| King James Bible | New International Version |
| 1He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face: keep the munition, watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily. | 1An attacker advances against you, Nineveh. Guard the fortress, watch the road, brace yourselves, marshal all your strength! |
| 2For the LORD hath turned away the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel: for the emptiers have emptied them out, and marred their vine branches. | 2The LORD will restore the splendor of Jacob like the splendor of Israel, though destroyers have laid them waste and have ruined their vines. |
| 3The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet: the chariots shall be with flaming torches in the day of his preparation, and the fir trees shall be terribly shaken. | 3The 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. |
| 4The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall justle one against another in the broad ways: they shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightnings. | 4The chariots storm through the streets, rushing back and forth through the squares. They look like flaming torches; they dart about like lightning. |
| 5He shall recount his worthies: they shall stumble in their walk; they shall make haste to the wall thereof, and the defence shall be prepared. | 5Nineveh summons her picked troops, yet they stumble on their way. They dash to the city wall; the protective shield is put in place. |
| 6The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall be dissolved. | 6The river gates are thrown open and the palace collapses. |
| 7And Huzzab shall be led away captive, she shall be brought up, and her maids shall lead her as with the voice of doves, tabering upon their breasts. | 7It is decreed that Nineveh be exiled and carried away. Her female slaves moan like doves and beat on their breasts. |
| 8But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water: yet they shall flee away. Stand, stand, shall they cry; but none shall look back. | 8Nineveh is like a pool whose water is draining away. "Stop! Stop!" they cry, but no one turns back. |
| 9Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold: for there is none end of the store and glory out of all the pleasant furniture. | 9Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold! The supply is endless, the wealth from all its treasures! |
| 10She is empty, and void, and waste: and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and much pain is in all loins, and the faces of them all gather blackness. | 10She is pillaged, plundered, stripped! Hearts melt, knees give way, bodies tremble, every face grows pale. |
| 11Where is the dwelling of the lions, and the feedingplace of the young lions, where the lion, even the old lion, walked, and the lion's whelp, and none made them afraid? | 11Where now is the lions' den, the place where they fed their young, where the lion and lioness went, and the cubs, with nothing to fear? |
| 12The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with ravin. | 12The lion killed enough for his cubs and strangled the prey for his mate, filling his lairs with the kill and his dens with the prey. |
| 13Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions: and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard. | 13"I am against you," declares the LORD Almighty. "I will burn up your chariots in smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions. I will leave you no prey on the earth. The voices of your messengers will no longer be heard." |
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