| New International Version | English Standard Version |
| 1An attacker advances against you, Nineveh. Guard the fortress, watch the road, brace yourselves, marshal all your strength! | 1The scatterer has come up against you. Man the ramparts; watch the road; dress for battle; collect all your strength. |
| 2The LORD will restore the splendor of Jacob like the splendor of Israel, though destroyers have laid them waste and have ruined their vines. | 2For the LORD is restoring the majesty of Jacob as the majesty of Israel, for plunderers have plundered them and ruined their branches. |
| 3The shields of the soldiers are red; the warriors are clad in scarlet. The metal on the chariots flashes on the day they are made ready; the spears of juniper are brandished. | 3The shield of his mighty men is red; his soldiers are clothed in scarlet. The chariots come with flashing metal on the day he musters them; the cypress spears are brandished. |
| 4The chariots storm through the streets, rushing back and forth through the squares. They look like flaming torches; they dart about like lightning. | 4The chariots race madly through the streets; they rush to and fro through the squares; they gleam like torches; they dart like lightning. |
| 5Nineveh summons her picked troops, yet they stumble on their way. They dash to the city wall; the protective shield is put in place. | 5He remembers his officers; they stumble as they go, they hasten to the wall; the siege tower is set up. |
| 6The river gates are thrown open and the palace collapses. | 6The river gates are opened; the palace melts away; |
| 7It is decreed that Nineveh be exiled and carried away. Her female slaves moan like doves and beat on their breasts. | 7its mistress is stripped; she is carried off, her slave girls lamenting, moaning like doves and beating their breasts. |
| 8Nineveh is like a pool whose water is draining away. "Stop! Stop!" they cry, but no one turns back. | 8Nineveh is like a pool whose waters run away. “Halt! Halt!” they cry, but none turns back. |
| 9Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold! The supply is endless, the wealth from all its treasures! | 9Plunder the silver, plunder the gold! There is no end of the treasure or of the wealth of all precious things. |
| 10She is pillaged, plundered, stripped! Hearts melt, knees give way, bodies tremble, every face grows pale. | 10Desolate! Desolation and ruin! Hearts melt and knees tremble; anguish is in all loins; all faces grow pale! |
| 11Where now is the lions' den, the place where they fed their young, where the lion and lioness went, and the cubs, with nothing to fear? | 11Where is the lions’ den, the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion and lioness went, where his cubs were, with none to disturb? |
| 12The lion killed enough for his cubs and strangled the prey for his mate, filling his lairs with the kill and his dens with the prey. | 12The lion tore enough for his cubs and strangled prey for his lionesses; he filled his caves with prey and his dens with torn flesh. |
| 13"I am against you," declares the LORD Almighty. "I will burn up your chariots in smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions. I will leave you no prey on the earth. The voices of your messengers will no longer be heard." | 13Behold, I am against you, declares the LORD of hosts, and I will burn your chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers shall no longer be heard. |
| New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. | ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. |
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