Nahum 3
Christian Standard Bible
Nineveh’s Downfall
3 Woe to the city of blood,(A)
totally deceitful,
full of plunder,
never without prey.(B)
2 The crack of the whip
and rumble of the wheel,
galloping horse
and jolting chariot!(C)
3 Charging horseman,
flashing sword,
shining spear;
heaps of slain,
mounds of corpses,(D)
dead bodies without end(E)—
they stumble over their dead.
4 Because of the continual prostitution of the prostitute,
the attractive mistress of sorcery,
who treats nations and clans like merchandise
by her prostitution and sorcery,(F)
5 I am against you.(G)
This is the declaration of the Lord of Armies.
I will lift your skirts over your face
and display your nakedness to nations,
your shame to kingdoms.(H)
6 I will throw filth on you
and treat you with contempt;(I)
I will make a spectacle of you.
7 Then all who see you will recoil from you, saying,(J)
“Nineveh is devastated;
who will show sympathy to her?”
Where can I find anyone to comfort you?
8 Are you better than Thebes[a](K)
that sat along the Nile
with water surrounding her,
whose rampart was the sea,
the river[b][c] her wall?
9 Cush and Egypt were her endless source of strength;
Put and Libya were among her[d] allies.
10 Yet she became an exile;
she went into captivity.
Her children were also dashed to pieces(L)
at the head of every street.
They cast lots for her dignitaries,(M)
and all her nobles were bound in chains.
11 You[e] also will become drunk;
you will hide.[f]
You also will seek refuge from the enemy.
12 All your fortresses are fig trees
with figs that ripened first;
when shaken, they fall—
right into the mouth of the eater!
13 Look, your troops are like women among you;
your land’s city gates
are wide open to your enemies.
Fire will devour the bars of your gates.
14 Draw water for the siege;
strengthen your fortresses.
Step into the clay and tread the mortar;
take hold of the brick-mold!
15 The fire will devour you there;
the sword will cut you down.
It will devour you like the young locust.(N)
Multiply yourselves like the young locust;
multiply like the swarming locust!
16 You have made your merchants(O)
more numerous than the stars of the sky.
The young locust strips[g] the land
and flies away.
17 Your court officials are like the swarming locust,
and your scribes like clouds of locusts,
which settle on the walls on a cold day;
when the sun rises, they take off,
and no one knows where they are.
18 King of Assyria, your shepherds slumber;(P)
your officers sleep.
Your people are scattered across the mountains(Q)
with no one to gather them together.(R)
19 There is no remedy for your injury;
your wound is severe.(S)
All who hear the news about you
will clap their hands because of you,(T)
for who has not experienced
your constant cruelty?
Nahum 3
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Ruin Imminent and Inevitable
3 Woe, city of bloodshed,
utterly deceitful, full of plunder—
no end to the prey!(A)
2 The crack of whip and rumble of wheel,
galloping horse and bounding chariot!(B)
3 Horsemen charging,
flashing sword and glittering spear,
piles of dead,
heaps of corpses,
dead bodies without end—
they stumble over the bodies!(C)
4 Because of the countless debaucheries of the prostitute,
gracefully alluring, mistress of sorcery,
who enslaves[a] nations through her debaucheries
and peoples through her sorcery,(D)
5 I am against you,
says the Lord of hosts,
and will lift up your skirts over your face,
and I will let nations look on your nakedness
and kingdoms on your shame.(E)
6 I will throw filth at you
and treat you with contempt
and make you a spectacle.(F)
7 Then all who see you will shrink from you and say,
“Nineveh is devastated; who will bemoan her?”
Where shall I seek comforters for you?(G)
8 Are you better than Thebes[b]
that sat by the Nile,
with water around her,
her rampart a sea,
water her wall?(H)
9 Cush was her strength,
Egypt, too, and that without limit;
Put and the Libyans were her[c] helpers.(I)
10 Yet she became an exile;
she went into captivity;
even her infants were dashed in pieces
at the head of every street;
lots were cast for her nobles;
all her dignitaries were bound in fetters.(J)
11 You also will be drunken;
you will go into hiding;[d]
you will seek
a refuge from the enemy.(K)
12 All your fortresses are like fig trees
with first-ripe figs—
if shaken they fall
into the mouth of the eater.(L)
13 Look at your troops:
they are women in your midst.
The gates of your land
are wide open to your foes;
fire has devoured the bars of your gates.(M)
14 Draw water for the siege;
strengthen your forts;
trample the clay;
tread the mortar;
take hold of the brick mold!
15 There the fire will devour you;
the sword will cut you off.
It will devour you like the locust.
Multiply yourselves like the locust;
multiply like the grasshopper!(N)
16 You increased your merchants
more than the stars of the heavens.
The locust sheds its skin and flies away.
17 Your guards are like grasshoppers,
your scribes like swarms[e] of locusts
settling on the fences
on a cold day—
when the sun rises, they fly away;
no one knows where they have gone.
18 Your shepherds are asleep,
O king of Assyria;
your nobles slumber.
Your people are scattered on the mountains
with no one to gather them.(O)
19 There is no assuaging your hurt;
your wound is mortal.
All who hear the news about you
clap their hands over you.
For who has ever escaped
your endless cruelty?(P)
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New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.