2:1 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.
2:2 A maul is come up before thy face; guard the defences, watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily!--
2:3 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.--
2:4 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.
2:5 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.
2:6 He bethinketh himself of his worthies; they stumble in their march; they make haste to the wall thereof, and the mantelet is prepared.
2:7 The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved.
2:8 And the queen is uncovered, she is carried away, and her handmaids moan as with the voice of doves, tabering upon their breasts.
2:9 But Nineveh hath been from of old like a pool of water; yet they flee away; 'Stand, stand'; but none looketh back.
2:10 Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold; for there is no end of the store, rich with all precious vessels.
2:11 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.
2:12 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?
2:13 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.
2:14 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.