1 A scatterer has come up against you.Guard the ramparts, watch the road,protect your groin, save your strength!
2 The Lord will restore the pride of Jacob,indeed, the pride of Israel,because ravagers have destroyedthem and spoiled their branches.
3 The shields of his warriors are red;his soldiers are dressed in crimson.The ironwork of the chariots flashes like fireon the day he has prepared;the horses quiver.
4 The chariots race wildly through the streets;they rush back and forth through the squares.They look like flaming torches;they dart like bolts of lightning.
5 He musters his officers;they stumble as they press forward.They hurry to the city wall,and the portable shield is set up.
6 The gates of the rivers are opened;the palace melts.
7 It is decreed: She is sent into exile, carried away,while her female servants moan like doves, beating their breasts.
8 Nineveh has been like a pool of water.Such are its waters, and others are fleeing."Stop, stop!"—but no one can turn them back.
9 Plunder silver! Plunder gold!There is no end to the supplies,an abundance of precious objects!
10 Destruction and devastation;the city is laid waste!The heart grows faint and knees buckle;there is anguish in every groin;all the faces grow pale.
11 Where is the lions’ den, the meadow of the young lions,where lion, lioness, even lion cub go about with no one to terrify them?
12 The lion has torn enough preyfor his cubs and strangled enough for his lionesses;he has filled his lairs with prey,his dens with torn flesh.
13 Look! I am against you, proclaims the Lord of heavenly forces.I will burn your chariots in smoke;the sword will devour your young lions;I will cut off your prey from the earth,the voice of your messengers will never again be heard!