“I am against you!” declares the Lord who commands armies: “I will burn your chariots with fire; the sword will devour your young lions; you will no longer prey upon the land; the voices of your messengers will no longer be heard.”

(2:2) The watchmen of Nineveh shout: “An enemy who will scatter you is marching out to attack you!” “Guard the rampart! Watch the road! Prepare yourselves for battle! Muster your mighty strength!”

The chariots race madly through the streets, they rush back and forth in the broad plazas; they look like lightning bolts, they dash here and there like flashes of lightning.

The chariot drivers will crack their whips; the chariot wheels will shake the ground; the chariot horses will gallop; the war chariots will bolt forward!

“Because you have acted like a wanton prostitute – a seductive mistress who practices sorcery, who enslaves nations by her harlotry, and entices peoples by her sorcery –

The sluice gates are opened; the royal palace is deluged and dissolves.

(2:1) Look! A herald is running on the mountains! A messenger is proclaiming deliverance: “Celebrate your sacred festivals, O Judah! Fulfill your sacred vows to praise God! For never again will the wicked Assyrians invade you, they have been completely destroyed.”

From you, O Nineveh, one has marched forth who plots evil against the Lord, a wicked military strategist.

No one can withstand his indignation! No one can resist his fierce anger! His wrath is poured out like volcanic fire, boulders are broken up as he approaches.

I am against you,” declares the Lord who commands armies. “I will strip off your clothes! I will show your nakedness to the nations and your shame to the kingdoms;

The Lord is slow to anger but great in power; the Lord will certainly not allow the wicked to go unpunished.He marches out in the whirlwind and the raging storm; dark storm clouds billow like dust under his feet.

You too will act like drunkards; you will go into hiding; you too will seek refuge from the enemy.

Your destruction is like an incurable wound; your demise is like a fatal injury! All who hear what has happened to you will clap their hands for joy, for no one ever escaped your endless cruelty!

Nineveh is taken into exile and is led away; her slave girls moan like doves while they beat their breasts.

Destruction, devastation, and desolation! Their hearts faint, their knees tremble, each stomach churns, each face turns pale!

Whatever you plot against the Lord, he will completely destroy! Distress will not arise a second time.

Cush and Egypt had limitless strength; Put and the Libyans were among her allies.

Draw yourselves water for a siege! Strengthen your fortifications! Trample the mud and tread the clay! Make mud bricks to strengthen your walls!

The mountains tremble before him, the hills convulse; the earth is laid waste before him, the world and all its inhabitants are laid waste.

The Lord is a zealous and avenging God; the Lord is avenging and very angry. The Lord takes vengeance against his foes; he sustains his rage against his enemies.