Nahum 3
Contemporary English Version
Punishment for Nineveh
The Lord said:
3 Doom to the crime capital!
Nineveh, city of murder
and treachery,
2 here is your fate—
cracking whips,
churning wheels;
galloping horses,
roaring chariots;
3 cavalry attacking,
swords and spears flashing;
soldiers stumbling
over piles of dead bodies.
4 You were nothing more
than a prostitute
using your magical charms
and witchcraft
to attract and trap nations.
5 But I, the Lord All-Powerful,
am now your enemy.
I will pull up your skirt
and let nations and kingdoms
stare at your nakedness.
6 I will cover you with garbage,
treat you like trash,
and rub you in the dirt.
7 Everyone who sees you
will turn away and shout,
“Nineveh is done for!
Is anyone willing to mourn
or to give her comfort?”
Nineveh's Fate Is Sealed
8 Nineveh, do you feel safer
than the city of Thebes?[a]
The Nile River
was its wall of defense.[b]
9 Thebes trusted the mighty power
of Ethiopia[c] and Egypt;
the nations of Put[d] and Libya
were her allies.
10 But she was captured and taken
to a foreign country.
Her children were murdered
at every street corner.
The members of her royal family
were auctioned off,
and her high officials
were bound in chains.
11 Nineveh, now it's your turn!
You will get drunk and try to hide
from your enemy.
12 Your fortresses are fig trees
with ripe figs.
Merely shake the trees,
and fruit will fall
into every open mouth.
13 Your army is weak.
Fire has destroyed the crossbars
on your city gates;
now they stand wide open
to your enemy.
14 Your city is under attack.
Haul in extra water!
Strengthen your defenses!
Start making bricks!
Stir the mortar!
15 You will still go up in flames
and be cut down by swords
that will wipe you out like a field
attacked by grasshoppers.
So, go ahead and increase
like a swarm of locusts![e]
16 More merchants are in your city
than there are stars
in the sky—
but they are like locusts
that eat everything,
then fly away.
17 Your guards and your officials
are swarms of locusts.
On a chilly day
they settle on a fence,
but when the sun comes out,
they take off
to who-knows-where.
18 King of Assyria,
your officials and leaders
are sound asleep,
while your people are scattered
in the mountains.
Yes, your people are sheep
without a shepherd.
19 You're fatally wounded.
There's no hope for you.
But everyone claps
when they hear this news,
because your constant cruelty
has caused them pain.
Footnotes
- 3.8 Thebes: In 663 b.c., the Assyrian King Ashurbanipal captured this Egyptian city, which seems to have been built with protection similar to that of Nineveh.
- 3.8 was its … defense: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 3.9 Ethiopia: The Hebrew text has “Cush,” which was a region south of Egypt that included parts of the present countries of Ethiopia and Sudan.
- 3.9 Put: A region in Africa, possibly part of the present country of Libya.
- 3.15 locusts: A type of grasshopper that comes in swarms and causes great damage to plant life.
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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