The scaterer shal come vp agaynst the, & laye sege to the castell. Loke thou wel to the stretes, make thy loynes stronge, arme thy self with all thy myght: for the LORDE shal restore agayne the glory of Iacob, like as ye glory of Israel. The destroyers haue broken them downe, & marred the wyne braunches. The shylde of his giauntes glistereth, his men of warre are clothed in purple. His cha¦rettes are as fyre, when he maketh him for∣warde, his archers are wel deckte & trimmed. The charettes rolle vpon the stretes, & wel∣ter in the hye wayes. They are to loke vpon like cressettes of fyre, and go swyftly, as the lightenynge.
[ B] When he doth but warne his giauntes, they fall in their araye, & haistely they clym¦me vp the walles: yee the engyns of the war¦re are prepared all ready. The water portes shal be opened, and the kinges palace shall fall. The quene hir self shal beled awaye cap¦tyue, and hir gentilwomen shal mourne as the doues, & grone within their hertes. Ni∣niue is like a pole full of water, but then shal they be fayne to fle. Stonde, stōde, (shal they crie) & there shal not one turne backe. Awaye with the syluer, awaye with the golde: for here is no ende of treasure. There shalbe a multitude of all maner costly ornamentes. Thus must she be spoyled, emptied & clene striped out: that their hertes maye be melted awaye, their knees trēble, all their loynes be weake, and their faces blacke as a pot.
Where is now the dwellinge of the lyōs, and the pasture of the lyons whelpes? whe∣re the lyon and the lyonesse wente with the whelpes, and no man frayed them awaye? But the lyon spoyled ynough for his yonge ones, and deuoured for his lyonesse: he fyl∣led his dennes with his pray, & his dwellinge place with that he had rauyszshed. Behol∣de, I wil vpon the (saieth the LORDE of hoo¦stes) and wil set fyre vpon thy charettes, that they shal smoke withall, and the swerde shal deuoure thy yonge lyons. I wil make an ende of thy spoylinge from out of the earth, & the voyce of thy messaungers shall nomore be herde.
The III. Chapter.
[ A] WO to that bloudthursty cite, which is all full of lyes and robbery, & wil not leaue of from rauyszshinge. The¦re a man maye heare scourginge, ruszshinge, the noyse of the wheles, the crienge of the horses, & the rollinge of the charettes. The∣re the horse men get vp with naked swer∣des, and glisterynge speares: There lyeth a multitude slayne, and a greate heape of deed bodies: There is no ende of deed coarses, yee men fall vpon their bodies: And that for the greate and many folde whord••me, of the fay¦re and beutifull harlot: which is a mastresse of wychcraft, yee and selleth the people tho¦row hir whordome, and the nacions thorow hir wichcraft.
Beholde, I wil vpon the (saieth the LOR¦DE of hoostes) and wil pull thy clothes ouer thy heade: that I maye shewe thy nakednes amonge the Heithen, and thy shame amon∣ge the kingdomes. I wil cast dyrte vpon yt, to make the be abhorred, and a gasynge stoc¦ke: Yee all they that loke vpon the, shal star¦te backe, & saye: Niniue is destroyed.
Who wil haue pyte vpō the? where shal [ B] I seke one to conforte the? Art thou better then the greate cite of Alexādria? that laye in the waters, and had the waters rounde aboute it: which was strongly fenced & wal∣led with the see? Ethiopia and Egipte we∣re hir strēgth, & that exceadinge greate abo¦ue measure. Aphrica and Lybia were hir hel¦pers, yet was she dryuen awaye, & brought in to captiuyte: hir yonge children were smyt¦ten downe at the heade of euery strete, the lottes were cast for the most awncient men in her, and all hir mightie men were bounde in chaynes. Euen so shalt thou also be dronc¦ken, and hyde thy self, and seke some helpe a∣gaynst thine enemy. All thy stronge cities shal be like fyge trees wt rype fyges: which whē a mā shaketh, they fall in to the mouth of the eater.
Beholde, thy people with in the are but [ C] w••men: the portes of thy londe shal be ope∣ned vnto thine enemies, and the fyre shal de¦uoure ye barres. Drawe water now agaynst thou be beseged, make vp thy strōge holdes, go in to the claye, tempre the morter, make stronge bricke: yet the fyre shal consume the, the swerde shal destroye the, yee as ye locus∣te doth, so shal it eate the vp. It shal fall he¦uely vpon the as the locustes, yee right he∣uely shal it fall vpon the, euen as the gres∣hoppers. Thy marchauntes haue bene mo then the starres of heauē: but now shal they sprede abrode as the locustes, and fle their waye: Thy lordes are as the greshoppers, & thy captaynes as the multitude of greshop¦pers: which whē they be colde, remayne in ye hedges: but when the Sonne is vp, they fle awaye, and no mā can tell where they are be∣come. Thy shepherdes are aslepe (o kinge of Assur) thy worthies are layed downe: ye peo¦ple is scatred abrode vpon the mountaynes,