Nahum 3
International Standard Version
The Coming Judgment of Nineveh
3 Woe to this city, contaminated with shed blood,
all full of lies and robberies—
it is[a] never without victims!
2 The crack of whips
and the clamor of wheels!
The galloping horses
and the bounding chariots!
3 The cavalry attacks—
the flashing sword
and the glittering spear!
Many are the slain—
so many casualties!—
No end to bodies,
and the soldiers[b] trip over the corpses.
4 Innumerable are the harlotries of this well-favored whore,
this mistress of witchcraft,
who enslaves nations through her fornication
and families through her sorcery.
God’s Decree against Nineveh
5 “Look, I am against you,” declares the Lord of the Heavenly Armies,
“so I will pull up your dress over your face.
I will show your nakedness to the nations,
and your disgrace to the kingdoms.
6 I will hurl abominable filth upon you,
making you look foolish,
and making an example of you.
7 It will be that everyone who looks at you will run away, saying,
‘Nineveh has been violently overthrown!
Who will mourn for her?
Where will I find anyone to comfort you?’”
Thebes: an Example of God’s Justice
8 “Are you any better than Thebes,[c]
which sits by the upper Nile, surrounded by water?
The sea was her defense,
the waters her wall of protection.[d]
9 Sudan[e] was her source of strength, along with Egypt—
there were no limits.
Put and the Libyans were her allies.
10 But she, too, was exiled—
she went into captivity!
Her young children were dashed to pieces
at every crossroad of their streets,
and her famous citizens were sold by lottery,
while all of her aristocrats were put in chains.
11 You will also become drunk.
You will disappear,
trying to hide from your enemies.
12 All your defenses are like fig trees with ripe early fruit—
when shaken, it falls right into the devourer’s mouth.
13 Look at your people—[f]
they are women!
Your borders stand wide open to your enemies,
while fire consumes the bars of your gates.”
The Futility of Avoiding God’s Judgment
14 “Draw water, because a siege is coming![g]
Strengthen your fortresses!
Make the clay good and strong!
Mix the mortar!
Go get your brick molds![h]
15 In that place fire will consume you,
the sword will cut you down,
consuming you as locusts do.
Multiply yourself like locusts,
increase like swarming grasshoppers.
16 You added to your inventory of businessmen—
they number more than the stars of heaven.
The creeping locust sheds its skin and flies away.
17 Your imperial guards are like the swarming grasshopper;
your marshals are like hordes of grasshoppers,
settling in the stone walls on a chilly day.
The sun rises, and they flee away;
no one knows where they went.
18 Hey king of Assyria! Your shepherds are asleep
and your nobles are lying down!
Your people lie scattered on the mountains,
and there is no one to gather them together.
19 There is no healing for your injury—
your wound is fatal.
Everyone who hears about you will applaud,
because who hasn’t escaped your endless evil?”
Footnotes
- Nahum 3:1 The Heb. lacks it is
- Nahum 3:3 Lit. They
- Nahum 3:8 Lit. than No-Amon; i.e. Thebes, capital of southern Egypt (cf. Jer 46.25)
- Nahum 3:8 The Heb. lacks of protection
- Nahum 3:9 Lit. Cush
- Nahum 3:13 I.e. Nineveh’s army
- Nahum 3:14 The Heb. lacks coming
- Nahum 3:14 I.e. this verse appears to be affirming the uselessness of constructing a defense against God’s coming judgment.
Nahum 3
Lexham English Bible
The Doom of the Wicked City is Certain
3 Woe to the city that has shed much blood![a]
She is a deceiver,[b]
She is filled with plunder,
She has hoarded her spoils of war.[c]
2 The crack of the whip!
The rumbling of the chariot wheel!
The galloping of the horse!
The racing of the chariot!
3 Chariots charge!
Swords flash!
Spears glitter!
Many corpses are piled high![d]
There is no end to the slain!
They stumble over their dead!
Harlot Nineveh Will Get What She Deserves
4 “Because of the many idolatries of the prostitute,
the beautiful charm of a mistress of witchcraft,
she who enslaves nations by her harlotries,
and peoples by her sorceries,
5 “Look! I am against you!” declares[e]Yahweh.
“I will strip up your skirts over your face;
I will let nations look at your nakedness and your shame.
6 “I will throw filth upon you,
I will treat you with contempt,
I will make you a spectacle.
7 “And it will be that everyone who sees you will flee from you,
And they[f] will say, ‘Nineveh is destroyed!’
Who will mourn for her?
From whence shall I seek comforters for you?”
Nineveh Will Suffer the Same Fate She Inflicted on Thebes
8 Are you better than Thebes?[g]
She who sits at the Nile, surrounded by her waters,
her rampart was the sea and water was her wall.
9 Cush was her strength, Egypt without end;
Put and Libya were among your allies.[h]
10 Yet she went into captivity as an exile;
her children were dashed to pieces at the head of the streets;
they cast lots for all of her nobles;
all of her dignitaries were bound with chains.
11 You also will behave like a drunkard;
You also will hide yourself;
You also will seek refuge from the enemy.
Nineveh’s Defenses Will Fail
12 All of your fortifications are like fig trees with ripe firstfruits—
if they are shaken, they will fall into the mouth of the eater.
13 Look! Your troops are like women in your midst.
The gates of your land are wide open to your enemies;
fire will consume the bars of your gates.
14 Draw water for a siege!
Strengthen your fortifications!
Go to the mud pit!
Trample the clay!
Grasp the brick mold!
15 There fire will consume you;
the sword will cut you off.
It will consume you like the locust.
Nineveh’s Defenders Will Flee
Multiply yourself like the locust!
Multiply yourself like the grasshopper!
16 You have increased your merchants more than the stars of heaven;
like the locust they will shed their skin and fly away.
17 Your officials are like locusts;
your commanders are like a swarm of locusts.
They encamp on the walls on a cold day;
when the sun rises, they fly away—
no one knows where they have gone.
Nineveh Will Come to an End
18 Your shepherds are sleeping, O king of Assyria!
Your nobles slumber.
Your people are scattered on the mountains;
no one can gather them.
19 There is no healing for your wound;
your injury is fatal.
All who hear the report of you will clap their hands for joy concerning you,
For who has not suffered at the hands of your endless cruelty?[i]
Footnotes
- Nahum 3:1 Literally “bloods”
- Nahum 3:1 Literally “All of her is deception”
- Nahum 3:1 Literally “Prey does not depart”
- Nahum 3:3 Literally “Many dead, piles of corpses”
- Nahum 3:5 Literally “a declaration of”
- Nahum 3:7 Hebrew “he”
- Nahum 3:8 Hebrew “No-Amon”
- Nahum 3:9 Literally “your helpers”
- Nahum 3:19 Literally “For over whom has your endless cruelty not passed?”
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