The LORD is slow to anger and powerful, and he will never let the guilty go unpunished. The LORD's path is in the windstorm and hurricane; thunderclouds are dust beneath his feet.

Who can stand before his fury? And who can endure his fierce anger? His displeasure pours out like fire, and rocks are broken to pieces because of him.

The LORD is good a refuge in troubled times. He knows those who are confiding in him.

What are you scheming against the LORD? He will bring about utter desolation adversity will not strike twice!

This is what the LORD says: "No matter how strong they are, and no matter how numerous, they will surely be annihilated and pass away. Though I have afflicted you, I will do so no more.

Now I will break off Assyria's yoke from you, and tear apart your shackles."

Now this is what the Lord has decreed about you, Nineveh: "There will be no more children born to carry on your name. I will cut out the graven and molten images from the temples of your gods. I myself will dig your grave, because you are vile."

Look! There on the mountains! The feet of the one who brings good news, who broadcasts a message of peace. Judah, celebrate your solemn festivals and keep your vows, because the wicked will never again invade you. Nineveh will be completely eliminated!

You are being attacked by advancing forces! Guard your rampart! Watch your roads! Prepare yourselves! Marshall your defenses!

The shields deployed by Israel's elite forces are scarlet, their valiant men are clothed in crimson. When they are prepared, the polished armament on their chariots will shine, and lances will be brandished about ferociously.

Where is this lion's den? Where is the place where the young lions fed, where the lion and its mate walked with their young, the place where they feared nothing?

"I am against you," declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, "and I will send your chariots up in smoke. A sword will devour your young lions, I will eliminate your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers will no longer be heard."

The cavalry attacks the flashing sword and the glittering spear! Many are the slain so many casualties! No end to bodies, and the soldiers trip over the corpses.

Innumerable are the harlotries of this well-favored whore, this mistress of witchcraft, who enslaves nations through her fornication and families through her sorcery.

"Look, I am against you," declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, "so I will pull up your dress over your face. I will show your nakedness to the nations, and your disgrace to the kingdoms.

It will be that everyone who looks at you will run away, saying, "Nineveh has been violently overthrown! Who will mourn for her? Where will I find anyone to comfort you?'"

"Are you any better than Thebes, which sits by the upper Nile, surrounded by water? The sea was her defense, the waters her wall of protection.

Sudan was her source of strength, along with Egypt there were no limits. Put and the Libyans were her allies.

But she, too, was exiled she went into captivity! Her young children were dashed to pieces at every crossroad of their streets, and her famous citizens were sold by lottery, while all of her aristocrats were put in chains.

You will also become drunk. You will disappear, trying to hide from your enemies.

All your defenses are like fig trees with ripe early fruit when shaken, it falls right into the devourer's mouth.

Look at your people they are women! Your borders stand wide open to your enemies, while fire consumes the bars of your gates."

"Draw water, because a siege is coming! Strengthen your fortresses! Make the clay good and strong! Mix the mortar! Go get your brick molds!

You added to your inventory of businessmen they number more than the stars of heaven. The creeping locust sheds its skin and flies away.

Your imperial guards are like the swarming grasshopper; your marshals are like hordes of grasshoppers, settling in the stone walls on a chilly day. The sun rises, and they flee away; no one knows where they went.

Hey king of Assyria! Your shepherds are asleep and your nobles are lying down! Your people lie scattered on the mountains, and there is no one to gather them together.

There is no healing for your injury your wound is fatal. Everyone who hears about you will applaud, because who hasn't escaped your endless evil?"