Nahum 3
New American Standard Bible
Nineveh’s Complete Ruin
3 (A)Woe to the bloody city, completely full of lies and pillage;
Her prey does not leave.
2 The (B)sound of the whip,
The sound of the roar of the wheel,
Galloping horses
And [a]bounding chariots!
3 Horsemen charging,
Swords flashing, (C)spears gleaming,
(D)Many killed, a mass of corpses,
And there is (E)no end to the dead bodies—
They stumble over [b]the dead bodies!
4 All because of the (F)many sexual acts of the prostitute,
The charming one, the (G)mistress of sorceries,
Who (H)sells nations by her sexual acts,
And families by her sorceries.
5 “Behold, (I)I am against you,” declares the Lord of armies;
“And I will [c](J)lift up your skirts over your face,
And (K)show the nations your nakedness,
And the kingdoms your shame.
6 I will (L)throw filth on you
And (M)declare you worthless,
And set you up as a (N)spectacle.
7 And it will come about that all who see you
Will [d]shrink from you and say,
‘Nineveh is devastated!
(O)Who will have sympathy for her?’
Where shall I seek comforters for you?”
8 Are you better than [e](P)No-amon,
Which was situated by the (Q)canals of the Nile,
With water surrounding her,
Whose rampart was [f]the sea,
Whose wall consisted of [g]the sea?
9 (R)Ethiopia was her might,
Egypt too, without limits.
(S)Put and (T)Lubim were among [h]her helpers.
10 Yet she (U)became an exile,
She went into captivity;
Also her (V)small children were smashed to pieces
(W)At the head of every street;
They (X)cast lots for her honorable men,
And all her great men were bound with shackles.
11 You too will become (Y)drunk,
You will be (Z)hidden.
You too will search for a refuge from the enemy.
12 All your fortifications are (AA)fig trees with [i](AB)ripe fruit—
When shaken, they fall into the eater’s mouth.
13 Behold, your people are (AC)women in your midst!
The gates of your land are (AD)opened wide to your enemies;
Fire consumes your gate bars.
14 (AE)Draw for yourself water for a siege!
(AF)Strengthen your fortifications!
Go into the clay and tread the mortar!
Take hold of the brick mold!
15 There (AG)fire will consume you,
The sword will cut you down;
It will (AH)consume you as the creeping locust consumes a crop.
Multiply yourself like the creeping locust,
Multiply yourself like the migratory locust.
16 You have made your (AI)traders more numerous than the stars of heaven—
The creeping locust sheds its skin and flies away.
17 Your (AJ)courtiers are like the migratory locust.
Your (AK)officials are like a swarm of locusts
Settling in the stone shelters on a cold day.
The sun rises and they flee,
And the place where they are is not known.
18 Your shepherds are (AL)sleeping, O (AM)king of Assyria;
Your (AN)officers are lying down.
Your people are (AO)scattered on the mountains
And there is no one to gather them.
19 There is (AP)no relief for your collapse,
Your (AQ)wound is incurable.
All who hear [j]about you
Will (AR)clap their hands over you,
For upon whom has your evil not come continually?
Footnotes
- Nahum 3:2 Lit leaping
- Nahum 3:3 Lit their
- Nahum 3:5 Lit uncover your private parts
- Nahum 3:7 Lit flee
- Nahum 3:8 I.e., the city of Amon: Thebes
- Nahum 3:8 I.e., the Nile
- Nahum 3:8 I.e., the Nile
- Nahum 3:9 Lit your
- Nahum 3:12 Lit first fruits
- Nahum 3:19 Lit your report
Nahum 3
Amplified Bible
Nineveh’s Complete Ruin
3 Woe (judgment is coming) to the city of blood [guilty of murder and mayhem], completely full of lies and pillage;
Her prey never departs [alive].(A)
2
The noise of the [cracking of the] whip,
The noise of the rattling of the wheel,
Galloping horses
And rumbling and bounding chariots [in the assault of Nineveh]!
3
Horsemen charging,
Swords flashing, spears gleaming,
Many slain, a mass of corpses,
No end of corpses—
The horsemen stumble over the corpses!
4
All because of the many acts of prostitution of [Nineveh] the prostitute,
The charming and well-favored one, the mistress of sorceries,
Who betrays nations by her acts of prostitution (idolatry)
And families by her sorceries.
5
“Behold, I am against you,” declares the Lord of hosts,
“And I will lift up your skirts over your face,
And I will let the nations look at your nakedness [O Nineveh]
And the kingdoms at your disgrace.
6
“I will throw filth on you
And make you vile and treat you with contempt,
And set you up as a spectacle.
7
“And it will come about that all who see you
Will shrink back and run from you and say,
‘Nineveh is completely ruined!
Who will grieve for her?’
Where will I seek comforters for you?”
8
Are you better than [a]Thebes,
Which was situated by the waters of the Nile,
With water surrounding her,
Whose defense was the sea (the Nile),
Whose wall consisted of the sea?
9
Ethiopia was her strength,
And Egypt too, without limits.
[b]Put and Lubim were among her helpers.
10
Yet she became an 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 with chains.
11
You too [Nineveh] will become drunk [with the cup of God’s wrath];
You will be hidden.
You too [Nineveh] will search [in vain] for a refuge from the enemy.
12
All your fortresses are [nothing but] fig trees with ripe figs—
When shaken they fall into the mouth of the eater.
13
Behold, your people are [as weak and helpless as] women in your midst!
The gates of your land are opened wide to your enemies;
Fire consumes the bars across your gates.
14
Draw water for a [long, continued] siege!
Strengthen your fortresses!
Go down to the clay pits, trample the mortar!
Prepare the brick kiln [to burn bricks for the rampart]!
15
But there [in the very midst of these preparations] the fire will devour you;
The sword will cut you down;
It will devour you as the locust does.
Multiply yourself like the creeping locusts;
Multiply yourself like the swarming locusts.
16
You have increased your traders more than the [visible] stars of heaven—
The creeping locust strips and destroys and then flies away.
17
Your guardsmen are like the swarming locusts.
Your marshals are like the hordes of grasshoppers
Settling in the stone walls on a cold day.
When the sun rises, they fly away,
And no one knows the place where they are.
18
Your shepherds are asleep, O king of Assyria;
Your nobles are lying down [in death].
Your people are scattered on the mountains
And there is no one to gather them.
19
There is no relief and healing for your hurt;
Your wound is incurable.
All who hear the news about you
Clap their hands over [what has happened to] you.
For on whom has your [unceasing] evil not come continually?
Nahum 3
Young's Literal Translation
3 Wo [to] the city of blood, She is all with lies -- burglary -- full, Prey doth not depart.
2 The sound of a whip, And the sound of the rattling of a wheel, And of a prancing horse, and of a bounding chariot, Of a horseman mounting.
3 And the flame of a sword, and the lightning of a spear, And the abundance of the wounded, And the weight of carcases, Yea, there is no end to the bodies, They stumble over their bodies.
4 Because of the abundance of the fornications of an harlot, The goodness of the grace of the lady of witchcrafts, Who is selling nations by her fornications, And families by her witchcrafts.
5 Lo, I [am] against thee, An affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts, And have removed thy skirts before thy face, And have shewed nations thy nakedness, And kingdoms thy shame,
6 And I have cast upon thee abominations, And dishonoured thee, and made thee as a sight.
7 And it hath come to pass, Each of thy beholders fleeth from thee, And hath said: `Spoiled is Nineveh, Who doth bemoan for her?' Whence do I seek comforters for thee?
8 Art thou better than No-Ammon, That is dwelling among brooks? Waters she hath round about her, Whose bulwark [is] the sea, waters her wall.
9 Cush her might, and Egypt, and there is no end. Put and Lubim have been for thy help.
10 Even she doth become an exile, She hath gone into captivity, Even her sucklings are dashed to pieces At the top of all out-places, And for her honoured ones they cast a lot, And all her great ones have been bound in fetters.
11 Even thou art drunken, thou art hidden, Even thou dost seek a strong place, because of an enemy.
12 All thy fortresses [are] fig-trees with first-fruits, If they are shaken, They have fallen into the mouth of the eater.
13 Lo, thy people [are] women in thy midst, To thine enemies thoroughly opened Have been the gates of thy land, Consumed hath fire thy bars.
14 Waters of a siege draw for thyself, Strengthen thy fortresses, Enter into mire, and tread on clay, Make strong a brick-kiln.
15 There consume thee doth a fire, Cut thee off doth a sword, It doth consume thee as a cankerworm! Make thyself heavy as the cankerworm, Make thyself heavy as the locust.
16 Multiply thy merchants above the stars of the heavens, The cankerworm hath stripped off, and doth flee away.
17 Thy crowned ones [are] as a locust, And thy princes as great grasshoppers, That encamp in hedges in a day of cold, The sun hath risen, and it doth flee away, And not known is its place where they are.
18 Slumbered have thy friends, king of Asshur, Rest do thine honourable ones, Scattered have been thy people on the mountains, And there is none gathering.
19 There is no weakening of thy destruction, Grievous [is] thy smiting, All hearing thy fame have clapped the hand at thee, For over whom did not thy wickedness pass continually?
Nahum 3
Easy-to-Read Version
Bad News for Nineveh
3 It will be very bad for that city of murderers.
Nineveh is a city full of lies.
It is filled with things taken from other countries.
It is filled with plenty of people that it hunted and killed.
2 You can hear the sounds of whips
and the noise of wheels.
You can hear horses galloping
and chariots bouncing along!
3 Soldiers on horses are attacking,
their swords are shining,
their spears are gleaming!
There are many dead people.
Dead bodies are piled up—too many bodies to count.
People are tripping over the dead bodies.
4 All this happened because of Nineveh.
Nineveh is like a prostitute who could never get enough.
She wanted more and more.
She sold herself to many nations,
and she used her magic to make them her slaves.
5 The Lord All-Powerful says,
“I am against you, Nineveh.
I will pull your dress[a] up over your face.
I will let the nations see your naked body.
The kingdoms will see your shame.
6 I will throw dirty things on you
and treat you in a hateful way.
People will look at you and laugh.
7 Everyone who sees you will be shocked.
They will say, ‘Nineveh is destroyed.
Who will cry for her?’
I know I cannot find anyone to comfort you, Nineveh.”
8 Nineveh, are you better than Thebes[b] on the Nile River? Thebes also had water all around her to protect herself from enemies. She used that water like a wall too. 9 Ethiopia and Egypt made Thebes strong. Libya and the Sudan supported her, 10 but Thebes was defeated. Her people were taken away as prisoners to a foreign country. Soldiers beat her small children to death at every street corner. They threw lots to see who got to keep the important people as slaves. They put chains on all the important men of Thebes.
11 So, Nineveh, you will also fall like a drunk. You will try to hide. You will look for a safe place away from the enemy. 12 But Nineveh, all your strong places will be like fig trees. When new figs become ripe, people come and shake the tree. The figs fall into their mouths. They eat them, and the figs are gone.
13 Nineveh, your people are all like women—and the enemy soldiers are ready to take them. The gates of your land are open wide for your enemies to come in. Fire has destroyed the wooden bars across the gates.
14 Get water and store it inside your city, because the enemy soldiers will surround your city. Make your defenses strong! Get clay to make more bricks and mix the mortar. Get the molds for making bricks. 15 You can do all these things, but the fire will still destroy you completely. And the sword will kill you. Your land will look like a swarm of grasshoppers came and ate everything.
Nineveh, you grew and grew. You became like a swarm of grasshoppers. You were like a swarm of locusts. 16 You have many traders who go places and buy things. They are as many as the stars in the sky. They are like locusts that come and eat until everything is gone and then leave. 17 And your government officials are also like locusts that settle on a stone wall on a cold day. But when the sun comes up, the rocks become warm, and the locusts all fly away. And no one knows where.
18 King of Assyria, your shepherds fell asleep. These powerful men are sleeping. And now your sheep have wandered away on the mountains. There is no one to bring them back. 19 Nineveh, you have been hurt badly, and nothing can heal your wound. Everyone who hears the news of your destruction claps their hands. They are all happy, because they all felt the pain you caused again and again.
Nahum 3
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 pransing 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 carcases; and there is none end of their corpses; they stumble upon their corpses:
4 Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts.
5 Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts; and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will shew 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? whence shall I seek comforters for thee?
8 Art thou better than populous No, that was situate 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 honourable 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 strong holds shall be like fig trees with the firstripe 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 strong holds: go into clay, and tread the morter, 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 spoileth, and fleeth away.
17 Thy crowned 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 known where they are.
18 Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell in the dust: thy people is 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 bruit of thee shall clap the hands over thee: for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International