¹ Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without victims! ² The crack of whips, the clatter of wheels, galloping horses and jolting chariots! ³ Charging cavalry, flashing swords and glittering spears! Many casualties, piles of dead, bodies without number, people stumbling over the corpses— ⁴ all because of the wanton lust of a prostitute, alluring, the mistress of sorceries, who enslaved nations by her prostitution and peoples by her witchcraft. ⁵ “I am against you,” declares the Lord Almighty. “I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show the nations your nakedness and the kingdoms your shame. ⁶ I will pelt you with filth, I will treat you with contempt and make you a spectacle. ⁷ All who see you will flee from you and say, ‘Nineveh is in ruins—who will mourn for her?` Where can I find anyone to comfort you?” ⁸ Are you better than Thebes, situated on the Nile, with water around her? The river was her defense, the waters her wall.