Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

⁸ The Lord is ^(N)gracious and merciful;
Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.

³ The shields of ^[a]his mighty men are colored red,
The warriors are dressed in ^(A)scarlet,
The chariots are enveloped in ^[b]flashing steel
^[c]When he is prepared to march,
And the cypress ^(B)spears are brandished.
⁴ The ^(C)chariots race madly in the streets,
They rush wildly in the ^[d]squares,
Their appearance is like torches,
They dash to and fro like lightning flashes.
⁵ He remembers his ^(D)nobles;
They ^(E)stumble in their march,
They hurry to her wall,
And the ^[e]mantelet is set up.
⁶ The gates of the rivers are opened
And the palace is dissolved.
⁷ It is fixed:
She is stripped, she is carried away,
And her handmaids are ^(F)moaning like the sound of doves,
^(G)Beating on their ^[f]breasts.

⁸ Though Nineveh was like a pool of water throughout her days,
Now they are fleeing;
“Stop, stop,”
But ^(H)no one turns back.
⁹ Plunder the silver!
Plunder the ^(I)gold!
For there is no limit to the treasure—
Wealth from every kind of desirable object.
¹⁰ She is ^(J)emptied! Yes, she is desolate and waste!
^(K)Hearts are melting and knees knocking!
Also anguish is in ^[g]the whole body
And all their ^(L)faces are grown pale!
¹¹ Where is the den of the lions
And the feeding place of the ^(M)young lions,
Where the lion, lioness and lion’s cub prowled,
With nothing to disturb them?
¹² The lion tore enough for his cubs,
^[h]Killed enough for his lionesses,
And filled his lairs with prey
And his dens with torn flesh.