Nahum 3
New Living Translation
The Lord’s Judgment against Nineveh
3 What sorrow awaits Nineveh,
the city of murder and lies!
She is crammed with wealth
and is never without victims.
2 Hear the crack of whips,
the rumble of wheels!
Horses’ hooves pound,
and chariots clatter wildly.
3 See the flashing swords and glittering spears
as the charioteers charge past!
There are countless casualties,
heaps of bodies—
so many bodies that
people stumble over them.
4 All this because Nineveh,
the beautiful and faithless city,
mistress of deadly charms,
enticed the nations with her beauty.
She taught them all her magic,
enchanting people everywhere.
5 “I am your enemy!”
says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
“And now I will lift your skirts
and show all the earth your nakedness and shame.
6 I will cover you with filth
and show the world how vile you really are.
7 All who see you will shrink back and say,
‘Nineveh lies in ruins.
Where are the mourners?’
Does anyone regret your destruction?”
8 Are you any better than the city of Thebes,[a]
situated on the Nile River, surrounded by water?
She was protected by the river on all sides,
walled in by water.
9 Ethiopia[b] and the land of Egypt
gave unlimited assistance.
The nations of Put and Libya
were among her allies.
10 Yet Thebes fell,
and her people were led away as captives.
Her babies were dashed to death
against the stones of the streets.
Soldiers threw dice[c] to get Egyptian officers as servants.
All their leaders were bound in chains.
11 And you, Nineveh, will also stagger like a drunkard.
You will hide for fear of the attacking enemy.
12 All your fortresses will fall.
They will be devoured like the ripe figs
that fall into the mouths
of those who shake the trees.
13 Your troops will be as weak
and helpless as women.
The gates of your land will be opened wide to the enemy
and set on fire and burned.
14 Get ready for the siege!
Store up water!
Strengthen the defenses!
Go into the pits to trample clay,
and pack it into molds,
making bricks to repair the walls.
15 But the fire will devour you;
the sword will cut you down.
The enemy will consume you like locusts,
devouring everything they see.
There will be no escape,
even if you multiply like swarming locusts.
16 Your merchants have multiplied
until they outnumber the stars.
But like a swarm of locusts,
they strip the land and fly away.
17 Your guards[d] and officials are also like swarming locusts
that crowd together in the hedges on a cold day.
But like locusts that fly away when the sun comes up,
all of them will fly away and disappear.
18 Your shepherds are asleep, O Assyrian king;
your princes lie dead in the dust.
Your people are scattered across the mountains
with no one to gather them together.
19 There is no healing for your wound;
your injury is fatal.
All who hear of your destruction
will clap their hands for joy.
Where can anyone be found
who has not suffered from your continual cruelty?
Nahum 3
Legacy Standard Bible
Woe to Nineveh
3 (A)Woe to the city of [a]bloodshed, completely full of deception and pillage;
Her prey never departs.
2 The (B)sound of the whip,
And the sound of the rumbling of the wheel,
Galloping horses,
And [b]bounding chariots!
3 Horsemen charging,
And swords flaming, and (C)spears flashing,
(D)Many slain, a mass of corpses,
And (E)there is no end to dead bodies—
They stumble over [c]the dead bodies!
4 All because of the (F)many harlotries of the harlot,
The charming one, the (G)mistress of sorceries,
Who (H)sells nations by her harlotries
And families by her sorceries.
5 “Behold, (I)I am against you,” declares Yahweh of hosts;
“And I will (J)uncover your skirts over your face
And (K)show to the nations your nakedness
And to the kingdoms your disgrace.
6 I will (L)throw detestable filth on you
And (M)display you as a wicked fool
And set you up as a (N)spectacle.
7 And it will be that all who see you
Will flee from you and say,
‘Nineveh is devastated!
(O)Who will console her?’
Where will I seek comforters for you?”
8 Are you better than [d](P)No-amon,
Which sits along the (Q)waters of the Nile,
With water surrounding her,
Whose rampart was [e]the sea,
Whose wall consisted of [f]the sea?
9 [g](R)Ethiopia was her might,
And Egypt too, without end.
(S)Put and (T)Lubim were among [h]her helpers.
10 Yet she (U)became an exile;
She went into captivity;
Also her (V)infants were dashed 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 fetters.
11 You too will become (Y)drunk;
You will be (Z)hidden.
You too will search for a strong defense 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 the siege!
(AF)Strengthen your fortifications!
Go into the clay and tread the mortar!
[j]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 locust does.
Multiply yourself like the creeping locust,
Multiply yourself like the swarming locust.
16 You have increased your (AI)traders more than the stars of heaven—
The creeping locust [k]strips and flies away.
17 Your [l](AJ)guardsmen are like the swarming locust.
Your (AK)marshals are like a locust-swarm
Encamping in the stone walls 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)mighty ones are [m]lying down.
Your people are (AO)scattered on the mountains,
And there is no one to regather them.
19 There is (AP)no relief for your breakdown,
Your (AQ)wound is incurable.
All who hear the report about you
Will (AR)clap their hands over you,
For on whom has not your evil passed continually?
Footnotes
- Nahum 3:1 Or blood, cf. Ezek 22:2; 24:6
- Nahum 3:2 Lit skipping
- Nahum 3:3 Lit their
- Nahum 3:8 The city of Amon: Thebes
- Nahum 3:8 The Nile
- Nahum 3:8 The Nile
- Nahum 3:9 Or Cush, cf. Gen 10:6
- Nahum 3:9 Lit your
- Nahum 3:12 Lit first fruits
- Nahum 3:14 Or strengthen, cf. 3:14a
- Nahum 3:16 Strips vegetation; or molts
- Nahum 3:17 Or officials
- Nahum 3:18 Lit dwelling
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