1 Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that announceth peace! Keep thy feasts, O Judah, perform thy vows; for the wicked one shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.
2 A maul is come up before thy face; guard the defences, watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily!--
3 For the LORD restoreth the pride of Jacob, as the pride of Israel; for the emptiers have emptied them out, and marred their vine-branches.--
4 The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet; the chariots are fire of steel in the day of his preparation, and the cypress spears are made to quiver.
5 The chariots rush madly in the streets, they jostle one against another in the broad places; the appearance of them is like torches, they run to and fro like the lightnings.
6 He bethinketh himself of his worthies; they stumble in their march; they make haste to the wall thereof, and the mantelet is prepared.
7 The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved.
8 And the queen is uncovered, she is carried away, and her handmaids moan as with the voice of doves, tabering upon their breasts.
9 But Nineveh hath been from of old like a pool of water; yet they flee away; 'Stand, stand'; but none looketh back.
10 Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold; for there is no end of the store, rich with all precious vessels.
11 She is empty, and void, and waste; and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and convulsion is in all loins, and the faces of them all have gathered blackness.
12 Where is the den of the lions, which was the feeding-place of the young lions, where the lion and the lioness walked, and the lion's whelp, and none made them afraid?
13 The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his caves with prey, and his dens with ravin.
14 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. {P}