Nahum 2

¹ The scatterer has come up against you.
Guard the rampart!
Watch the road!
Brace yourselves!
Muster all your strength!

² For the LORD is restoring the majesty of Jacob
as the majesty of Israel,
for plunderers have plundered them
and ruined their vine branches.

³ The shields of his warriors are dyed red;
the soldiers are clothed in scarlet.
The chariots flash like fire of steel
on the day of his mustering,
and the cypress spears are brandished.

⁴ The chariots race madly through the streets;
they rush to and fro in the squares.
Their appearance is like torches;
they dart like lightning.

⁵ He calls his officers—
they stumble as they march.
They rush to her wall;
the siege cover is set up.

⁶ The river gates are opened;
the palace melts away.

⁷ It is decreed: she is stripped bare, she is carried away;
her slave women moan like doves,
beating their breasts.

⁸ Nineveh has been like a pool of water
from her days of old,
but now they flee.
"Stop! Stop!" they cry,
but no one turns back.

⁹ Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold!
There is no end to the treasure—
wealth from every precious thing.

¹⁰ Emptiness, desolation, devastation!
Hearts melt, knees buckle,
anguish is in every body,
and all faces grow pale.

¹¹ Where is the den of the lions,
the feeding place of the young lions,
where the lion and lioness walked
with the lion's cub, and none made them afraid?

¹² The lion tore enough for his cubs
and strangled prey for his lionesses;
he filled his caves with prey
and his dens with torn flesh.

¹³ "Look, I am against you"—declares the LORD of hosts.
"I will burn your chariots in smoke,
and the sword will devour your young lions.
I will cut off your prey from the earth,
and the voice of your messengers
will be heard no more."