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Nahum 2
Easy-to-Read Version
Nahum 2
Easy-to-Read Version
Nineveh Will Be Destroyed
2 An enemy is coming to attack you,
so guard the strong places of your city.
Watch the road.
Get ready for war.
Prepare for battle!
2 Yes, the Lord changed Jacob’s pride.
He made it like Israel’s pride.
The enemy destroyed them
and ruined their grapevines.
3 The shields of his soldiers are red.
Their uniforms are bright red.
Their chariots are shining like flames of fire
and are lined up for battle.
Their horses are ready to go.
4 The chariots race wildly through the streets
and rush back and forth through the square.
They look like burning torches,
like lightning flashing from place to place!
5 The enemy calls for his best soldiers.
They stumble as they rush ahead.
They run to the wall
and set up their shield over the battering ram.
6 But the gates by the rivers are open,
and the enemy comes flooding in and destroys the king’s palace.
7 The enemy takes away the queen,
and her slave girls moan sadly like doves.
They beat their breasts to show their sadness.
8 Nineveh is like a pool whose water
is draining away.
People yell, “Stop! Stop running away!”
But it does not do any good.
9 Take the silver!
Take the gold!
There are many things to take.
There are many treasures.
10 Now Nineveh is empty.
Everything is stolen.
The city is ruined.
People have lost their courage,
their hearts melt with fear,
their knees knock together,
their bodies shake,
and their faces turn pale.
11 Where is that great city now?
It was like a den where the lions feed their young.
It was a place where people felt safe,
like lions in a cave with no one there to harm them.
12 The lion was able to catch plenty of food
to feed his cubs and his mate.
He filled his cave with the animals he killed.
He filled his den with the meat he gathered.
13 The Lord All-Powerful says,
“I am against you, Nineveh.
I will burn your chariots
and kill your ‘young lions’ in battle.
You will not hunt anyone on earth again.
People will never again hear bad news
from your messengers.”
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)
Nahum 2
King James Version
Nahum 2
King James Version
2 He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face: keep the munition, watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily.
2 For the Lord hath turned away the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel: for the emptiers have emptied them out, and marred their vine branches.
3 The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet: the chariots shall be with flaming torches in the day of his preparation, and the fir trees shall be terribly shaken.
4 The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall justle one against another in the broad ways: they shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightnings.
5 He shall recount his worthies: they shall stumble in their walk; they shall make haste to the wall thereof, and the defence shall be prepared.
6 The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall be dissolved.
7 And Huzzab shall be led away captive, she shall be brought up, and her maids shall lead her as with the voice of doves, tabering upon their breasts.
8 But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water: yet they shall flee away. Stand, stand, shall they cry; but none shall look back.
9 Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold: for there is none end of the store and glory out of all the pleasant furniture.
10 She is empty, and void, and waste: and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and much pain is in all loins, and the faces of them all gather blackness.
11 Where is the dwelling of the lions, and the feedingplace of the young lions, where the lion, even the old lion, walked, and the lion's whelp, and none made them afraid?
12 The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with ravin.
13 Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord 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.
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.