Nahum 2
Revised Standard Version
The Destruction of the Wicked City
2 The shatterer has come up against you.
Man the ramparts;
watch the road;
gird your loins;
collect all your strength.
2 (For the Lord is restoring the majesty of Jacob
as the majesty of Israel,
for plunderers have stripped them
and ruined their branches.)
3 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.
4 The chariots rage in the streets,
they rush to and fro through the squares;
they gleam like torches,
they dart like lightning.
5 The officers are summoned,
they stumble as they go,
they hasten to the wall,
the mantelet is set up.
6 The river gates are opened,
the palace is in dismay;
7 its mistress[c] is stripped, she is carried off,
her maidens lamenting,
moaning like doves,
and beating their breasts.
8 Nin′eveh is like a pool
whose waters[d] run away.
“Halt! Halt!” they cry;
but none turns back.
9 Plunder the silver,
plunder the gold!
There is no end of treasure,
or wealth of every precious thing.
10 Desolate! Desolation and ruin!
Hearts faint and knees tremble,
anguish is on all loins,
all faces grow pale!
11 Where is the lions’ den,
the cave[e] of the young lions,
where the lion brought his prey,
where his cubs were, with none to disturb?
12 The lion tore enough for his whelps
and strangled prey for his lionesses;
he filled his caves with prey
and his dens with torn flesh.
13 Behold, 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 no more be heard.
Footnotes
- Nahum 2:3 Cn: The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
- Nahum 2:3 Cn Compare Gk Syr: Heb cypresses
- Nahum 2:7 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
- Nahum 2:8 Cn Compare Gk: Heb from the days that she has become, and they
- Nahum 2:11 Cn: Heb pasture
- Nahum 2:13 Heb her
Nahum 2
American Standard Version
2 He that dasheth in pieces is come up against thee: keep the fortress, watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily. 2 For Jehovah restoreth the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel; for the emptiers have emptied them out, and destroyed their vine-branches. 3 The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet: the chariots [a]flash with steel in the day of his preparation, and the [b]cypress spears are brandished. 4 The chariots rage in the streets; they rush to and fro in the broad ways: the appearance of them is like torches; they run like the lightnings. 5 He remembereth his nobles: they stumble in their march; they make haste to the wall thereof, and the mantelet is prepared. 6 The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved. 7 [c]And it is decreed: she is uncovered, she is carried away; and her handmaids [d]moan as with the voice of doves, beating upon their [e]breasts.
8 But Nineveh hath been [f]from of old like a pool of water: yet they flee away. Stand, stand, they cry; but none [g]looketh back. 9 Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold; for there is no end of the store, the [h]glory of all goodly furniture. 10 She is empty, and void, and waste; and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and anguish is in all loins, and the faces of them all are waxed pale. 11 Where is the den of the lions, and the feeding-place of the young lions, where the lion and the lioness walked, 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 caves with prey, and his dens with ravin. 13 Behold, I am against thee, saith Jehovah 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.
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