Nahum 2

1 Come up hath a scatterer to thy face, Keep the bulwark, watch the way, Strengthen the loins, strengthen power mightily.

The one who scatters has come to attack you! Guard the fortresses! Watch the roads! Get yourselves ready! Call every soldier out!

2 For turned back hath Jehovah to the excellency of Jacob, As [to] the excellency of Israel, For emptied them out have emptiers, And their branches they have marred.

(For the Lord will restore the splendor of the people of Jacob as he will restore the splendor of Israel, for invaders have plundered them, and destroyed their land.)

3 The shield of his mighty ones is 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 chief soldiers are red; the warriors wear scarlet. His chariots flash like fire in the sunlight as he prepares for battle. Spears with their wooden shafts are held up and shaken.

4 In out-places shine do the chariots, They go to and fro in broad places, Their appearances [are] like torches, As lightnings they run.

Chariots race madly through the streets, rushing back and forth across the town squares. Bright as torches, they dash like lightning flashes.

5 He doth remember his honourable ones, They stumble in their goings, They hasten [to] its wall, and prepared is the covering.

He shouts orders to his officers. They stumble as they rush to attack the wall. The battering ram is set up.

6 Gates of the rivers have been opened, And the palace is dissolved.

The river gates are opened; the palace washes away.

7 And it is established — she hath removed, She hath been brought up, And her handmaids are leading as the voice of doves, Tabering on their hearts.

“Queen” Nineveh is stripped, and led away into exile, with her servant girls mourning like doves, and beating their breasts.

8 And Nineveh [is] as a pool of waters, From of old it [is] — and they are fleeing! 'Stand ye, stand;' and none is turning!

Nineveh is a leaky pool—its population is like water running away. “Stop! Stop” people shout, but nobody turns back.

9 Seize ye silver, seize ye gold, And there is no end to the prepared things, [To] the abundance of all desirable vessels.

Loot the silver! Loot the gold! There's an endless supply—an abundance of everything you could ever want.

10 She is empty, yea, emptiness and waste, And the heart hath melted, And the knees have smitten together, And great pain [is] in all loins, And the faces of all of them have gathered paleness.

Deserted, destroyed, devastated! Hearts faint, knees tremble, stomachs ache. Everyone's faces turn pale.

11 Where [is] the habitation of lionesses? And a feeding-place it [is] for young lions Where walked hath a lion, an old lion, A lion's whelp, and there is none troubling.

Where now is the lion's den? Where is the place where the young lions used to feed? Where is the lion, and the lioness, and the lion cub that were afraid of no one?

12 The lion is tearing parts [for] his whelps, And is strangling for his lionesses, And he doth fill [with] prey his holes, And his habitations [with] rapine.

The lion tears apart meat for his cubs, and strangles prey for his lionesses. He fills his den with prey, his lair with carcasses.

13 Lo, I [am] against thee, An affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts, And I have burned in smoke its chariot, And thy young lions consume doth a sword, And I have cut off from the land thy prey, And not heard any more is the voice of thy messengers!

Watch out! For I am against you, declares the Lord Almighty. I will set fire to your chariots and they will go up in smoke. Your strong young men will be killed by the sword. I will stop you plundering other peoples. The demands of your ambassadors will no longer be heard.