Nahum 2

LEB(i) 1 One who shatters* has come up against you! Guard the fortification! Watch the road!* Gird your loins! Muster* all your strength! 2 For Yahweh will restore the majesty of Jacob like the majesty of Israel; for ravagers have ravaged them and ruined their branches. 3 The shields of his warriors are dyed red; The powerful men are dressed in scarlet. The metal of the chariots* shines like fire on the day of battle,* and their spears quiver. 4 The chariots* race madly through the streets; they rush back and forth in the public squares. Their appearance like lightning bolts, they dart about like flashes of lightning. 5 He calls his officers; they stumble as they march; they rush to her wall; they set the covering* in place. 6 The gates of the river are opened; the palace trembles. 7 Her goddess is taken out and taken into exile;* her maidservants moan like doves; they beat on their breasts. 8 Nineveh is like a pool of water without its water.* As they flee,* she cries, "Stop! Stop!" But there is no one who turns back. 9 Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold! There is no end to the spoils,* an abundance of everything one could want!* 10 Emptiness and plundering and devastation! Their hearts faint and their knees tremble,* All their loins shake* and all their faces turn* pale. 11 Where now is the den of the lions and the cave of the fierce lions? There the lioness, the cub, and the lion once prowled,* and no one disturbed them.* 12 The lion tore apart enough prey for his cubs, he strangled prey for his lioness; he filled his lair* with prey and his den with mangled carcass. 13 "Look! I am against you!" declares* Yahweh of hosts. "I will burn her chariots with fire;* the sword will devour fierce lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth; the voice of your messengers will no longer be heard."