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The Overthrow of Nineveh

^{1 (a)}One who scatters advances against you, O Nineveh. Guard the fortress! Watch the road! Brace yourself! Summon all your strength!² For the LORD will restore the splendor of Jacob like the splendor of Israel, though destroyers have laid them waste and ruined the branches of their vine.³ The shields of his mighty men are red; the valiant warriors are dressed in scarlet. The fittings of the chariots flash like fire on the day they are prepared, and the spears of cypress have been brandished^(a).⁴ The chariots dash through the streets; they rush around the plazas, appearing like torches, darting about like lightning.⁵ He summons his nobles; they stumble as they advance. They race to its wall; the protective shield is set in place.⁶ The river gates are thrown open, and the palace erodes away.⁷ It is decreed that the city be exiled and carried away; her maidservants moan like doves, and beat upon their breasts.⁸ Nineveh has been like a pool of water throughout her days, but now it is draining away. “Stop! Stop!” they cry, but no one turns back.⁹ “Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold!” There is no end to the treasure, an abundance of every precious thing.¹⁰ She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate and laid waste! Hearts melt, knees knock, bodies tremble, and every face grows pale!

¹¹ Where is the lions’ lair or the feeding ground of the young lions, where the lion and lioness prowled with their cubs, with nothing to frighten them away?¹² The lion mauled enough for its cubs and strangled prey for the lioness. It filled its dens with the kill, and its lairs with mauled prey.¹³ “Behold, I am against you,” declares the LORD of Hosts. “I will send your chariots up in smoke and the sword will devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voices of your messengers will no longer be heard.”