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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Nachum (Nam) 3
3
1Woe to the city of blood, steeped in lies,
full of prey, with no end to the plunder!
2The crack of the whip! The rattle of wheels!
Galloping horses, jolting chariots,
3cavalry charging, swords flashing,
spears glittering —
and hosts of slain, heaps of bodies;
there is no end to the corpses;
they stumble over their corpses.
4“Because of the continual whoring of this whore,
this alluring mistress of sorcery,
who sells nations with her whoring
and families with her sorcery;
5I am against you,” says Adonai-Tzva’ot.
“I will uncover your skirts on your face;
I will show the nations your private parts
and the kingdoms your shame.
6I will pelt you with disgusting filth,
disgrace you and make a spectacle of you.
7Then all who see you will recoil from you;
they will say, ‘Ninveh is destroyed!’
Who will mourn for her?
Where can I find people to comfort you?”
8Are you any better than No-Amon,
located among the streams of the Nile,
with water all around her,
the flood her wall of defense?
9Ethiopia and Egypt gave her boundless strength,
Put and Luvim were there to help you.
10Still she went captive into exile,
her infants torn to pieces at every streetcorner.
Lots were drawn for her nobles,
and all her great men were bound in chains.
11You too, [Ninveh,] will be drunk;
your senses completely overcome.
You too will seek a refuge
from the enemy.
12All your fortifications will be
like fig trees with early ripening figs;
the moment they are shaken, they fall
into the mouth of the eater.
13Look at your troops! They behave like women!
Your country’s gates are wide open to your foes;
fire has consumed their bars.
14Draw water for the siege!
Strengthen your fortifications!
Go down in the clay, tread the mortar,
Take hold of the mold for bricks!
15There the fire will burn you up;
and the sword will cut you down;
it will devour you like grasshoppers.
Make yourselves as many as grasshoppers,
Make yourselves as many as locusts!
16You had more merchants than stars in the sky.
The locust sheds its skin and flies away.
17Your guards are like grasshoppers,
your marshals like swarms of locusts,
which settle on the walls on a cold day,
but when the sun rises they fly away;
they vanish to no one knows where.
18Your shepherds are slumbering, king of Ashur.
Your leaders are asleep.
Your people are scattered all over the mountains,
with no one to round them up.
19Your wound cannot be healed.
Your injury is fatal.
Everyone hearing the news about you
claps his hands in joy over you.
For who has not been overwhelmed
by your relentless cruelty?
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