1The ravager cometh up against thee, [[O Nineveh!]] Guard the fortress; watch the way; Gird up the loins; confirm the strength.

2For Jehovah restoreth the glory of Jacob, As the glory of Israel; For the wasters have wasted them, And destroyed their branches.

3The shields of his mighty men are red; His warriors are clothed in crimson; His chariots glitter with the fire of steel in the day of his preparation, And the spears are brandished.

4The chariots rave in the streets; They run to and fro in the broad ways; Their appearance is like torches; They run like lightnings.

5He calleth for his mighty men; They stumble on their way; They hasten to the wall; But the mantelet is prepared,

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

7Huzzab is uncovered; she is carried away captive, Her maidservants sigh with the voice of doves, And smite their breasts.

8Nineveh was like a pool full of water of old; Yet shall they flee away; Stand! stand! shall they cry; But none shall look back.

9Seize the silver; seize the gold; There is no end to the treasures; There is abundance of all precious furniture.

10She hath become void, and empty, and desolate; The heart melteth, and the knees smite together; Pangs are in all their loins, And the faces of all gather blackness.

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

12The lion tore in pieces for his whelps, And strangled for his lionesses, And filled his dens with prey, And his lairs with ravin.

13Behold! I am against thee, saith Jehovah of hosts, And I will burn thy 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.