Nahum 2

1He that dasheth in pieces is come up against thee: keep the fortress, watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily.

1An attacker is coming against you! Guard the fortress, watch the road, prepare for battle, and gather all your strength.

2For Jehovah restoreth the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel; for the emptiers have emptied them out, and destroyed their vine-branches.

2The LORD will restore the glory of Jacob and the glory of Israel, even though destroyers have stripped them bare and ruined their vines.

3The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet: the chariots flash with steel in the day of his preparation, and the cypress spears are brandished.

3The shields of the enemy soldiers are red, and the brave men wear scarlet uniforms. The metal on their chariots flashes like fire when they prepare for battle, and they brandish their spears made of pine.

4The chariots rage in the streets; they rush to and fro in the broad ways: the appearance of them is like torches; they run like the lightnings.

4The chariots race wildly through the streets and rush back and forth through the city squares. They look like flickering torches and dart about like lightning.

5He remembereth his nobles: they stumble in their march; they make haste to the wall thereof, and the mantelet is prepared.

5The king calls for his officers, but they stumble as they march. They hurry to the city wall to set up the protective shield.

6The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved.

6The river gates are thrown open, and the palace collapses.

7And it is decreed: she is uncovered, she is carried away; and her handmaids moan as with the voice of doves, beating upon their breasts.

7It is settled: Nineveh will be stripped and led away as a captive. Her servant girls moan like doves and beat their breasts in grief.

8But Nineveh hath been from of old like a pool of water: yet they flee away. Stand, stand, they cry; but none looketh back.

8Nineveh has been like a pool of water for a long time, but now the water is draining away. 'Stop! Stop!' they cry, but no one turns back.

9Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold; for there is no end of the store, the glory of all goodly furniture.

9Loot the silver! Loot the gold! There is no end to the treasure, a wealth of every kind of precious thing.

10She is empty, and void, and waste; and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and anguish is in all loins, and the faces of them all are waxed pale.

10She is empty, desolate, and destroyed! Hearts melt with fear, knees knock together, bodies tremble with pain, and every face grows pale.

11Where is the den of the lions, and the feeding-place of the young lions, where the lion and the lioness walked, the lion’s whelp, and none made them afraid?

11Where is the lions’ den now? Where is the place where the young lions ate, where the lion, the lioness, and the cubs walked without fear?

12The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his caves with prey, and his dens with ravin.

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

13Behold, I am against thee, saith Jehovah of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions; and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard.

13'I am against you,' says the LORD of Armies. 'I will burn your chariots until they go up in smoke, and the sword will kill your young lions. I will stop you from hunting prey on the earth, and the voices of your messengers will never be heard again.'