2 Yahweh is a jealous and vengeful God,
Yahweh takes vengeance, he is rich in wrath;
Yahweh takes vengeance on his foes,
he stores up fury for his enemies.
3 Yahweh is slow to anger but great in power,
Yahweh never lets evil go unpunished. In storm and whirlwind he takes his way,
the clouds are the dust stirred up by his feet. 4 He rebukes the sea, dries it up,
and makes all the rivers run dry. . . .
Bashan and Carmel wither,
the greenery of the Lebanon withers too. 5 The mountains tremble before him,
the hills reel;
the earth collapses before him,
the world and all who live in it. 6 His fury—who can withstand it?
Who can endure his burning wrath?
His anger pours out like fire
and the rocks break apart before him. 7 Yahweh is better than a fortress
in time of distress;
he recognises those who trust in him
8 even when the flood rushes on;
he will make an end once and for all of those who defy him,
and pursue his foes into darkness. 9 What are your thoughts about Yahweh?
He it is who makes a final end:
his adversaries will not rise up a second time;
10 like a thicket of tangled brambles,
like dry straw, they will be burnt up completely.
31 Disaster to the city of blood,
packed throughout with lies,
stuffed with booty,
where plundering has no end!
2 The crack of the whip!
The rumble of wheels!
Galloping horse,
jolting chariot,
3 charging cavalry,
flashing swords,
gleaming spears,
a mass of wounded,
hosts of dead,
countless corpses;
they stumble over corpses—
4 because of the countless whorings of the harlot,
the graceful beauty, the cunning witch,
who enslaved nations by her harlotries
and tribes by her spells. 5 Look, I am against you!—declares Yahweh Sabaoth—
I shall lift your skirts as high as your face
and show your nakedness to the nations,
your shame to the kingdoms.
6 I shall pelt you with filth,
I shall shame you and put you in the pillory.
7 Then all who look at you
will shrink from you and say,
'Nineveh has been ruined!'
Who will mourn for her?
Where would I find people to comfort you? 8 Are you better off than No-Amon
situated among rivers,
her defences the seas,
her rampart the waters?
9 In Ethiopia and Egypt lay her strength,
and it was boundless;
Put and the Libyans served in her army.
10 But she too went into exile,
into captivity;
her little ones too were dashed to pieces
at every crossroad;
lots were drawn for her nobles,
all her great men were put in chains. 11 You too will become drunk,
you will go into hiding;
you too will have to search
for a refuge from the enemy. 12 Your fortifications are all fig trees,
with early ripening figs:
as soon as they are shaken,
they fall into the mouth of the eater.
13 Look at your people:
you are a nation of women!
The gates of your country
gape open to your enemies;
fire has devoured their bars!
14 Draw yourselves water for the siege,
strengthen your fortifications!
Into the mud with you,
puddle the clay,
repair the brick-kiln!
15 There the fire will burn you up,
the sword will cut you down. Make yourselves as numerous as locusts,
make yourselves as numerous as the hoppers,
16 let your commercial agents
outnumber the stars of heaven,
17 your garrisons, like locusts,
and your marshals, like swarms of hoppers!
They settle on the walls
when the day is cold.
The sun appears,
the locusts spread their wings,
they fly away,—
away they fly, no one knows where.
Alas, 18 your shepherds are asleep,
king of Assyria,
your bravest men slumber;
your people are scattered on the mountains
with no one to gather them.
19 There is no remedy for your wound,
your injury is past healing.
All who hear the news of you
clap their hands at your downfall.
For who has not felt
your unrelenting cruelty?
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