Nahum 2
Modern English Version
The Fall of Nineveh
2 He who scatters has come to you.
Guard the fortifications!
Watch the road!
Prepare yourself,
and strengthen yourself!
2 For the Lord is restoring the prominence of Jacob,
even the prominence of Israel,
for others have certainly
laid waste their vines.
3 The shields of his mighty men are soaked red,
even the mighty men are clad in red.
In the day he prepares the chariots,
they are like a fire of iron.
The cypress spears are ready.
4 The chariots run wildly through the streets,
they rush to and fro in the open areas;
their appearance is like torches,
they dash to and fro like lightning.
5 He remembers his officers
as they stumble about on the road;
they hurry on to the wall
as the siege tower is set up.
6 The holding gates are opened wide,
and the palace washes away.
7 It is decreed:
She is uncovered and led away captive;
her handmaidens shall lead her as with the voice of doves,
beating their chests.
8 Nineveh is like a pool
whose waters run away.
“Halt! Halt!” they cry,
but no one turns back.
9 “Plunder the silver!
Plunder the gold!
There is no limit to the treasure,
or to the wealth of every precious thing.”
10 She is desolate, empty, and waste!
Hearts melt away, and knees shake;
pain is in all the loins, and all their faces grow pale.
11 Where is the den of the lions,
and the feeding place of the young lions,
where the lion and lioness prowl,
and the lion’s cub goes, with no one to disturb them?
12 The lion tore enough food for his cubs,
and strangled prey for his lionesses;
he has filled his caves with prey,
and his dens with flesh.
13 I am against you,
says the Lord of Hosts,
and I will burn your chariots in smoke,
and the sword will devour your lions.
I will cut off your prey from the earth,
and the voice of your messengers
will be heard no more.
Nahum 2
Authorized (King James) Version
2 He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face:
keep the munition, watch the way,
make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily.
2 For the Lord hath turned away the excellency of Jacob,
as the excellency of Israel:
for the emptiers have emptied them out,
and marred their vine branches.
3 The shield of his mighty men is made red,
the valiant men are in scarlet:
the chariots shall be with flaming torches in the day of his preparation,
and the fir trees shall be terribly shaken.
4 The chariots shall rage in the streets,
they shall justle one against another in the broad ways:
they shall seem like torches,
they shall run like the lightnings.
5 He shall recount his worthies:
they shall stumble in their walk;
they shall make haste to the wall thereof,
and the defence shall be prepared.
6 The gates of the rivers shall be opened,
and the palace shall be dissolved.
7 And Huzzab shall be led away captive,
she shall be brought up,
and her maids shall lead her as with the voice of doves,
tabering upon their breasts.
8 But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water:
yet they shall flee away.
Stand, stand, shall they cry;
but none shall look back.
9 Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold:
for there is none end of the store and glory out of all the pleasant furniture.
10 She is empty, and void, and waste:
and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together,
and much pain is in all loins,
and the faces of them all gather blackness.
11 Where is the dwelling of the lions,
and the feedingplace of the young lions,
where the lion, even the old lion, walked,
and the lion’s whelp, and none made them afraid?
12 The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps,
and strangled for his lionesses,
and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with ravin.
13 Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord 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.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.
KJV reproduced by permission of Cambridge University Press, the Crown’s patentee in the UK.