1 (2:2) The destroyer is come up against thee to enclose thee with works of siege: look out on the way, make thy loins strong, strengthen thyself greatly with power. 2 (2:3) For the Lord bringeth back again the excellency of Jacob, as also the excellency of Israel; for the plunderers have plundered them, and have wasted branches of their vines. 3 (2:4) The shields of his mighty men are made red, the valiant men are clothed in scarlet: with the fire of the steel the chariots glitter on the day when he prepareth himself for battle, and the spears are shaken. 4 (2:5) In the streets the chariots rush madly along, they rattle through the public places: their appearance is like torches, they run along like the lightnings. 5 (2:6) He will summon his valiant men, they shall stumble in their walk: they hasten to her walls, and the covering for defence is prepared. 6 (2:7) The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved. 7 (2:8) And the queen is carried away into exile stripped of her attire, and her maids moan as with the voice of doves, striking their hand upon their breast. 8 (2:9) And Nineveh was like a pool of water from the days that she existed: yet now they flee. “Stand, stand,” shall they cry, but none shall look back. 9 (2:10) Plunder silver, plunder gold; for without end are the treasures, there is an abundance of all precious vessels. 10 (2:11) She is void, and emptied out, and wasted; and the heart melteth, and the knees totter, and trembling is in all loins, and the faces of them all are covered with blackness. 11 (2:12) Where is now the dwelling of the lions, and what was the feeding-place of the young lions, where the lion, the lioness, and the lion's whelp walked, and none made them afraid? 12 (2:13) The lion tore in pieces prey enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled with prey his holes, and his dens with what he had torn. 13 (2:14) Behold, I will be against thee, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will burn into smoke thy chariots, and thy young lions shall the sword devour: and I will cut off from the earth thy preying, and no more shall be heard the voice of thy messengers.