Consider Assyria,(A) once a cedar in Lebanon,(B)
    with beautiful branches overshadowing the forest;
it towered on high,
    its top above the thick foliage.(C)

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33 See, the Lord, the Lord Almighty,
    will lop off(A) the boughs with great power.
The lofty trees will be felled,(B)
    the tall(C) ones will be brought low.(D)
34 He will cut down(E) the forest thickets with an ax;
    Lebanon(F) will fall before the Mighty One.(G)

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20 The tree you saw, which grew large and strong, with its top touching the sky, visible to the whole earth, 21 with beautiful leaves and abundant fruit, providing food for all, giving shelter to the wild animals, and having nesting places in its branches for the birds(A) 22 Your Majesty, you are that tree!(B) You have become great and strong; your greatness has grown until it reaches the sky, and your dominion extends to distant parts of the earth.(C)

23 “Your Majesty saw a holy one,(D) a messenger, coming down from heaven and saying, ‘Cut down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump, bound with iron and bronze, in the grass of the field, while its roots remain in the ground. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven; let him live with the wild animals, until seven times pass by for him.’(E)

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10 These are the visions I saw while lying in bed:(A) I looked, and there before me stood a tree in the middle of the land. Its height was enormous.(B)

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22 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will take a shoot(A) from the very top of a cedar and plant it; I will break off a tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty mountain.(B)

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Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: A great eagle(A) with powerful wings, long feathers and full plumage of varied colors came to Lebanon.(B) Taking hold of the top of a cedar, he broke off(C) its topmost shoot and carried it away to a land of merchants, where he planted it in a city of traders.

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15 “The thornbush said to the trees, ‘If you really want to anoint me king over you, come and take refuge in my shade;(A) but if not, then let fire come out(B) of the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!’(C)

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Wail, you juniper, for the cedar has fallen;
    the stately trees are ruined!
Wail, oaks(A) of Bashan;
    the dense forest(B) has been cut down!(C)

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Assyria

13 He will stretch out his hand against the north
    and destroy Assyria,(A)
leaving Nineveh(B) utterly desolate
    and dry as the desert.(C)

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Woe to Nineveh

Woe to the city of blood,(A)
    full of lies,(B)
full of plunder,
    never without victims!
The crack of whips,
    the clatter of wheels,
galloping horses
    and jolting chariots!
Charging cavalry,
    flashing swords
    and glittering spears!
Many casualties,
    piles of dead,
bodies without number,
    people stumbling over the corpses(C)
all because of the wanton lust of a prostitute,
    alluring, the mistress of sorceries,(D)
who enslaved nations by her prostitution(E)
    and peoples by her witchcraft.

“I am against(F) you,” declares the Lord Almighty.
    “I will lift your skirts(G) over your face.
I will show the nations your nakedness(H)
    and the kingdoms your shame.
I will pelt you with filth,(I)
    I will treat you with contempt(J)
    and make you a spectacle.(K)
All who see you will flee(L) from you and say,
    ‘Nineveh(M) is in ruins(N)—who will mourn for her?’(O)
    Where can I find anyone to comfort(P) you?”

Are you better than(Q) Thebes,(R)
    situated on the Nile,(S)
    with water around her?
The river was her defense,
    the waters her wall.
Cush[a](T) and Egypt were her boundless strength;
    Put(U) and Libya(V) were among her allies.
10 Yet she was taken captive(W)
    and went into exile.
Her infants were dashed(X) to pieces
    at every street corner.
Lots(Y) were cast for her nobles,
    and all her great men were put in chains.(Z)
11 You too will become drunk;(AA)
    you will go into hiding(AB)
    and seek refuge from the enemy.

12 All your fortresses are like fig trees
    with their first ripe fruit;(AC)
when they are shaken,
    the figs(AD) fall into the mouth of the eater.
13 Look at your troops—
    they are all weaklings.(AE)
The gates(AF) of your land
    are wide open to your enemies;
    fire has consumed the bars of your gates.(AG)

14 Draw water for the siege,(AH)
    strengthen your defenses!(AI)
Work the clay,
    tread the mortar,
    repair the brickwork!
15 There the fire(AJ) will consume you;
    the sword(AK) will cut you down—
    they will devour you like a swarm of locusts.
Multiply like grasshoppers,
    multiply like locusts!(AL)
16 You have increased the number of your merchants
    till they are more numerous than the stars in the sky,
but like locusts(AM) they strip the land
    and then fly away.
17 Your guards are like locusts,(AN)
    your officials like swarms of locusts
    that settle in the walls on a cold day—
but when the sun appears they fly away,
    and no one knows where.

18 King of Assyria, your shepherds[b] slumber;(AO)
    your nobles lie down to rest.(AP)
Your people are scattered(AQ) on the mountains
    with no one to gather them.
19 Nothing can heal you;(AR)
    your wound is fatal.
All who hear the news about you
    clap their hands(AS) at your fall,
for who has not felt
    your endless cruelty?(AT)

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Footnotes

  1. Nahum 3:9 That is, the upper Nile region
  2. Nahum 3:18 That is, rulers

12 Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit abundant, and on it was food for all. Under it the wild animals found shelter, and the birds lived in its branches;(A) from it every creature was fed.

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16 I made the nations tremble(A) at the sound of its fall when I brought it down to the realm of the dead to be with those who go down to the pit. Then all the trees(B) of Eden,(C) the choicest and best of Lebanon, the well-watered trees, were consoled(D) in the earth below.(E)

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All the birds of the sky
    nested in its boughs,
all the animals of the wild
    gave birth(A) under its branches;
all the great nations
    lived in its shade.(B)

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24 By your messengers
    you have ridiculed the Lord.
And you have said,
    ‘With my many chariots(A)
I have ascended the heights of the mountains,
    the utmost heights(B) of Lebanon.(C)
I have cut down its tallest cedars,
    the choicest of its junipers.(D)
I have reached its remotest heights,
    the finest of its forests.

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