18 Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:

“I will punish the king of Babylon and his land
    as I punished the king(A) of Assyria.(B)

Read full chapter

12 When the Lord has finished all his work(A) against Mount Zion(B) and Jerusalem, he will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria(C) for the willful pride(D) of his heart and the haughty look(E) in his eyes.

Read full chapter

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)
14 Flocks and herds(D) will lie down there,
    creatures of every kind.
The desert owl(E) and the screech owl(F)
    will roost on her columns.
Their hooting will echo through the windows,
    rubble will fill the doorways,
    the beams of cedar will be exposed.
15 This is the city of revelry(G)
    that lived in safety.(H)
She said to herself,
    “I am the one! And there is none besides me.”(I)
What a ruin she has become,
    a lair for wild beasts!(J)
All who pass by her scoff(K)
    and shake their fists.(L)

Read full chapter

A prophecy(A) concerning Nineveh.(B) The book of the vision(C) of Nahum the Elkoshite.

The Lord’s Anger Against Nineveh

The Lord is a jealous(D) and avenging God;
    the Lord takes vengeance(E) and is filled with wrath.
The Lord takes vengeance on his foes
    and vents his wrath against his enemies.(F)
The Lord is slow to anger(G) but great in power;
    the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished.(H)
His way is in the whirlwind(I) and the storm,(J)
    and clouds(K) are the dust of his feet.

Read full chapter

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)
The waters(D) nourished it,
    deep springs made it grow tall;
their streams flowed
    all around its base
and sent their channels
    to all the trees of the field.(E)
So it towered higher(F)
    than all the trees of the field;
its boughs increased
    and its branches grew long,
    spreading because of abundant waters.(G)
All the birds of the sky
    nested in its boughs,
all the animals of the wild
    gave birth(H) under its branches;
all the great nations
    lived in its shade.(I)
It was majestic in beauty,
    with its spreading boughs,
for its roots went down
    to abundant waters.(J)
The cedars(K) in the garden of God
    could not rival it,
nor could the junipers
    equal its boughs,
nor could the plane trees(L)
    compare with its branches—
no tree in the garden of God
    could match its beauty.(M)
I made it beautiful
    with abundant branches,
the envy of all the trees of Eden(N)
    in the garden of God.(O)

10 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because the great cedar towered over the thick foliage, and because it was proud(P) of its height, 11 I gave it into the hands of the ruler of the nations, for him to deal with according to its wickedness. I cast it aside,(Q) 12 and the most ruthless of foreign nations(R) cut it down and left it. Its boughs fell on the mountains and in all the valleys;(S) its branches lay broken in all the ravines of the land. All the nations of the earth came out from under its shade and left it.(T) 13 All the birds settled on the fallen tree, and all the wild animals lived among its branches.(U) 14 Therefore no other trees by the waters are ever to tower proudly on high, lifting their tops above the thick foliage. No other trees so well-watered are ever to reach such a height; they are all destined(V) for death,(W) for the earth below, among mortals who go down to the realm of the dead.(X)

15 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On the day it was brought down to the realm of the dead I covered the deep springs with mourning for it; I held back its streams, and its abundant waters were restrained. Because of it I clothed Lebanon with gloom, and all the trees of the field withered away.(Y) 16 I made the nations tremble(Z) 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(AA) of Eden,(AB) the choicest and best of Lebanon, the well-watered trees, were consoled(AC) in the earth below.(AD) 17 They too, like the great cedar, had gone down to the realm of the dead, to those killed by the sword,(AE) along with the armed men who lived in its shade among the nations.

Read full chapter

36 Then the angel(A) of the Lord went out and put to death(B) a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian(C) camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! 37 So Sennacherib(D) king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh(E) and stayed there.

38 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple(F) of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat.(G) And Esarhaddon(H) his son succeeded him as king.(I)

Read full chapter

Bible Gateway Recommends