The Destruction of Nineveh

2 He who scatters^[a] has come up before your face.Man the fort!Watch the road!Strengthen your flanks!Fortify your power mightily.

² For the Lord will restore the excellence of JacobLike the excellence of Israel,For the emptiers have emptied them outAnd ruined their vine branches.

³ The shields of his mighty men are made red,The valiant men are in scarlet.The chariots come with flaming torchesIn the day of his preparation,And the spears are brandished.^[b]4 The chariots rage in the streets,They jostle one another in the broad roads;They seem like torches,They run like lightning.

⁵ He remembers his nobles;They stumble in their walk;They make haste to her walls,And the defense is prepared.⁶ The gates of the rivers are opened,And the palace is dissolved.⁷ It is decreed:^[c]She shall be led away captive,She shall be brought up;And her maidservants shall lead her as with the voice of doves,Beating their breasts.

⁸ Though Nineveh of old was like a pool of water,Now they flee away.“Halt! Halt!” they cry;But no one turns back.⁹ Take spoil of silver!Take spoil of gold!There is no end of treasure,Or wealth of every desirable prize.¹⁰ She is empty, desolate, and waste!The heart melts, and the knees shake;Much pain is in every side,And all their faces are drained of color.^[d]

¹¹ Where is the dwelling of the lions,And the feeding place of the young lions,Where the lion walked, the lioness and lion’s cub,And no one made them afraid?¹² The lion tore in pieces enough for his cubs,Killed for his lionesses,Filled his caves with prey,And his dens with flesh.

¹³ “Behold, I am against you,” says the Lord of hosts, “I will burn your^[e] chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions; I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers shall be heard no more.”