Nahum 1

New King James Version

God’s Mercy and Judgment

1 The ^[a]burden ^(A)against Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.

God’s Wrath on His Enemies

²God is ^(B)jealous, and the Lord avenges;
The Lord avenges and is furious.
The Lord will take vengeance on His adversaries,
And He reserves wrath for His enemies;
³The Lord is ^(C)slow to anger and ^(D)great in power,
And will not at all acquit the wicked.

^(E)The Lord has His way
In the whirlwind and in the storm,
And the clouds are the dust of His feet.
⁴^(F)He rebukes the sea and makes it dry,
And dries up all the rivers.
^(G)Bashan and Carmel wither,
And the flower of Lebanon wilts.
⁵The mountains quake before Him,
The hills melt,
And the earth ^[b]heaves at His presence,
Yes, the world and all who dwell in it.

⁶Who can stand before His indignation?
And ^(H)who can endure the fierceness of His anger?
His fury is poured out like fire,
And the rocks are thrown down by Him.

⁷^(I)The Lord is good,
A stronghold in the day of trouble;
And ^(J)He knows those who trust in Him.
⁸But with an overflowing flood
He will make an utter end of its place,
And darkness will pursue His enemies.

⁹^(K)What do you ^[c]conspire against the Lord?
^(L)He will make an utter end of it.
Affliction will not rise up a second time.
¹⁰For while tangled ^(M)like thorns,
^(N)And while drunken like drunkards,
^(O)They shall be devoured like stubble fully dried.
¹¹From you comes forth one
Who plots evil against the Lord,
A ^[d]wicked counselor.

¹²Thus says the Lord:

“Though they are ^[e]safe, and likewise many,
Yet in this manner they will be ^(P)cut down
When he passes through.
Though I have afflicted you,
I will afflict you no more;
¹³For now I will break off his yoke from you,
And burst your bonds apart.”

¹⁴The Lord has given a command concerning you:
^[f]“Your name shall be perpetuated no longer.
Out of the house of your gods
I will cut off the carved image and the molded image.
I will dig your ^(Q)grave,
For you are ^(R)vile.”^[g]

¹⁵Behold, on the mountains
The ^(S)feet of him who brings good tidings,
Who proclaims peace!
O Judah, keep your appointed feasts,
Perform your vows.
For the ^[h]wicked one shall no more pass through you;
He is ^(T)utterly cut off.

Footnotes

Nahum 1:1 oracle, prophecy
Nahum 1:5 Tg. burns
Nahum 1:9 Or devise
Nahum 1:11 Lit. counselor of Belial
Nahum 1:12 Or at peace or complete
Nahum 1:14 Lit. No more of your name shall be fruitful
Nahum 1:14 Or contemptible
Nahum 1:15 Lit. one of Belial

Nahum 2

New King James Version

The Destruction of Nineveh

2 He^[a] who scatters has come up before your face.
Man the fort!
Watch the road!
Strengthen your flanks!
Fortify your power mightily.

²For the Lord will restore the excellence of Jacob
Like the excellence of Israel,
For the emptiers have emptied them out
And ruined their vine branches.

³The shields of his mighty men are made red,
The valiant men are in scarlet.
The chariots come with flaming torches
In the day of his preparation,
And ^[b]the spears are brandished.
⁴The chariots rage in the streets,
They jostle one another in the broad roads;
They seem like torches,
They run like lightning.

⁵He remembers his nobles;
They stumble in their walk;
They make haste to her walls,
And the defense is prepared.
⁶The gates of the rivers are opened,
And the palace is dissolved.
⁷^[c]It is decreed:
She shall be led away captive,
She shall be brought up;
And her maidservants shall lead her as with the voice of doves,
Beating their breasts.

⁸Though Nineveh of old was like a pool of water,
Now they flee away.
^[d]“Halt! Halt!” they cry;
But no one turns back.
⁹^[e]Take spoil of silver!
Take spoil of ^(A)gold!
There is no end of treasure,
Or wealth of every desirable prize.
¹⁰She is empty, desolate, and waste!
The heart melts, and the knees shake;
Much pain is in every side,
And all their faces ^[f]are drained of color.

¹¹Where is the dwelling of the ^(B)lions,
And the feeding place of the young lions,
Where the lion walked, the lioness and lion’s cub,
And no one made them afraid?
¹²The lion tore in pieces enough for his cubs,
^[g]Killed for his lionesses,
^(C)Filled his caves with prey,
And his dens with ^[h]flesh.

¹³“Behold, ^(D)I am against you,” says the Lord of hosts, “I will burn ^[i]your chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions; I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your ^(E)messengers shall be heard no more.”

Footnotes

Nahum 2:1 Vg. He who destroys
Nahum 2:3 Lit. the cypresses are shaken; LXX, Syr. the horses rush about; Vg. the drivers are stupefied
Nahum 2:7 Heb. Huzzab
Nahum 2:8 Lit. Stand
Nahum 2:9 Plunder
Nahum 2:10 LXX, Tg., Vg. gather blackness; Joel 2:6
Nahum 2:12 Lit. Strangled
Nahum 2:12 Torn flesh
Nahum 2:13 Lit. her

Nahum 3

New King James Version

The Woe of Nineveh

3 Woe to the ^(A)bloody city!
It is all full of lies and robbery.
Its ^[a]victim never departs.
²The noise of a whip
And the noise of rattling wheels,
Of galloping horses,
Of ^[b]clattering chariots!
³Horsemen charge with bright sword and glittering spear.
There is a multitude of slain,
A great number of bodies,
Countless corpses—
They stumble over the corpses—
⁴Because of the multitude of ^[c]harlotries of the ^[d]seductive harlot,
^(B)The mistress of sorceries,
Who sells nations through her harlotries,
And families through her sorceries.

⁵“Behold, I am ^(C)against you,” says the Lord of hosts;
^(D)“I will lift your skirts over your face,
I will show the nations your nakedness,
And the kingdoms your shame.
⁶I will cast abominable filth upon you,
Make you ^(E)vile,^[e]
And make you ^(F)a spectacle.
⁷It shall come to pass that all who look upon you
^(G)Will flee from you, and say,
^(H)‘Nineveh is laid waste!
^(I)Who will bemoan her?’
Where shall I seek comforters for you?”

⁸^(J)Are you better than ^(K)No^[f] Amon
That was situated by the ^[g]River,
That had the waters around her,
Whose rampart was the sea,
Whose wall was the sea?
⁹Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength,
And it was boundless;
^(L)Put and Lubim were ^[h]your helpers.
¹⁰Yet she was carried away,
She went into captivity;
^(M)Her young children also were dashed to pieces
^(N)At the head of every street;
They ^(O)cast lots for her honorable men,
And all her great men were bound in chains.
¹¹You also will be ^(P)drunk;
You will be hidden;
You also will seek refuge from the enemy.

¹²All your strongholds are ^(Q)fig trees with ripened figs:
If they are shaken,
They fall into the mouth of the eater.
¹³Surely, ^(R)your people in your midst are women!
The gates of your land are wide open for your enemies;
Fire shall devour the ^(S)bars of your gates.

¹⁴Draw your water for the siege!
^(T)Fortify your strongholds!
Go into the clay and tread the mortar!
Make strong the brick kiln!
¹⁵There the fire will devour you,
The sword will cut you off;
It will eat you up like a ^(U)locust.

Make yourself many—like the locust!
Make yourself many—like the swarming locusts!
¹⁶You have multiplied your ^(V)merchants more than the stars of heaven.
The locust plunders and flies away.
¹⁷^(W)Your commanders are like swarming locusts,
And your generals like great grasshoppers,
Which camp in the hedges on a cold day;
When the sun rises they flee away,
And the place where they are is not known.

¹⁸^(X)Your shepherds slumber, O ^(Y)king of Assyria;
Your nobles rest in the dust.
Your people are ^(Z)scattered on the mountains,
And no one gathers them.
¹⁹Your injury has no healing,
^(AA)Your wound is severe.
^(AB)All who hear news of you
Will clap their hands over you,
For upon whom has not your wickedness passed continually?

Footnotes

Nahum 3:1 Lit. prey
Nahum 3:2 bounding or jolting
Nahum 3:4 Spiritual unfaithfulness
Nahum 3:4 Lit. goodly charm, in a bad sense
Nahum 3:6 despicable
Nahum 3:8 Ancient Thebes; Tg., Vg. populous Alexandria
Nahum 3:8 Lit. rivers, the Nile and the surrounding canals
Nahum 3:9 LXX her

2 Corinthians 4

New King James Version

The Light of Christ’s Gospel

4 Therefore, since we have this ministry, ^(A)as we have received mercy, we ^(B)do not lose heart. ²But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor ^[a]handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth ^(C)commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. ³But even if our gospel is veiled, ^(D)it is veiled to those who are perishing, ⁴whose minds ^(E)the god of this age ^(F)has blinded, who do not believe, lest ^(G)the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, ^(H)who is the image of God, should shine on them. ⁵^(I)For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ^(J)ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶For it is the God ^(K)who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has ^(L)shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Cast Down but Unconquered

⁷But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, ^(M)that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. ⁸We are ^(N)hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹persecuted, but not ^(O)forsaken; ^(P)struck down, but not destroyed— ¹⁰^(Q)always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, ^(R)that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. ¹¹For we who live ^(S)are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. ¹²So then death is working in us, but life in you.

¹³And since we have ^(T)the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, ^(U)“I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak, ¹⁴knowing that ^(V)He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. ¹⁵For ^(W)all things are for your sakes, that ^(X)grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.

Seeing the Invisible

¹⁶Therefore we ^(Y)do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is ^(Z)being renewed day by day. ¹⁷For ^(AA)our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, ¹⁸^(AB)while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Footnotes

2 Corinthians 4:2 adulterating the word of God

Psalm 149

New King James Version

Praise to God for His Salvation and Judgment

149 Praise^[a] the Lord!

^(A)Sing to the Lord a new song,
And His praise in the assembly of saints.

²Let Israel rejoice in their Maker;
Let the children of Zion be joyful in their ^(B)King.
³^(C)Let them praise His name with the dance;
Let them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp.
⁴For ^(D)the Lord takes pleasure in His people;
^(E)He will beautify the ^[b]humble with salvation.

⁵Let the saints be joyful in glory;
Let them ^(F)sing aloud on their beds.
⁶Let the high praises of God be in their mouth,
And ^(G)a two-edged sword in their hand,
⁷To execute vengeance on the nations,
And punishments on the peoples;
⁸To bind their kings with chains,
And their nobles with fetters of iron;
⁹^(H)To execute on them the written judgment—
^(I)This honor have all His saints.