Nahum

¹ One who scatters advances

against you, O Nineveh.

Guard the fortress!

Watch the road!

Brace yourselves! ^[a]

Summon all your strength!

² For the LORD will restore the splendor of Jacob

like the splendor of Israel,

though destroyers have laid them waste

and ruined the branches of their vine.

³ The shields of his mighty men are red;

the valiant warriors are dressed in scarlet.

The fittings of the chariots flash like fire

on the day they are prepared,

and the spears of cypress

have been brandished. ^[b]

⁴ The chariots dash through the streets;

they rush around the plazas,

appearing like torches,

darting about like lightning.

⁵ He summons his nobles;

they stumble as they advance.

They race to its wall;

the protective shield is set in place.

⁶ The river gates are thrown open

and the palace collapses.

⁷ It is decreed that the city be exiled

and carried away;

her maidservants moan like doves,

and beat upon their breasts.

⁸ Nineveh has been like a pool of water

throughout her days,

but now it is draining away.

“Stop! Stop!” they cry,

but no one turns back.

⁹ “Plunder the silver!

Plunder the gold!”

There is no end to the treasure,

an abundance of every precious thing.

¹⁰ She is emptied!

Yes, she is desolate and laid waste!

Hearts melt, knees knock,

bodies tremble, and every face grows pale!

¹¹ Where is the lions’ lair

or the feeding ground of the young lions,

where the lion and lioness prowled with their cubs,

with nothing to frighten them away?

¹² The lion mauled enough for its cubs

and strangled prey for the lioness.

It filled its dens with the kill,

and its lairs with mauled prey.

¹³ “Behold, I am against you,”

declares the LORD of Hosts.

“I will send your chariots up in smoke,

and the sword will devour your young lions.

I will cut off your prey from the earth,

and the voices of your messengers

will no longer be heard.”