| NET Bible | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1The 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!" | 1One who scatters is coming up against you. Man the fortifications! Watch the road! Brace yourself! Summon all your strength! |
| 2For the LORD will restore the majesty of Jacob, as well as the majesty of Israel, though their enemies have plundered them and have destroyed their fields. | 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 shields of his warriors are dyed red; the mighty soldiers are dressed in scarlet garments. The metal fittings of the chariots shine like fire on the day of battle; the soldiers brandish their spears. | 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 back and forth in the broad plazas; they look like lightning bolts, they dash here and there like flashes of 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. |
| 5The commander orders his officers; they stumble as they advance; they rush to the city wall and they set up the covered siege tower. | 5He gives orders to his officers; they stumble as they advance. They race to its wall; the protective shield is set in place. |
| 6The sluice gates are opened; the royal palace is deluged and dissolves. | 6The river gates are opened, and the palace erodes away. |
| 7Nineveh is taken into exile and is led away; her slave girls moan like doves while they beat their breasts. | 7Beauty is stripped, she is carried away; her ladies-in-waiting moan like the sound of doves, and beat their breasts. |
| 8Nineveh was like a pool of water throughout her days, but now her people are running away; she cries out: "Stop! Stop!"--but no one 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." |
| 9Her conquerors cry out: "Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold!" There is no end to the treasure; riches of every kind of precious thing. | 9Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold!" There is no end to the treasure, an abundance of every precious thing. |
| 10Destruction, devastation, and desolation! Their hearts faint, their knees tremble, each stomach churns, each face turns pale! | 10Desolation, decimation, devastation! Hearts melt, knees tremble, loins shake, every face grows pale! |
| 11Where now is the den of the lions, the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion, lioness, and lion cub once prowled and no one disturbed them? | 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 apart as much prey as his cubs needed and strangled prey to provide food for his lionesses; he filled his lairs 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. |
| 13"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." | 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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