²² Hear, a noise! Listen, it is coming—
    a great commotion from the land of the north
to make the cities of Judah a desolation,
    a lair of jackals.^(A)

¹³ And he will stretch out his hand against the north
    and destroy Assyria,
and he will make Nineveh a desolation,
    a dry waste like the desert.^(A)
14 Herds shall lie down in it,
    every wild animal of the earth;^[a]
the desert owl^[b] and the screech owl^[c]
    shall lodge on its capitals;
the owl^[d] shall hoot at the window,
    the raven^[e] croak on the threshold,
    for its cedar work will be laid bare.^(B)
15 Is this the exultant city
    that lived secure,
that said to itself,
    “I am, and there is no one else”?
What a desolation it has become,
    a lair for wild animals!
Everyone who passes by it
    hisses and shakes the fist.^(C)