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.
The destroyer is come up against thee to enclose [thee] with works of siege: look out on the way, make thy loins strong, strengthen [thyself] greatly with power.
2 For YHWH restores the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel; for the destroyers have destroyed them, and ruined their vine branches.
For the Lord bringeth back again the excellency of Jacob, as also the excellency of Israel; for the plunderers have plundered them, and have wasted branches of their vines.
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 made red, the valiant men are [clothed] in scarlet: with the fire of the steel the chariots [glitter] on the day when he prepareth himself [for battle], and the spears are shaken.
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.
In the streets the chariots rush madly along, they rattle through the public places: their appearance is like torches, they run along like the lightnings.
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 will summon his valiant men, they shall stumble in their walk: they hasten to her walls, and the covering for defence is prepared.
6 The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved.
The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved.
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.
And the queen is carried away into exile stripped of her attire, and her maids moan as with the voice of doves, striking their hand upon their breast.
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.
And Nineveh was like a pool of water from the days that she existed: yet now they flee. “Stand, stand,” [shall they cry, ] but none shall look 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 silver, plunder gold; for without end are the treasures, there is an abundance of all precious vessels.
10 She is empty, void, and waste. The heart melts, the knees knock together, their bodies and faces have grown pale.
She is void, and emptied out, and wasted; and the heart melteth, and the knees totter, and trembling is in all loins, and the faces of them all are covered with blackness.
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 [now] the dwelling of the lions, and what was the feeding-place of the young lions, where the lion, the lioness, and the lion's whelp walked, and none made them afraid?
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 tore in pieces [prey] enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled with prey his holes, and his dens with what he had torn.
13 "Look, I am against you," says YHWH 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 will be against thee, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will burn into smoke thy chariots, and thy young lions shall the sword devour: and I will cut off from the earth thy preying, and no more shall be heard the voice of thy messengers.
