Nahum 2

‘Nineveh, your enemies will come

and they will chase away your people.

You must look after the strong buildings

and look at the road.

Prepare to go to war.

Call all your soldiers to come together.

₂You have taken away everything

of the people of Jacob,

and you have destroyed their vineyards,

but I will make the Israelites strong again,

as strong as they were before.’

₃The shields of your enemies

are painted red,

and their clothes are red.

Their war-chariots shine like fire.

They want to attack you.

The soldiers shake their spears.

₄The war-chariots go fast on the roads,

and they chase over the field.

They shine like a flame of fire.

They are as fast as lightning.

₅The commander of Nineveh calls his best soldiers,

but when they come, some of them fall down.

They run to the wall of the city,

but the protective_shield is already in place.

₆Then the enemies break open

the city gates and they go in,

and people in the palace become weak

and stop fighting.

It is like a river flowing over the city.

₇The enemies will take away all the people

of Nineveh, this is sure.

The servant girls mourn.

They cry like doves that coo,

they cry and beat_their_chests.

₈The people of Nineveh flee from the city

like water flowing from a dam.

The soldiers shout: ‘Wait, stop.’

But no one looks back at them.

₉The enemies shout:

‘Take the silver, take the gold.’

There are many beautiful and expensive things.

₁₀The enemies have taken everything in the city and

they have destroyed the city.

The people of Nineveh are afraid.

Their knees become weak, and they are hurt.

Their faces have all become pale.

_11-12Nineveh was like a place where lions live.

Where is the home of the lions

and the place where they fed the young lions now?

The female lion and the babies

went after the male, and they were not afraid.

The lion caught enough animals

as food for his babies and for the female.

He filled up his holes and his home

with dead animals.

₁₃The Lord who rules over all says:

‘Nineveh, I am against you.

I will burn your war-chariots,

and I will kill your soldiers.

You will never take other people's things again.

You will never again send messengers

to other places.’