The Overthrow of Nineveh

1He that dasheth in pieces is come up against thy face: keep the fortress, watch the way, make [thy] loins strong, fortify [thy] power mightily.

2For Jehovah hath brought again the glory of Jacob, as the glory of Israel; for the wasters have wasted them, and marred their vine-branches.

3The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet: the chariots [glitter] with the sheen of steel, in the day of his preparation, and the spears are brandished.

4The chariots rush madly in the streets, they justle one against another in the broad ways: the appearance of them is like torches, they run like lightnings.

5He bethinketh him of his nobles: they stumble in their march; they make haste to the wall thereof, and the shelter is prepared.

6The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace melteth away.

7And it is decreed: she shall be uncovered, she shall be led away, and her maids shall moan as with the voice of doves, drumming upon their breasts.

8Nineveh hath been like a pool of water, since the day she existed, yet they flee away. ... Stand! Stand! But none looketh back.

9Plunder the silver, plunder the gold; for there is no end of the splendid store of all precious vessels.

10She is empty, and void, and waste; and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and writhing pain is in all loins, and all their faces grow pale.

11Where is [now] the den of the lions, and the feeding-place of the young lions, where the lion, the lioness, [and] the lion's whelp walked, and none made them afraid?

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

13Behold, I am against thee, saith Jehovah of hosts: and I will burn her chariots into 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.