Nahum 3
3
It Will Be Terrible for Nineveh
1How terrible it will be for the city which has killed so many.
It is full of lies.
It is full of stolen things from other countries.
It is always hurting or killing somebody.
2Hear the sound of whips.
Listen to the wheels.
Hear horses galloping
and chariots bouncing along!
3Soldiers on horses are charging.
Their swords are shining.
Their spears are gleaming!
There are many bodies.
Dead people are piled up.
There are too many to count.
People fall over the dead bodies.
4The city was like a prostitute.
She was charming and a lover of magic.
She made nations slaves with her evil ways
and her witchcraft.
5“I am against you, Nineveh,” says the Lord of heaven’s armies.
“I will pull your dress up over your face.
I will show the nations your nakedness.
And I will show the kingdoms your shame.
6I will throw dirt on you.
I will make a fool of you.
People will see you and make fun of you.
7Everyone who sees you will run away and say,
‘Nineveh is in ruins. Who will cry for her?’
Nineveh, I cannot find anyone to comfort you.”
8Nineveh, you are no better than Thebes.# A great city in Egypt.
She sits by the Nile River
with water all around her.
The river was her defense.
The waters were like a wall around her.
9Cush and Egypt gave her endless strength.
Put and Libya supported her.
10But Thebes was captured.
And she went into captivity.
Her small children were beaten to death
at every street corner.
Lots were thrown for her important men.
And all of her leaders were put in chains.
11Nineveh, you will be drunk, too.
You will hide.
You will look for a place safe from the enemy.
12All your defenses are like fig trees with ripe fruit.
When the tree is shaken, the figs fall into the mouth of the eater.
13Look at your soldiers.
They are all women!
The gates of your land
are wide open for your enemies.
Fire has burned the bars of those gates.
14Get enough water before the attack begins.
Make your defenses strong!
Make the bricks.
Mix the mortar.
Repair the wall!
15There the fire will burn you up.
The sword will kill you.
Like grasshoppers eating crops, the battle will completely destroy you.
Grow in number like hopping locusts.
Grow in number like swarming locusts!
16Your traders are more than the stars in the sky.
But like locusts, they strip the land and then fly away.
17Your guards are like locusts.
Your officers are like swarms of locusts
that settle in the walls on a cold day.
But when the sun comes up they fly away.
And no one knows where they have gone.
18King of Assyria, your rulers are asleep.
Your important men lie down to rest.
Your people have been scattered on the mountains.
And there is no one to bring them back.
19Nothing can heal your wound.
Your injury will not heal.
Everyone who hears about you applauds
because everyone has felt your endless cruelty.
Nahum 1
Nahum 2
Nahum 3
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Nahum 3
3
1Doomed is the lying, murderous city,
full of wealth to be looted and plundered!
2Listen! The crack of the whip,
the rattle of wheels,
the gallop of horses,
the jolting of chariots!
3Horsemen charge,
swords flash, spears gleam!
Corpses are piled high,
dead bodies without number —
men stumble over them!
4Nineveh the whore is being punished.
Attractive and full of deadly charms,
she enchanted nations and enslaved#3.4 enslaved; or seduced. them.
5The LORD Almighty says,
“I will punish you, Nineveh!
I will strip you naked
and let the nations see you,
see you in all your shame.
6I will treat you with contempt
and cover you with filth.
People will stare at you in horror.
7All who see you will shrink back.
They will say, ‘Nineveh lies in ruins!
Who has any sympathy for her?
Who will want to comfort her?’ ”
8Nineveh, are you any better than Thebes, the capital of Egypt? She too had a river to protect her like a wall — the Nile was her defence. 9She ruled Ethiopia#3.9 Ethiopia: See Word List. and Egypt, there was no limit to her power; Libya was her ally. 10Yet the people of Thebes were carried off into exile. At every street corner their children were beaten to death. Their leading men were carried off in chains and divided among their captors.
11Nineveh, you too will fall into a drunken stupor! You too will try to escape from your enemies. 12All your fortresses will be like fig trees with ripe figs: shake the trees, and the fruit falls right into your mouth! 13Your soldiers are like women, and your country stands defenceless before your enemies. Fire will destroy the bars across your gates. 14Draw water to prepare for a siege, and strengthen your fortresses! Trample the clay to make bricks, and get the brick moulds ready! 15No matter what you do, you will still be burnt to death or killed in battle. You will be wiped out like crops eaten up by locusts.
You multiplied like locusts! 16You produced more merchants than there are stars in the sky! But now they are gone, like locusts that spread their wings and fly away. 17Your officials are like a swarm of locusts that stay in the walls on a cold day. But when the sun comes out, they fly away, and no one knows where they have gone!
18Emperor of Assyria, your governors are dead, and your noblemen are asleep for ever! Your people are scattered on the mountains, and there is no one to bring them home again. 19There is no remedy for your injuries, and your wounds cannot be healed. All those who hear the news of your destruction clap their hands for joy. Did anyone escape your endless cruelty?
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Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.