Imre

Mine eyes are dim with age, but being old, I saw the days when Senaccherib was arrayed against Israel, and I saw his men lying dead in heaps around our walls. Never were the jackals so fat as in the year when Jerusalem was encircled by the enemies of the Lord. The same may happen again to those who now besiege us. Let mine eyes not be wholly darkened ere this day dawn. Jerusalem endureth for ever!

Abimelech, Hananiah, Pashur

Jerusalem endureth for ever!

[A pause]

Zedekiah

Thou sayest nothing, Nahum. Wherefore art thou silent?

Nahum

Gloomy are my thoughts, Lord King, and bitter will be my speech. He thrusts not himself forward, to whom joy is lacking.

Zedekiah