Nahum 2

1The shatterer has come up against you.

Man the ramparts;

watch the road;

gird your loins;

collect all your strength.

2(For the Lord is restoring the majesty of Jacob

as the majesty of Israel,

for plunderers have stripped them

and ruined their branches.)

3The shield of his mighty men is red,

his soldiers are clothed in scarlet.

The chariots flash like flamea

when mustered in array;

the chargersb prance.

4The chariots rage in the streets,

they rush to and fro through the squares;

they gleam like torches,

they dart like lightning.

5The officers are summoned,

they stumble as they go,

they hasten to the wall,

the mantelet is set up.

6The river gates are opened,

the palace is in dismay;

7its mistressc is stripped, she is carried off,

her maidens lamenting,

moaning like doves,

and beating their breasts.

8Nin'eveh is like a pool

whose watersd run away.

"Halt! Halt!" they cry;

but none turns back.

9Plunder the silver,

plunder the gold!

There is no end of treasure,

or wealth of every precious thing.

10Desolate! Desolation and ruin!

Hearts faint and knees tremble,

anguish is on all loins,

all faces grow pale!

11Where is the lions' den,

the cavee of the young lions,

where the lion brought his prey,

where his cubs were, with none to disturb?

12The lion tore enough for his whelps

and strangled prey for his lionesses;

he filled his caves with prey

and his dens with torn flesh.