3  The shield of his mighty men is red;

^shis soldiers are clothed in scarlet.

The chariots come with flashing metal

on the day he musters them;

the cypress spears are brandished.

4  ^tThe chariots race madly through the streets;

they rush to and fro through the squares;

they gleam like torches;

they dart like lightning.

5  He remembers ^uhis officers;

^vthey stumble as they go,

they hasten to the wall;

the siege tower¹ is set up.

6  ^wThe river gates are opened;

the palace ^xmelts away;

7  its mistress² is ^ystripped;³ she is carried off,

her slave girls ^zlamenting,

moaning like doves

and beating their breasts.

8  ^bNineveh is like a pool

whose waters run away.⁴

“Halt! Halt!” they cry,

but ^cnone turns back.

9  Plunder the silver,

plunder the gold!

There is no end of the treasure

or of the wealth of all precious things.

10  ^dDesolate! Desolation and ruin!

^eHearts melt and ^fknees tremble;

^ganguish is in all loins;

^hall faces grow pale!

11  Where is the lions’ den,

the feeding place of ⁱthe young lions,

where the lion and lioness went,

where his cubs were, with ^jnone to disturb?

12  ^kThe lion tore enough for his cubs

and ^lstrangled prey for his lionesses;

he filled his caves with prey

and his dens with torn flesh.