Font Size
Nahum 2
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
Nahum 2
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
The Destruction of the Wicked City
2 The shatterer has come up against you.
Man the ramparts;
watch the road;
gird your loins;
collect all your strength.
2 (For the Lord is restoring the majesty of Jacob
as the majesty of Israel,
for plunderers have stripped them
and ruined their branches.)
3 The shield of his mighty men is red,
his soldiers are clothed in scarlet.
The chariots flash like flame[a]
when mustered in array;
the chargers[b] prance.
4 The chariots rage in the streets,
they rush to and fro through the squares;
they gleam like torches,
they dart like lightning.
5 The officers are summoned,
they stumble as they go,
they hasten to the wall,
the mantelet is set up.
6 The river gates are opened,
the palace is in dismay;
7 its mistress[c] is stripped, she is carried off,
her maidens lamenting,
moaning like doves,
and beating their breasts.
8 Nin′eveh is like a pool
whose waters[d] run away.
“Halt! Halt!” they cry;
but none turns back.
9 Plunder the silver,
plunder the gold!
There is no end of treasure,
or wealth of every precious thing.
10 Desolate! Desolation and ruin!
Hearts faint and knees tremble,
anguish is on all loins,
all faces grow pale!
11 Where is the lions’ den,
the cave[e] of the young lions,
where the lion brought his prey,
where his cubs were, with none to disturb?
12 The lion tore enough for his whelps
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, and I will burn your[f] 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 more be heard.
Footnotes
- Nahum 2:3 Cn: The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
- Nahum 2:3 Cn Compare Gk Syr: Heb cypresses
- Nahum 2:7 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
- Nahum 2:8 Cn Compare Gk: Heb from the days that she has become, and they
- Nahum 2:11 Cn: Heb pasture
- Nahum 2:13 Heb her
Nahum 2
New International Version
Nahum 2
New International Version
Nineveh to Fall
2 [a]An attacker(A) advances against you, Nineveh.
Guard the fortress,
watch the road,
brace yourselves,
marshal all your strength!
2 The Lord will restore(B) the splendor(C) of Jacob
like the splendor of Israel,
though destroyers have laid them waste
and have ruined their vines.
3 The shields of the soldiers are red;
the warriors are clad in scarlet.(D)
The metal on the chariots flashes
on the day they are made ready;
the spears of juniper are brandished.[b]
4 The chariots(E) storm through the streets,
rushing back and forth through the squares.
They look like flaming torches;
they dart about like lightning.
5 Nineveh summons her picked troops,
yet they stumble(F) on their way.
They dash to the city wall;
the protective shield is put in place.
6 The river gates(G) are thrown open
and the palace collapses.
7 It is decreed[c] that Nineveh
be exiled and carried away.
Her female slaves moan(H) like doves
and beat on their breasts.(I)
8 Nineveh is like a pool
whose water is draining away.
“Stop! Stop!” they cry,
but no one turns back.
9 Plunder the silver!
Plunder the gold!
The supply is endless,
the wealth from all its treasures!
10 She is pillaged, plundered, stripped!
Hearts melt,(J) knees give way,
bodies tremble, every face grows pale.(K)
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.