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Nineveh Will Be Defeated

The ·destroyer [attacker; scatterer] is coming ·to attack [against] ·you, Nineveh [L you; C the Babylonians and Medes destroyed Nineveh].
    Guard the ·defenses [fortress; ramparts].
    Watch the road.
    ·Get ready [T Gird your loins].
    Gather all your strength!
·Destroyers [Plunderers] have ·destroyed [plundered] God’s people
    and ruined their vines,
but the Lord will ·bring back [restore] Jacob’s ·greatness [splendor; majesty]
    like Israel’s ·greatness [splendor; majesty].

The shields of his soldiers are red [C either dyed red or splattered with blood];
    the army is dressed in ·red [scarlet].
The metal on the chariots ·flashes like fire [shines; glistens]
    ·when [L on the day] they are ready to attack;
    ·their horses are excited [or their cypress spears are brandished].
The chariots ·race [storm; charge insanely] through the streets
    and rush back and forth through the city squares.
They look like torches;
    they run like lightning.

He [C probably the king of Assyria] ·calls [or remembers] his officers,
    but they stumble on the way.
They hurry to the city wall,
    and the ·shield [or siege tower] is put into place.
The river gates are thrown open,
    and the palace ·is destroyed [collapses; dissolves; melts].
It has been ·announced [decreed] that ·the people of Nineveh [L she]
    will be ·captured [exiled; or stripped; exposed] and carried away.
The slave girls moan like doves
    and beat their breasts [C a sign of grief].
Nineveh is like a pool,
    and now its water is draining away.
“Stop! Stop!” the people yell,
    but no one turns back.
·Take [Plunder] the silver!
    ·Take [Plunder] the gold!
There is no end to the treasure—
    piles of wealth of every ·kind [precious/desirable thing].
10 ·Nineveh is robbed [L Empty!], ·ruined [desolate!], and destroyed.
    ·The people lose their courage [L Their hearts melt], and their knees knock.
    ·Stomachs ache [Bodies/Loins in anguish], and everyone’s face grows pale.

11 Where is the lions’ den [C the lion was a symbol of Assyria]
    and the place where they feed their young?
Where did the lion, lioness, and cubs go
    without being afraid?
12 The lion killed enough for his cubs,
    ·enough [L and strangled prey] for his ·mate [L lionesses].
He filled his cave with ·the animals he caught [prey];
    he filled his den with ·meat he had killed [L torn (flesh)].

13 “I am against ·you, Nineveh [L you],”
    says the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts].
“I will burn up your chariots in smoke,
    and the sword will ·kill [devour] your young lions.
    I will ·stop you from hunting down others on [L cut off your prey from] the earth,
and your messengers’ voices
    will no longer be heard.”

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