| 2:1 | He who scatters has come up before your face. Man the fort! Watch the road! Strengthen [your] flanks! Fortify [your] power mightily. |
| 2:2 | 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. |
| 2:3 | 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. |
| 2:4 | The chariots rage in the streets, They jostle one another in the broad roads; They seem like torches, They run like lightning. |
| 2:5 | He remembers his nobles; They stumble in their walk; They make haste to her walls, And the defense is prepared. |
| 2:6 | The gates of the rivers are opened, And the palace is dissolved. |
| 2:7 | 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. |
| 2:8 | Though Nineveh of old [was] like a pool of water, Now they flee away. "Halt! Halt!" [they cry]; But no one turns back. |
| 2:9 | Take spoil of silver! Take spoil of gold! [There is] no end of treasure, Or wealth of every desirable prize. |
| 2:10 | 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. |
| 2:11 | 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? |
| 2:12 | The lion tore in pieces enough for his cubs, Killed for his lionesses, Filled his caves with prey, And his dens with flesh. |
| 2:13 | "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." |
Nahum 2 - New King James Version
