2:1 ①The one who scatters has come up against ②you.
Keep watch over the fortress, watch the road;
③Bind up your waist, ④summon all your strength.
▷ ①Lit Strengthen your loins ②Lit strengthen power greatly ③Ch 2:2 in Heb ④Lit your face
2:2 For the LORD will restore the splendor of Jacob
Like the splendor of Israel,
Even though destroyers have laid waste to them
And ruined their vines.
2:3 The shields of ①his warriors are dyed red,
The warriors are dressed in scarlet,
The chariots are fitted with ②flashing steel
③When he is prepared to march,
And the juniper spears are brandished.
▷ ①I.e., those attacking Nineveh ②Lit fire of steel ③Lit On the day of his preparation
2:4 The chariots drive wildly in the streets,
They rush around in the ①public squares;
Their appearance is like torches,
They drive back and forth like lightning flashes.
▷ ①Lit broad places
2:5 He remembers his officers;
They stumble in their advance,
They hurry to her wall,
And the ①mantelet is set up.
▷ ①I.e., a shield used for stopping projectiles
2:6 The gates of the rivers are opened
And the palace sways back and forth.
2:7 It is set:
She is stripped, she is led away,
And her slave women are sobbing like the sound of doves,
Beating their ①breasts.
▷ ①Lit hearts
2:8 Though Nineveh was like a pool of water throughout her days,
Yet they are fleeing;
“Stop, stop,”
But no one turns back.
2:9 Plunder the silver,
Plunder the gold!
For there is no end to the treasure—
Wealth from every kind of desirable object.
2:10 She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate and waste!
Hearts are melting and knees wobbling!
Also trembling is in ①the entire body,
And all their faces have become pale!
▷ ①Lit all the loins
2:11 Where is the den of the lions
And the feeding place of the young lions,
Where the lion, lioness, and lion’s cub went
With nothing to disturb them?
2:12 The lion tore enough for his cubs,
①Killed enough prey for his lionesses,
And filled his lairs with prey
And his dens with torn flesh.
▷ ①Lit Strangled
2:13 “Behold, I am against you,” declares the LORD of armies. “I will burn up her chariots in smoke, and a sword will devour your young lions; I will eliminate your prey from the land, and no longer will the voice of your messengers be heard.”