1An adversary advances against you, Nineveh – one that dashes in pieces has come up before your face. Man the ramparts of your fortresses, watch the road, dress for battle, harden your defenses.

2For the LORD will restore the splendor of Jacob, like the splendor of Israel; though the marauders have laid them waste, and ruined their vine branches.

3The shields of his besieging soldiers are red, his warriors are clad in scarlet; the metal on the chariots flash on the day of their preparation, and the spears of fir are brandished. 4The chariots storm through the streets, jostling one another, rushing through the squares; they seem like flaming torches as they dart like the lightnings. 5Nineveh shall summon her elite troops; they shall stumble as they hasten to the wall; and defensive towers are erected. 6The river gates are thrown open, and the palace collapses. 7Nineveh’s exile has been decreed and she shall be led away captive; and her servant girls shall lament like the voice of doves, beating upon their breasts. 8But Nineveh is like a pool of water that is draining away. They shout, “Stop! Stand, stand!” - but no one even looks back as they flee. 9Loot the silver, grab the gold; for there is no end of the supply – the wealth from all her treasures. 10She is pillaged until she is empty, stripped, and void. Hearts melt, and the knees give way, and much distress is felt, and their faces grow pale. 11Where now is that great Nineveh, that was like a den of lions for strength, where the young lions fed, where even the old lions prowled, and did lion's cubs, and no one made them afraid? 12The lion killed enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with torn flesh. 13“Behold, I am against you, says the LORD Almighty, and I will burn your chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions; and I will leave you no prey on the earth, and the voices of your proud messengers will no longer be heard.”