The Fall of Nineveh

¹He who scatters has come to you.[#Jer 51:20–23]

Guard the fortifications!

Watch the road!

Prepare yourself,

and strengthen yourself!

²For the Lord is restoring the prominence of Jacob,

even the prominence of Israel,

for others have certainly

laid waste their vines.

³The shields of his mighty men are soaked red,

even the mighty men are clad in red.

In the day he prepares the chariots,

they are like a fire of iron.

The cypress spears are ready.

⁴The chariots run wildly through the streets,[#Isa 66:15; Jer 4:13]

they rush to and fro in the open areas;

their appearance is like torches,

they dash to and fro like lightning.

⁵He remembers his officers

as they stumble about on the road;

they hurry on to the wall

as the siege tower is set up.

⁶The holding gates are opened wide,

and the palace washes away.

⁷It is decreed:

She is uncovered and led away captive;

her handmaidens shall lead her as with the voice of doves,

beating their chests.

⁸Nineveh is like a pool

whose waters run away.

“Halt! Halt!” they cry,

but no one turns back.

⁹“Plunder the silver!

Plunder the gold!

There is no limit to the treasure,

or to the wealth of every precious thing.”

¹⁰She is desolate, empty, and waste!

Hearts melt away, and knees shake;

pain is in all the loins, and all their faces grow pale.

¹¹Where is the den of the lions,

and the feeding place of the young lions,

where the lion and lioness prowl,

and the lion’s cub goes, with no one to disturb them?

¹²The lion tore enough food for his cubs,

and strangled prey for his lionesses;

he has filled his caves with prey,

and his dens with flesh.

¹³I am against you,

says the Lord of Hosts,

and I will burn your chariots in smoke,

and the sword will devour your lions.

I will cut off your prey from the earth,

and the voice of your messengers

will be heard no more.