Nahum 2:6-3:19

New King James Version

⁶The gates of the rivers are opened,
And the palace is dissolved.
⁷^[a]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.

⁸Though Nineveh of old was like a pool of water,
Now they flee away.
^[b]“Halt! Halt!” they cry;
But no one turns back.
⁹^[c]Take spoil of silver!
Take spoil of ^(A)gold!
There is no end of treasure,
Or wealth of every desirable prize.
¹⁰She is empty, desolate, and waste!
The heart melts, and the knees shake;
Much pain is in every side,
And all their faces ^[d]are drained of color.

¹¹Where 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?
¹²The lion tore in pieces enough for his cubs,
^[e]Killed for his lionesses,
^(C)Filled his caves with prey,
And his dens with ^[f]flesh.

¹³“Behold, ^(D)I am against you,” says the Lord of hosts, “I will burn ^[g]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.”

The Woe of Nineveh

3 Woe to the ^(F)bloody city!
It is all full of lies and robbery.
Its ^[h]victim never departs.
²The noise of a whip
And the noise of rattling wheels,
Of galloping horses,
Of ^[i]clattering chariots!
³Horsemen charge with bright sword and glittering spear.
There is a multitude of slain,
A great number of bodies,
Countless corpses—
They stumble over the corpses—
⁴Because of the multitude of ^[j]harlotries of the ^[k]seductive harlot,
^(G)The mistress of sorceries,
Who sells nations through her harlotries,
And families through her sorceries.

⁵“Behold, I am ^(H)against you,” says the Lord of hosts;
^(I)“I will lift your skirts over your face,
I will show the nations your nakedness,
And the kingdoms your shame.
⁶I will cast abominable filth upon you,
Make you ^(J)vile,^[l]
And make you ^(K)a spectacle.
⁷It shall come to pass that all who look upon you
^(L)Will flee from you, and say,
^(M)‘Nineveh is laid waste!
^(N)Who will bemoan her?’
Where shall I seek comforters for you?”

⁸^(O)Are you better than ^(P)No^[m] Amon
That was situated by the ^[n]River,
That had the waters around her,
Whose rampart was the sea,
Whose wall was the sea?
⁹Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength,
And it was boundless;
^(Q)Put and Lubim were ^[o]your helpers.
¹⁰Yet she was carried away,
She went into captivity;
^(R)Her young children also were dashed to pieces
^(S)At the head of every street;
They ^(T)cast lots for her honorable men,
And all her great men were bound in chains.
¹¹You also will be ^(U)drunk;
You will be hidden;
You also will seek refuge from the enemy.

¹²All your strongholds are ^(V)fig trees with ripened figs:
If they are shaken,
They fall into the mouth of the eater.
¹³Surely, ^(W)your people in your midst are women!
The gates of your land are wide open for your enemies;
Fire shall devour the ^(X)bars of your gates.

¹⁴Draw your water for the siege!
^(Y)Fortify your strongholds!
Go into the clay and tread the mortar!
Make strong the brick kiln!
¹⁵There the fire will devour you,
The sword will cut you off;
It will eat you up like a ^(Z)locust.

Make yourself many—like the locust!
Make yourself many—like the swarming locusts!
¹⁶You have multiplied your ^(AA)merchants more than the stars of heaven.
The locust plunders and flies away.
¹⁷^(AB)Your commanders are like swarming locusts,
And your generals like great grasshoppers,
Which camp in the hedges on a cold day;
When the sun rises they flee away,
And the place where they are is not known.

¹⁸^(AC)Your shepherds slumber, O ^(AD)king of Assyria;
Your nobles rest in the dust.
Your people are ^(AE)scattered on the mountains,
And no one gathers them.
¹⁹Your injury has no healing,
^(AF)Your wound is severe.
^(AG)All who hear news of you
Will clap their hands over you,
For upon whom has not your wickedness passed continually?