Nahum 3
3
1What a disaster is coming upon this murderous city with all its treachery! It is full of wealth it has robbed, and always has plenty of victims.#3:1. Literally, “its prey never departs.” 2Listen to the noise: whips crack, wheels clatter, horses gallop, chariots rattle! 3Horsemen charge, swords flash, spears glitter! Many dead, piles of corpses, countless bodies—so many that people stumble over them.
4All this happens because the repeated prostitution of Nineveh the prostitute, the beautiful mistress with her deadly charms who seduces nations into slavery by her prostitution and her witchcraft. 5Watch out! For I am against you, declares the Lord Almighty. I will lift your skirts over your face and let the nations see your nakedness, and kingdoms see your shame. 6I will throw filth at you. I will treat you with contempt, and make a spectacle of you. 7Then everyone who sees you will shun you saying, “Nineveh is ruined! But who is going to mourn your loss?” Where should I look to find anyone to comfort you? 8Are you any better than the city of Thebes#3:8. Literally, “No Amon,” the city of the Egyptian god Amen. It had earlier been destroyed by the Assyrians. on the River Nile, surrounded by water? Water was its defense, water was its wall.#3:8. The Qumran pesher (commentary) on Nahum makes it clear that the pronoun refers to the city. 9The city ruled Egypt and Ethiopia.#3:9. Literally, “Cush.” Put and Libya were its allies. 10Yet its people were also taken away into exile, into captivity. Their babies were dashed to pieces in every street. Their nobles were bound in chains and taken away as servants, chosen by lot.
11You too will behave like a drunk. You will hide in fear, trying to find a place safe from the enemy. 12All your fortresses are like fig trees ripe with fruit—they fall when they are shaken into the mouth of the one eating. 13Look! Your soldiers are women among you. The gates of your land are wide open to your enemies; the bars of the gates will be set on fire. 14Store water to prepare for a siege! Strengthen your fortresses! Go to the clay pits to tread it well, mix the cement, get your brick molds ready! 15But even so, there#3:15. Referring to the siege. the fire will consume you, you will be cut down by the sword. You will be destroyed as if you were devoured by a swarm of locusts. So multiply yourselves like locusts, like a swarm of locusts. 16You increased your merchants so that there are more of them than the stars of heaven. But like locusts they strip everything and then fly away. 17Your leaders are like locusts, your officials like a swarm of locusts. They rest on walls on a cold day, but when the sun rises they fly away, and no one knows where they've gone. 18King of Assyria, your shepherds are asleep, your princes are slumbering.#3:18. In Scripture death is often referred to as sleep, so this verse means all the leaders who cared for the people are dead. Your people are scattered across the mountains and no one can gather them. 19There is no way to heal your injuries, you are too badly wounded. Everyone who hears this news will applaud what has happened to you, for was there anyone who escaped your continuous cruelty?
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
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.