# The nations

The word "nations" is a metonym for the people who live in many nations. AT: "The people of the nations nearby" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]])

# They will put their hands on their mouths

They do this to show that they are ashamed of what they have done. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/translate-symaction]])

# their ears will be deaf

This is an idiom. Nothing anyone says will have any effect on them. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-idiom]])

# They will lick the dust like a snake

Snakes slither on the ground where dust gets on them, and here the people are being compared to snakes, though it is probably an exaggeration that they will lick the dust. Possible meanings are that these people 1) will literally lie on the ground in shame or 2) will be so ashamed and humbled that it will be as if they were lying on the ground. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-hyperbole]] and [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-simile]] and [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/translate-symaction]])

# their dens

The people are spoken of as if they were animals, because animals live in "dens." AT: "their homes" or "their hiding places" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]])

# translationWords

* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/other/nation]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/other/shame]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/power]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/other/hand]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/other/serpent]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/fear]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/yahweh]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/god]]