Naḥum (Nahum) 3
3
1Woe to the city of blood! All of it is a lie, filled with plunder, the prey is not lacking.
2The sound of a whip and the sound of rattling wheels, of galloping horses, of jolting chariots,
3mounted horsemen with bright sword and glittering spear, and many wounded, and a mass of dead bodies, and no end of corpses, they stumble over the corpses –
4because of the many whorings of the well-favoured whore, the mistress of sorceries, who sells nations by her whorings, and clans by her sorceries.
5“See, I am against you,” declares יהוה of hosts, “and shall lift up your skirts over your face, and shall show nations your nakedness, and reigns your shame.
6“And I shall cast abominations upon you, and treat you as foolish, and make a spectacle of you.
7“And it shall be that all who see you flee from you, and say, ‘Ninewĕh is laid waste! Who does mourn for her?’ Where do I seek comforters for you?”
8Are you better than No Amon, who dwelt by the Nile-streams, with waters around her, whose rampart was like the sea, whose wall was like the sea?
9Kush and Mitsrayim were her strength, even unlimited. Put and Luḇim were your helpers.
10Yet she was exiled, she went into captivity. At the head of every street her young children were dashed to pieces. Lots were cast for her esteemed men, and all her great men were bound in chains.
11You too are to become drunk, you are to go into hiding. You too are to seek refuge from the enemy.
12All your strongholds are fig trees with ripened figs, when shaken they shall fall into the mouth of the eater.
13See, your people in your midst are women! The gates of your land shall be opened wide to your enemies. Fire shall consume your gate bars.
14Draw for yourself water for the siege! Strengthen your defences! Go into the clay and tread the mortar, lay hold of the brick mould!
15There a fire shall consume you, a sword cut you off, eat you up like a locust. Make yourself many like the locust, make yourself many like the swarming locust!
16You have increased your merchants more than the stars of the heavens. The locust shall strip off and fly away.
17Your officials are like the locusts, and your marshals are like the great grasshoppers, which settle in the hedges on a cold day – when the sun rises they flee away, and the place where they are is unknown.
18Your shepherds have slumbered, O sovereign of Ashshur, your nobles lie down to rest. Your people are scattered on the mountains, and no one gathers them.
19Your injury has no healing, your wound is grievous. All who hear news of you shall clap their hands over you. For over whom did your evil not pass continually?
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Naḥum (Nahum) 3: TS2009
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Nahum 3
3
The Lord’s Judgment against Nineveh
1What sorrow awaits Nineveh,
the city of murder and lies!
She is crammed with wealth
and is never without victims.
2Hear the crack of whips,
the rumble of wheels!
Horses’ hooves pound,
and chariots clatter wildly.
3See the flashing swords and glittering spears
as the charioteers charge past!
There are countless casualties,
heaps of bodies—
so many bodies that
people stumble over them.
4All this because Nineveh,
the beautiful and faithless city,
mistress of deadly charms,
enticed the nations with her beauty.
She taught them all her magic,
enchanting people everywhere.
5“I am your enemy!”
says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
“And now I will lift your skirts
and show all the earth your nakedness and shame.
6I will cover you with filth
and show the world how vile you really are.
7All who see you will shrink back and say,
‘Nineveh lies in ruins.
Where are the mourners?’
Does anyone regret your destruction?”
8Are you any better than the city of Thebes,#3:8 Hebrew No-amon; also in 3:10.
situated on the Nile River, surrounded by water?
She was protected by the river on all sides,
walled in by water.
9Ethiopia#3:9 Hebrew Cush. and the land of Egypt
gave unlimited assistance.
The nations of Put and Libya
were among her allies.
10Yet Thebes fell,
and her people were led away as captives.
Her babies were dashed to death
against the stones of the streets.
Soldiers threw dice#3:10 Hebrew They cast lots. to get Egyptian officers as servants.
All their leaders were bound in chains.
11And you, Nineveh, will also stagger like a drunkard.
You will hide for fear of the attacking enemy.
12All your fortresses will fall.
They will be devoured like the ripe figs
that fall into the mouths
of those who shake the trees.
13Your troops will be as weak
and helpless as women.
The gates of your land will be opened wide to the enemy
and set on fire and burned.
14Get ready for the siege!
Store up water!
Strengthen the defenses!
Go into the pits to trample clay,
and pack it into molds,
making bricks to repair the walls.
15But the fire will devour you;
the sword will cut you down.
The enemy will consume you like locusts,
devouring everything they see.
There will be no escape,
even if you multiply like swarming locusts.
16Your merchants have multiplied
until they outnumber the stars.
But like a swarm of locusts,
they strip the land and fly away.
17Your guards#3:17 Or princes. and officials are also like swarming locusts
that crowd together in the hedges on a cold day.
But like locusts that fly away when the sun comes up,
all of them will fly away and disappear.
18Your shepherds are asleep, O Assyrian king;
your princes lie dead in the dust.
Your people are scattered across the mountains
with no one to gather them together.
19There is no healing for your wound;
your injury is fatal.
All who hear of your destruction
will clap their hands for joy.
Where can anyone be found
who has not suffered from your continual cruelty?
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