1. At this moment on the mountainsthe footsteps of one bearing good news,of one announcing peace!Celebrate your feasts, Judah,fulfill your vows!For never again will destroyers invade you;they are completely cut off.
2. One who scatters has come up against you;guard the rampart,Watch the road, brace yourselves,marshal all your strength!
3. The Lord will restore the vine of Jacob,the honor of Israel,Because ravagers have ravaged themand ruined their branches.
4. The shields of his warriors are crimsoned,the soldiers clad in scarlet;Like fire are the trappings of the chariotson the day he prepares for war;the cavalry is agitated!
5. The chariots dash madly through the streetsand wheel in the squares,Looking like torches,bolting like lightning.
6. His picked troops are called,ranks break at their charge;To the wall they rush,their screen is set up.
7. The river gates are opened,the palace is washed away.
8. The mistress is led forth captive,and her maidservants led away,Moaning like doves,beating their breasts.
9. Nineveh is like a poolwhose waters escape;“Stop! Stop!”but none turns back.
10. “Plunder the silver, plunder the gold!”There is no end to the treasure,to wealth in every precious thing!
11. Emptiness, desolation, waste;melting hearts and trembling knees,Churning in every stomach,every face turning pale!
12. Where is the lionesses’ den,the young lions’ cave,Where the lion went in and out,and the cub, with no one to disturb them?
13. The lion tore apart enough for his cubs,and strangled for his lionesses;He filled his lairs with prey,and his dens with torn flesh.
14. I now come against you—oracle of the Lord of hosts—I will consume your chariots in smoke,and the sword will devour your young lions;Your preying on the land I will bring to an end,the cry of your lionesses will be heard no more.