Nahum 2 :: New International Version (NIV)

Nineveh to Fall

Nah 2:1An attacker advances against you, Nineveh. Guard the fortress, watch the road, brace yourselves, marshal all your strength!

Nah 2:2

Nah 2:2The LORD will restore the splendor of Jacob like the splendor of Israel, though destroyers have laid them waste and have ruined their vines.

Nah 2:3

Nah 2:3The shields of the soldiers are red; the warriors are clad in scarlet. The metal on the chariots flashes on the day they are made ready; the spears of juniper are brandished.[fn]

Nah 2:4

Nah 2:4The chariots storm through the streets, rushing back and forth through the squares. They look like flaming torches; they dart about like lightning.

Nah 2:5

Nah 2:5Nineveh summons her picked troops, yet they stumble on their way. They dash to the city wall; the protective shield is put in place.

Nah 2:6

Nah 2:6The river gates are thrown open and the palace collapses.

Nah 2:7

Nah 2:7It is decreed[fn] that Nineveh be exiled and carried away. Her female slaves moan like doves and beat on their breasts.

Nah 2:8

Nah 2:8Nineveh is like a pool whose water is draining away. “Stop! Stop!” they cry, but no one turns back.

Nah 2:9

Nah 2:9Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold! The supply is endless, the wealth from all its treasures!

Nah 2:10

Nah 2:10She is pillaged, plundered, stripped! Hearts melt, knees give way, bodies tremble, every face grows pale.

Nah 2:11

Nah 2:11Where now is the lions’ den, the place where they fed their young, where the lion and lioness went, and the cubs, with nothing to fear?

Nah 2:12

Nah 2:12The lion killed enough for his cubs and strangled the prey for his mate, filling his lairs with the kill and his dens with the prey.

Nah 2:13

Nah 2:13“I am against you,” declares the LORD Almighty. “I will burn up your chariots in smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions. I will leave you no prey on the earth. The voices of your messengers will no longer be heard.”

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NIV Footnotes

(2:3)

Hebrew; Septuagint and Syriac ready; / the horsemen rush to and fro.

(2:7)

The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.

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