2(For the Lord is restoring the majesty of Jacob,
    as well as the majesty of Israel,
though ravagers have ravaged them
    and ruined their branches.)

3The shields of his warriors are red;
    his soldiers are clothed in crimson.
The metal on the chariots flashes
    on the day when he musters them;
    the chargers[b] prance.
4The chariots race madly through the streets,
    they rush to and fro through the squares;
their appearance is like torches,
    they dart like lightning.
5He calls his officers;
    they stumble as they come forward;
they hasten to the wall,
    and the mantelet[c] is set up.
6The river gates are opened,
    the palace trembles.
7It is decreed[d] that the city[e] be exiled,
    its slave women led away,
moaning like doves
    and beating their breasts.
8Nineveh is like a pool
    whose waters[f] run away.
“Halt! Halt!”—
    but no one turns back.
9“Plunder the silver,
    plunder the gold!
There is no end of treasure!
    An abundance of every precious thing!”

10Devastation, desolation, and destruction!
    Hearts faint and knees tremble,
all loins quake,
    all faces grow pale!
11What became of the lions’ den,
    the cave[g] of the young lions,
where the lion goes,
    and the lion’s cubs, with no one to disturb them?
12The lion has torn enough for his whelps
    and strangled prey for his lionesses;
he has filled his caves with prey
    and his dens with torn flesh.