1The scatterer has come up against you. Man the ramparts; watch the road; dress for battle;[1] collect all your strength. (Jer 51:12; Jer 51:20)2For the Lord is restoring the majesty of Jacob as the majesty of Israel, for plunderers have plundered them and ruined their branches. (Ps 80:8; Isa 5:1; Isa 37:31)3The shield of his mighty men is red; his soldiers are clothed in scarlet. The chariots come with flashing metal on the day he musters them; the cypress spears are brandished. (Eze 23:14)4The chariots race madly through the streets; they rush to and fro through the squares; they gleam like torches; they dart like lightning. (Na 3:2)5He remembers his officers; they stumble as they go, they hasten to the wall; the siege tower[2] is set up. (Jer 46:12; Na 3:18)6The river gates are opened; the palace melts away; (Isa 14:31; Isa 45:1)7its mistress[3] is stripped;[4] she is carried off, her slave girls lamenting, moaning like doves and beating their breasts. (Isa 22:8; Isa 38:14)8Nineveh is like a pool whose waters run away.[5] “Halt! Halt!” they cry, but none turns back. (Jer 46:5; Na 1:1)9Plunder the silver, plunder the gold! There is no end of the treasure or of the wealth of all precious things.10Desolate! Desolation and ruin! Hearts melt and knees tremble; anguish is in all loins; all faces grow pale! (Ps 22:14; Isa 13:7; Isa 21:3; Da 5:6; Joe 2:6; Zep 2:13)11Where is the lions’ den, the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion and lioness went, where his cubs were, with none to disturb? (Isa 5:29; Isa 17:2; Jer 2:15)12The lion tore enough for his cubs and strangled prey for his lionesses; he filled his caves with prey and his dens with torn flesh. (Eze 19:3; Na 2:9; Na 3:1)13Behold, I am against you, declares the Lord of hosts, and I will burn your[6] 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 longer be heard. (2Ki 19:9; 2Ki 19:23; Ps 46:9; Eze 13:8; Na 3:5; Zep 2:5)