Nineveh's Desolation

5

10

15

And the noise of the rattling of the wheels,

And of the pransing horses,

And of the jumping chariots.

The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword

And the glittering spear:

And there is a multitude of slain,

And a great number of carcases;

And there is none end of their corpses;

They stumble upon their corpses:

Because of the multitude of the whoredoms

Of the wellfavoured harlot,

The mistress of witchcrafts,

That selleth nations through her whoredoms,

And families through her witchcrafts.

Behold, I am against thee,

Saith the LORD of hosts;

And I will discover thy skirts upon thy face,
And I will shew the nations thy nakedness,

And the kingdoms thy shame.

20

And I will cast abominable filth upon thee,

And make thee vile,

That was situate among the rivers,

That had the waters round about it,

Whose rampart was the sea,
And her wall was from the sea?
Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength,
And it was infinite;

Put and Lubim were thy helpers.

Yet was she carried away,

She went into captivity:

Her young children also were dashed in pieces

At the top of all the streets :

And they cast lots for her honourable men,
And all her great men were bound in chains.

Thou also shalt be drunken :

Thou shalt be hid,

Thou also shalt seek strength

Because of the enemy.
All thy strong holds shall be like fig trees

Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women :

The gates of thy land shall be set

Wide open unto thine enemies :

The fire shall devour thy bars.

20

25

Nineveh's There shall the fire devour thee;
Utter The sword shall cut thee off,

Ruin It shall eat thee up like the cankerworm
Make thyself many as the cankerworm,
5 Make thyself many as the locusts.
Thou hast multiplied thy merchants
Above the stars of heaven:
The cankerworm spoileth,
And fleeth away.

10 Thy crowned are as the locusts,

And thy captains as the great grasshoppers,
Which camp in the hedges in the cold day,
But when the sun ariseth they flee away,
And their place is not known where they are.

15 Thy shepherds slumber,

O king of Assyria:

Thy nobles shall dwell in the dust :

Thy people is scattered upon the mountains,

And no man gathereth them.

20 There is no healing of thy bruise;

25

Thy wound is grievous:

All that hear the bruit of thee

Shall clap the hands over thee :

For upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?

T

Habakkuk

HE burden which Habakkuk the prophet did The

see.

Coming of the O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not Chaldeans hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save! Why dost thou shew me iniquity, 5 and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention. Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong 10 judgment proceedeth.

-*

Behold ye among the heathen, and regard,

And wonder marvellously :

For I will work a work in your days,

Which ye will not believe,

Though it be told you.

For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans,

That bitter and hasty nation,

Which shall march through the breadth of the land,

To possess the dwellingplaces

That are not theirs.

They are terrible and dreadful :

15

20

God's Their judgment and their dignity

Hatred of

Iniquity

5

10

15

Shall proceed of themselves.

Their horses also are swifter

Than the leopards,

And are more fierce

Than the evening wolves :

And their horsemen shall spread themselves,
And their horsemen shall come from far;

They shall fly as the eagle

That hasteth to eat.

They shall come all for violence :

Their faces shall sup up as the east wind,
And they shall gather the captivity

As the sand.

And they shall scoff at the kings,
And the princes shall be a scorn unto them:
They shall deride every strong hold;
For they shall heap dust, and take it.
Then shall his mind change,

20

And he shall pass over, and offend,
Imputing this his power unto his god.
Art thou not from everlasting,

25

O Lord, thou hast ordained them for judgment;

And, O mighty God,

Thou hast established them for correction.

Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil,

And canst not look on iniquity :