Nahum 2

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Yahweh’s Destruction of Nineveh

The one who scatters has come up against you.

Guard the fortification, watch the road;

Strengthen your loins, instill your power with exceeding courage.

For Yahweh will restore the majesty of Jacob

Like the majesty of Israel,

Even though those who empty them have emptied them to destruction

And ruined their vine branches.

The shields of his mighty men are colored red,

The valiant men are dressed in scarlet,

The chariots are enveloped in flashing steel

When he is set up to march,

And the cypress spears are brandished.

The chariots race madly in the streets;

They rush wildly in the squares;

Their appearance is like torches;

They dash to and fro like lightning flashes.

He remembers his mighty ones;

They stumble in their march;

They hurry to her wall,

And the mantelet is set up.

The gates of the rivers are opened,

And the palace is melted away.

So it stands fixed:

She is exiled, she is carried away,

And her maidservants are moaning like the sound of doves,

Beating on their hearts.

Though Nineveh was like a pool of water throughout her days,

Now they are fleeing;

“Stand! Stand!”

But no one turns back.

Plunder the silver!

Plunder the gold!

And there is no limit to the treasure—

Wealth from every kind of desirable object.

She is emptied! Yes, she is emptied out and eviscerated!

Hearts are melting and knees knocking!

Also anguish is in all their loins,

And all their faces turn pale!

Where is the den of the lions

And the feeding place of the young lions,

Where the lion, lioness, and lion’s cub prowled,

With nothing to make them tremble?

The lion tore enough for its cubs

And strangled enough for its lionesses

And filled its lairs with torn up prey

And its dens with torn up flesh.

13 “Behold, I am against you,” declares Yahweh of hosts. “And I will burn up her chariots in smoke, and a sword will devour your young lions; and I will cut off your prey from the land, and no longer will the voice of your messengers be heard.”

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