Nahum 2

The Destruction of Nineveh

1 *[Jer. 51:20] The scatterer has come up against you.

*[Jer. 51:12]Man the ramparts;

watch the road;

dress for battle;*2:1 Hebrew gird your loins

collect all your strength.

2 For *[Isa. 37:31] the Lord is restoring the majesty of Jacob

as the majesty of Israel,

for plunderers have plundered them

and *See Ps. 80:8-13;Isa. 5:1-7ruined their branches.

3 The shield of his mighty men is red;

*[Ezek. 23:14,15]his soldiers are clothed in scarlet.

The chariots come with flashing metal

on the day he musters them;

the cypress spears are brandished.

4 *[ch. 3:2]The chariots race madly through the streets;

they rush to and fro through the squares;

they gleam like torches;

they dart like lightning.

5 He remembers *ch. 3:18his officers;

*Jer. 46:12they stumble as they go,

they hasten to the wall;

the siege tower*2:5 Or the mantelet is set up.

6 *[Isa. 45:1] The river gates are opened;

the palace *[Isa. 14:31]melts away;

7 its mistress*2:7 The meaning of the Hebrew word rendered its mistress is uncertain is *[Isa. 22:8] stripped;*2:7 Or exiled she is carried off,

her slave girls *Isa. 38:14lamenting,

moaning like doves

and beating their breasts.

8 *See ch. 1:1Nineveh is like a pool

whose waters run away.*2:8 Compare Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain

"Halt! Halt!" they cry,

but *Jer. 46:5none turns back.

9 Plunder the silver,

plunder the gold!

There is no end of the treasure

or of the wealth of all precious things.

10 *See Zeph. 2:13-15Desolate! Desolation and ruin!

*Ps. 22:14;Isa. 13:7Hearts melt and *Dan. 5:6knees tremble;

*Isa. 21:3anguish is in all loins;

*Joel 2:6all faces grow pale!

11 Where is the lions’ den,

the feeding place of *Isa. 5:29;Jer. 2:15the young lions,

where the lion and lioness went,

where his cubs were, with *See Isa. 17:2none to disturb?

12 *[Ezek. 19:3] The lion tore enough for his cubs

and *[ver. 9; ch. 3:1]strangled prey for his lionesses;

he filled his caves with prey

and his dens with torn flesh.

13 *ch. 3:5;[Zeph. 2:5]; See Ezek. 13:8Behold, I am against you, declares the Lord of hosts, and *[Ps. 46:9] I will burn your*2:13 Hebrew her chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and *[2 Kgs. 19:9,23]the voice of your messengers shall no longer be heard.