Nineveh's Hour of Reckoning
2 1 The scatterer has come up against you, Nineveh. Guard the fortress, watch the road, brace yourself, marshal all your strength!
2 For our Father is restoring the majesty of Jacob, like the majesty of Israel, though plunderers have stripped them bare and ruined their branches. a a v2 Even in a book of judgment on Nineveh, the heart of it is our Father restoring the honor of his battered children.
3 The shields of his warriors are dyed red, the valiant men are clothed in scarlet; the chariots flash like fire on the day they are made ready, and the spears of cypress are brandished. 4 The chariots storm through the streets, they rush back and forth in the squares; they look like torches, they dart like lightning. 5 He summons his officers; they stumble as they march; they hurry to the wall, and the protective shield is set in place. 6 The river gates are thrown open, and the palace collapses. 7 It is decreed: she is stripped bare and carried away, while her servant girls moan like doves, beating their chests. 8 Nineveh is like a pool whose waters are 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 Emptiness and desolation and ruin! Hearts melt, knees give way, anguish grips every body, and every face grows pale.
11 Where now is the lions ' den, the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion and lioness prowled, and the lion's cubs, with no one to make them afraid? 12 The lion tore enough for his cubs and strangled prey for his lionesses; he filled his lairs with the kill and his dens with torn flesh.
13 "See, I am against you," declares the Father of heaven's armies. "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 voice of your messengers will be heard no more.