1The one who crushes has attacked you. Guard the fortress! Watch the road! Prepare for battle! Greatly strengthen your power!
2Yahweh is bringing back the glory of Jacob and Israel, because those who destroyed them have ruined their grapevines.
3The shields of his mighty warriors are red. The brave men wear scarlet. The chariots sparkle with steel on the day he prepares for battle, and the spears of pine wood are brandished.
4The chariots rush wildly through the streets, speeding back and forth in the wide avenues. They look like torches and move like lightning.
5He calls his best soldiers. They stumble as they advance. They rush to the city wall, and the protective shield is set up.
6The river gates are opened, and the palace collapses.
7It has been decided: the city is exposed and taken away. Her servant women moan like doves and beat their chests.
8Nineveh has always been like a pool of water, but now its people flee. They cry, “Stop! Stop!” but no one looks back.
9Take the silver plunder. Take the gold plunder, for there is an endless supply of valuable furnishings.
10The city is empty, desolate, and ruined. Hearts melt, knees tremble, and all faces turn pale.
11Where is the lions' den, the place where the young lions were fed? Where the lion and lioness walked with their cubs, and no one made them afraid?
12The lion tore apart enough prey for his cubs, and strangled prey for his lionesses. He filled his caves with the kill, and his dens with what he had hunted.
13“Look, I am against you,” says Yahweh of Armies. “I will burn up her chariots in smoke, and the sword will kill your young lions. I will wipe your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers will no longer be heard.”