Nineveh [is] like a pool of water without its water. {As they flee}, [she cries,] "Stop! Stop!" But there is no one who turns back.

Are you better than Thebes? She who sits at the Nile, surrounded by her waters, her rampart [was the] sea and water [was] her wall.

All of your fortifications [are like] fig trees with [ripe] firstfruits-- if they are shaken, they will fall into the mouth of the eater.

Draw water for a siege! Strengthen your fortifications! Go to the mud [pit]! Trample the clay! Grasp the brick mold!