| New King James Version | Berean Study Bible |
| 1He who scatters has come up before your face. Man the fort! Watch the road! Strengthen your flanks! Fortify your power mightily. | 1One who scatters advances against you, O Nineveh. Guard the fortress! Watch the road! Brace yourselves! Summon 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 will restore the splendor of Jacob like the splendor of Israel, though destroyers have laid them waste and ruined the branches of their vine. |
| 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 shields of his mighty men are red; the valiant warriors are dressed in scarlet. The fittings of the chariots flash like fire on the day they are prepared, and the spears of cypress have been 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 dash through the streets; they rush around the plazas, appearing like torches, darting about like lightning. |
| 5He remembers his nobles; They stumble in their walk; They make haste to her walls, And the defense is prepared. | 5He summons his nobles; they stumble as they advance. They race to its wall; the protective shield is set in place. |
| 6The gates of the rivers are opened, And the palace is dissolved. | 6The river gates are thrown open and the palace collapses. |
| 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. | 7It is decreed that the city be exiled and carried away; her maidservants moan like doves, and beat upon 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 has been like a pool of water throughout her days, but now it is draining away. “Stop! Stop!” they cry, but no one turns back. |
| 9Take spoil of silver! Take spoil of gold! There is no end of treasure, Or wealth of every desirable prize. | 9“Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold!” There is no end to the treasure, an abundance of every precious thing. |
| 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. | 10She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate and laid waste! Hearts melt, knees knock, bodies tremble, and every face grows 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’ lair or the feeding ground of the young lions, where the lion and lioness prowled with their cubs, with nothing to frighten them away? |
| 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 mauled enough for its cubs and strangled prey for the lioness. It filled its dens with the kill, and its lairs with mauled prey. |
| 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.” | 13“Behold, I am against you,” declares the LORD of Hosts. “I will send your chariots up in smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voices of your messengers will no longer be heard.” |
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