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.
Nahum 3
3
The Woe of Nineveh
1Woe to the #Ezek. 22:2, 3; 24:6–9; Hab. 2:12bloody city!
It is all full of lies and robbery.
Its victim never departs.
2The noise of a whip
And the noise of rattling wheels,
Of galloping horses,
Of clattering chariots!
3Horsemen charge with bright sword and glittering spear.
There is a multitude of slain,
A great number of bodies,
Countless corpses—
They stumble over the corpses—
4Because of the multitude of harlotries of the seductive harlot,
#Is. 47:9–12; Rev. 18:2, 3The mistress of sorceries,
Who sells nations through her harlotries,
And families through her sorceries.
5“Behold, I am #Jer. 50:31; Ezek. 26:3; Nah. 2:13against you,” says the Lord of hosts;
#Is. 47:2, 3; Jer. 13:26“I will lift your skirts over your face,
I will show the nations your nakedness,
And the kingdoms your shame.
6I will cast abominable filth upon you,
Make you #Nah. 1:14vile,
And make you #Heb. 10:33a spectacle.
7It shall come to pass that all who look upon you
#Rev. 18:10Will flee from you, and say,
#Jon. 3:3; 4:11‘Nineveh is laid waste!
#Is. 51:19; Jer. 15:5Who will bemoan her?’
Where shall I seek comforters for you?”
8#Amos 6:2Are you better than #Jer. 46:25; Ezek. 30:14–16No Amon
That was situated by the River,
That had the waters around her,
Whose rampart was the sea,
Whose wall was the sea?
9Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength,
And it was boundless;
#Gen. 10:6; Jer. 46:9; Ezek. 27:10Put and Lubim were your helpers.
10Yet she was carried away,
She went into captivity;
#Ps. 137:9; Is. 13:16; Hos. 13:16Her young children also were dashed to pieces
#Lam. 2:19At the head of every street;
They #Joel 3:3; Obad. 11cast lots for her honorable men,
And all her great men were bound in chains.
11You also will be #Is. 49:26; Jer. 25:27; Nah. 1:10drunk;
You will be hidden;
You also will seek refuge from the enemy.
12All your strongholds are #Rev. 6:12, 13fig trees with ripened figs:
If they are shaken,
They fall into the mouth of the eater.
13Surely, #Is. 19:16; Jer. 50:37; 51:30your people in your midst are women!
The gates of your land are wide open for your enemies;
Fire shall devour the #Ps. 147:13; Jer. 51:30bars of your gates.
14Draw your water for the siege!
#Nah. 2:1Fortify your strongholds!
Go into the clay and tread the mortar!
Make strong the brick kiln!
15There the fire will devour you,
The sword will cut you off;
It will eat you up like a #Joel 1:4locust.
Make yourself many—like the locust!
Make yourself many— like the swarming locusts!
16You have multiplied your #Rev. 18:3, 11–19merchants more than the stars of heaven.
The locust plunders and flies away.
17#Rev. 9:7Your commanders are like swarming locusts,
And your generals like great grasshoppers,
Which camp in the hedges on a cold day;
When the sun rises they flee away,
And the place where they are is not known.
18#Ex. 15:16; Ps. 76:5, 6; Is. 56:10; Jer. 51:57Your shepherds slumber, O #Jer. 50:18; Ezek. 31:3king of Assyria;
Your nobles rest in the dust.
Your people are #1 Kin. 22:17; Is. 13:14scattered on the mountains,
And no one gathers them.
19Your injury has no healing,
#Jer. 46:11; Mic. 1:9Your wound is severe.
#Job 27:23; Lam. 2:15; Zeph. 2:15All who hear news of you
Will clap their hands over you,
For upon whom has not your wickedness passed continually?
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.