Nahum 2 - Habakkuk 1

New King James Version

² For 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.

³ The 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.
⁴ The chariots rage in the streets,
They jostle one another in the broad roads;
They seem like torches,
They run like lightning.

⁵ He remembers his nobles;
They stumble in their walk;
They make haste to her walls,
And the defense is prepared.
⁶ The 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.

⁸ Though 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.
¹⁰ She 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.

¹¹ Where 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?
¹² The 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.

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

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

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

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

Make yourself many—like the locust!
Make yourself many—like the swarming locusts!
¹⁶ You have multiplied your ^(AA)merchants more than the stars of heaven.
The locust plunders and flies away.
^17 (AB)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 (AC)Your shepherds slumber, O ^(AD)king of Assyria;
Your nobles rest in the dust.
Your people are ^(AE)scattered on the mountains,
And no one gathers them.
¹⁹ Your injury has no healing,
^(AF)Your wound is severe.
^(AG)All who hear news of you
Will clap their hands over you,
For upon whom has not your wickedness passed continually?

⁹ “They all come for violence;
Their faces are set like the east wind.
They gather captives like sand.
¹⁰ They scoff at kings,
And princes are scorned by them.
They deride every stronghold,
For they heap up earthen mounds and seize it.
¹¹ Then his ^[v]mind changes, and he transgresses;
He commits offense,
^(AQ)Ascribing this power to his god.”

¹⁵ They take up all of them with a hook,
They catch them in their net,
And gather them in their dragnet.
Therefore they rejoice and are glad.
¹⁶ Therefore ^(AU)they sacrifice to their net,
And burn incense to their dragnet;
Because by them their share is ^[w]sumptuous
And their food plentiful.
¹⁷ Shall they therefore empty their net,
And continue to slay nations without pity?