Add parallel Print Page Options

The Destruction of the Wicked City

The shatterer has come up against you.
    Man the ramparts;
    watch the road;
gird your loins;
    collect all your strength.

(For the Lord is restoring the majesty of Jacob
    as the majesty of Israel,
for plunderers have stripped them
    and ruined their branches.)

The shield of his mighty men is red,
    his soldiers are clothed in scarlet.
The chariots flash like flame[a]
    when mustered in array;
    the chargers[b] prance.
The chariots rage in the streets,
    they rush to and fro through the squares;
they gleam like torches,
    they dart like lightning.
The officers are summoned,
    they stumble as they go,
they hasten to the wall,
    the mantelet is set up.
The river gates are opened,
    the palace is in dismay;
its mistress[c] is stripped, she is carried off,
    her maidens lamenting,
moaning like doves,
    and beating their breasts.
Nin′eveh is like a pool
    whose waters[d] run away.
“Halt! Halt!” they cry;
    but none turns back.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Nahum 2:3 Cn: The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
  2. Nahum 2:3 Cn Compare Gk Syr: Heb cypresses
  3. Nahum 2:7 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
  4. Nahum 2:8 Cn Compare Gk: Heb from the days that she has become, and they

Bible Gateway Recommends