Nahum 2

CHAPTER 2

Yahweh’s Destruction of Nineveh

¹¹The one who ^ascatters has come up against ²you.

Guard the fortification, watch the road;

Strengthen your loins, ³instill your power with exceeding courage.

²For Yahweh will restore the ^amajesty of Jacob

^bLike the majesty of Israel,

Even though those who empty them have emptied them to destruction

And ^cruined their vine branches.

³The shields of ¹his mighty men are colored red,

The valiant men are dressed in ^a2scarlet,

The chariots are enveloped in ³flashing steel

⁴When he is set up to march,

And the cypress ^bspears are brandished.

⁴The ^achariots race madly in the streets;

They rush wildly in the ¹squares;

Their appearance is like torches;

They dash to and fro like lightning flashes.

⁵He remembers his ^amighty ones;

They ^bstumble in their march;

They hurry to her wall,

And the ¹mantelet is set up.

⁶The gates of the rivers are opened,

And the palace is melted away.

⁷So it stands fixed:

She is exiled, she is carried away,

And her maidservants are ^amoaning like the sound of doves,

^bBeating on their hearts.

⁸Though Nineveh was like a pool of water throughout her days,

Now they are fleeing;

“Stand! Stand!”

But ^ano one ¹turns back.

⁹Plunder the silver!

Plunder the ^agold!

And there is no limit to the treasure—

¹Wealth from every kind of desirable object.

¹⁰She is ^aemptied! Yes, she is emptied out and eviscerated!

^bHearts are melting and knees knocking!

Also anguish is in all their loins,

And all their ^cfaces ¹turn pale!

¹¹Where is the den of the lions

And the feeding place of the ^ayoung lions,

Where the lion, lioness, and lion’s cub prowled,

With nothing to make them tremble?

¹²The lion tore enough for its cubs

And strangled enough for its lionesses

And filled its lairs with torn up prey

And its dens with torn up flesh.

¹³“Behold, ^aI am against you,” declares Yahweh of hosts. “And I will ^bburn up her chariots in smoke, and a sword will devour your young lions; and I will ^ccut off your prey from the land, and no longer will the voice of your messengers be heard.”