Nahum 2
1 One who scatters advances against you, O Nineveh. Guard the fortress! Watch the road! Brace yourselves! Summon all your strength!
The one who scatters has come to attack you! Guard the fortresses! Watch the roads! Get yourselves ready! Call every soldier out!
2 For the LORD will restore the splendor of Jacob like the splendor of Israel, though destroyers have laid them waste and ruined the branches of their vine.
(For the Lord will restore the splendor of the people of Jacob as he will restore the splendor of Israel, for invaders have plundered them, and destroyed their land.)
3 The shields of his mighty men are red; the valiant warriors are dressed in scarlet. The fittings of the chariots flash like fire on the day they are prepared, and the spears of cypress have been brandished.
The shields of his chief soldiers are red; the warriors wear scarlet. His chariots flash like fire in the sunlight as he prepares for battle. Spears with their wooden shafts are held up and shaken.
4 The chariots dash through the streets; they rush around the plazas, appearing like torches, darting about like lightning.
Chariots race madly through the streets, rushing back and forth across the town squares. Bright as torches, they dash like lightning flashes.
5 He summons his nobles; they stumble as they advance. They race to its wall; the protective shield is set in place.
He shouts orders to his officers. They stumble as they rush to attack the wall. The battering ram is set up.
6 The river gates are thrown open and the palace collapses.
The river gates are opened; the palace washes away.
7 It is decreed that the city be exiled and carried away; her maidservants moan like doves, and beat upon their breasts.
“Queen” Nineveh is stripped, and led away into exile, with her servant girls mourning like doves, and beating their breasts.
8 Nineveh has been like a pool of water throughout her days, but now it is draining away. “Stop! Stop!” they cry, but no one turns back.
Nineveh is a leaky pool—its population is like water running away. “Stop! Stop” people shout, but nobody turns back.
9 “Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold!” There is no end to the treasure, an abundance of every precious thing.
Loot the silver! Loot the gold! There's an endless supply—an abundance of everything you could ever want.
10 She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate and laid waste! Hearts melt, knees knock, bodies tremble, and every face grows pale!
Deserted, destroyed, devastated! Hearts faint, knees tremble, stomachs ache. Everyone's faces turn pale.
11 Where is the lions’ lair or the feeding ground of the young lions, where the lion and lioness prowled with their cubs, with nothing to frighten them away?
Where now is the lion's den? Where is the place where the young lions used to feed? Where is the lion, and the lioness, and the lion cub that were afraid of no one?
12 The lion mauled enough for its cubs and strangled prey for the lioness. It filled its dens with the kill, and its lairs with mauled prey.
The lion tears apart meat for his cubs, and strangles prey for his lionesses. He fills his den with prey, his lair with carcasses.
13 “Behold, I am against you,” declares the LORD of Hosts. “I will send your chariots up in smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voices of your messengers will no longer be heard.”
Watch out! For I am against you, declares the Lord Almighty. I will set fire to your chariots and they will go up in smoke. Your strong young men will be killed by the sword. I will stop you plundering other peoples. The demands of your ambassadors will no longer be heard.
