2:1 (2:2) The watchmen of Nineveh shout: 1
“An enemy who will scatter you 2 is marching out 3 to attack you!” 4
“Guard 5 the rampart! 6
Watch the road!
Prepare yourselves for battle! 7
Muster your mighty strength!” 8
2:2 For the Lord will restore 9 the majesty 10 of Jacob,
as well as 11 the majesty of Israel,
though 12 their enemies have plundered them 13
and have destroyed their fields. 14
2:3 The shields of his warriors are dyed red; 15
the mighty soldiers are dressed in scarlet garments. 16
The metal fittings 17 of the chariots 18 shine
like 19 fire 20 on the day of battle; 21
the soldiers brandish 22 their spears. 23
2:4 The chariots 24 race madly 25 through the streets,
they rush back and forth 26 in the broad plazas;
they look 27 like lightning bolts, 28
they dash here and there 29 like flashes of lightning. 30
2:5 The commander 31 orders 32 his officers;
they stumble 33 as they advance; 34
they rush to the city wall 35
and they set up 36 the covered siege tower. 37
2:6 The sluice gates 38 are opened;
the royal palace is deluged 39 and dissolves. 40
2:7 Nineveh 41 is taken into exile 42 and is led away; 43
her slave girls moan 44 like doves 45 while they beat 46 their breasts. 47
2:8 Nineveh was like a pool 48 of water 49 throughout her days, 50
but now 51 her people 52 are running away; 53
she cries out: 54 “Stop! Stop!” –
but no one turns back. 55
2:9 Her conquerors cry out: 56
“Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold!”
There is no end to the treasure;
riches of every kind of precious thing.
2:10 Destruction, devastation, and desolation! 57
Their hearts faint, 58
their knees tremble, 59
each stomach churns, 60 each face 61 turns 62 pale! 63
2:11 Where now is the den of the lions, 64
the feeding place 65 of the young lions,
where 66 the lion, lioness, 67 and lion cub once prowled 68
and no one disturbed them? 69