The Overthrow of Nineveh

¹ He who scatters has come up against you.
Guard the fortress!
Watch the roads!
Strengthen yourselves!
Summon all your power!
² For the Lord will restore the majesty of Jacob,
like the splendor of Israel,
though enemies have destroyed them
and ruined their vine branches.

³ The shield of his mighty men is red.
The valiant men are in scarlet.
The chariots flash with steel
on the day of his preparation,
and the spears are brandished.
⁴ The chariots rage in the streets.
They rush back and forth in the wide roads.
They look like torches.
They run like lightning.
⁵ He summons his chosen troops.
They stumble on their way.
They dash to its wall,
and the protective shield is put in place.
⁶ The gates of the rivers are opened,
and the palace is dissolved.

⁷ It is decreed: she is exposed.
She is taken,
and her servants moan
like the sound of doves,
beating on their breasts.
⁸ From ancient times,
Nineveh has been like a pool of water,
but it is being drained off.
“Stop! Stop!” they cry,
but no one looks back.
⁹ Take the plunder of silver.
Take the plunder of gold,
for there is no end to the treasure
and glory of all the precious things.
¹⁰ She is empty, void, and waste.
Hearts melt. Knees knock.
Their bodies and faces have grown pale.

¹¹ Where is the den of the lions,
and the feeding place of the young lions,
where the lion and the lioness walked
with the lion’s cubs, and nothing made them afraid?
¹² The lion killed and tore apart enough for his cubs,
and strangled for his lionesses,
and filled his caves with the kill,
and his dens with prey.

¹³ “I am against you,” says the Lord of Hosts,
“and I will burn her chariots in the smoke,
and the sword will devour your young lions,
and I will destroy your prey from the earth,
and the voice of your messengers will no longer be heard.”

«       »