Nahum

¹ The one who scatters has come up against you. Guard the fortification, watch the road; Strengthen your loins, instill your power with exceeding courage.

² Like the majesty of Israel, Even though those who empty them have emptied them to destruction And ruined their vine branches.

³ The valiant men are dressed in scarlet, The chariots are enveloped in flashing steel When he is set up to march, And the cypress spears are brandished.

⁴ They rush wildly in the squares; Their appearance is like torches; They dash to and fro like lightning flashes.

⁵ They stumble in their march; They hurry to her wall, And the mantelet is set up.

⁶ And the palace is melted away.

⁷ She is exiled, she is carried away, And her maidservants are moaning like the sound of doves, Beating on their hearts.

⁸ Now they are fleeing; “Stand! Stand!” But no one turns back.

⁹ Plunder the gold! And there is no limit to the treasure— Wealth from every kind of desirable object.

¹⁰ Hearts are melting and knees knocking! Also anguish is in all their loins, And all their faces turn pale!

¹¹ And the feeding place of the young lions, Where the lion, lioness, and lion’s cub prowled, With nothing to make them tremble?

¹² And strangled enough for its lionesses And filled its lairs with torn up prey And its dens with torn up flesh.

¹³ “Behold, I am against you,” declares Yahweh of hosts. “And I will burn up her chariots in smoke, and a sword will devour your young lions; and I will cut off your prey from the land, and no longer will the voice of your messengers be heard.”