captivity;
^abher infants were dashed in pieces
at the head of every street;
for her honored men ^aclots were cast,
^adand all her great men were bound in chains.
11 ^aeYou also will be drunken;
you will go into hiding;
^afyou will seek a refuge from the enemy.
12 All your fortresses are ^aglike fig trees
with first-ripe figs—
if shaken they fall
into the mouth of the eater.
13 Behold, your troops
^ahare women in your midst.
The gates of your land
are wide open to your enemies;
fire has devoured your bars.
14 ^aiDraw water for the siege;
^ajstrengthen your forts;
go into the clay;
tread the mortar;
take hold of the brick mold!
15 There will the fire devour you;
the sword will cut you off.
It will ^akdevour you ^allike the locust.
Multiply yourselves ^amlike the locust;
multiply ^anlike the grasshopper!
16 You increased ^aoyour merchants
more than the stars of the heavens.
^apThe locust spreads its wings and flies away.
17 Your ^aqprinces are ^arlike grasshoppers,
^asyour scribes ^{▼▼Or marshals} like clouds of locusts
settling on the fences
in a day of cold—
when the sun rises, they fly away;
no one knows where they are.
18 Your shepherds ^auare asleep,
O king of Assyria;
^avyour nobles slumber.
Your people ^aware scattered on the mountains
with none to gather them.
19 There is no easing your hurt;
^axyour wound is grievous.
All who hear the news about you
^ayclap their hands over you.
For ^azupon whom has not come
your unceasing evil?