21 he juggernaut's coming! Post guards, lay in supplies. Get yourselves together, get ready for the big battle. 2 God has restored the Pride of Jacob, the Pride of Israel. Israel's lived through hard times. He's been to hell and back. 3 Weapons flash in the sun, the soldiers splendid in battle dress, Chariots burnished and glistening, ready to charge, A spiked forest of brandished spears, lethal on the horizon. 4 The chariots pour into the streets. They fill the public squares, Flaming like torches in the sun, like lightning darting and flashing. 5 The Assyrian king rallies his men, but they stagger and stumble. They run to the ramparts to stem the tide, but it's too late. 6 Soldiers pour through the gates. The palace is demolished. 7 Soon it's all over: Nineveh stripped, Nineveh doomed, Maids and slaves moaning like doves, beating their breasts. 8 Nineveh is a tub from which they've pulled the plug. Cries go up, "Do something! Do something!" but it's too late. Nineveh's soon empty - nothing. 9 Other cries come: "Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold! A bonanza of plunder! Take everything you want!" 10 Doom! Damnation! Desolation! Hearts sink, knees fold, stomachs retch, faces blanch.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Nahum 2:1-10
Commentary on Nahum 2:1-10
(Read Nahum 2:1-10)
Nineveh shall not put aside this judgment; there is no counsel or strength against the Lord. God looks upon proud cities, and brings them down. Particular account is given of the terrors wherein the invading enemy shall appear against Nineveh. The empire of Assyria is represented as a queen, about to be led captive to Babylon. Guilt in the conscience fills men with terror in an evil day; and what will treasures or glory do for us in times of distress, or in the day of wrath? Yet for such things how many lose their souls!