New Century Version NCV
New Living Translation NLT
1 The destroyern is coming to attack you, Nineveh. Guard the defenses. Watch the road. Get ready. Gather all your strength!
1
Your enemy is coming to crush you, Nineveh. Man the ramparts! Watch the roads! Prepare your defenses! Call out your forces!
2 Destroyers have destroyed God's people and ruined their vines, but the Lord will bring back Jacob's greatness like Israel's greatness.
2
Even though the destroyer has destroyed Judah, the LORD will restore its honor. Israel’s vine has been stripped of branches, but he will restore its splendor.
3 The shields of his soldiers are red; the army is dressed in red. The metal on the chariots flashes like fire when they are ready to attack; their horses are excited.
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Shields flash red in the sunlight! See the scarlet uniforms of the valiant troops! Watch as their glittering chariots move into position, with a forest of spears waving above them.
4 The chariots race through the streets and rush back and forth through the city squares. They look like torches; they run like lightning.
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The chariots race recklessly along the streets and rush wildly through the squares. They flash like firelight and move as swiftly as lightning.
5 Hen calls his officers, but they stumble on the way. They hurry to the city wall, and the shield is put into place.
5
The king shouts to his officers; they stumble in their haste, rushing to the walls to set up their defenses.
6 The river gates are thrown open, and the palace is destroyed.
6
The river gates have been torn open! The palace is about to collapse!
7 It has been announced that the people of Nineveh will be captured and carried away. The slave girls moan like doves and beat their breasts, because they are sad.
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Nineveh’s exile has been decreed, and all the servant girls mourn its capture. They moan like doves and beat their breasts in sorrow.
8 Nineveh is like a pool, and now its water is draining away. "Stop! Stop!" the people yell, but no one turns back.
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Nineveh is like a leaking water reservoir! The people are slipping away. “Stop, stop!” someone shouts, but no one even looks back.
9 Take the silver! Take the gold! There is no end to the treasure -- piles of wealth of every kind.
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Loot the silver! Plunder the gold! There’s no end to Nineveh’s treasures— its vast, uncounted wealth.
10 Nineveh is robbed, ruined, and destroyed. The people lose their courage, and their knees knock. Stomachs ache, and everyone's face grows pale.
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Soon the city is plundered, empty, and ruined. Hearts melt and knees shake. The people stand aghast, their faces pale and trembling.
11 Where is the lions' den and the place where they feed their young? Where did the lion, lioness, and cubs go without being afraid?
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Where now is that great Nineveh, that den filled with young lions? It was a place where people—like lions and their cubs— walked freely and without fear.
12 The lion killed enough for his cubs, enough for his mate. He filled his cave with the animals he caught; he filled his den with meat he had killed.
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The lion tore up meat for his cubs and strangled prey for his mate. He filled his den with prey, his caverns with his plunder.
13 "I am against you, Nineveh," says the Lord All-Powerful. "I will burn up your chariots in smoke, and the sword will kill your young lions. I will stop you from hunting down others on the earth, and your messengers' voices will no longer be heard."
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“I am your enemy!” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. “Your chariots will soon go up in smoke. Your young men will be killed in battle. Never again will you plunder conquered nations. The voices of your proud messengers will be heard no more.”
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.