1. Your enemy is coming to crush you, Nineveh.Man the ramparts! Watch the roads!Prepare your defenses! Call out your forces!
2. Even though the destroyer has destroyed Judah,the lord will restore its honor.Israel’s vine has been stripped of branches,but he will restore its splendor.
3. Shields flash red in the sunlight!See the scarlet uniforms of the valiant troops!Watch as their glittering chariots move into position,with a forest of spears waving above them.
4. The chariots race recklessly along the streetsand rush wildly through the squares.They flash like firelightand move as swiftly as lightning.
5. The king shouts to his officers;they stumble in their haste,rushing to the walls to set up their defenses.
6. The river gates have been torn open!The palace is about to collapse!
7. Nineveh’s exile has been decreed,and all the servant girls mourn its capture.They moan like dovesand beat their breasts in sorrow.
8. Nineveh is like a leaking water reservoir!The people are slipping away.“Stop, stop!” someone shouts,but no one even looks back.
9. Loot the silver!Plunder the gold!There’s no end to Nineveh’s treasures—its vast, uncounted wealth.