Nahum

The Overthrow of Nineveh

1One who scatters advancesagainst you, O Nineveh.Guard the fortress!Watch the road!Brace yourselves!Summon all your strength!

2For the LORD will restore the splendor of Jacoblike the splendor of Israel,though destroyers have laid them wasteand ruined the branches of their vine.

3The shields of his mighty men are red;the valiant warriors are dressed in scarlet.The fittings of the chariots flash like fireon the day they are prepared,and the spears of cypresshave been brandished.

4The chariots dash through the streets;they rush around the plazas,appearing like torches,darting about like lightning.

5He summons his nobles;they stumble as they advance.They race to its wall;the protective shield is set in place.

6The river gates are thrown openand the palace collapses.

7It is decreed that the city be exiledand carried away;her maidservants moan like doves,and beat upon their breasts.

8Nineveh has been like a pool of waterthroughout 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.

10She is emptied!Yes, she is desolate and laid waste!Hearts melt, knees knock,bodies tremble, and every face grows pale!

11Where is the lions’ lairor the feeding ground of the young lions,where the lion and lioness prowled with their cubs,with nothing to frighten them away?

12The lion mauled enough for its cubsand 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 reduce your chariots to cinders,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.”

1He is come up that shall destroy before thy face, that shall keep the siege: watch the way, fortify thy loins, strengthen thy power exceedingly.

2For the Lord hath rendered the pride of Jacob, as the pride of Israel: because the spoilers have laid them waste, and have marred their vine branches.

3The shield of his mighty men is like fire, the men of the army are clad in scarlet, the reins of the chariot are flaming in the day of his preparation, and the drivers are stupefied.

4They are in confusion in the ways, the chariots jostle one against another in the streets: their looks are like torches, like lightning running to and fro.

5He will muster up his valiant men, they shall stumble in their march: they shall quickly get upon the walls thereof: and a covering shall be prepared.

6The gates of the rivers are opened, and the temple is thrown down to the ground.

7And the soldier is led away captive: and her bondwomen were led away mourning as doves, murmuring in their hearts.

8And as for Ninive, her waters are like a great pool, but the men flee away. They cry: Stand, stand, but there is none that will return back.

9Take ye the spoil of the silver, take the spoil of the gold: for there is no end of the riches of all the precious furniture.

10She is destroyed, and rent, and torn: the heart melteth, and the knees fail, and all the loins lose their strength: and the faces of them all are as the blackness of a kettle.

11Where is now the dwelling of the lions, and the feeding place of the young lions, to which the lion went, to enter in thither, the young lion, and there was none to make them afraid?

12The lion caught enough for his whelps, and killed for his lionesses: and he filled his holes with prey, and his den with rapine.

13Behold I come against thee, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will burn thy chariots even to smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions: and I will cut off thy prey out of the land, and the voice of thy messengers shall be heard no more.