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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 ]

Footnotes

  1. 2:2 After King Solomon died, the nation of Israel became two kingdoms. The kingdom in the north was then called Israel and the kingdom in the south was called Judah. ‘Jacob’ here is probably another name for Judah.
  2. 2:9 All the people in Nineveh run away to different places. Some of them try to stop the water but they fail. This is because the people in this city have no love for each other. They only came to live there because of the many valuable things that their soldiers had taken from other countries.
  3. 2:13 The people in Nineveh were strong and cruel like lions. But Nahum tells them that God will be strong and cruel to them. God will attack the people in Nineveh because they have attacked many countries.

Nineveh Will Be Destroyed

2 An enemy is coming to attack you,
so guard the strong places of your city.
Watch the road.
Get ready for war.
Prepare for battle!
2 Yes, the Lord changed Jacob’s pride.
He made it like Israel’s pride.
The enemy destroyed them
and ruined their grapevines.

3 The shields of his soldiers are red.
Their uniforms are bright red.
Their chariots are shining like flames of fire
and are lined up for battle.
Their horses are ready to go.
4 The chariots race wildly through the streets
and rush back and forth through the square.
They look like burning torches,
like lightning flashing from place to place!

5 The enemy calls for his best soldiers.
They stumble as they rush ahead.
They run to the wall
and set up their shield over the battering ram.
6 But the gates by the rivers are open,
and the enemy comes flooding in and destroys the king’s palace.
7 The enemy takes away the queen,
and her slave girls moan sadly like doves.
They beat their breasts to show their sadness.

8 Nineveh is like a pool whose water
is draining away.
People yell, “Stop! Stop running away!”
But it does not do any good.

9 Take the silver!
Take the gold!
There are many things to take.
There are many treasures.
10 Now Nineveh is empty.
Everything is stolen.
The city is ruined.
People have lost their courage,
their hearts melt with fear,
their knees knock together,
their bodies shake,
and their faces turn pale.

11 Where is that great city now?
It was like a den where the lions feed their young.
It was a place where people felt safe,
like lions in a cave with no one there to harm them.
12 The lion was able to catch plenty of food
to feed his cubs and his mate.
He filled his cave with the animals he killed.
He filled his den with the meat he gathered.

13 The Lord All-Powerful says,
“I am against you, Nineveh.
I will burn your chariots
and kill your ‘young lions’ in battle.
You will not hunt anyone on earth again.
People will never again hear bad news
from your messengers.”

2 He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face: keep the munition, watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily.

2 For the Lord hath turned away the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel: for the emptiers have emptied them out, and marred their vine branches.

3 The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet: the chariots shall be with flaming torches in the day of his preparation, and the fir trees shall be terribly shaken.

4 The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall justle one against another in the broad ways: they shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightnings.

5 He shall recount his worthies: they shall stumble in their walk; they shall make haste to the wall thereof, and the defence shall be prepared.

6 The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall be dissolved.

7 And Huzzab shall be led away captive, she shall be brought up, and her maids shall lead her as with the voice of doves, tabering upon their breasts.

8 But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water: yet they shall flee away. Stand, stand, shall they cry; but none shall look back.

9 Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold: for there is none end of the store and glory out of all the pleasant furniture.

10 She is empty, and void, and waste: and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and much pain is in all loins, and the faces of them all gather blackness.

11 Where is the dwelling of the lions, and the feedingplace of the young lions, where the lion, even the old lion, walked, and the lion's whelp, and none made them afraid?

12 The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with ravin.

13 Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions: and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard.

The Overthrow of Nineveh

2 [ a ] The one who ( A ) scatters has come up against [ b ] you.
Keep watch over the fortress, watch the road;
[ c ] Bind up your waist, [ d ] summon all your strength.
2 For the Lord will restore the ( B ) splendor of Jacob
( C ) Like the splendor of Israel,
Even though destroyers have laid waste to them
And ( D ) ruined their vines.

3 The shields of [ e ] his warriors are dyed red,
The warriors are dressed in ( E ) scarlet,
The chariots are fitted with [ f ] flashing steel
[ g ] When he is prepared to march ,
And the juniper ( F ) spears are brandished.
4 The ( G ) chariots drive wildly in the streets,
They rush around in the [ h ] public squares;
Their appearance is like torches,
They drive back and forth like lightning flashes.
5 He remembers his ( H ) officers;
They ( I ) stumble in their advance,
They hurry to her wall,
And the [ i ] mantelet is set up.
6 The gates of the rivers are opened
And the palace sways back and forth.
7 It is set:
She is stripped, she is led away,
And her slave women are ( J ) sobbing like the sound of doves,
( K ) Beating their [ j ] breasts.

8 Though Nineveh was like a pool of water throughout her days,
Yet they are fleeing;
“Stop, stop,”
But ( L ) no one turns back.
9 Plunder the silver,
Plunder the ( M ) gold!
For there is no end to the treasure—
Wealth from every kind of desirable object.
10 She is ( N ) emptied! Yes, she is desolate and waste!
( O ) Hearts are melting and knees wobbling!
Also trembling is in [ k ] the entire body,
And all their ( P ) faces have become pale!
11 Where is the den of the lions
And the feeding place of the ( Q ) young lions,
Where the lion, lioness, and lion’s cub went
With nothing to disturb them ?
12 The lion tore enough for his cubs,
[ l ] Killed enough prey for his lionesses,
And filled his lairs with prey
And his dens with torn flesh.

13 “Behold, ( R ) I am against you,” declares the Lord of armies. “I will ( S ) burn up her chariots in smoke, and a sword will devour your young lions; I will ( T ) eliminate your prey from the land, and no longer will the voice of your messengers be heard.”

Footnotes

  1. Nahum 2:1 Ch 2:2 in Heb
  2. Nahum 2:1 Lit your face
  3. Nahum 2:1 Lit Strengthen your loins
  4. Nahum 2:1 Lit strengthen power greatly
  5. Nahum 2:3 I.e., those attacking Nineveh
  6. Nahum 2:3 Lit fire of steel
  7. Nahum 2:3 Lit On the day of his preparation
  8. Nahum 2:4 Lit broad places
  9. Nahum 2:5 I.e., a shield used for stopping projectiles
  10. Nahum 2:7 Lit hearts
  11. Nahum 2:10 Lit all the loins
  12. Nahum 2:12 Lit Strangled

Nineveh to Fall

2 [ a ] An attacker ( A ) advances against you, Nineveh.
Guard the fortress,
watch the road,
brace yourselves,
marshal all your strength!

2 The Lord will restore ( B ) the splendor ( C ) of Jacob
like the splendor of Israel,
though destroyers have laid them waste
and have ruined their vines.

3 The shields of the soldiers are red;
the warriors are clad in scarlet. ( D )
The metal on the chariots flashes
on the day they are made ready;
the spears of juniper are brandished. [ b ]
4 The chariots ( E ) storm through the streets,
rushing back and forth through the squares.
They look like flaming torches;
they dart about like lightning.

5 Nineveh summons her picked troops,
yet they stumble ( F ) on their way.
They dash to the city wall;
the protective shield is put in place.
6 The river gates ( G ) are thrown open
and the palace collapses.
7 It is decreed [ c ] that Nineveh
be exiled and carried away.
Her female slaves moan ( H ) like doves
and beat on their breasts. ( I )
8 Nineveh is like a pool
whose water is draining away.
“Stop! Stop!” they cry,
but no one turns back.
9 Plunder the silver!
Plunder the gold!
The supply is endless,
the wealth from all its treasures!
10 She is pillaged, plundered, stripped!
Hearts melt, ( J ) knees give way,
bodies tremble, every face grows pale. ( K )

11 Where now is the lions’ den, ( L )
the place where they fed their young,
where the lion and lioness went,
and the cubs, with nothing to fear?
12 The lion killed ( M ) enough for his cubs
and strangled the prey for his mate,
filling his lairs ( N ) with the kill
and his dens with the prey. ( O )

13 “I am against ( P ) you,”
declares the Lord Almighty.
“I will burn up your chariots in smoke, ( Q )
and the sword ( R ) will devour your young lions.
I will leave you no prey on the earth.
The voices of your messengers
will no longer be heard.” ( S )

Footnotes

  1. Nahum 2:1 In Hebrew texts 2:1-13 is numbered 2:2-14.
  2. Nahum 2:3 Hebrew; Septuagint and Syriac ready; / the horsemen rush to and fro .
  3. Nahum 2:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
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