Nah 2 | HCSB | STEP | One who scatters is coming up against you. Man the fortifications ! Watch the road ! Brace yourself ! Summon all your strength !

Nahum 2

Attack against Nineveh

1 One who scatters is coming up against you.
Man the fortifications!
Watch the road!
Brace ^{▼▼Lit Strengthen} yourself!
Summon all your strength! ^b

2 For the Lord will restore the majesty of Jacob,
yes, ^{▼▼Or like} the majesty of Israel,
though ravagers have ravaged them
and ruined their vine branches. ^d

3 The shields of his ^{▼▼= the army commander attacking Nineveh} warriors are dyed red;
the valiant men are dressed in scarlet. ^f
The fittings of the chariot flash like fire
on the day of its battle preparations,
and the spears are brandished.
4 The chariots dash madly through the streets;
they rush around in the plazas.
They look like torches;
they dart back and forth like lightning.
5 He gives orders to his officers;
they stumble as they advance.
They race to its wall;
the protective shield is set in place.
6 The river gates are opened,
and the palace erodes away. ^g

7 Beauty ^{▼▼Text emended; MT reads Huzzab} is stripped, ^{▼▼Hb obscure}
she is carried away;
her ladies-in-waiting moan
like the sound of doves, ^j
and beat their breasts.
8 Nineveh has been like a pool of water
from her first days, ^{▼▼Hb obscure}
but they are fleeing.
“Stop! Stop!” they cry,
but no one turns back.
9 “Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold!”
There is no end to the treasure,
an abundance of every precious thing. ^l
10 Desolation, decimation, devastation!
Hearts melt, ^m
knees tremble,
loins shake,
every face grows pale! ⁿ

11 Where is the lions’ lair, ^o
or the feeding ground of the young lions,
where the lion and lioness prowled,
and the lion’s cub,
with nothing to frighten them away? ^p
12 The lion mauled whatever its cubs needed
and strangled prey for its lionesses.
It filled up its dens with the kill,
and its lairs with mauled prey. ^q
13 Beware, I am against you. ^r
This is the declaration of the Lord of ^{▼▼Hosts/hosts: Military forces consisting of God's angels, sometimes including the sun, moon, and stars, and occasionally, Israel}Hosts
.
I will make your chariots go up in smoke ^{▼▼Lit will burn her chariots in smoke}
and the sword will devour your young lions.
I will cut off your prey from the earth,
and the sound of your messengers
will never be heard again.