2 The ones who’ll scatter you are getting ready to attack you.

Guard the city walls.

Watch the roads.

Be dressed for battle.

Gather your troops together.

2 Yahweh is restoring Ya’akov’s (Jacob) greatness,

like Yisrael’s (Israel) greatness before,

even though the invaders took their valuables and destroyed their vineyards.

3 The enemy’s powerful warriors hold red shields,

≈ and his soldiers are dressed in scarlet.

The metal on their chariots gleams

as they get them ready that day,

and their cypress spears are held ready.

4 Their chariots drive madly through the streets,

≈ and rush back and forth across the squares.

They look like flaming torches,

≈ and dart across like lightning.

5 He calls his officers—

They stumble as they march.

They hurry to attack the city wall,

and to set up the movable roof for protection.

6 The river gates are forced open,

and the palace collapses in the flood.

7 She’s[fn] stripped ready to be taken away.

Her slave girls moan like doves as they beat their chests.

8 In the good days, Nineveh was like a refreshing pool of water.

but now they’re fleeing from it.

“Stop, stop,” they say, but no one comes back.

9 “Grab the gold, seize the silver.”

There’s no end to the treasure.

≈ Plenty of valuable things.

10 Nineveh’s all emptiness and desolation,

devastation and hearts melting.

Knees trembling and aching stomachs.

Their faces all gone very pale.

11 What happened to that ‘lion’s den’—

the place where young cubs were fed?

The place where the lion and lioness walked—

where the cubs were safe with nothing to terrify them.

12 The lion tore apart enough for the cubs,

≈ and strangled prey for his lionesses.

He filled his lairs with prey

≈ and his dens with torn flesh.

13 Commander-in-chief Yahweh declares that he’s against you.

He’ll burn your chariots up in smoke,

and your young men will be killed with swords.

He’ll take your prey away from you,

and the voices of your messengers won’t be heard anymore.

3 The city of bloodshed will have a bad end.

It’s full of lies and stolen property.

Always taking plunder—never letting go.

2 The sound of whips and the rattling of wheels.

Horses galloping and chariots jolting.

3 Charging horsemen, flashing swords, glittering spears.

Many slain—heaps of corpses.

≈ Uncountable bodies—people trip over them.

4 That will happen because the beautiful prostitute had so much business.

She’s the mistress of witchcraft.

She attracts other countries with her prostitution.

≈ She attracts other peoples with her sorceries.

5 Commander-in-chief Yahweh declares that he’s against you.

He’ll lift your skirt up over your head,

and show your nakedness to the other countries.

Show your shame to the various kingdoms.

6 I throw disgusting filth at you

and treat you with contempt.

I’ll make a spectacle of you.

7 Everyone who sees you will run away

and say, ‘Nineveh is destroyed.’

Who will weep for her?

Where can I find someone who’ll comfort her?

8 Are you better than No city[fn] was,

where the Nile surrounded and protected her?

≈ Where the water was one of her secure walls.

9 Kush (Ethiopia) and Mitsrayim (Egypt) were her strength,

and her strength had no limit.

Put and Libya were her allies.

10 Yet No was taken as an exile—

≈ taken into captivity.

Her young children were dashed to pieces at the top of every street.

Her captors threw dice for her leading citizens.

≈ All her leading men were bound in chains.

11 You, too, will become drunk.

You’ll look for places to hide.

≈ You’ll try to find somewhere to be safe from your enemies.

12 All your fortresses will be like fig trees

with the early fruit now ready.

When they’re shaken

the fruit falls right into the mouth of the eater.

13 See, your troops are like weak women.

Your city gates will be opened wide to your enemies—

their cross-bars will be destroyed by fire.

14 Get water from the wells to store for the siege.

Strengthen your fortifications.

Fetch clay and start working it.

Get the molds ready to make bricks.

15 Even so, fire will devour you.

The sword will cut you down.

They’ll chew you up like locusts.

You need to multiply like locusts and grasshoppers.

16 You have so many merchants—

more than the stars in the sky.

Like locusts, they strip valuables and then fly away.

17 Your many guards are like locusts,

and you have a swarm of officials.

On a cold morning they settle on the walls,

but when the sun rises they fly away

to some place that nobody knows about.

18 You, king of Ashur (Assyria),

your shepherds have fallen asleep.

≈ Your leading citizens have settled down for a break.

Your people will be scattered across the hills,

with no one to gather them again.

19 Your pain will get no relief—

your wound is too severe.

Everyone who hears the news about you will do a high-five,

because there’s no one who hasn’t experienced your cruelty.