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
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.