New American Standard Bible NAS
New International Version NIV
1 The one who scatters has come up against you. Man the fortress, watch the road; Strengthen your back, summon all your strength.
1
An attacker advances against you, Nineveh. Guard the fortress, watch the road, brace yourselves, marshal all your strength!
2 For the LORD will restore the splendor of Jacob Like the splendor of Israel, Even though devastators have devastated them And destroyed their vine branches.
2
The LORD will restore the splendor of Jacob like the splendor of Israel, though destroyers have laid them waste and have ruined their vines.
3 The shields of his mighty men are colored red, The warriors are dressed in scarlet, The chariots are enveloped in flashing steel When he is prepared to march, And the cypress spears are brandished.
3
The 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.
4 The chariots race madly in the streets, They rush wildly in the squares, Their appearance is like torches, They dash to and fro like lightning flashes.
4
The chariots storm through the streets, rushing back and forth through the squares. They look like flaming torches; they dart about like lightning.
5 He remembers his nobles; They stumble in their march, They hurry to her wall, And the mantelet is set up.
5
Nineveh summons her picked troops, yet they stumble on their way. They dash to the city wall; the protective shield is put in place.
6 The gates of the rivers are opened And the palace is dissolved.
6
The river gates are thrown open and the palace collapses.
7 It is fixed: She is stripped, she is carried away, And her handmaids are moaning like the sound of doves, Beating on their breasts.
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It is decreed that Nineveh be exiled and carried away. Her female slaves moan like doves and beat on their breasts.
8 Though Nineveh was like a pool of water throughout her days, Now they are fleeing; "Stop, stop," But no one turns back.
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Nineveh is like a pool whose water is draining away. “Stop! Stop!” they cry, but no one turns back.
9 Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold! For there is no limit to the treasure - Wealth from every kind of desirable object.
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Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold! The supply is endless, the wealth from all its treasures!
10 She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate and waste! Hearts are melting and knees knocking! Also anguish is in the whole body And all their faces are grown pale!
10
She is pillaged, plundered, stripped! Hearts melt, knees give way, bodies tremble, every face grows pale.
New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, California. All rights reserved.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.