Nahum 2

Nineveh to Fall

¹An attacker advances against you, Nineveh.

Guard the fortress,

watch the road,

brace yourselves,

marshal all your strength!

²The Lord will restore the splendor of Jacob

like the splendor of Israel,

though destroyers have laid them waste

and have ruined their vines.

³The shields of the soldiers are red;

the warriors are clad in scarlet.

The metal on the chariots flashes

on the day they are made ready;

the spears of juniper are brandished.

⁴The chariots storm through the streets,

rushing back and forth through the squares.

They look like flaming torches;

they dart about like lightning.

⁵Nineveh summons her picked troops,

yet they stumble on their way.

They dash to the city wall;

the protective shield is put in place.

⁶The river gates are thrown open

and the palace collapses.

⁷It is decreed that Nineveh

be exiled and carried away.

Her female slaves moan like doves

and beat on their breasts.

⁸Nineveh is like a pool

whose water is draining away.

“Stop! Stop!” they cry,

but no one turns back.

⁹Plunder the silver!

Plunder the gold!

The supply is endless,

the wealth from all its treasures!

¹⁰She is pillaged, plundered, stripped!

Hearts melt, knees give way,

bodies tremble, every face grows pale.

¹¹Where now is the lions’ den,

the place where they fed their young,

where the lion and lioness went,

and the cubs, with nothing to fear?

¹²The lion killed enough for his cubs

and strangled the prey for his mate,

filling his lairs with the kill

and his dens with the prey.

¹³“I am against you,”

declares the Lord Almighty.

“I will burn up your chariots in smoke,

and the sword will devour your young lions.

I will leave you no prey on the earth.

The voices of your messengers

will no longer be heard.”