Nahum 3
Modern English Version
Woe to Nineveh
3 Woe to the bloody city!
It is full of lies
and plunder.
The prey never departs.
2 The noise of the whip
and the noise of the rattling of the wheels,
galloping horses,
and rushing chariots!
3 Horsemen charging
with flashing sword
and glittering spear.
Multitude of slain,
great number of corpses,
dead bodies without end—
they stumble on the corpses—
4 because of the countless harlotries of the seductive harlot,
the mistress of sorceries,
who sells nations through her harlotries
and families through her sorceries.
5 I am against you, says the Lord of Hosts;
I will lift your skirts over your face,
and I will show the nations your nakedness,
and the kingdoms your shame.
6 I will throw filth on you,
and make you vile,
and make you a spectacle.
7 All who look at you will flee from you, and say,
“Nineveh is devastated! Who will lament for her?”
Where shall I seek comforters for you?
8 Are you better than Thebes
that sat by the Nile,
with water around her,
whose rampart was the sea,
and whose wall was the water?
9 Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was without limit;
Put and Libya were her helpers.
10 Yet she went into exile,
she went into captivity;
her young children were dashed to pieces
at the head of every street;
they cast lots for her honorable men,
and all her great men were bound in chains.
11 You also will be drunk;
you will go into hiding;
you will seek refuge from the enemy.
12 All your fortresses are like fig trees
with first-ripe figs:
If they are shaken,
they fall into the mouth of the eater.
13 Your troops
are women in your midst!
The gates of your land
are wide open to your enemies;
fire has devoured your bars.
14 Draw water for the siege!
Strengthen your forts!
Go into the clay and
tread the mortar!
Take hold of the brick mold!
15 There the fire will devour you,
the sword will cut you off;
it will eat you up like the locust.
Multiply yourselves—like the locust!
Multiply—like the grasshopper!
16 You have multiplied your merchants
more than the stars of heaven.
The locust plunders
and flies away.
17 Your leaders are like grasshoppers,
your commanders like swarms of locusts,
which camp in the hedges on a cold day;
when the sun rises they fly away,
and the place where they are is not known.
18 Your shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria;
Your nobles lie in the dust.
Your people are scattered on the mountains,
and no one gathers them.
19 There is no healing of your injury,
your wound is grievous.
All who hear news about you
clap their hands over you,
for upon whom has not your wickedness
continually passed?
Nahum 3
21st Century King James Version
3 Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not.
2 The noise of a whip and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the prancing horses and of the jumping chariots!
3 The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear, and there is a multitude of slain and a great number of carcasses. And there is no end of their corpses—they stumble upon their corpses”
4 because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavored harlot, the mistress of witchcraft, that selleth nations through her whoredom, and families through her witchcraft.
5 “Behold, I am against thee,” saith the Lord of hosts, “and I will uncover thy skirts upon thy face; and I will show the nations thy nakedness and the kingdoms thy shame.
6 And I will cast abominable filth upon thee and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazingstock.
7 And it shall come to pass that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee and say, ‘Nineveh is laid waste! Who will bemoan her?’ From whence shall I seek comforters for thee?”
8 Art thou better than populous No, that was situated among the rivers, that had the waters round about it, whose rampart was the sea and her wall was from the sea?
9 Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite; Put and Lubim were thy helpers.
10 Yet was she carried away; she went into captivity. Her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets; and they cast lots for her honorable men, and all her great men were bound in chains.
11 Thou also shalt be drunken; thou shalt be hid; thou also shalt seek strength because of the enemy.
12 All thy strongholds shall be like fig trees with the first ripe figs: if they be shaken, they shall even fall into the mouth of the eater.
13 Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women; the gates of thy land shall be set wide open unto thine enemies; the fire shall devour thy bars.
14 Draw thee waters for the siege! Fortify thy strongholds! Go into clay and tread the mortar; make strong the brickkiln!
15 There shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off; it shall eat thee up like the cankerworm. Make thyself many as the cankerworm, make thyself many as the locusts.
16 Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven. The cankerworm despoileth, and fleeth away.
17 Thy crowned ones are as the locusts, and thy captains as the great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day; but when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not knownwhere they are.
18 Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria; thy nobles shall dwell in the dust; thy people are scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them.
19 There is no healing of thy bruise; thy wound is grievous. All that hear the report of thee shall clap the hands over thee. For upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.
Copyright © 1994 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc.