Nahum 2
Lexham English Bible
The Divine Warrior Will Attack Nineveh
2 One who shatters[a] has come up against you!
Guard the fortification!
Watch the road![b]
Gird your loins!
Muster[c] all your strength!
2 For Yahweh will restore the majesty of Jacob
like the majesty of Israel;
for ravagers have ravaged them
and ruined their branches.
The Enemy Army Conquers the City of Nineveh
3 The shields of his warriors are dyed red;
The powerful men are dressed in scarlet.
The metal of the chariots[d] shines like fire on the day of battle,[e]
and their spears quiver.
4 The chariots[f] race madly through the streets;
they rush back and forth in the public squares.
Their appearance like lightning bolts,
they dart about like flashes of lightning.
5 He calls his officers;
they stumble as they march;
they rush to her wall;
they set the covering[g] in place.
6 The gates of the river are opened;
the palace trembles.
7 Her goddess is taken out and taken into exile;[h]
her maidservants moan like doves;
they beat on their breasts.
8 Nineveh is like a pool of water without its water.[i]
As they flee,[j] she cries, “Stop! Stop!”
But there is no one who turns back.
9 Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold!
There is no end to the spoils,[k]
an abundance of everything one could want![l]
10 Emptiness and plundering and devastation!
Their hearts faint and their knees tremble,[m]
All their loins shake[n] and all their faces turn[o] pale.
The Divine Warrior Will Hunt down the Mighty Lions
11 Where now is the den of the lions
and the cave of the fierce lions?
There the lioness, the cub, and the lion once prowled,[p]
and no one disturbed them.[q]
12 The lion tore apart enough prey for his cubs,
he strangled prey for his lioness;
he filled his lair[r] with prey
and his den with mangled carcass.
13 “Look! I am against you!” declares[s] Yahweh of hosts.
“I will burn her chariots with fire;[t]
the sword will devour fierce lions.
I will cut off your prey from the earth;
the voice of your messengers will no longer be heard.”
Footnotes
- Nahum 2:1 Literally “a shatterer”
- Nahum 2:1 Or “way”
- Nahum 2:1 Or “Collect”
- Nahum 2:3 Hebrew “chariot”
- Nahum 2:3 Literally “on the day of his preparation”
- Nahum 2:4 Hebrew “chariot”
- Nahum 2:5 The Hebrew word describes a small portable roof to protect siege warriors from arrows and debris hurled at them from the fortified city wall
- Nahum 2:7 Literally “It is decreed that she be exiled and led away.” MT reads the very enigmatic “And he is placed, she is sent into exile, she is taken up.” The BHS editors suggest the conjectural emendation “And her goddess = the idol of the patron deity of Nineveh is taken and taken into exile.” This is adopted in the translation on the basis of internal evidence
- Nahum 2:8 MT reads “from her days.” Greek LXX and Syriac Peshitta reflect “from her waters”
- Nahum 2:8 Literally “And they flee away”
- Nahum 2:9 Literally “the supply”
- Nahum 2:9 Literally “every kind of desirable object”
- Nahum 2:10 Or “totter”
- Nahum 2:10 Literally “And shaking of all loins”
- Nahum 2:10 Literally “gather”
- Nahum 2:11 Literally “went”
- Nahum 2:11 Literally “there is no one making them afraid”
- Nahum 2:12 Literally “his holes”
- Nahum 2:13 Literally “a declaration of”
- Nahum 2:13 Literally “with smoke”
Nahum 2
New King James Version
The Destruction of Nineveh
2 He[a] who scatters has come up before your face.
Man the fort!
Watch the road!
Strengthen your flanks!
Fortify your power mightily.
2 For the Lord will restore the excellence of Jacob
Like the excellence of Israel,
For the emptiers have emptied them out
And ruined their vine branches.
3 The shields of his mighty men are made red,
The valiant men are in scarlet.
The chariots come with flaming torches
In the day of his preparation,
And [b]the spears are brandished.
4 The chariots rage in the streets,
They jostle one another in the broad roads;
They seem like torches,
They run like lightning.
5 He remembers his nobles;
They stumble in their walk;
They make haste to her walls,
And the defense is prepared.
6 The gates of the rivers are opened,
And the palace is dissolved.
7 [c]It is decreed:
She shall be led away captive,
She shall be brought up;
And her maidservants shall lead her as with the voice of doves,
Beating their breasts.
8 Though Nineveh of old was like a pool of water,
Now they flee away.
[d]“Halt! Halt!” they cry;
But no one turns back.
9 [e]Take spoil of silver!
Take spoil of (A)gold!
There is no end of treasure,
Or wealth of every desirable prize.
10 She is empty, desolate, and waste!
The heart melts, and the knees shake;
Much pain is in every side,
And all their faces [f]are drained of color.
11 Where is the dwelling of the (B)lions,
And the feeding place of the young lions,
Where the lion walked, the lioness and lion’s cub,
And no one made them afraid?
12 The lion tore in pieces enough for his cubs,
[g]Killed for his lionesses,
(C)Filled his caves with prey,
And his dens with [h]flesh.
13 “Behold, (D)I am against you,” says the Lord of hosts, “I will burn [i]your chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions; I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your (E)messengers shall be heard no more.”
Footnotes
- Nahum 2:1 Vg. He who destroys
- Nahum 2:3 Lit. the cypresses are shaken; LXX, Syr. the horses rush about; Vg. the drivers are stupefied
- Nahum 2:7 Heb. Huzzab
- Nahum 2:8 Lit. Stand
- Nahum 2:9 Plunder
- Nahum 2:10 LXX, Tg., Vg. gather blackness; Joel 2:6
- Nahum 2:12 Lit. Strangled
- Nahum 2:12 Torn flesh
- Nahum 2:13 Lit. her
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
