Nahum 2:1–13

The Destruction of Nineveh

2^oThe scatterer has come up against you.

^pMan the ramparts;

watch the road;

dress for battle;¹

collect all your strength.

²For ^qthe Lord is restoring the majesty of Jacob

as the majesty of Israel,

for plunderers have plundered them

and ^rruined their branches.

³The shield of his mighty men is red;

^shis soldiers are clothed in scarlet.

The chariots come with flashing metal

on the day he musters them;

the cypress spears are brandished.

^4tThe chariots race madly through the streets;

they rush to and fro through the squares;

they gleam like torches;

they dart like lightning.

⁵He remembers ^uhis officers;

^vthey stumble as they go,

they hasten to the wall;

the siege tower² is set up.

^6wThe river gates are opened;

the palace ^xmelts away;

⁷its mistress³ is ^ystripped;⁴ she is carried off,

her slave girls ^zlamenting,

moaning like doves

and beating their breasts.

^8bNineveh is like a pool

whose waters run away.⁵

“Halt! Halt!” they cry,

but ^cnone turns back.

⁹Plunder the silver,

plunder the gold!

There is no end of the treasure

or of the wealth of all precious things.

^10dDesolate! Desolation and ruin!

^eHearts melt and ^fknees tremble;

^ganguish is in all loins;

^hall faces grow pale!

¹¹Where is the lions’ den,

the feeding place of ⁱthe young lions,

where the lion and lioness went,

where his cubs were, with ^jnone to disturb?

^12kThe lion tore enough for his cubs

and ^lstrangled prey for his lionesses;

he filled his caves with prey

and his dens with torn flesh.

^13mBehold, I am against you, declares the Lord of hosts, and ⁿI will burn your⁶ chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and ^othe voice of your messengers shall no longer be heard.