Nahum 2

International Standard Version

Guard your rampart!
        Watch your roads!^[b]
Prepare yourselves!^[c]
    Marshall your defenses!^[d]
2 For the Lord will restore the glory of Jacob,
    just as he will restore^[e] the glory of Israel,
although plunderers have devastated them,
    vandalizing their vine branches.

³ The shields deployed by^[f] Israel’s^[g] elite forces are scarlet,
    their valiant men are clothed in crimson.
When they are prepared,
    the polished armament on their chariots will shine,
        and lances will be brandished about ferociously.^[h]
4 Their chariots storm through the streets,
    jostling each other along broad avenues.
They look like torches,
    as they dart around like lightning.

⁵ He will remember to summon^[i] his finest troops.
    They will stumble on their way,
        hurrying over to Nineveh’s^[j] wall.
Their defensive shield is in place.
⁶ The river gates will be opened,
    and the palace will collapse.

⁷ It has been determined:
    The woman^[k] is unveiled and sent away,
        her servant girls mourn.
Beating their breasts,
    they whimper like doves.
⁸ Nineveh is a reservoir whose water is draining away.
    “Wait! Wait!” they cry,^[l]
        yet not even one person^[m] looks back.
⁹ Take the silver! Take the gold!
    There is no end to the treasure—
        fabulous riches of every imagination.
¹⁰ Nineveh^[n] is devastated, deserted, and desolate.
    Her heart melts, her knees knock.
Every stomach is upset,
    every face grows pale.^[o]

¹³ “I am against you,” declares the Lord of the Heavenly Armies,
    “and I will send your chariots up in smoke.
A sword will devour your young lions,
    I will eliminate your prey from the earth,
        and the voice of your messengers will no longer be heard.”