| New King James Version | Holman Christian Standard 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 is coming up against you. Man the fortifications! Watch the road! Brace yourself! 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 majesty of Jacob, yes, the majesty of Israel, though ravagers have ravaged them and ruined their vine 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 shields of his warriors are dyed red; the valiant men are dressed in scarlet. The fittings of the chariot flash like fire on the day of its battle preparations, and the 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 dash madly through the streets; they rush around in the plazas. They look like torches; they dart back and forth like lightning. |
| 5He remembers his nobles; They stumble in their walk; They make haste to her walls, And the defense is prepared. | 5He gives orders to his officers; 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 opened, and the palace erodes 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. | 7Beauty is stripped, she is carried away; her ladies-in-waiting moan like the sound of doves, and beat 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 from her first days, but they are fleeing." 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. | 9Plunder 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. | 10Desolation, decimation, devastation! Hearts melt, knees tremble, loins shake, 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, and the lion's cub, 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 whatever its cubs needed and strangled prey for its lionesses. It filled up 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.” | 13Beware, I am against you. This is the declaration of the LORD of Hosts. I will make your chariots go up in smoke and the sword will devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the sound of your messengers will never be heard again. |
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