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3:1  ·How terrible it will be for [L Woe to] the city ·that has killed so many [L of blood]. It is full of lies and ·goods stolen from other countries [plunder]. It is ·always killing somebody [L never empty of prey].
3:2  Hear the sound of whips and the ·noise [rumble; shaking] of the wheels. Hear horses galloping and chariots bouncing along!
3:3  ·Horses [Cavalry; Horsemen] are charging, swords are ·shining [flashing], spears are gleaming! Many are ·dead [slain]; their bodies are piled up— too many to count. People stumble over the dead bodies.
3:4  ·The city was like a prostitute [For her many acts of prostitution]; she was ·charming [graceful] and a ·lover of magic [L mistress of sorceries]. She made nations slaves with her prostitution and her ·witchcraft [sorcery; charms].
3:5  “I am against ·you, Nineveh [L you],” says the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts]. “I will pull your dress up over your face and show the nations your nakedness and the kingdoms your shame [C the punishment of a prostitute in the ancient Near East].
3:6  I will throw filthy garbage on you and ·make a fool of you [treat you with contempt]. I will make ·people stare at you [you a spectacle].
3:7  Everyone who sees you will ·run away [or turn away in disgust] and say, ‘Nineveh is in ruins. Who will ·cry [grieve; lament] for her?’ Nineveh, where will I find anyone to comfort you?”
3:8  You are no better than ·Thebes [L No Amon; C meaning “city of (the god) Amon”; This capital of Upper Egypt, thought to be impregnable, was destroyed by the Assyrians in 663 bc], who sits by the Nile River with water all around her. The river was her ·defense [rampart]; the waters were like a wall around her.
3:9  Cush [C ancient Ethiopia or Nubia] and Egypt gave her endless strength; Put and Libya supported her [C neighboring countries allied with Egypt].
3:10  But Thebes was captured and went into ·captivity [exile]. Her ·small children [infants] were ·beaten to death [dashed to pieces] at every street corner. Lots were thrown for her ·important men [nobles; C parceled out as slaves], and all of her ·leaders [great ones] were put in chains.
3:11  You [C Nineveh] will be drunk, too. You will hide; you will ·look for a place safe [seek refuge] from the enemy.
3:12  All your ·defenses [fortresses] are like fig trees with ripe fruit. When the tree is shaken, the figs fall into the mouth of the eater.
3:13  Look at your soldiers. They are all women [C meaning helpless or physically weak]! The gates of your land are wide open for your enemies; fire has ·burned [consumed; devoured] the bars of your gates.
3:14  ·Get enough water before the long war begins [Draw water for the siege]. Make your defenses strong! Get mud, mix clay, ·make bricks [strengthen the brickwork]!
3:15  There the fire will ·burn you up [consume/devour you]. The sword will ·kill you [cut you down]; ·like grasshoppers eating crops, the battle will completely destroy you [it will devour you like locusts]. Grow in number like ·hopping [or young] locusts; grow in number like ·swarming [or flying] locusts!
3:16  Your ·traders [merchants] are more than the stars in the sky, but like locusts they ·strip the land [or shed their skin] and then fly away.
3:17  Your guards are like locusts. Your officers are like swarms of locusts that ·hang [settle; encamp] on the walls on a cold day. When the sun comes up, they fly away, and no one knows where they have gone.
3:18  King of Assyria, your ·rulers [L shepherds] are asleep; your ·important men [nobles; officers] lie down ·to rest [or dead]. Your people have been scattered on the mountains [C like sheep], and there is no one to ·bring them back [gather them].