2 A scatterer has come up against you.
        Guard the ramparts, watch the road,
            protect your groin, save your^[a] strength!
² The Lord will restore the pride of Jacob,
        indeed, the pride of Israel,
            because ravagers have destroyed
            them and spoiled their branches.
³ The shields of his warriors are red;
        his soldiers are dressed in crimson.
The ironwork of the chariots flashes like fire
        on the day he has prepared;
            the horses quiver.
⁴ The chariots race wildly through the streets;
        they rush back and forth through the squares.
        They look like flaming torches;
                they dart like bolts of lightning.
⁵ He musters his officers;
            they stumble as they press forward.
        They hurry to the city wall,
            and the portable shield is set up.
⁶ The gates of the rivers are opened;
        the palace melts.
⁷ It is decreed:^[b] She is sent into exile, carried away,
    while her female servants moan like doves, beating their breasts.
⁸ Nineveh has been like a pool of water.
        Such are its waters,^[c] and others are fleeing.
            “Stop, stop!”—but no one can turn them back.
⁹ Plunder silver! Plunder gold!
        There is no end to the supplies,
            an abundance of precious objects!
¹⁰ Destruction and devastation;
        the city is laid waste!
    The heart grows faint and knees buckle;
        there is anguish in every groin;
            all the faces grow pale.

¹¹ Where is the lions’ den, the meadow of the young lions,
        where lion, lioness, even lion cub go about with no one to terrify them?
¹² The lion has torn enough prey
            for his cubs and strangled enough for his lionesses;
        he has filled his lairs with prey,
                his dens with torn flesh.
¹³ Look! I am against you, proclaims the Lord of heavenly forces.
    I will burn your^[d] chariots in smoke;
        the sword will devour your young lions;
I will cut off your prey from the earth,
        the voice of your messengers will never again be heard!