Nahum 3
3
Nineveh’s Downfall
1Woe to the city of blood,#Ezk 7:23; 9:9; 22:2–3; 24:6,9; Hab 2:12
totally deceitful,
full of plunder,
never without prey.#Nah 2:9
2The crack of the whip
and rumble of the wheel,
galloping horse
and jolting chariot!#Jdg 5:22; Jb 39:24; Jr 47:3
3Charging horseman,
flashing sword,
shining spear;
heaps of slain,
mounds of corpses,#Lv 26:30; Ps 110:6; Is 66:24; Jr 41:9; Ezk 6:5
dead bodies without end#Nah 2:9 —
they stumble over their dead.
4Because of the continual prostitution of the prostitute,
the attractive mistress of sorcery,
who treats nations and clans like merchandise
by her prostitution and sorcery,#2Kg 9:22; Pr 7:10–23; Ezk 16:15; 23:1–21; Rv 17:3–6
5I am against you.#Nah 2:13
This is the declaration of the Lord of Armies.
I will lift your skirts over your face
and display your nakedness to nations,
your shame to kingdoms.#Is 47:3; Jr 13:22,26; Ezk 16:37; 23:29
6I will throw filth on you
and treat you with contempt;#Ps 107:40; Is 16:14; Dn 12:2; Mc 6:16; Mal 2:3
I will make a spectacle of you.
7Then all who see you will recoil from you, saying,#Dt 28:25,37; 2Ch 29:8; 30:7; Ps 31:11; Is 66:24; Jr 15:4; 24:9; 50:23
“Nineveh is devastated;
who will show sympathy to her?”
Where can I find anyone to comfort you?
8Are you better than Thebes#3:8 Hb No-amon#Jr 46:25; Ezk 30:14–16
that sat along the Nile
with water surrounding her,
whose rampart was the sea,
the river#3:8 LXX, Syr, Vg read water#3:8 Lit sea from sea her wall?
9Cush and Egypt were her endless source of strength;
Put and Libya were among her#3:9 Lit your allies.
10Yet she became an exile;
she went into captivity.
Her children were also dashed to pieces#2Kg 8:12; Is 13:16; Hs 10:14
at the head of every street.
They cast lots for her dignitaries,#Ob 11
and all her nobles were bound in chains.
11You#3:11 = Nineveh also will become drunk;
you will hide.#3:11 Or will be overcome
You also will seek refuge from the enemy.
12All your fortresses are fig trees
with figs that ripened first;
when shaken, they fall —
right into the mouth of the eater!
13Look, your troops are like women among you;
your land’s city gates
are wide open to your enemies.
Fire will devour the bars of your gates.
14Draw water for the siege;
strengthen your fortresses.
Step into the clay and tread the mortar;
take hold of the brick-mold!
15The fire will devour you there;
the sword will cut you down.
It will devour you like the young locust.#Jl 1:4
Multiply yourselves like the young locust;
multiply like the swarming locust!
16You have made your merchants#Ezk 16:29; 17:4; 27:3,13,20,23–24; Zph 1:11; Rv 18:3,11,15,23
more numerous than the stars of the sky.
The young locust strips#3:16 Or sheds its skin the land
and flies away.
17Your court officials are like the swarming locust,
and your scribes like clouds of locusts,
which settle on the walls on a cold day;
when the sun rises, they take off,
and no one knows where they are.
18King of Assyria, your shepherds slumber;#Jr 23:1–2; 50:6
your officers sleep.
Your people are scattered across the mountains#Ezk 34:6
with no one to gather them together.#1Kg 22:17
19There is no remedy for your injury;
your wound is severe.#Jr 10:19; 14:17; 30:12
All who hear the news about you
will clap their hands because of you,#Ps 47:1; 98:8; Lm 2:15; Ezk 22:13
for who has not experienced
your constant cruelty?
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Nahum 3
3
Woe to Nineveh
1Woe to #Ezek. 24:9; [Hab. 2:12] the bloody city,
all full of lies and plunder—
# [ch. 2:12] no end to the prey!
2The crack of the whip, and #[ch. 2:4] rumble of the wheel,
# [Judg. 5:22] galloping horse and #[Joel 2:5]bounding chariot!
3Horsemen charging,
flashing sword and #Hab. 3:11 glittering spear,
# [2 Kgs. 19:35] hosts of slain,
heaps of corpses,
dead bodies without end—
they stumble over the bodies!
4And all for the countless whorings of the #[Rev. 17:2; 18:3] prostitute,
# [Isa. 47:9, 12] graceful and of deadly charms,
who betrays nations with her whorings,
and peoples with her charms.
5 # [See ch. 2:13 above] Behold, I am against you,
declares the Lord of hosts,
and #Jer. 13:22, 26; [Isa. 3:17; 47:3] will lift up your skirts over your face;
and I will make nations look at #Hab. 2:16your nakedness
and kingdoms at your shame.
6I will throw filth at you
and #Mal. 2:9; [ch. 1:14] treat you with contempt
and make you #Heb. 10:33; [1 Cor. 4:9]a spectacle.
7And all who look at you #Jer. 51:9; Rev. 18:10 will shrink from you and say,
“Wasted is #[Zeph. 2:13]; See ch. 1:1 Nineveh; #Isa. 51:19; Jer. 15:5 who will grieve for her?”
#
Lam. 1:2, 9, 16, 17, 21 Where shall I seek comforters for you?
8 # [Amos 6:2] Are you better than #Jer. 46:25 Thebes#3:8 Hebrew No-amon
that sat #[Ezek. 29:3]by the Nile,
with water around her,
her rampart a sea,
and water her wall?
9 # See Dan. 11:43 Cush was her strength;
Egypt too, and that without limit;
#
Gen. 10:6 Put and the #See 2 Chr. 12:3Libyans were her#3:9 Hebrew your helpers.
10 #
Isa. 20:4 Yet she became an exile;
she went into captivity;
#
Isa. 13:16 her infants were dashed in pieces
at the head of every street;
for her honored men #Joel 3:3; Obad. 11 lots were cast,
# [Ps. 149:8] and all her great men were bound in chains.
11 #
Jer. 25:17, 27; [Ps. 75:8; Isa. 51:17; Obad. 16] You also will be drunken;
you will go into hiding;
# [Jer. 4:5, 6] you will seek a refuge from the enemy.
12All your fortresses are #[Rev. 6:13]like fig trees
with first-ripe figs—
if shaken they fall
into the mouth of the eater.
13Behold, your troops
#
Isa. 19:16; Jer. 51:30 are women in your midst.
The gates of your land
are wide open to your enemies;
fire has devoured your bars.
14 # [Isa. 22:11] Draw water for the siege;
# [See ver. 11 above] 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 #[Joel 2:3] devour you #[Joel 1:4, 6]like the locust.
Multiply yourselves #[Joel 1:4, 6]like the locust;
multiply #[Joel 1:4, 6]like the grasshopper!
16You increased #[Ezek. 27:23, 24] your merchants
more than the stars of the heavens.
# [See ver. 15 above] The locust spreads its wings and flies away.
17Your #[Isa. 10:8] princes are #[See ver. 15 above] like grasshoppers,
#
Jer. 51:27
your scribes#3:17 Or marshals 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 #[Ps. 76:5] are asleep,
O king of Assyria;
# ch. 2:5 your nobles slumber.
Your people #[1 Kgs. 22:17]are scattered on the mountains
with none to gather them.
19There is no easing your hurt;
#
Jer. 10:19; Mic. 1:9 your wound is grievous.
All who hear the news about you
#
Lam. 2:15; [Zeph. 2:15] clap their hands over you.
For #[Isa. 37:18]upon whom has not come
your unceasing evil?
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