Nahum preaches in Judah in the reign of king Hezekiah. He prophesies the destruction of Nineveh. Almost a century later, the city is destroyed, exactly as Nahum foretold:
Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery. . . .3:1
Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts . . . and I will show the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame.3:5
And it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste; who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek comforters for thee?3:7
Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy captains as the great grasshoppers. . . . Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell in the dust: thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them.
There is no healing of thy bruise; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the bruit of thee shall clap the hands over thee: for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?3:17–19