Nahum 1

New American Standard Bible

God Is Awesome

1 The ^(A)pronouncement of ^(B)Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite:

²A ^(C)jealous and avenging God is the Lord;
The Lord is ^(D)avenging and ^[a]wrathful.
The Lord takes ^(E)vengeance on His adversaries,
And He reserves wrath for His enemies.
³The Lord is ^(F)slow to anger and great in power,
And the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.
In the ^(G)gale and the storm is His way,
And ^(H)clouds are the dust beneath His feet.
⁴He ^(I)rebukes the sea and dries it up;
He dries up all the rivers.
^(J)Bashan and Carmel wither,
The blossoms of Lebanon wither.
⁵Mountains ^(K)quake because of Him,
And the hills ^(L)come apart;
Indeed the earth is ^(M)upheaved by His presence,
The ^(N)world and all the inhabitants in it.
⁶^(O)Who can stand before His indignation?
Who can endure the ^(P)burning of His anger?
His ^(Q)wrath gushes forth like fire,
And the ^(R)rocks are broken up by Him.
⁷The Lord is ^(S)good,
A stronghold in the day of trouble,
And ^(T)He knows those who take refuge in Him.
⁸But with an ^(U)overflowing flood
He will make a complete end of ^[b]its site,
And will pursue His enemies into ^(V)darkness.

⁹Whatever you ^(W)devise against the Lord,
He will make a ^(X)complete end of it.
Distress will not rise up twice.
¹⁰Like tangled ^(Y)thorns,
And like those who are ^(Z)drunken with their drink,
They are ^(AA)consumed
Like stubble completely dried up.
¹¹From you has gone out
One who ^(AB)plotted evil against the Lord,
A ^[c]^(AC)wicked counselor.

¹²This is what the Lord says:

“Though they are at full strength and so they are many,
So also they will be ^(AD)cut off and pass away.
Though I have afflicted you,
I will afflict you ^(AE)no longer.
¹³So now, I will ^(AF)break his yoke from upon you,
And I will tear your shackles to pieces.”

¹⁴The Lord has issued a command concerning ^[d]you:
“^[e]Your name will ^(AG)no longer be perpetuated.
I will eliminate the ^(AH)carved image and the cast metal image
From the house of your gods.
I will prepare your ^(AI)grave,
For you are contemptible.”

¹⁵^[f]Behold, ^(AJ)on the mountains, the feet of him who brings good news,
Who announces peace!
^(AK)Celebrate your feasts, Judah,
Pay your vows.
For ^(AL)never again will the ^[g]wicked one pass through you;
He is ^(AM)eliminated completely.

Footnotes

Nahum 1:2 Lit a possessor of wrath
Nahum 1:8 I.e., Nineveh’s
Nahum 1:11 Or worthless; Heb Belial
Nahum 1:14 I.e., the king of Nineveh
Nahum 1:14 Lit No more of your name will be sown
Nahum 1:15 Ch 2:1 in Heb
Nahum 1:15 Or worthless one; Heb Belial

Nahum 2

New American Standard Bible

The Overthrow of Nineveh

2 ^[a]The one who ^(A)scatters has come up against ^[b]you.
Keep watch over the fortress, watch the road;
^[c]Bind up your waist, ^[d]summon all your strength.
²For the Lord will restore the ^(B)splendor of Jacob
^(C)Like the splendor of Israel,
Even though destroyers have laid waste to them
And ^(D)ruined their vines.

³The shields of ^[e]his warriors are dyed red,
The warriors are dressed in ^(E)scarlet,
The chariots are fitted with ^[f]flashing steel
^[g]When he is prepared to march,
And the juniper ^(F)spears are brandished.
⁴The ^(G)chariots drive wildly in the streets,
They rush around in the ^[h]public squares;
Their appearance is like torches,
They drive back and forth like lightning flashes.
⁵He remembers his ^(H)officers;
They ^(I)stumble in their advance,
They hurry to her wall,
And the ^[i]mantelet is set up.
⁶The gates of the rivers are opened
And the palace sways back and forth.
⁷It is set:
She is stripped, she is led away,
And her slave women are ^(J)sobbing like the sound of doves,
^(K)Beating their ^[j]breasts.

⁸Though Nineveh was like a pool of water throughout her days,
Yet they are fleeing;
“Stop, stop,”
But ^(L)no one turns back.
⁹Plunder the silver,
Plunder the ^(M)gold!
For there is no end to the treasure—
Wealth from every kind of desirable object.
¹⁰She is ^(N)emptied! Yes, she is desolate and waste!
^(O)Hearts are melting and knees wobbling!
Also trembling is in ^[k]the entire body,
And all their ^(P)faces have become pale!
¹¹Where is the den of the lions
And the feeding place of the ^(Q)young lions,
Where the lion, lioness, and lion’s cub went
With nothing to disturb them?
¹²The lion tore enough for his cubs,
^[l]Killed enough prey for his lionesses,
And filled his lairs with prey
And his dens with torn flesh.

¹³“Behold, ^(R)I am against you,” declares the Lord of armies. “I will ^(S)burn up her chariots in smoke, and a sword will devour your young lions; I will ^(T)eliminate your prey from the land, and no longer will the voice of your messengers be heard.”

Footnotes

Nahum 2:1 Ch 2:2 in Heb
Nahum 2:1 Lit your face
Nahum 2:1 Lit Strengthen your loins
Nahum 2:1 Lit strengthen power greatly
Nahum 2:3 I.e., those attacking Nineveh
Nahum 2:3 Lit fire of steel
Nahum 2:3 Lit On the day of his preparation
Nahum 2:4 Lit broad places
Nahum 2:5 I.e., a shield used for stopping projectiles
Nahum 2:7 Lit hearts
Nahum 2:10 Lit all the loins
Nahum 2:12 Lit Strangled

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.
²The ^(B)sound of the whip,
The sound of the roar of the wheel,
Galloping horses
And ^[a]bounding chariots!
³Horsemen 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!
⁴All 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.
⁶I will ^(L)throw filth on you
And ^(M)declare you worthless,
And set you up as a ^(N)spectacle.
⁷And 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?”

⁸Are 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.
¹⁰Yet 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.
¹¹You too will become ^(Y)drunk,
You will be ^(Z)hidden.
You too will search for a refuge from the enemy.
¹²All your fortifications are ^(AA)fig trees with ^[i]^(AB)ripe fruit—
When shaken, they fall into the eater’s mouth.
¹³Behold, 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!
¹⁵There ^(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.
¹⁶You have made your ^(AI)traders more numerous than the stars of heaven—
The creeping locust sheds its skin and flies away.
¹⁷Your ^(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.
¹⁸Your 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.
¹⁹There 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

2 Corinthians 4

New American Standard Bible

Paul’s Apostolic Ministry

4 Therefore, since we have this ^(A)ministry, as we ^(B)received mercy, we ^(C)do not lose heart, ²but we have renounced the ^(D)things hidden because of shame, not walking in trickery nor ^(E)distorting the word of God, but by the open proclamation of the truth ^(F)commending ourselves to every person’s conscience in the sight of God. ³And even if our ^(G)gospel is ^(H)veiled, it is veiled ^[a]to ^(I)those who are perishing, ⁴in whose case ^(J)the god of ^(K)this ^[b]world has ^(L)blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that ^[c]they will not see the ^(M)light of the gospel of the ^(N)glory of Christ, who is the ^(O)image of God. ⁵For we ^(P)do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants ^[d]on account of Jesus. ⁶For God, who said, “^(Q)Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has ^(R)shone in our hearts to give the ^(S)Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

⁷But we have this treasure in ^[e]^(T)earthen containers, so that the extraordinary greatness of ^(U)the power will be of God and not from ourselves; ⁸we are ^(V)afflicted in every way, but not ^(W)crushed; ^(X)perplexed, but not despairing; ⁹^(Y)persecuted, but not ^(Z)abandoned; ^(AA)struck down, but not destroyed; ¹⁰^(AB)always carrying around in the body the dying of Jesus, so that ^(AC)the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. ¹¹For we who live are constantly being handed over to death because of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our mortal flesh. ¹²So death works in us, but life in you.

¹³But having the same ^(AD)spirit of faith, according to what is written: “^(AE)I believed, therefore I spoke,” we also believe, therefore we also speak, ¹⁴knowing that He who ^(AF)raised the Lord Jesus ^(AG)will also raise us with Jesus, and will ^(AH)present us with you. ¹⁵For all things are ^(AI)for your sakes, so that grace, having ^[f]^(AJ)spread to more and more people, will cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

¹⁶Therefore we ^(AK)do not lose heart, but though our outer person is decaying, yet our ^(AL)inner person is ^(AM)being renewed day by day. ¹⁷For our momentary, ^(AN)light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, ¹⁸while we ^(AO)look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Footnotes

2 Corinthians 4:3 Lit among
2 Corinthians 4:4 Lit age
2 Corinthians 4:4 Or the light...image of God, will not shine upon them
2 Corinthians 4:5 Two early mss through Jesus
2 Corinthians 4:7 Or earthenware containers
2 Corinthians 4:15 Lit multiplied through the many

Psalm 149

New American Standard Bible

Israel Invoked to Praise the Lord.

149 ^[a]Praise ^[b]the Lord!
Sing a ^(A)new song to the Lord,
And His praise ^(B)in the congregation of the godly ones.
²Israel shall be joyful in ^(C)his Maker;
The sons of Zion shall rejoice in their ^(D)King.
³They shall praise His name with ^(E)dancing;
They shall sing praises to Him with ^(F)tambourine and lyre.
⁴For the Lord ^(G)takes pleasure in His people;
He will ^(H)glorify the lowly with salvation.

⁵The ^(I)godly ones shall be jubilant in glory;
They shall ^(J)sing for joy on their beds.
⁶The ^(K)high praises of God shall be in their ^[c]mouths,
And a ^(L)two-edged ^(M)sword in their hands,
⁷To ^(N)execute vengeance on the nations,
And punishment on the peoples,
⁸To bind their kings ^(O)with chains,
And their ^(P)dignitaries with shackles of iron,
⁹To ^(Q)execute against them the judgment written.
This is an ^(R)honor for all His godly ones.
^[d]Praise ^[e]the Lord!