Nahum 2

¹He who scatters has come up before your face. Man the fort! Watch the road! Strengthen your flanks! Fortify your power mightily.

²For the Lord Like the excellence of Israel, For the emptiers have emptied them out And ruined their vine branches.

³The shields of his mighty men are made red, The valiant men are in scarlet. The chariots come with flaming torches In the day of his preparation, And the spears are brandished.

⁴The chariots rage in the streets, They jostle one another in the broad roads; They seem like torches, They run like lightning.

⁵He remembers his nobles; They stumble in their walk; They make haste to her walls, And the defense is prepared.

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

⁷It is decreed: She shall be led away captive, She shall be brought up; And her maidservants shall lead her as with the voice of doves, Beating their breasts.

⁸Though Nineveh of old was like a pool of water, Now they flee away. “Halt! Halt!” they cry; But no one turns back.

⁹Take spoil of silver! Take spoil of gold! There is no end of treasure, Or wealth of every desirable prize.

¹⁰She is empty, desolate, and waste! The heart melts, and the knees shake; Much pain is in every side, And all their faces are drained of color.

¹¹Where is the dwelling of the lions, And the feeding place of the young lions, Where the lion walked, the lioness and lion’s cub, And no one made them afraid?

¹²The lion tore in pieces enough for his cubs, Killed for his lionesses, Filled his caves with prey, And his dens with flesh.

¹³“Behold, I am against you,” says the Lord