1
The destroyer is risen up against thee: keep the fortress, watch the way, make
thy loins strong, fortify
thy power mightily.
2
For the LORD shall restore the glory of Jacob as the glory of Israel; for the emptiers have emptied them out and marred their vine branches.
3
The shield of his valiant ones shall be red, the men of
his army
are in scarlet, the chariot
as fire of torches
in the day which shall be made ready; the fir trees shall be terribly shaken.
4
The chariots shall rage in the streets; they shall flow through the streets, their faces like torches; they shall run like the lightnings.
5
He shall remember his valiant ones; they shall stumble in their walk when they make haste to their wall, and the covering shall be prepared.
6
The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall be destroyed.
7
And the queen shall be taken captive; they shall order her to go up, and her maids shall take
her, mourning as with the voice of doves, beating upon their breasts.
8
And Nineveh was of old like a pool of water; but
now they flee away. Stand, stand,
shall they cry; but no one looks
back.
9
Take the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold, for
there is no end of the riches; honour, more than all the desirable furniture.
10
She is empty and worn out and is in pieces, and the heart melted, the knees smite together, and much pain
is in the kidneys, and the faces of them all gather blackness.