Nahum 2-3

English Standard Version

² For ^(C)the Lord is restoring the majesty of Jacob
    as the majesty of Israel,
for plunderers have plundered them
    and ^(D)ruined their branches.

³ The shield of his mighty men is red;
    ^(E)his soldiers are clothed in scarlet.
The chariots come with flashing metal
    on the day he musters them;
    the cypress spears are brandished.
^4 (F)The chariots race madly through the streets;
    they rush to and fro through the squares;
they gleam like torches;
    they dart like lightning.
⁵ He remembers ^(G)his officers;
    ^(H)they stumble as they go,
they hasten to the wall;
    the siege tower^[b] is set up.
^6 (I)The river gates are opened;
    the palace ^(J)melts away;
⁷ its mistress^[c] is ^(K)stripped;^[d] she is carried off,
    her slave girls ^(L)lamenting,
moaning like doves
    and beating their breasts.
^8 (M)Nineveh is like a pool
    whose waters run away.^[e]
“Halt! Halt!” they cry,
    but ^(N)none turns back.
⁹ Plunder the silver,
    plunder the gold!
There is no end of the treasure
    or of the wealth of all precious things.

^10 (O)Desolate! Desolation and ruin!
    ^(P)Hearts melt and ^(Q)knees tremble;
^(R)anguish is in all loins;
    ^(S)all faces grow pale!
¹¹ Where is the lions' den,
    the feeding place of ^(T)the young lions,
where the lion and lioness went,
    where his cubs were, with ^(U)none to disturb?
^12 (V)The lion tore enough for his cubs
    and ^(W)strangled prey for his lionesses;
he filled his caves with prey
    and his dens with torn flesh.

^5 (AJ)Behold, I am against you,
    declares the Lord of hosts,
    and ^(AK)will lift up your skirts over your face;
and I will make nations look at ^(AL)your nakedness
    and kingdoms at your shame.
⁶ I will throw filth at you
    and ^(AM)treat you with contempt
    and make you ^(AN)a spectacle.
⁷ And all who look at you ^(AO)will shrink from you and say,
“Wasted is ^(AP)Nineveh; ^(AQ)who will grieve for her?”
    ^(AR)Where shall I seek comforters for you?

^8 (AS)Are you better than ^(AT)Thebes^[g]
    that sat ^(AU)by the Nile,
with water around her,
    her rampart a sea,
    and water her wall?
^9 (AV)Cush was her strength;
    Egypt too, and that without limit;
    ^(AW)Put and the ^(AX)Libyans were her^[h] helpers.

^10 (AY)Yet she became an exile;
    she went into captivity;
^(AZ)her infants were dashed in pieces
    at the head of every street;
for her honored men ^(BA)lots were cast,
    ^(BB)and all her great men were bound in chains.
^11 (BC)You also will be drunken;
    you will go into hiding;
^(BD)you will seek a refuge from the enemy.
¹² All your fortresses are ^(BE)like fig trees
    with first-ripe figs—
if shaken they fall
    into the mouth of the eater.
¹³ Behold, your troops
    ^(BF)are women in your midst.
The gates of your land
    are wide open to your enemies;
    fire has devoured your bars.

^14 (BG)Draw water for the siege;
    ^(BH)strengthen your forts;
go into the clay;
    tread the mortar;
    take hold of the brick mold!
¹⁵ There will the fire devour you;
    the sword will cut you off.
    It will ^(BI)devour you ^(BJ)like the locust.
Multiply yourselves ^(BK)like the locust;
    multiply ^(BL)like the grasshopper!
¹⁶ You increased ^(BM)your merchants
    more than the stars of the heavens.
    ^(BN)The locust spreads its wings and flies away.

¹⁷ Your ^(BO)princes are ^(BP)like grasshoppers,
    ^(BQ)your scribes^[i] like clouds of locusts
settling on the fences
    in a day of cold—
when the sun rises, they fly away;
    no one knows where they are.

¹⁸ Your shepherds ^(BR)are asleep,
    O king of Assyria;
    ^(BS)your nobles slumber.
Your people ^(BT)are scattered on the mountains
    with none to gather them.
¹⁹ There is no easing your hurt;
    ^(BU)your wound is grievous.
All who hear the news about you
    ^(BV)clap their hands over you.
For ^(BW)upon whom has not come
    your unceasing evil?