Nahum 2

New King James Version

² For theLordwill restore the excellence of Jacob
Like the excellence of Israel,
For the emptiers have emptied them out
And ruined their vine branches.

³ The shields of his mighty menaremade red,
The valiant menarein scarlet.
The chariotscomewith flaming torches
In the day of his preparation,
And^[b]the spears are brandished.
⁴ The chariots rage in the streets,
They jostle one another in the broad roads;
They seem like torches,
They run like lightning.

⁵ He remembers his nobles;
They stumble in their walk;
They make haste to her walls,
And the defense is prepared.
⁶ The gates of the rivers are opened,
And the palace is dissolved.
^7 [c]It is decreed:
She shall be led away captive,
She shall be brought up;
And her maidservants shall leadheras with the voice of doves,
Beating their breasts.

⁸ Though Nineveh of oldwaslike a pool of water,
Now they flee away.
^[d]“Halt! Halt!”they cry;
But no one turns back.
^9 [e]Take spoil of silver!
Take spoil of^(A)gold!
There isno end of treasure,
Or wealth of every desirable prize.
¹⁰ She is empty, desolate, and waste!
The heart melts, and the knees shake;
Much painisin every side,
And all their faces^[f]are drained of color.

¹¹ Whereisthe dwelling of the^(B)lions,
And the feeding place of the young lions,
Where the lion walked, the lionessandlion’s cub,
And no one madethemafraid?
¹² The lion tore in pieces enough for his cubs,
^[g]Killed for his lionesses,
^(C)Filled his caves with prey,
And his dens with^[h]flesh.