Nahum 2
1 A scatterer has come up to your face, Keep the bulwark, watch the way, Strengthen the loins, strengthen power mightily.
Nineveh! The destroyer has come up against you; mount guard upon the rampart; watch the road; brace yourselves; strengthen your might to the utmost.
2 For YHWH has turned back to the excellence of Jacob, As [to] the excellence of Israel, For emptiers have emptied them out, And they have marred their branches.
For the Lord is restoring the majesty of Jacob and of Israel, though the devastators have plundered them and destroyed their vines.
3 The shield of his mighty ones has become red, Men of might [are in] scarlet, With fiery torches [is] the chariot in a day of his preparation, And the firs have been caused to tremble.
The shields of his warriors are dyed red, his soldiers are clothed in scarlet, his chariots gleam like fire on the day he prepares for battle spears are shaken.
4 In out-places the chariots shine, They go to and fro in broad places, Their appearances [are] like torches, As lightnings they run.
Chariots rush across the fields, storm through the squares; they flame like torches, they dart like lightening.
5 He remembers his majestic ones, They stumble in their goings, They hurry [to] its wall, And the covering is prepared.
A leader rallies his nobles, they hurl themselves forward. They speed on toward the wall; the storming-shield is set up.
6 Gates of the rivers have been opened, And the palace is dissolved.
The water-gates are thrown open, and the palace dissolves in ruins.
7 And it is established—she has removed, She has been brought up, And her handmaids are leading as the voice of doves, Tabering on their hearts.
The queen is stripped, she is carried off. Her maids moan like doves, beating upon their breasts.
8 And Nineveh [is] as a pool of waters, From of old it [is]—and they are fleeing! “Stand, stand”; and none is turning!
Like a pool of water is Nineveh, her waters fast ebbing away. ‘Stand firm! Stand firm!’ someone cries, but no one turns back.
9 Seize silver, seize gold, And there is no end to the prepared things, [To] the abundance of all desirable vessels.
‘Loot the silver, loot the gold, for there is no end to the treasure, the wealth and precious things.’
10 She is empty, indeed, emptiness and waste, And the heart has melted, And the knees have struck together, And great pain [is] in all loins, And the faces of all of them have gathered paleness.
Nineveh is empty, desolate, devastated, with faint heart and knocking knee. There is weakness in every limb, and faces grow pale.
11 Where [is] the habitation of lionesses? And a feeding-place it [is] for young lions Where a lion has walked, an old lion, A lion’s whelp, and there is none troubling.
Where now is the den of lions? Where now the lair of their young? Where the lion used to withdraw, with his cubs, with none to disturb them?
12 The lion is tearing parts [for] his whelps, And is strangling for his lionesses, And he fills his holes [with] prey, And his habitations [with] torn flesh.
The lion tore enough for his cubs, and strangled prey for his lionesses. He filled his caves with the kill, he filled his lairs with fresh meat.
13 “Behold, I [am] against you,” A declaration of YHWH of Hosts, “And I have burned its chariot in smoke, And a sword consumes your young lions, And I have cut off your prey from the land, And the voice of your messengers is not heard anymore!”
‘But see, I am against you,’ the Lord of hosts declares, ‘I will burn your chariots in smoke and fire. The sword will devour your young lions. You will never again prey on the land. No more will your messengers be heard.’
