Nahum 2

The Divine Warrior Will Attack Nineveh

2One who shatters^a has come up against you!

Guard the fortification!

Watch the road!^b

Gird your loins!

Muster^c all your strength!

²For Yahweh will restore the majesty of Jacob

like the majesty of Israel;

for ravagers have ravaged them

and ruined their branches.

The Enemy Army Conquers the City of Nineveh

³The shields of his warriors are dyed red;

The powerful men are dressed in scarlet.

The metal of the chariots^d shines like fire on the day of battle,^e

and their spears quiver.

⁴The chariots^f race madly through the streets;

they rush back and forth in the public squares.

Their appearance like lightning bolts,

they dart about like flashes of lightning.

⁵He calls his officers;

they stumble as they march;

they rush to her wall;

they set the covering^g in place.

⁶The gates of the river are opened;

the palace trembles.

⁷Her goddess is taken out and taken into exile;^h

her maidservants moan like doves;

they beat on their breasts.

⁸Nineveh is like a pool of water without its water.ⁱ

As they flee,^j she cries, “Stop! Stop!”

But there is no one who turns back.

⁹Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold!

There is no end to the spoils,^k

an abundance of everything one could want!^l

¹⁰Emptiness and plundering and devastation!

Their hearts faint and their knees tremble,^m

All their loins shakeⁿ and all their faces turn^o pale.

The Divine Warrior Will Hunt down the Mighty Lions

¹¹Where now is the den of the lions

and the cave of the fierce lions?

There the lioness, the cub, and the lion once prowled,^p

and no one disturbed them.^q

¹²The lion tore apart enough prey for his cubs,

he strangled prey for his lioness;

he filled his lair^r with prey

and his den with mangled carcass.

¹³“Look! I am against you!” declares^s Yahweh of hosts.

“I will burn her chariots with fire;^t

the sword will devour fierce lions.

I will cut off your prey from the earth;

the voice of your messengers will no longer be heard.”