Nahum 2
1 The one who scatters has come to attack you! Guard the fortresses! Watch the roads! Get yourselves ready! Call every soldier out!
The ravager cometh up against thee, [[O Nineveh!]] Guard the fortress; watch the way; Gird up the loins; confirm the strength.
2 (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.)
For Jehovah restoreth the glory of Jacob, As the glory of Israel; For the wasters have wasted them, And destroyed their branches.
3 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.
The shields of his mighty men are red; His warriors are clothed in crimson; His chariots glitter with the fire of steel in the day of his preparation, And the spears are brandished.
4 Chariots race madly through the streets, rushing back and forth across the town squares. Bright as torches, they dash like lightning flashes.
The chariots rave in the streets; They run to and fro in the broad ways; Their appearance is like torches; They run like lightnings.
5 He shouts orders to his officers. They stumble as they rush to attack the wall. The battering ram is set up.
He calleth for his mighty men; They stumble on their way; They hasten to the wall; But the mantelet is prepared,
6 The river gates are opened; the palace washes away.
The gates of rivers are opened, And the palace melteth away.
7 “Queen” Nineveh is stripped, and led away into exile, with her servant girls mourning like doves, and beating their breasts.
Huzzab is uncovered; she is carried away captive, Her maidservants sigh with the voice of doves, And smite their breasts.
8 Nineveh is a leaky pool—its population is like water running away. “Stop! Stop” people shout, but nobody turns back.
Nineveh was like a pool full of water of old; Yet shall they flee away; Stand! stand! shall they cry; But none shall look back.
9 Loot the silver! Loot the gold! There's an endless supply—an abundance of everything you could ever want.
Seize the silver; seize the gold; There is no end to the treasures; There is abundance of all precious furniture.
10 Deserted, destroyed, devastated! Hearts faint, knees tremble, stomachs ache. Everyone's faces turn pale.
She hath become void, and empty, and desolate; The heart melteth, and the knees smite together; Pangs are in all their loins, And the faces of all gather blackness.
11 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?
Where now is the dwelling of the lions, And the feeding-place of the young lions, Where the lion and the lioness walked, And the lion's whelp, and none made them afraid?
12 The lion tears apart meat for his cubs, and strangles prey for his lionesses. He fills his den with prey, his lair with carcasses.
The lion tore in pieces for his whelps, And strangled for his lionesses, And filled his dens with prey, And his lairs with ravin.
13 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.
Behold! I am against thee, saith Jehovah of hosts, And I will burn thy chariots into smoke, And the sword shall devour thy young lions. And I will cut off thy prey from the earth, And the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard.
