Nahum 2-3

New International Version - UK

² The Lord will restore the splendour of Jacob
    like the splendour of Israel,
though destroyers have laid them waste
    and have ruined their vines.

³ The shields of the soldiers are red;
    the warriors are clad in scarlet.
The metal on the chariots flashes
    on the day they are made ready;
    the spears of juniper are brandished.^[b]
4 The chariots storm through the streets,
    rushing back and forth through the squares.
They look like flaming torches;
    they dart about like lightning.

⁵ Nineveh summons her picked troops,
    yet they stumble on their way.
They dash to the city wall;
    the protective shield is put in place.
⁶ The river gates are thrown open
    and the palace collapses.
⁷ It is decreed^[c] that Nineveh
    be exiled and carried away.
Her female slaves moan like doves
    and beat on their breasts.
⁸ Nineveh is like a pool
    whose water is draining away.
‘Stop! Stop!’ they cry,
    but no one turns back.
⁹ Plunder the silver!
    Plunder the gold!
The supply is endless,
    the wealth from all its treasures!
¹⁰ She is pillaged, plundered, stripped!
    Hearts melt, knees give way,
    bodies tremble, every face grows pale.

¹¹ Where now is the lions’ den,
    the place where they fed their young,
where the lion and lioness went,
    and the cubs, with nothing to fear?
¹² The lion killed enough for his cubs
    and strangled the prey for his mate,
filling his lairs with the kill
    and his dens with the prey.

¹³ ‘I am against you,’
    declares the Lord Almighty.
‘I will burn up your chariots in smoke,
    and the sword will devour your young lions.
    I will leave you no prey on the earth.
The voices of your messengers
    will no longer be heard.’

⁵ ‘I am against you,’ declares the Lord Almighty.
    ‘I will lift your skirts over your face.
I will show the nations your nakedness
    and the kingdoms your shame.
⁶ I will pelt you with filth,
    I will treat you with contempt
    and make you a spectacle.
⁷ All who see you will flee from you and say,
    ‘‘Nineveh is in ruins – who will mourn for her?”
    Where can I find anyone to comfort you?’

⁸ Are you better than Thebes,
    situated on the Nile,
    with water around her?
The river was her defence,
    the waters her wall.
⁹ Cush^[d] and Egypt were her boundless strength;
    Put and Libya were among her allies.
¹⁰ Yet she was taken captive
    and went into exile.
Her infants were dashed to pieces
    at every street corner.
Lots were cast for her nobles,
    and all her great men were put in chains.
¹¹ You too will become drunk;
    you will go into hiding
    and seek refuge from the enemy.

¹² All your fortresses are like fig-trees
    with their first ripe fruit;
when they are shaken,
    the figs fall into the mouth of the eater.
¹³ Look at your troops –
    they are all weaklings.
The gates of your land
    are wide open to your enemies;
    fire has consumed the bars of your gates.

¹⁴ Draw water for the siege,
    strengthen your defences!
Work the clay,
    tread the mortar,
    repair the brickwork!
¹⁵ There the fire will consume you;
    the sword will cut you down –
    and it will devour you like a swarm of locusts.
Multiply like grasshoppers,
    multiply like locusts!
¹⁶ You have increased the number of your merchants
    till they are more numerous than the stars in the sky,
but like locusts they strip the land
    and then fly away.
¹⁷ Your guards are like locusts,
    your officials like swarms of locusts
    that settle in the walls on a cold day –
but when the sun appears they fly away,
    and no one knows where.

¹⁸ King of Assyria, your shepherds^[e] slumber;
    your nobles lie down to rest.
Your people are scattered on the mountains
    with no one to gather them.
¹⁹ Nothing can heal you;
    your wound is fatal.
All who hear the news about you
    clap their hands at your fall,
for who has not felt
    your endless cruelty?