Nah 2 | ESV | STEP | The scatterer has come up against you . Man the ramparts ; watch the road ; dress for battle; collect all your strength .

‏ Nahum 2

The Destruction of Nineveh

1 ^aThe scatterer has come up against you.
^bMan the ramparts;
watch the road;
dress for battle; ^{▼▼Hebrew gird your loins}
collect all your strength.
2 For ^dthe Lord is restoring the majesty of Jacob
as the majesty of Israel,
for plunderers have plundered them
and ^eruined their branches.
3 The shield of his mighty men is red;
^fhis soldiers are clothed in scarlet.
The chariots come with flashing metal
on the day he musters them;
the cypress spears are brandished.
4 ^gThe chariots race madly through the streets;
they rush to and fro through the squares;
they gleam like torches;
they dart like lightning.
5 He remembers ^hhis officers;
ⁱthey stumble as they go,
they hasten to the wall;
the siege tower ^{▼▼Or the mantelet} is set up.
6 ^kThe river gates are opened;
the palace ^lmelts away;
7 its mistress ^{▼▼The meaning of the Hebrew word rendered its mistress is uncertain} is ⁿstripped; ^{▼▼Or exiled} she is carried off,
her slave girls ^plamenting,
moaning like doves
and beating their breasts.
8 ^qNineveh is like a pool
whose waters run away. ^{▼▼Compare Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain}
“Halt! Halt!” they cry,
but ^snone turns back.
9 Plunder the silver,
plunder the gold!
There is no end of the treasure
or of the wealth of all precious things.
10 ^tDesolate! Desolation and ruin!
^uHearts melt and ^vknees tremble;
^wanguish is in all loins;
^xall faces grow pale!
11 Where is the lions’ den,
the feeding place of ^ythe young lions,
where the lion and lioness went,
where his cubs were, with ^znone to disturb?
12 ^aaThe lion tore enough for his cubs
and ^abstrangled prey for his lionesses;
he filled his caves with prey
and his dens with torn flesh.

13 ^acBehold, I am against you, declares the Lord of hosts, and ^adI will burn your ^{▼▼Hebrew her} chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and ^afthe voice of your messengers shall no longer be heard.