NAHUM 1 [†] a An oracle concerning b Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh.
God’s Wrath Against Nineveh
2[†] c The LORD is a jealous and avenging God;
the LORD is avenging and wrathful;
d the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries
and e keeps wrath for his enemies.
3[†] f The LORD is slow to anger and g great in power,
and h the LORD will by no means clear the guilty.
i His way is in whirlwind and storm,
and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
4[†] j He rebukes the sea and makes it dry;
he dries up all the rivers;
the bloom of k Lebanon withers.
5 m The mountains quake before him;
n the hills melt;
the earth heaves before him,
o the world and all who dwell in it.
6[†] p Who can stand before his indignation?
Who can endure the heat of his anger?
His wrath q is poured out like fire,
and r the rocks are broken into pieces by him.
t a stronghold in the day of trouble;
u he knows those who take refuge in him.
8[†] But v with an overflowing flood
he will make a complete end of the adversaries, [1]
and w will pursue his enemies into darkness.
9[†] What x do you plot against the LORD?
y He will make a complete end;
trouble will not rise up a second time.
10[†] For they are z like entangled thorns,
like drunkards as they drink;
a they are consumed like stubble fully dried.
11[†] From you came one
b who plotted evil against the LORD,
a worthless counselor.
12 Thus says the LORD,
“Though they are at full strength and many,
c they will be cut down and pass away.
d Though I have afflicted you,
I will afflict you no more.
13[†] And now e I will break his yoke from off you
and will burst your bonds apart.”
14[†] The LORD has given commandment about you:
f “No more shall your name be perpetuated;
from g the house of your gods I will cut off
the carved image and the metal image.
h I will make your grave, i for you are vile.”
15[^][†] [2] j Behold, upon the mountains, k the feet of him
who brings good news,
who publishes peace!
l Keep your feasts, O Judah;
m fulfill your vows,
n for never again shall the worthless pass through you;
he is utterly cut off.
The Destruction of Nineveh
NAHUM 2 [†] o The scatterer has come up against you.
p Man the ramparts;
watch the road;
dress for battle; [1]
collect all your strength.
2[†] For q the LORD is restoring the majesty of Jacob
as the majesty of Israel,
for plunderers have plundered them
and r ruined their branches.
3[^][†] The shield of his mighty men is red;
s his soldiers are clothed in scarlet.
The chariots come with flashing metal
on the day he musters them;
the cypress spears are brandished.
4 t The chariots race madly through the streets;
they rush to and fro through the squares;
they gleam like torches;
they dart like lightning.
5[†] He remembers u his officers;
v they stumble as they go,
they hasten to the wall;
the siege tower [2] is set up.
6[†] w The river gates are opened;
the palace x melts away;
7 its mistress [3] is y stripped; [4] she is carried off,
her slave girls z lamenting,
moaning like doves
and beating their breasts.
whose waters run away. [5]
“Halt! Halt!” they cry,
but c none turns back.
9[†] Plunder the silver,
plunder the gold!
There is no end of the treasure
or of the wealth of all precious things.
10[†] d Desolate! Desolation and ruin!
e Hearts melt and f knees tremble;
g anguish is in all loins;
h all faces grow pale!
11[†] Where is the lions’ den,
the feeding place of i the young lions,
where the lion and lioness went,
where his cubs were, with j none to disturb?
12 k The lion tore enough for his cubs
and l strangled prey for his lionesses;
he filled his caves with prey
and his dens with torn flesh.
13[†] m Behold, I am against you, declares the LORD of hosts, and n I will burn your [6] chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and o the voice of your messengers shall no longer be heard.
Woe to Nineveh
NAHUM 3 [†] Woe to p the bloody city,
all full of lies and plunder—
q no end to the prey!
2[†] The crack of the whip, and r rumble of the wheel,
s galloping horse and t bounding chariot!
3 Horsemen charging,
flashing sword and u glittering spear,
v hosts of slain,
heaps of corpses,
dead bodies without end—
they stumble over the bodies!
4[^][†] And all for the countless whorings of the w prostitute,
x graceful and of deadly charms,
who betrays nations with her whorings,
and peoples with her charms.
5[†] m Behold, I am against you,
declares the LORD of hosts,
and y will lift up your skirts over your face;
and I will make nations look at z your nakedness
and kingdoms at your shame.
6 I will throw filth at you
and a treat you with contempt
and make you b a spectacle.
7[†] And all who look at you c will shrink from you and say,
“Wasted is d Nineveh; e who will grieve for her?”
f Where shall I seek comforters for you?
8[†] g Are you better than h Thebes [1]
that sat i by the Nile,
with water around her,
her rampart a sea,
and water her wall?
Egypt too, and that without limit;
k Put and the l Libyans were her [2] helpers.
10[†] m Yet she became an exile;
she went into captivity;
n her infants were dashed in pieces
at the head of every street;
for her honored men o lots were cast,
p and all her great men were bound in chains.
11[†] q You also will be drunken;
you will go into hiding;
r you will seek a refuge from the enemy.
12[†] All your fortresses are s like fig trees
with first-ripe figs—
if shaken they fall
into the mouth of the eater.
13 Behold, your troops
t are women in your midst.
The gates of your land
are wide open to your enemies;
fire has devoured your bars.
14[†] u Draw water for the siege;
r strengthen your forts;
go into the clay;
tread the mortar;
take hold of the brick mold!
15[†] There will the fire devour you;
the sword will cut you off.
It will v devour you w like the locust.
Multiply yourselves w like the locust;
multiply w like the grasshopper!
16[†] You increased x your merchants
more than the stars of the heavens.
w The locust spreads its wings and flies away.
17[†] Your z princes are w like grasshoppers,
a your scribes [3] like clouds of locusts
settling on the fences
in a day of cold—
when the sun rises, they fly away;
no one knows where they are.
18[†] Your shepherds b are asleep,
O king of Assyria;
c your nobles slumber.
Your people d are scattered on the mountains
with none to gather them.
19 There is no easing your hurt;
e your wound is grievous.
All who hear the news about you
f clap their hands over you.
For g upon whom has not come
your unceasing evil?