Nahum 2
1 He that dasheth in pieces is come up against thy face: keep the fortress, watch the way, make [thy] loins strong, fortify [thy] 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 Jehovah hath brought again the glory of Jacob, as the glory of Israel; for the wasters have wasted them, and marred their vine-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 men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet: the chariots [glitter] with the sheen of steel, in the day of his preparation, and the spears are brandished.
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 The chariots rush madly in the streets, they justle one against another in the broad ways: the appearance of them is like torches, they run like lightnings.
Chariots rush across the fields, storm through the squares; they flame like torches, they dart like lightening.
5 He bethinketh him of his nobles: they stumble in their march; they make haste to the wall thereof, and the shelter is prepared.
A leader rallies his nobles, they hurl themselves forward. They speed on toward the wall; the storming-shield is set up.
6 The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace melteth away.
The water-gates are thrown open, and the palace dissolves in ruins.
7 And it is decreed: she shall be uncovered, she shall be led away, and her maids shall moan as with the voice of doves, drumming upon their breasts.
The queen is stripped, she is carried off. Her maids moan like doves, beating upon their breasts.
8 Nineveh hath been like a pool of water, since the day she existed, yet they flee away. ...Stand! Stand! But none looketh back.
Like a pool of water is Nineveh, her waters fast ebbing away. ‘Stand firm! Stand firm!’ someone cries, but no one turns back.
9 Plunder the silver, plunder the gold; for there is no end of the splendid store of all precious vessels.
‘Loot the silver, loot the gold, for there is no end to the treasure, the wealth and precious things.’
10 She is empty, and void, and waste; and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and writhing pain is in all loins, and all their faces grow pale.
Nineveh is empty, desolate, devastated, with faint heart and knocking knee. There is weakness in every limb, and faces grow pale.
11 Where is [now] the den of the lions, and the feeding-place of the young lions, where the lion, the lioness, [and] the lion's whelp walked, and none made them afraid?
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 tore in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with ravin.
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 thee, saith Jehovah of hosts: and I will burn her 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.
‘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.’
