The Fall of Nineveh
1 Nineveh, you are under attack!
The power that will shatter you has come.
Prepare the defenses!
Guard the road!
Prepare for battle!
( 2 The Lord is about to restore the glory of Israel, as it was before her enemies plundered her.)
3 The enemy soldiers carry red shields
and wear uniforms of red.
They are preparing to attack!
Their chariots flash like fire!
Their horses prance!
4 Chariots dash wildly through the streets,
rushing back and forth in the city squares.
They flash like torches
and dart about like lightning.
5 The officers are summoned;
they stumble as they press forward.
The attackers rush to the wall
and set up the shield for the battering ram.
6 The gates by the river burst open;
the palace is filled with terror.
7 The queen is taken captive;
her servants moan like doves
and beat their breasts in sorrow.
8 Like water from a broken dam
the people rush from Nineveh!
“Stop! Stop!” the cry rings out—
but no one turns back.
9 Plunder the silver!
Plunder the gold!
The city is full of treasure!
10 Nineveh is destroyed, deserted, desolate!
Hearts melt with fear;
knees tremble, strength is gone;
faces grow pale.
11 Where now is the city
that was like a den of lions,
the place where young lions were fed,
where the lion and the lioness would go
and their cubs would be safe?
12 The lion killed his prey
and tore it to pieces for his mate and her cubs;
he filled his den with torn flesh.
13 “I am your enemy!” says the Lord Almighty. “I will burn up your chariots. Your soldiers will be killed in war, and I will take away everything that you took from others. The demands of your envoys will no longer be heard.”
Kuwa kwe Ninive
1 Mpaladzi waswika kuwobhayana nawe Ninive.
Linda mbako dze matizhilo,
tjengeta zila
usunga thunji dzidzo
ushingise matatabuko awo wose!
2 Ngoti Yahwe banowobuza mu tjimo gudzo la Jakubo
se gudzo le Iziraela,
nenguba bathukudzi bakabathukudza
bakatjinya mizhambi yabo.
3 Zwivikisi zwe babhayani babe zwishaba,
bagwi babe bakambala zwiambalo zwishaba kwakabondelela.
Koloyi dzidze dze ngwa dzopenya
mu zhuba ladzalulwamisigwa ngwa,
ne mathumo anokuswiwa.
4 Koloyi dze ngwa dzolabuka dzizhala zila,
dzovirima dziyenda yeno na yeno mu zwibata.
Dzolingika se mithuto ye mavone,
dzilabuka se lupenyo gwe vula.
5 Unodana batungamili babo,
banotshatsharika abezha kwabadang'wa.
Banolabukila ku guma,
ndizo tjidzibili tjibe tjibigwa pakalingisana.
6 Mikoba ye njizi ikazhuka,
ngono nzi we bumambo ukapela masimba.
7 Nlayo wadwa wekuti nzi utapiwe,
balandakadzi bawo basengwe,
belila se njiba
bakabhata hana dzabo.
8 Ninive inonga dziba,
ngono vula yalo ipkhwa.
Mmwe unodana eti, “Imani! Imani!”
Ngono kube kusheta unoshanduka.
9 Tapani siliva!
Tapani golide!
Fumwa izhele ipapa!
Kuzhele tjimwe ne tjimwe tjakanaka!
10 Ninive yakashakadziwa ikatapigwa, ikakolomogwa!
Moyo inotimbama, zwidwi zwikatetema,
thunji dzose dzozunguzika njiso dzose dzofubala.
11 Lingayi ngwenu wali guwu le shumba
pabakabe bejisila bana babo?
Pangayi pakabe peyendayenda shumba ne shumbakadzi
ne shumbana kusina tjadzinotja?
12 Shumba yakamwawulanya kwakalizana bana bayo
ikasina tjayakabhata kupa shumbakadzi yayo.
Yakazhadza makuwu ayo nge zwayakabulaya
ne makuhwana akazhala.
13 Yahwe Masimbawose bakati,
“Bona, ndobhayana nawe.
Ndowopisa koloyi dzidzo dzose nge moto
thumo nayilo lowoja shumbana dzidzo.
Akuna tjandinowokusiyila tjawungabulaya mu shango.
Mahwi e thumwa dzidzo aatowohwika kakale.”