They wait on the banks of the Arnon River and move aimlessly back and forth, like birds driven from their nest.

'Quick, run for your lives!' they say. 'Run like a wild desert donkey!'

Set up a tombstone for Moab; it will soon be destroyed. Its towns will be left in ruins, and no one will live there again."

Then Micah said, "Because of this I will mourn and lament. To show my sorrow, I will walk around barefoot and naked. I will howl like a jackal and wail like an ostrich.

The emperor of Assyria will lead away naked the prisoners he captures from those two countries. Young and old, they will walk barefoot and naked, with their buttocks exposed, bringing shame on Egypt.

Turn the millstone! Grind the flour! Off with your veil! Strip off your fine clothes! Lift up your skirts to cross the streams!

People will see you naked; they will see you humbled and shamed. I will take vengeance, and no one will stop me."

If you ask why all this has happened to you---why your clothes have been torn off and you have been raped---it is because your sin is so terrible.

Because of this I will bring all your former lovers together---the ones you liked and the ones you hated. I will bring them around you in a circle, and then I will strip off your clothes and let them see you naked.

The LORD Almighty says, "I will punish you, Nineveh! I will strip you naked and let the nations see you, see you in all your shame.