1Behold on the hillsThe footsteps of a heraldAnnouncing good fortune!“Celebrate your festivals, O Judah,Fulfill your vows.Never again shall scoundrels invade you,They have totally vanished.”
2aThis verse would read well after v. 3. A shatterer has come up against you.byou I.e., Nineveh; cf. 1.1. Put up the guard posts,Watch the road;Steady your loins,Brace all your strength!
3For GOD has restored the PridecPride Emendation yields “vine.” of JacobdJacob…Israel Respectively, the northern kingdom (cf. Amos 6.8; 8.7) and the southern kingdom. The latter is regarded as the remnant of Israel after the fall of the northern kingdom (cf. Mic. 1.13–15). As well as the PrideePride See first note at this verse. of Israel,Though marauders have laid them wasteAnd ravaged their branches.
4HisfHis I.e., the shatterer in v. 2. warriors’ shields are painted red,And the soldiers are clothed in crimson;The chariots are like flaming torches,gtorches Understanding peladoth as equivalent to lappidoth. On the day they are made ready.The [arrows of] cypress wood are poisoned,hThe [arrows of] cypress wood are poisoned Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Emendation yields “The cavalry charge”; cf. 3.3.
5The chariots dash about frenzied in the fields,They rush through the meadows.They appear like torches,They race like streaks of lightning.
6iMeaning of verse uncertain. He commands his burly men;They stumble as they advance,They hasten up to her wall,Where wheeled sheltersjwheeled shelters To protect the crews that swung the battering rams. are set up.
7The floodgates are opened,And the palace is deluged.kThe floodgates are opened, / And the palace is deluged I.e., the walls are breached and the palace is overrun.
8And Huzzab is exiled and carried away,lAnd Huzzab is exiled and carried away Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Emendation yields “And its mistress is led out and exiled.” While her handmaidens escort [her]mescort [her] Emendation yields “moan.” As with the voices of doves,Beating their breasts.
9Nineveh has been like a [placid] pool of waterFrom earliest times;nFrom earliest times Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Now they flee.“Stop! Stop!”—But none can turn them back.
10“Plunder silver! Plunder gold!”There is no limit to the treasure;It is a hoard of all precious objects.
11Desolation, devastation, and destruction!Spirits sink,Knees buckle,All loins tremble,All faces turn ashen.oturn ashen Meaning of Heb. uncertain; cf. note at Joel 2.6.
12What has become of that lions’ den,That pastureppasture Emendation yields “cave.” of great beasts,Where lion and lion’s breed walked,And lion’s cub—with none to disturb them?
13[Where is] the lion that tore victims for its cubsAnd strangled for the lionesses,And filled its lairs with preyAnd its dens with mangled flesh?
14I am going to deal with you—declares GOD of Hosts:I will burn down her chariots in smoke,qher chariots in smoke Emendation yields “your thicket in fire.” And the sword shall devour your great beasts;I will stamp out your killings from the earth,And the sound of your messengersrmessengers Emendation yields “devouring.” Shall be heard no more.