Nahum 2:1-8

The one who scatters has come up against you [Nineveh]. Man the fortress and ramparts, watch the road; Strengthen your back [prepare for battle], summon all your strength. For the LORD will restore the splendor and majesty of Jacob Like the splendor of [ancient and united] Israel, Even though destroyers have destroyed them And ruined their vine branches. [Is 10:12] ¶The shields of his soldiers [of Media and Babylon] are colored red; The warriors are dressed in scarlet. The chariots blaze with fire of [flashing] steel When he is prepared to march, And the cypress spears are brandished [for battle]. The chariots race madly in the streets; They rush wildly in the broad plazas. Their appearance is like torches; They rush in various directions like forked lightning. He remembers and summons his nobles; They stumble in their march [terrified because of the attack]. They hurry to the city wall, And the mantelet is prepared and firmly set up. The gates of the rivers [surrounding Nineveh] are opened And the palace [of sun-dried brick] is dissolved [by the torrents]. It is decreed: Nineveh is stripped, and she is carried away, And her handmaids are moaning like the sound of doves, Beating on their breasts [in sorrow]. ¶Though Nineveh was like a pool of water throughout her days, Now her inhabitants are fleeing; “Stop! Stop!” [a few cry,] But no one turns back.