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.”
Omawiro wa Ninive
1 Ninive, ove mo rwisiwa!
Omasa ngu maye ku hahaura yeya!
Zeuparisa otumbo twoye!
Tjevera ondjira!
Rirongerera otjirwa!
2 Muhona u ri pokuyarura ko ondjozikiro yotjiwaṋa tja Israel i kare otja tji ya ri, ovanavita na tjo ngunda ave hiye tji punda.
3 Ovarwe ovanavita ve tjinda otuvao otuserandu
nu ve zara ozombanda ozoserarovazu zovita.
Owo mave rirongerere okurwa!
Omatemba wawo wovita maye
werawera otja otjitenda momuriro!
Oukambe wawo mau riseri!
4 Omatemba wovita maye utuka amaye
hakahana okuyenda nokukotoka momivanda,
namaye tuurunga otupare twotjihuro.
Owo maye werawera otja omamunine
nu maye hakahana otja orutjeno rwombura.
5 Ovahongore wovita mave isanewa,
nowo mave kayenda amave
putara mokuhakahana kwawo.
Ovarwise mave utuka korumbo
nave twa po otuvao twawo otja
otjitjizikize otjiyame.
6 Ovipate vyomivero mbya ri ponḓonḓu
vya patururwa;
ondjuwo youhona yeurisiwa nomburuma onene.
7 Ombara oserekaze ya huurwa;
ovakarere vayo ovakazendu mave
riri tjimuna ozonguti ndu maze pose,
nu mave tono otukoro twawo moruhoze.
8 Otja omeva ngu maye zu merindi nda pamuka,
ovature otji mave tupuka okuza kOninive.
Omuravaere ma ravaere na tja: “Kurameye! Kurameye!”
Nungwari kape na ngu ma taviza kombunda.
9 Pundeye osilveri!
Pundeye ongoldo!
Otjihuro tje ura novihuze oviwa ovimanisa!
10 Ninive tja yandekwa, tja isiwa tjo, tja rira ongaango!
Omitima vyovature vya mumapara,
ozongoro zawo maze zezera, omasa ya zu po;
omirungu vya tjituka.
11 Otjihuro tji tja ri otja ondimba
yozongeyama nambano tji ri pi,
poṋa pu pa korerwa ovikeyamona,
ku kwa sere okuyenda ongeyama ondwezu nonḓenḓu,
noukeyamona wayo ku wa sere okukara nokuhinatjipo?
12 Ongeyama ondwezu ya zepa otjizepewa tjayo,
nu ye tji nyondororera onḓenḓu noukeyamona wayo;
oyo ye urisa ondimba yayo novisasaukiro vyonyama.
13 Muhona Omunamasaaehe ma tja nai: “Tara, owami omunavita na ove. Ami me nyosa omatemba woye wovita. Ovarwe voye mave ṱu movita, nu ami me ku yeka oviṋa avihe, mbi wa huura kovandu varwe. Omasa woye mouye kaye tji nokuzuvaka rukwao.”
