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