Nahum 2

1 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.

It is all over with him, he has been removed, [one] who has been delivered from affliction has come up panting into your presence, watch the way, strengthen [your] loins, be very valiant in [your] strength.

2 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.

For the Lord has turned aside the pride of Jacob, as the pride of Israel: for they have utterly rejected them, and have destroyed their branches.

3 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.

[They have destroyed] the arms of their power from among men, their mighty men sporting with fire: the reins of their chariots [shall be destroyed] in the day of his preparation, and the horsemen shall be thrown into confusion

4 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.

in the ways, and the chariots shall clash together, and shall be entangled in each other in the broad ways: their appearance is as lamps of fire, and as gleaming lightnings.

5 He will summon his valiant men, they shall stumble in their walk: they hasten to her walls, and the covering for defence is prepared.

And their mighty men shall bethink themselves and flee by day; and they shall be weak as they go; and they shall hasten to her walls, and shall prepare their defences.

6 The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved.

The gates of the cities have been opened, and the palaces have fallen into ruin,

7 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.

and the foundation has been exposed; and she has gone up, and her maidservants were led [away] as doves moaning in their hearts.

8 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.

And [as for] Nineve, her waters [shall be] as a pool of water: and they fled, and staid not, and there was none to look back.

9 Plunder silver, plunder gold; for without end are the treasures, there is an abundance of all precious vessels.

They plundered the silver, they plundered the gold, and there was no end of their adorning; they were loaded [with it] upon all their pleasant vessels.

10 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.

[There is] thrusting forth, and shaking, and tumult, and heart-breaking, and loosing of knees, and pangs on all loins; and the faces of all [are] as the blackening of a pot.

11 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?

Where is the dwelling-place of the lions, and the pasture that belonged to the whelps? where did the lion go, that the lion's whelp should enter in there, and there was none to scare [him] away?

12 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.

The lion seized enough prey for his whelps, and strangled for his [young] lions, and filled his lair with prey, and his dwelling-place with spoil.

13 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.

Behold, I am against you, says the Lord Almighty, and I will burn up your multitude in the smoke, and the sword shall devour your lions; and I will utterly destroy your prey from off the land, and your deeds shall no more at all be heard of.