He that dasheth in pieces is come up against thee: keep the fortress, watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily.
For Jehovah restoreth the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel; for the emptiers have emptied them out, and destroyed their vine-branches.
The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet: the chariots {Hebrew: are with fire of steel.}flash with steel in the day of his preparation, and the {Hebrew: cypress-trees.}cypress spears are brandished.
The chariots rage in the streets; they rush to and fro in the broad ways: the appearance of them is like torches; they run like the lightnings.
He remembereth his nobles: they stumble in their march; they make haste to the wall thereof, and the mantelet is prepared.
The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved.
{Or, Huzzab is uncovered &c.}And it is decreed: she is uncovered, she is carried away; and her handmaids {Or, lead her}moan as with the voice of doves, beating upon their {Hebrew: hearts.}breasts.
But Nineveh hath been {Or, from the days that she hath been}from of old like a pool of water: yet they flee away. Stand, stand, they cry; but none {Or causeth them to turn}looketh back.
Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold; for there is no end of the store, the {Or, wealth}glory of all goodly furniture.
She is empty, and void, and waste; and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and anguish is in all loins, and the faces of them all are waxed pale.
Where is the den of the lions, and the feeding-place of the young lions, where the lion and the lioness walked, the lion's whelp, and none made them afraid?
The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his caves with prey, and his dens with ravin.
Behold, I am against thee, saith Jehovah of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions; and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard.
Querverweise zu Nahum 2,1 Nah 2,1
{Or, he that smote…is persecuted, and none hindereth}that smote the peoples in wrath with a continual stroke, that ruled the nations in anger, with a persecution that none restrained.
Draw thee water for the siege; strengthen thy fortresses; go into the clay, and tread the mortar; {Or, lay hold of the brick-mould.}make strong the brickkiln.
behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith Jehovah, and I will send unto Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about; and I will {Hebrew: devote.}utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual desolations.
There shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off; it shall devour thee like the canker-worm: make thyself many as the canker-worm; make thyself many as the locust.
How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!
But {Or, go thou}if thou wilt go, do valiantly, be strong for the battle: God will cast thee down before the enemy; for God hath power to help, and to cast down.
Thou art my {Or, maul}battle-axe and weapons of war: and with thee will I break in pieces the nations; and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;
and with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider;
and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and him that rideth therein; and with thee will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces the old man and the youth; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the virgin;
and with thee will I break in pieces the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces {Or, lieutenants}governors and deputies.
Prepare ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle.
Harness the horses, and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, put on the coats of mail.
Wherefore have I seen it? they are dismayed and are turned backward; and their mighty ones are beaten down, and are fled apace, and look not back: terror is on every side, saith Jehovah.
Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; in the north by the river Euphrates have they stumbled and fallen.
{Or, Who is this like the Nile that riseth up, like the rivers whose waters toss themselves? Egypt is like the Nile that riseth up &c.}Who is this that riseth up like the Nile, whose waters toss themselves like the rivers?
Egypt riseth up like the Nile, and his waters toss themselves like the rivers: and he saith, I will rise up, I will cover the earth; I will destroy cities and the inhabitants thereof.
Go up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men go forth: Cush and Put, that handle the shield; and the Ludim, that handle and bend the bow.
For that day is a day of the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour and be satiate, and shall drink its fill of their blood; for the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.
Make {Or, bright}sharp the arrows; {Hebrew: fill.}hold firm the {Or, suits of armor}shields: Jehovah hath stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes; because his purpose is against Babylon, to destroy it: for it is the vengeance of Jehovah, the vengeance of his temple.
Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set the watchmen, prepare the ambushes; for Jehovah hath both purposed and done that which he spake concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
Proclaim ye this among the nations; {Hebrew: sanctify.}prepare war; stir up the mighty men; let all the men of war draw near, let them come up.
Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.
{Or, Assemble yourselves}Haste ye, and come, all ye nations round about, and gather yourselves together: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Jehovah.