Nahum 2
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Destruction of the Wicked City
2 A scatterer has come up against you.
Guard the ramparts;
watch the road;
gird your loins;
collect all your strength.(A)
2 (For the Lord is restoring the majesty of Jacob,
as well as the majesty of Israel,
though ravagers have ravaged them
and ruined their branches.)(B)
3 The shields of his warriors are red;
his soldiers are clothed in crimson.
The metal on the chariots flashes
on the day when he musters them;
the chargers[a] prance.(C)
4 The chariots race madly through the streets;
they rush to and fro through the squares;
their appearance is like torches;
they dart like lightning.(D)
5 He calls his officers;
they stumble as they come forward;
they hasten to the wall,
and the screen[b] is set up.
6 The river gates are opened;
the palace trembles.
7 It is decreed[c] that the city[d] be exiled,
its slave women led away,
moaning like doves
and beating their breasts.(E)
8 Nineveh is like a pool
whose waters[e] run away.
“Halt! Halt!”—
but no one turns back.(F)
9 “Plunder the silver;
plunder the gold!
There is no end of treasure!
An abundance of every precious thing!”
10 Devastation, desolation, and destruction!
Hearts faint and knees tremble;
all loins quake;
all faces grow pale!(G)
11 What became of the lions’ den,
the cave of the young lions,
where the lion goes,
and the lion’s cubs, with no one to disturb them?(H)
12 The lion has torn enough for his whelps
and strangled prey for his lionesses;
he has filled his caves with prey
and his dens with torn flesh.(I)
13 See, I am against you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will burn your[f] chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions; I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers shall be heard no more.(J)
Nahum 2
International Standard Version
The Coming Invasion of Nineveh
2 [a]You are being attacked by advancing forces!
Guard your rampart!
Watch your roads![b]
Prepare yourselves![c]
Marshall your defenses![d]
2 For the Lord will restore the glory of Jacob,
just as he will restore[e] the glory of Israel,
although plunderers have devastated them,
vandalizing their vine branches.
3 The shields deployed by[f] Israel’s[g] elite forces are scarlet,
their valiant men are clothed in crimson.
When they are prepared,
the polished armament on their chariots will shine,
and lances will be brandished about ferociously.[h]
4 Their chariots storm through the streets,
jostling each other along broad avenues.
They look like torches,
as they dart around like lightning.
5 He will remember to summon[i] his finest troops.
They will stumble on their way,
hurrying over to Nineveh’s[j] wall.
Their defensive shield is in place.
6 The river gates will be opened,
and the palace will collapse.
7 It has been determined:
The woman[k] is unveiled and sent away,
her servant girls mourn.
Beating their breasts,
they whimper like doves.
8 Nineveh is a reservoir whose water is draining away.
“Wait! Wait!” they cry,[l]
yet not even one person[m] looks back.
9 Take the silver! Take the gold!
There is no end to the treasure—
fabulous riches of every imagination.
10 Nineveh[n] is devastated, deserted, and desolate.
Her heart melts, her knees knock.
Every stomach is upset,
every face grows pale.[o]
Nineveh: the Lion’s Den Destroyed
11 Where is this lion’s den?
Where is the place where the young lions fed,
where the lion and its mate walked with their young,
the place where they feared nothing?
12 This lion renders its prey to pieces to feed its whelps,
and strangles enough prey[p] for its mate,
filling its lairs with prey
and its dens with rendered flesh.
13 “I am against you,” declares the Lord of the Heavenly Armies,
“and I will send your chariots up in smoke.
A sword will devour your young lions,
I will eliminate your prey from the earth,
and the voice of your messengers will no longer be heard.”
Footnotes
- Nahum 2:1 This verse is 2:2 in MT, and so throughout the chapter
- Nahum 2:1 Lit. the road
- Nahum 2:1 Lit. Strengthen the loins!
- Nahum 2:1 Lit. Marshall power
- Nahum 2:2 The Heb. lacks will restore
- Nahum 2:3 Lit. shield of
- Nahum 2:3 Lit. its
- Nahum 2:3 The Heb. lacks ferociously
- Nahum 2:5 The Heb. lacks to summon
- Nahum 2:5 The Heb. lacks Nineveh’s
- Nahum 2:7 I.e. Nineveh personified as a woman
- Nahum 2:8 The Heb. lacks they cry
- Nahum 2:8 The Heb. lacks person
- Nahum 2:10 Lit. She; i.e. Nineveh personified as a woman
- Nahum 2:10 Lit. gathers blackness; cf. Joel 2:6b
- Nahum 2:12 The Heb. lacks prey
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