Nahum Propheta 2
1 Ascendit qui dispergat coram te, qui custodiat obsidionem: contemplare viam, conforta lumbos, robora virtutem valde.
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 Quia reddidit Dominus superbiam Iacob, sicut superbiam Israel: quia vastatores dissipaverunt eos, et propagines eorum corruperunt.
For the Lord is restoring the majesty of Jacob and of Israel, though the devastators have plundered them and destroyed their vines.
3 Clypeus fortium eius ignitus, viri exercitus in coccineis: igneæ habenæ currus in die præparationis eius, et agitatores consopiti sunt.
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 In itineribus conturbati sunt: quadrigæ collisæ sunt in plateis: aspectus eorum quasi lampades, quasi fulgura discurrentia.
Chariots rush across the fields, storm through the squares; they flame like torches, they dart like lightening.
5 Recordabitur fortium suorum, ruent in itineribus suis: velociter ascendent muros eius, et præparabitur umbraculum.
A leader rallies his nobles, they hurl themselves forward. They speed on toward the wall; the storming-shield is set up.
6 Portæ fluviorum apertæ sunt, et templum ad solum dirutum.
The water-gates are thrown open, and the palace dissolves in ruins.
7 Et miles captivus abductus est: et ancillæ eius minabantur gementes ut columbæ, murmurantes in cordibus suis.
The queen is stripped, she is carried off. Her maids moan like doves, beating upon their breasts.
8 Et Ninive quasi piscina aquarum aquæ eius: ipsi vero fugerunt: State, state, et non est qui revertatur.
Like a pool of water is Nineveh, her waters fast ebbing away. ‘Stand firm! Stand firm!’ someone cries, but no one turns back.
9 Diripite argentum, diripite aurum: et non est finis divitiarum ex omnibus vasis desiderabilibus.
‘Loot the silver, loot the gold, for there is no end to the treasure, the wealth and precious things.’
10 Dissipata est, et scissa, et dilacerata: et cor tabescens, et dissolutio geniculorum, et defectio in cunctis renibus: et facies omnium eorum sicut nigredo ollæ.
Nineveh is empty, desolate, devastated, with faint heart and knocking knee. There is weakness in every limb, and faces grow pale.
11 Ubi est habitaculum leonum, et pascua catulorum leonum, ad quam ivit leo ut ingrederetur illuc, catulus leonis, et non est qui exterreat?
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 Leo cepit sufficienter catulis suis, et necavit leænis suis: et implevit præda speluncas suas, et cubile suum rapina.
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 Ecce ego ad te, dicit Dominus exercituum, et succendam usque ad fumum quadrigas tuas, et leunculos tuos comedet gladius: et exterminabo de terra prædam tuam, et non audietur ultra vox nunciorum tuorum.
‘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.’
