The Overthrow of Nineveh 1 CPDV He ascends, who would scatter before your eyes, who would maintain the blockade. Contemplate the way, fortify your back, reinforce virtue greatly. BSB BSB: One who scatters advances against you, O Nineveh. Guard the fortress! Watch the road! Brace yourselves! Summon all your strength!
2 CPDV For the Lord has repaid the arrogance of Jacob, just like the arrogance of Israel. For the despoilers have scattered them, and they have corrupted their procreation. BSB BSB: 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 CPDV The shield of his strong ones is fire, the men of war are in scarlet. The reins of the chariot are fiery in the day of his preparation, and the drivers have been drugged. BSB BSB: 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.
4 CPDV They have become confused on their journey. The four-horse chariots have collided in the streets. Their appearance is like torches, like lightning dashing around. BSB BSB: The chariots dash through the streets; they rush around the plazas, appearing like torches, darting about like lightning.
5 CPDV He will call to mind his strong ones; they will destroy along their journey. They will quickly ascend its walls, and a shelter will be prepared. BSB BSB: He summons his nobles; they stumble as they advance. They race to its wall; the protective shield is set in place.
6 CPDV The gates of the rivers have been opened, and the temple has been pulled down to the ground. BSB BSB: The river gates are thrown open and the palace collapses.
7 CPDV And the foot soldier has been led away captive, and her handmaids were driven away, mourning like doves, murmuring in their hearts. BSB BSB: It is decreed that the city be exiled and carried away; her maidservants moan like doves, and beat upon their breasts.
8 CPDV And Nineveh, her waters are like a fish pond. Yet truly, they have fled away: “Stand, stand!” But there is no one who will turn back. BSB BSB: 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 CPDV Despoil the silver, despoil the gold. And there is no end to all the riches of desirable equipment. BSB BSB: “Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold!” There is no end to the treasure, an abundance of every precious thing.
10 CPDV She has been scattered, and cut, and torn apart. And the heart melts, and the knees buckle, and weakness is in every temperament. And the faces of them all are like a black kettle. BSB BSB: She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate and laid waste! Hearts melt, knees knock, bodies tremble, and every face grows pale!
11 CPDV Where is the dwelling place of the lions, and the feeding ground of the young lions, to which the lion went, so as to open a way for the young lion, and so that there would be none to make them afraid? BSB BSB: 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 CPDV The lion seized enough for his young, and killed enough for his lionesses, and he filled his caves with prey, and his den with spoils. BSB BSB: 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 CPDV Behold, I will come to you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will burn your chariots even to smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions. And I will exterminate your prey from the land, and the voice of your messengers shall no longer be heard. BSB BSB: “Behold, I am against you,” declares the LORD of Hosts. “I will reduce your chariots to cinders, 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.”