All who see you will shrink back. They will say, 'Nineveh lies in ruins! Who has any sympathy for her? Who will want to comfort her?' "

the earth was formless and desolate. The raging ocean that covered everything was engulfed in total darkness, and the Spirit of God was moving over the water.

Babylonia is the most beautiful kingdom of all; it is the pride of its people. But I, the LORD, will overthrow Babylon as I did Sodom and Gomorrah!

It will be a place where desert animals live and where owls build their nests. Ostriches will live there, and wild goats will prance through the ruins.

I will turn Babylon into a marsh, and owls will live there. I will sweep Babylon with a broom that will sweep everything away. I, the LORD Almighty, have spoken."

The LORD is going to devastate the earth and leave it desolate. He will twist the earth's surface and scatter its people.

It will burn day and night, and smoke will rise from it forever. The land will lie waste age after age, and no one will ever travel through it again.

There will be no king to rule the country, and the leaders will all be gone.

Wild animals will roam there, and demons will call to each other. The night monster will come there looking for a place to rest.

I looked at the earth---it was a barren waste; at the sky---there was no light.

I saw that there were no people; even the birds had flown away.

Then pray, ' LORD, you have said that you would destroy this place, so that there would be no living creatures in it, neither people nor animals, and it would be like a desert forever.'

The LORD will use his power to destroy Assyria. He will make the city of Nineveh a deserted ruin, a waterless desert.

That is what will happen to the city that is so proud of its own power and thinks it is safe. Its people think that their city is the greatest in the world. What a desolate place it will become, a place where wild animals will rest! Everyone who passes by will shrink back in horror.

The LORD says, "I have wiped out whole nations; I have destroyed their cities and left their walls and towers in ruins. The cities are deserted; the streets are empty---no one is left.

Then a mighty angel picked up a stone the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, "This is how the great city Babylon will be violently thrown down and will never be seen again.

Never again will the light of a lamp be seen in you; no more will the voices of brides and grooms be heard in you. Your merchants were the most powerful in all the world, and with your false magic you deceived all the peoples of the world!"

We were afraid as soon as we heard about it; we have all lost our courage because of you. The LORD your God is God in heaven above and here on earth.

My strength is gone, gone like water spilled on the ground. All my bones are out of joint; my heart is like melted wax.

Everyone's hands will hang limp, and everyone's courage will fail.

They will all be terrified and overcome with pain, like the pain of a woman in labor. They will look at each other in fear, and their faces will burn with shame.

He turned pale and was so frightened that his knees began to shake.

What I saw and heard in the vision has filled me with terror and pain, pain like that of a woman in labor.

Now stop and think! Can a man give birth to a child? Why then do I see every man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor? Why is everyone so pale?

As they approach, everyone is terrified; every face turns pale.