[1] Nineveh, you are under attack! The power that will shatter you has come. Prepare the defenses! Guard the road! Prepare for battle! [2] The LORD is about to restore the glory of Israel, as it was before her enemies plundered her. [3] The enemy soldiers carry red shields and wear uniforms of red. They are preparing to attack! Their chariots flash like fire! Their horses prance! [4] Chariots dash wildly through the streets, rushing back and forth in the city squares. They flash like torches and dart about like lightning. [5] The officers are summoned; they stumble as they press forward. The attackers rush to the wall and set up the shield for the battering ram. [6] The gates by the river burst open; the palace is filled with terror. [7] The queen is taken captive; her servants moan like doves and beat their breasts in sorrow. [8] Like water from a broken dam the people rush from Nineveh! "Stop! Stop!" the cry rings out- but no one turns back. [9] Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold! The city is full of treasure! [10] Nineveh is destroyed, deserted, desolate! Hearts melt with fear; knees tremble, strength is gone; faces grow pale. [11] Where now is the city that was like a den of lions, the place where young lions were fed, where the lion and the lioness would go and their cubs would be safe? [12] The lion killed his prey and tore it to pieces for his mate and her cubs; he filled his den with torn flesh. [13] "I am your enemy!" says the LORD Almighty. "I will burn up your chariots. Your soldiers will be killed in war, and I will take away everything that you took from others. The demands of your envoys will no longer be heard."
