2:1 The shatterer has come up against you. Man the ramparts; watch the road; gird your loins; collect all your strength.
2:1 A shatterer has come up against you. Guard the ramparts; watch the road; gird your loins; collect all your strength.

2:2 (For the LORD is restoring the majesty of Jacob as the majesty of Israel, for plunderers have stripped them and ruined their branches.)
2:2 (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.)

2:3 The shield of his mighty men is red, his soldiers are clothed in scarlet. The chariots flash like flame when mustered in array; the chargers prance.
2:3 The 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 prance.

2:4 The chariots rage in the streets, they rush to and fro through the squares; they gleam like torches, they dart like lightning.
2:4 The chariots race madly through the streets, they rush to and fro through the squares; their appearance is like torches, they dart like lightning.

2:5 The officers are summoned, they stumble as they go, they hasten to the wall, the mantelet is set up.
2:5 He calls his officers; they stumble as they come forward; they hasten to the wall, and the mantelet is set up.

2:6 The river gates are opened, the palace is in dismay;
2:6 The river gates are opened, the palace trembles.

2:7 its mistress is stripped, she is carried off, her maidens lamenting, moaning like doves, and beating their breasts.
2:7 It is decreed that the city be exiled, its slave women led away, moaning like doves and beating their breasts.

2:8 Nin'eveh is like a pool whose waters run away. "Halt! Halt!" they cry; but none turns back.
2:8 Nineveh is like a pool whose waters run away. "Halt! Halt!"--but no one turns back.

2:9 Plunder the silver, plunder the gold! There is no end of treasure, or wealth of every precious thing.
2:9 "Plunder the silver, plunder the gold! There is no end of treasure! An abundance of every precious thing!"

2:10 Desolate! Desolation and ruin! Hearts faint and knees tremble, anguish is on all loins, all faces grow pale!
2:10 Devastation, desolation, and destruction! Hearts faint and knees tremble, all loins quake, all faces grow pale!

2:11 Where is the lions' den, the cave of the young lions, where the lion brought his prey, where his cubs were, with none to disturb?
2:11 What became of the lions' den, the cave of the young lions, where the lion goes, and the lion's cubs, with no one to disturb them?

2:12 The lion tore enough for his whelps and strangled prey for his lionesses; he filled his caves with prey and his dens with torn flesh.
2:12 The 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.

2:13 Behold, I am against you, says the LORD of hosts, and 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 no more be heard.
2:13 See, I am against you, says the LORD of hosts, and 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.