Nahum 2

₁Nineveh, you are under attack!

The power that will shatter you has come.

Prepare the defences!

Guard the road!

Prepare for battle!

₃The enemy soldiers carry red shields

and wear uniforms of red.

They are preparing to attack!

Their chariots flash like fire!

Their horses prance!

₄Chariots dash wildly through the streets,

rushing to and fro through the city squares.

They flash like torches

and dart about like lightning.

₅The officers are summoned;

they stumble as they press forward.

The attackers rush to the wall

and set up the shield for the battering ram.

₆The gates by the river burst open;

the palace is filled with terror.

₇The queen is taken captive;

her servants moan like doves

and beat their breasts in sorrow.

₈Like water from a broken dam

the people rush from Nineveh!

“Stop! Stop!” the cry rings out —

but no one turns back.

₉Plunder the silver!

Plunder the gold!

The city is full of treasure!

₁₀Nineveh is destroyed, deserted, desolate!

Hearts melt with fear;

knees tremble, strength is gone;

faces grow pale.

₁₁Where now is the city

that was like a den of lions,

the place where young lions were fed,

where the lion and the lioness would go

and their cubs would be safe?

₁₂The lion killed his prey

and tore it to pieces for his mate and her cubs;

he filled his den with torn flesh.