Bible in Basic English
And it will come about that all who see you will go in flight from you and say, Nineveh is made waste: who will be weeping for her? where am I to get comforters for her?
Are you better than No-amon, seated on the Nile streams, with waters all round her; whose wall was the sea and her earthwork the waters?
Ethiopia was her strength and Egyptians without number; Put and Lubim were her helpers.
But even she has been taken away, she has gone away as a prisoner: even her young children are smashed to bits at the top of all the streets: the fate of her honoured men is put to the decision of chance, and all her great men are put in chains.
And you will be overcome with wine, you will become feeble; you will be looking for a safe place from those who are fighting against you.
All your walled places will be like fig-trees and your people like the first figs, falling at a shake into the mouth which is open for them.
See, the people who are in you are women; the doorways of your land are wide open to your attackers: the locks of your doors have been burned away in the fire.
Get water for the time when you are shut in, make strong your towns: go into the potter's earth, stamping it down with your feet, make strong the brickworks.
There the fire will make you waste; you will be cut off by the sword: make yourself as great in number as the worms, as great in number as the locusts.
Let your traders be increased more than the stars of heaven:
Your crowned ones are like the locusts, and your scribes like the clouds of insects which take cover in the walls on a cold day, but when the sun comes up they go in flight, and are seen no longer in their place.
Sorrow! how are the keepers of your flock sleeping, O king of Assyria! your strong men are at rest; your people are wandering on the mountains, and there is no one to get them together.
Your pain may not be made better; you are wounded to death: all those hearing the news about you will be waving their hands in joy over you: for who has not undergone the weight of your evil-doing again and again?
— Nahum 3:7-1964, Bible in Basic English
“Everyone who sees you will turn away from you in disgust; they will say,‘Nineveh has been devastated! Who will lament for her?’ There will be no one to comfort you!” Nineveh Will Suffer the Same Fate as Thebes You are no more secure than Thebes– she was located on the banks of the Nile; the waters surrounded her, her rampart was the sea, the water was her wall. Cush and Egypt had limitless strength; Put and the Libyans were among her allies. Yet she went into captivity as an exile; even her infants were smashed to pieces at the head of every street. They cast lots for her nobility; all her dignitaries were bound with chains. You too will act like drunkards; you will go into hiding; you too will seek refuge from the enemy. The Assyrian Defenses Will Fail All your fortifications will be like fig trees with first-ripe fruit: If they are shaken, their figs will fall into the mouth of the eater! Your warriors will be like women in your midst; the gates of your land will be wide open to your enemies; fire will consume the bars of your gates. Draw yourselves water for a siege! Strengthen your fortifications! Trample the mud and tread the clay! Make mud bricks to strengthen your walls! There the fire will consume you; the sword will cut you down; it will devour you like the young locust would.The Assyrian Defenders Will Flee Multiply yourself like the young locust; multiply yourself like the flying locust! Increase your merchants more than the stars of heaven! They are like the young locust which sheds its skin and flies away. Your courtiers are like locusts, your officials are like a swarm of locusts! They encamp in the walls on a cold day, yet when the sun rises, they fly away; and no one knows where they are. Concluding Dirge Your shepherds are sleeping, O king of Assyria! Your officers are slumbering! Your people are scattered like sheep on the mountains and there is no one to regather them! Your destruction is like an incurable wound; your demise is like a fatal injury! All who hear what has happened to you will clap their hands for joy, for no one ever escaped your endless cruelty!”
Because of all the false ways of the loose woman, expert in attraction and wise in secret arts, who takes nations in the net of her false ways, and families through her secret arts.
See, I am against you, says the Lord of armies, and I will have your skirts pulled over your face, and let the nations see you unclothed, and the kingdoms your shame.
I will make you completely disgusting and full of shame, and will put you up to be looked at by all.
And it will come about that all who see you will go in flight from you and say, Nineveh is made waste: who will be weeping for her? where am I to get comforters for her?
Are you better than No-amon, seated on the Nile streams, with waters all round her; whose wall was the sea and her earthwork the waters?
Ethiopia was her strength and Egyptians without number; Put and Lubim were her helpers.
But even she has been taken away, she has gone away as a prisoner: even her young children are smashed to bits at the top of all the streets: the fate of her honoured men is put to the decision of chance, and all her great men are put in chains.
And you will be overcome with wine, you will become feeble; you will be looking for a safe place from those who are fighting against you.
All your walled places will be like fig-trees and your people like the first figs, falling at a shake into the mouth which is open for them.
See, the people who are in you are women; the doorways of your land are wide open to your attackers: the locks of your doors have been burned away in the fire.
Get water for the time when you are shut in, make strong your towns: go into the potter's earth, stamping it down with your feet, make strong the brickworks.
There the fire will make you waste; you will be cut off by the sword: make yourself as great in number as the worms, as great in number as the locusts.
Let your traders be increased more than the stars of heaven:
Your crowned ones are like the locusts, and your scribes like the clouds of insects which take cover in the walls on a cold day, but when the sun comes up they go in flight, and are seen no longer in their place.
Sorrow! how are the keepers of your flock sleeping, O king of Assyria! your strong men are at rest; your people are wandering on the mountains, and there is no one to get them together.
Your pain may not be made better; you are wounded to death: all those hearing the news about you will be waving their hands in joy over you: for who has not undergone the weight of your evil-doing again and again?