Study Desk

^(a)Woe to the bloody city, completely full of lies and pillage; Her prey never departs.

The ^(b)noise of the whip, The noise of the rattling of the wheel, Galloping horses And ^[a]bounding chariots!

Horsemen charging, Swords flashing, ^(c)spears gleaming, ^(d)Many slain, a mass of corpses, And ^[b](e)countless dead bodies— They stumble over ^[c]the dead bodies!

All because of the ^(f)many harlotries of the harlot, The charming one, the ^(g)mistress of sorceries, Who ^(h)sells nations by her harlotries And families by her sorceries.

"Behold, ⁽ⁱ⁾I am against you," declares the Lord of hosts; "And I will ^[d](j)lift up your skirts over your face, And ^(k)show to the nations your nakedness And to the kingdoms your disgrace.

"I will ^(l)throw ^[e]filth on you And ^(m)make you vile, And set you up as a ⁽ⁿ⁾spectacle.

"And it will come about that all who see you Will ^[f]shrink from you and say, ‘Nineveh is devastated! ^(o)Who will grieve for her?' Where will I seek comforters for you?"

Are you better than ^[g](p)No-amon, Which was situated by the ^(q)waters of the Nile, With water surrounding her, Whose rampart was ^[h]the sea, Whose wall consisted of ^[i]the sea?

^(r)Ethiopia was her might, And Egypt too, without limits. ^(s)Put and ^(t)Lubim were among ^[j]her helpers.

Yet she ^(u)became an exile, She went into captivity; Also her ^(v)small children were dashed to pieces ^(w)At the head of every street; They ^(x)cast lots for her honorable men, And all her great men were bound with fetters.

You too will become ^(y)drunk, You will be ^(z)hidden. You too will search for a refuge from the enemy.

All your fortifications are ^(aa)fig trees with ^[k](ab)ripe fruit— When shaken, they fall into the eater's mouth.

Behold, your people are ^(ac)women in your midst! The gates of your land are ^(ad)opened wide to your enemies; Fire consumes your gate bars.

^(ae)Draw for yourself water for the siege! ^(af)Strengthen your fortifications! Go into the clay and tread the mortar! Take hold of the brick mold!

There ^(ag)fire will consume you, The sword will cut you down; It will ^(ah)consume you as the locust does. Multiply yourself like the creeping locust, Multiply yourself like the swarming locust.

You have increased your ^(ai)traders more than the stars of heaven— The creeping locust ^[l]strips and flies away.

Your ^[m](aj)guardsmen are like the swarming locust. Your ^(ak)marshals are like hordes of grasshoppers Settling in the stone walls on a cold day. The sun rises and they flee, And the place where they are is not known.

Your shepherds are ^(al)sleeping, O ^(am)king of Assyria; Your ^(an)nobles are lying down. Your people are ^(ao)scattered on the mountains And there is no one to regather them.

There is ^(ap)no relief for your breakdown, Your ^(aq)wound is incurable. All who hear ^[n]about you Will ^(ar)clap their hands over you, For on whom has not your evil passed continually?