Nahum
1:1An oracle about Nineveh. The book of the
vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. 1:2Yahweh is a jealous
God and avenges. Yahweh avenges and is full
of wrath. Yahweh takes vengeance on his
adversaries, and he maintains wrath against
his enemies. 1:3Yahweh is slow to anger, and great in
power, and will by no means leave the guilty
unpunished. Yahweh has his way in the whirlwind
and in the storm, and the clouds are the
dust of his feet. 1:4He rebukes the sea, and makes it dry,
and dries up all the rivers. Bashan languishes,
and Carmel; and the flower of Lebanon languishes.
1:5The mountains quake before him, and the
hills melt away. The earth trembles at his
presence, yes, the world, and all who dwell
in it. 1:6Who can stand before his indignation?
Who can endure the fierceness of his anger?
His wrath is poured out like fire, and the
rocks are broken apart by him. 1:7Yahweh is good, a stronghold in the day
of trouble; and he knows those who take
refuge in him. 1:8But with an overflowing flood, he will
make a full end of her place, and will pursue
his enemies into darkness. 1:9What do you plot against Yahweh? He will
make a full end. Affliction won't rise up
the second time. 1:10For entangled like thorns, and drunken
as with their drink, they are consumed utterly
like dry stubble. 1:11There is one gone forth out of you, who
devises evil against Yahweh, who counsels
wickedness. 1:12Thus says Yahweh: "Though they be
in full strength, and likewise many, even
so they will be cut down, and he shall pass
away. Though I have afflicted you, I will
afflict you no more. 1:13Now will I break his yoke from off you,
and will burst your bonds apart." 1:14Yahweh has commanded
concerning you: "No more descendants
will bear your name. Out of the house of
your gods, will I cut off the engraved image
and the molten image. I will make your grave,
for you are vile."
1:15Behold, on the mountains the feet of
him who brings good news, who publishes
peace! Keep your feasts, Judah! Perform
your vows, for the wicked one will no more
pass through you. He is utterly cut off.
2:1He who dashes in pieces has come up against
you. Keep the fortress! Watch the way! Strengthen
your loins! Fortify your power mightily!
2:2For Yahweh restores the excellency of
Jacob, as the excellency of Israel; for
the destroyers have destroyed them, and
ruined their vine branches. 2:3The shield of his
mighty men is made red. The valiant men
are in scarlet. The chariots flash with
steel in the day of his preparation, and
the pine spears are brandished. 2:4The chariots rage in the streets. They
rush back and forth in the broad ways. Their
appearance is like torches. They run like
the lightnings. 2:5He summons his picked
troops. They stumble on their way. They
dash to its wall, and the protective shield
is put in place. 2:6The gates of the
rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved.
2:7It is decreed: she
is uncovered, she is carried away; and her
handmaids moan as with the voice of doves,
beating on their breasts. 2:8But Nineveh has
been from of old like a pool of water, yet
they flee away. "Stop! Stop!"
they cry, but no one looks back. 2:9Take the spoil of
silver. Take the spoil of gold, for there
is no end of the store, the glory of all
goodly furniture. 2:10She is empty, void,
and waste. The heart melts, the knees knock
together, their bodies and faces have grown
pale. 2:11Where is the den
of the lions, and the feeding-place of the
young lions, where the lion and the lioness
walked, the lion's cubs, and no one made
them afraid? 2:12The lion tore in pieces enough for his
cubs, and strangled for his lionesses, and
filled his caves with the kill, and his
dens with prey. 2:13"Behold, I am against you,"
says Yahweh of Hosts, "and I will burn
her chariots in the smoke, and the sword
will devour your young lions; and I will
cut off your prey from the earth, and the
voice of your messengers will no longer
be heard."
3:1Woe to the bloody city! It is all full
of lies and robbery. The prey doesn't depart.
3:2The noise of the
whip, the noise of the rattling of wheels,
prancing horses, and bounding chariots,
3:3the horseman mounting, and the flashing
sword, the glittering spear, and a multitude
of slain, and a great heap of corpses, and
there is no end of the bodies. They stumble
on their bodies, 3:4because of the multitude of the prostitution
of the alluring prostitute, the mistress
of witchcraft, who sells nations through
her prostitution, and families through her
witchcraft. 3:5"Behold, I am against you,"
says Yahweh of Hosts, "and I will lift
your skirts over your face. I will show
the nations your nakedness, and the kingdoms
your shame. 3:6I will throw abominable filth on you,
and make you vile, and will set you a spectacle.
3:7It will happen that
all those who look at you will flee from
you, and say, 'Nineveh is laid waste Who
will mourn for her?' Where will I seek comforters
for you?"
3:8Are you better than No-Amon, who was situated among the rivers, who had the waters
around her; whose rampart was the sea, and
her wall was of the sea? 3:9Cush and Egypt were her boundless strength.
Put and Libya were her helpers. 3:10Yet was she carried
away. She went into captivity. Her young
children also were dashed in pieces at the
head of all the streets, and they cast lots
for her honorable men, and all her great
men were bound in chains. 3:11You also will be drunken. You will be
hidden. You also will seek a stronghold
because of the enemy. 3:12All your fortresses will be like fig
trees with the first-ripe figs: if they
are shaken, they fall into the mouth of
the eater. 3:13Behold, your troops in your midst are
women. The gates of your land are set wide
open to your enemies. The fire has devoured
your bars. 3:14Draw water for the siege. Strengthen
your fortresses. Go into the clay, and tread
the mortar. Make the brick kiln strong.
3:15There the fire will devour you. The sword
will cut you off. It will devour you like
the grasshopper. Multiply like grasshoppers.
Multiply like the locust. 3:16You have increased your merchants more
than the stars of the skies. The grasshopper
strips, and flees away. 3:17Your guards are like the locusts, and
your officials like the swarms of locusts,
which settle on the walls on a cold day,
but when the sun appears, they flee away,
and their place is not known where they
are. 3:18Your shepherds slumber, king of Assyria.
Your nobles lie down. Your people are scattered
on the mountains, and there is no one to
gather them. 3:19There is no healing
your wound, for your injury is fatal. All
who hear the report of you clap their hands
over you; for who hasn't felt your endless
cruelty?
Notes:
[1] back
to 3:8 or, Thebes
[Index]
