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
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.