3
The shield of his mighty men is red;
1his soldiers are clothed in scarlet. The chariots come with flashing metal on the day he musters them; the cypress spears are brandished.
4
2The 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
3his officers;
4they stumble as they go, they hasten to the wall; the siege tower is set up.
6
5The river gates are opened; the palace
6melts away;
7
its mistress is
7stripped; she is carried off, her slave girls
8lamenting, moaning like doves and beating their breasts.
8
9Nineveh is like a pool whose waters run away. "Halt! Halt!" they cry, but
10none 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
11Desolate! Desolation and ruin!
12Hearts melt and
13knees tremble;
14anguish is in all loins;
15all faces grow pale!
11
Where is the lions' den, the feeding place of
16the young lions, where the lion and lioness went, where his cubs were, with
17none to disturb?
12
18The lion tore enough for his cubs and
19strangled prey for his lionesses; he filled his caves with prey and his dens with torn flesh.
13
20Behold, I am against you, declares the LORD of hosts, and
21I will burn your chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and
22the voice of your messengers shall no longer be heard.