| English Standard Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1The scatterer has come up against you. Man the ramparts; watch the road; dress for battle; collect all your strength. | 1One who scatters is coming up against you. Man the fortifications! Watch the road! Brace yourself! Summon all your strength! |
| 2For the LORD is restoring the majesty of Jacob as the majesty of Israel, for plunderers have plundered them and ruined their branches. | 2For the LORD will restore the majesty of Jacob, yes, the majesty of Israel, though ravagers have ravaged them and ruined their vine branches. |
| 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. | 3The shields of his warriors are dyed red; the valiant men are dressed in scarlet. The fittings of the chariot flash like fire on the day of its battle preparations, and the spears are brandished. |
| 4The chariots race madly through the streets; they rush to and fro through the squares; they gleam like torches; they dart like lightning. | 4The chariots dash madly through the streets; they rush around in the plazas. They look like torches; they dart back and forth like lightning. |
| 5He remembers his officers; they stumble as they go, they hasten to the wall; the siege tower is set up. | 5He gives orders to his officers; they stumble as they advance. They race to its wall; the protective shield is set in place. |
| 6The river gates are opened; the palace melts away; | 6The river gates are opened, and the palace erodes away. |
| 7its mistress is stripped; she is carried off, her slave girls lamenting, moaning like doves and beating their breasts. | 7Beauty is stripped, she is carried away; her ladies-in-waiting moan like the sound of doves, and beat their breasts. |
| 8Nineveh is like a pool whose waters run away. “Halt! Halt!” they cry, but none turns back. | 8Nineveh has been like a pool of water from her first days, but they are fleeing." Stop! Stop!" they cry, but no one turns back." |
| 9Plunder the silver, plunder the gold! There is no end of the treasure or of the wealth of all precious things. | 9Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold!" There is no end to the treasure, an abundance of every precious thing. |
| 10Desolate! Desolation and ruin! Hearts melt and knees tremble; anguish is in all loins; all faces grow pale! | 10Desolation, decimation, devastation! Hearts melt, knees tremble, loins shake, every face grows pale! |
| 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? | 11Where is the lions' lair, or the feeding ground of the young lions, where the lion and lioness prowled, and the lion's cub, with nothing to frighten them away? |
| 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. | 12The lion mauled whatever its cubs needed and strangled prey for its lionesses. It filled up its dens with the kill, and its lairs with mauled prey. |
| 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. | 13Beware, I am against you. This is the declaration of the LORD of Hosts. I will make your chariots go up in smoke and the sword will devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the sound of your messengers will never be heard again. |
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