Nahum 2
1 He who dashes in pieces has come up against you. Keep the fortress. Watch the way. Strengthen your waist. Fortify your power mightily.
One who scatters advances against you, O Nineveh. Guard the fortress! Watch the road! Brace yourselves! Summon all your strength!
2 For the LORD restores the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel; for the destroyers have destroyed them, and ruined their vine branches.
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.
3 The shield of his mighty men is made red. The valiant men are in scarlet. The chariots flash with steel in the day of his preparation, and the pine spears are brandished.
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.
4 The chariots rage in the streets. They rush back and forth in the broad ways. Their appearance is like torches. They run like the lightnings.
The chariots dash through the streets; they rush around the plazas, appearing like torches, darting about like lightning.
5 He summons his picked troops. They stumble on their way. They dash to its wall, and the protective shield is put in place.
He summons his nobles; they stumble as they advance. They race to its wall; the protective shield is set in place.
6 The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved.
The river gates are thrown open and the palace collapses.
7 It is decreed: she is uncovered, she is carried away; and her handmaids moan as with the voice of doves, beating on their breasts.
It is decreed that the city be exiled and carried away; her maidservants moan like doves, and beat upon their breasts.
8 But Nineveh has been from of old like a pool of water, yet they flee away. "Stop. Stop." they cry, but no one looks back.
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.
9 Take the spoil of silver. Take the spoil of gold, for there is no end of the store, the glory of all goodly furniture.
“Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold!” There is no end to the treasure, an abundance of every precious thing.
10 She is empty, void, and waste. The heart melts, the knees knock together, their bodies and faces have grown pale.
She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate and laid waste! Hearts melt, knees knock, bodies tremble, and every face grows pale!
11 Where is the den of the lions, and the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion and the lioness walked, the lion's cubs, and no one made them afraid?
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?
12 The lion tore in pieces enough for his cubs, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his caves with the kill, and his dens with prey.
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.
13 "Look, I am against you," says the LORD of hosts, "and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions; and I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers will no longer be heard."
“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.”
