Nahum 2

EasyEnglish Bible

God will destroy Nineveh

2 An enemy is coming to attack you, people of Nineveh. Watch carefully from the city's walls! Prepare your army to protect the city. Watch the road. Get ready to fight with all your strength!

² Your soldiers have destroyed the great nations of Israel and Jacob. They have destroyed their fields and their vineyards. But, the Lord will make Israel and Jacob great again.^[a]

³ Strong soldiers are coming to attack Nineveh! They have red shields and bright red clothes. The soldiers wave their spears in the air. The metal on their chariots shines brightly. ⁴ When the soldiers are ready for war they move quickly through the streets. Their chariots move very fast, like lightning in the sky. ⁵ The army leader chooses his best soldiers to go forward. They almost fall as they run! They hurry to the city wall and they prepare to attack. ⁶ They open the river gates and the water rushes into the city. It destroys the palace. ⁷ Nineveh's people must be led away to another country. They are ashamed. Her female slaves cry like doves and they hit themselves.

⁸ Nineveh is like a pool of water. But now its people run away, like water that is pouring away. ‘Stop, stop!’ they shout, but nobody comes back.

⁹ Take the silver. Take the gold. The city has so many valuable things.^[b]

¹⁰ They take the valuable things from the city. They take everything that they can. And they destroy everything else. The people are very sad. Their knees and their bodies shake. Their faces become white because they are afraid. ¹¹ The home of the lions has gone. The place where they fed their young lions has gone. This was the place where whole families of lions once lived. It is here where their young lions were not afraid. ¹² The lion killed to give enough food to his young lions and he strangled animals to feed his female lion. He filled his home with the animals that he had killed.

¹³ The Lord Almighty says, ‘I am against you. I will burn your chariots and the sword will kill your young lions. I will take away all the animals that you attack. Nobody will hear the voices of your messengers.’^[c]