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.)

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^[b] prance.
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.
⁵ He calls his officers;
    they stumble as they come forward;
they hasten to the wall,
    and the mantelet^[c] is set up.
⁶ The river gates are opened,
    the palace trembles.
⁷ It is decreed^[d] that the city^[e] be exiled,
    its slave-women led away,
moaning like doves
    and beating their breasts.
⁸ Nineveh is like a pool
    whose waters^[f] run away.
‘Halt! Halt!’—
    but no one turns back.
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!
¹¹ What became of the lions’ den,
    the cave^[g] of the young lions,
where the lion goes,
    and the lion’s cubs, with no one to disturb them?
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.