| New King James Version | English Standard Version |
| 1He who scatters has come up before your face. Man the fort! Watch the road! Strengthen your flanks! Fortify your power mightily. | 1The scatterer has come up against you. Man the ramparts; watch the road; dress for battle; collect all your strength. |
| 2For the LORD will restore the excellence of Jacob Like the excellence of Israel, For the emptiers have emptied them out And ruined their vine branches. | 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 his mighty men are made red, The valiant men are in scarlet. The chariots come with flaming torches In the day of his preparation, And the spears 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 rage in the streets, They jostle one another in the broad roads; They seem like torches, They run 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. |
| 5He remembers his nobles; They stumble in their walk; They make haste to her walls, And the defense is prepared. | 5He remembers his officers; they stumble as they go, they hasten to the wall; the siege tower is set up. |
| 6The gates of the rivers are opened, And the palace is dissolved. | 6The river gates are opened; the palace melts away; |
| 7It is decreed: She shall be led away captive, She shall be brought up; And her maidservants shall lead her as with the voice of doves, Beating their breasts. | 7its mistress is stripped; she is carried off, her slave girls lamenting, moaning like doves and beating their breasts. |
| 8Though Nineveh of old was like a pool of water, Now they flee away. “Halt! Halt!” they cry; But no one turns back. | 8Nineveh is like a pool whose waters run away. “Halt! Halt!” they cry, but none turns back. |
| 9Take spoil of silver! Take spoil of gold! There is no end of treasure, Or wealth of every desirable prize. | 9Plunder the silver, plunder the gold! There is no end of the treasure or of the wealth of all precious things. |
| 10She is empty, desolate, and waste! The heart melts, and the knees shake; Much pain is in every side, And all their faces are drained of color. | 10Desolate! Desolation and ruin! Hearts melt and knees tremble; anguish is in all loins; all faces grow pale! |
| 11Where is the dwelling of the lions, And the feeding place of the young lions, Where the lion walked, the lioness and lion’s cub, And no one made them afraid? | 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 tore in pieces enough for his cubs, Killed for his lionesses, Filled his caves with prey, And his dens with flesh. | 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“Behold, I am against you,” says the LORD of hosts, “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 be heard no more.” | 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. |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | 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. |
|
