GOD'S WORD Translation GW
New King James Version NKJV
1 The one who will scatter you is coming to attack you. Guard your fortress! Keep a lookout on the road! Prepare for battle! Be very courageous!
1
He who scatters has come up before your face. Man the fort! Watch the road! Strengthen your flanks! Fortify your power mightily.
2 The LORD will restore Jacob's glory like Israel's glory, although enemies have looted it and have destroyed its vines.
2
For the Lord will restore the excellence of Jacob Like the excellence of Israel, For the emptiers have emptied them out And ruined their vine branches.
3 The shields of his warriors are painted red. His soldiers have red uniforms. The metal on his chariots flashes fiery red, so do the spears when they are waved on the day he prepares for battle.
3
The shields of his mighty men are made red, The valiant men are in scarlet. The chariots come with flaming torches In the day of his preparation, And the spears are brandished.
4 Chariots are racing madly through the streets, rushing this way and that in the city squares. They look like torches, like lightning, as they dart about.
4
The chariots rage in the streets, They jostle one another in the broad roads; They seem like torches, They run like lightning.
5 He remembers his best fighting men. They stumble over themselves as they march. They hurry to Nineveh's wall. The shield has been set up for the battering ram.
5
He remembers his nobles; They stumble in their walk; They make haste to her walls, And the defense is prepared.
6 The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace melts away.
6
The gates of the rivers are opened, And the palace is dissolved.
7 The LORD has determined: "It will be stripped. It will be carried away. Its young women will be mourning like doves as they beat their breasts."
7
It is decreed: She shall be led away captive, She shall be brought up; And her maidservants shall lead her as with the voice of doves, Beating their breasts.
8 Nineveh was like a pool of water from its first day on. But now its people are fleeing. "Stop! Stop!" But no one turns around.
8
Though Nineveh of old was like a pool of water, Now they flee away. "Halt! Halt!" they cry; But no one turns back.
9 Steal the silver! Steal the gold! There is no end to what is stored here-- everything a person could ever want.
9
Take spoil of silver! Take spoil of gold! There is no end of treasure, Or wealth of every desirable prize.
10 Nineveh is destroyed, deserted, demolished. Hearts are melting. Knees are knocking. Every stomach becomes upset. Every face turns pale.
10
She is empty, desolate, and waste! The heart melts, and the knees shake; Much pain is in every side, And all their faces are drained of color.
11 Where is the lions' den, that feeding place for young lions? Where are the lion, the lioness, and the lion cub who moved about with no one to terrify them?
11
Where is the dwelling of the lions, And the feeding place of the young lions, Where the lion walked, the lioness and lion's cub, And no one made them afraid?
12 The lion tore its prey to pieces to feed its cubs. It strangled [the prey] for its mates. It used to fill its caves with torn carcasses and its dens with torn flesh.
12
The lion tore in pieces enough for his cubs, Killed for his lionesses, Filled his caves with prey, And his dens with flesh.
13 "I am against you, Nineveh," declares the LORD of Armies. "I will send your chariots up in smoke, and a sword will kill your young lions. I will remove your prey from the earth, and no one will ever hear the voice of your messengers again."
13
"Behold, I am against you," says the Lord of hosts, "I will burn your chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions; I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers shall be heard no more."
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.