1 One who scatters is coming up against you. Man the fortifications!Watch the road!Brace yourself!Summon all your strength!
2 For the Lord will restore the majesty of Jacob, yes, the majesty of Israel,though ravagers have ravaged them and ruined their vine branches.
3 The shields of his warriors are dyed red;the valiant men are dressed in scarlet. The fittings of the chariot flash like fire on the day of its battle preparations,and the spears are brandished.
4 The chariots dash madly through the streets;they rush around in the plazas.They look like torches;they dart back and forth like lightning.
5 He gives orders to his officers;they stumble as they advance.They race to its wall;the protective shield is set in place.
6 The river gates are opened,and the palace erodes away.
7 Beauty is stripped, she is carried away;her ladies-in-waiting moanlike the sound of doves, and beat their breasts.
8 Nineveh has been like a pool of waterfrom her first days, but they are fleeing.“Stop! Stop! ” they cry,but no one turns back.
9 “Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold! ” There is no end to the treasure,an abundance of every precious thing.
10 Desolation, decimation, devastation!Hearts melt, knees tremble, loins shake, every face grows pale!
11 Where is the lions’ lair, or the feeding ground of the young lions,where the lion and lioness prowled,and the lion’s cub,with nothing to frighten them away?
12 The lion mauled whatever its cubs neededand strangled prey for its lionesses.It filled up its dens with the kill,and its lairs with mauled prey.
13 Beware, I am against you. This is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.I will make your chariots go up in smoke and the sword will devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth,and the sound of your messengerswill never be heard again.