Nahum 3
International Children’s Bible
It Will Be Terrible for Nineveh
3 How terrible it will be for the city which has killed so many.
It is full of lies.
It is full of stolen things from other countries.
It is always hurting or killing somebody.
2 Hear the sound of whips.
Listen to the wheels.
Hear horses galloping
and chariots bouncing along!
3 Soldiers on horses are charging.
Their swords are shining.
Their spears are gleaming!
There are many bodies.
Dead people are piled up.
There are too many to count.
People fall over the dead bodies.
4 The city was like a prostitute.
She was charming and a lover of magic.
She made nations slaves with her evil ways
and her witchcraft.
5 “I am against you, Nineveh,” says the Lord of heaven’s armies.
“I will pull your dress up over your face.
I will show the nations your nakedness.
And I will show the kingdoms your shame.
6 I will throw dirt on you.
I will make a fool of you.
People will see you and make fun of you.
7 Everyone who sees you will run away and say,
‘Nineveh is in ruins. Who will cry for her?’
Nineveh, I cannot find anyone to comfort you.”
8 Nineveh, you are no better than Thebes.[a]
She sits by the Nile River
with water all around her.
The river was her defense.
The waters were like a wall around her.
9 Cush and Egypt gave her endless strength.
Put and Libya supported her.
10 But Thebes was captured.
And she went into captivity.
Her small children were beaten to death
at every street corner.
Lots were thrown for her important men.
And all of her leaders were put in chains.
11 Nineveh, you will be drunk, too.
You will hide.
You will look for a place safe from the enemy.
12 All your defenses are like fig trees with ripe fruit.
When the tree is shaken, the figs fall into the mouth of the eater.
13 Look at your soldiers.
They are all women!
The gates of your land
are wide open for your enemies.
Fire has burned the bars of those gates.
14 Get enough water before the attack begins.
Make your defenses strong!
Make the bricks.
Mix the mortar.
Repair the wall!
15 There the fire will burn you up.
The sword will kill you.
Like grasshoppers eating crops, the battle will completely destroy you.
Grow in number like hopping locusts.
Grow in number like swarming locusts!
16 Your traders are more than the stars in the sky.
But like locusts, they strip the land and then fly away.
17 Your guards are like locusts.
Your officers are like swarms of locusts
that settle in the walls on a cold day.
But when the sun comes up they fly away.
And no one knows where they have gone.
18 King of Assyria, your rulers are asleep.
Your important men lie down to rest.
Your people have been scattered on the mountains.
And there is no one to bring them back.
19 Nothing can heal your wound.
Your injury will not heal.
Everyone who hears about you applauds
because everyone has felt your endless cruelty.
Footnotes
- 3:8 Thebes A great city in Egypt.
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.
2 The noise of a whip
And the noise of rattling wheels,
Of galloping horses,
Of [b]clattering chariots!
3 Horsemen 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—
4 Because 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.
6 I will cast abominable filth upon you,
Make you (E)vile,[e]
And make you (F)a spectacle.
7 It 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?
9 Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength,
And it was boundless;
(L)Put and Lubim were [h]your helpers.
10 Yet 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.
11 You also will be (P)drunk;
You will be hidden;
You also will seek refuge from the enemy.
12 All your strongholds are (Q)fig trees with ripened figs:
If they are shaken,
They fall into the mouth of the eater.
13 Surely, (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.
14 Draw your water for the siege!
(T)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 (U)locust.
Make yourself many—like the locust!
Make yourself many—like the swarming locusts!
16 You 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.
19 Your 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?
那鸿书 3
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Simplified)
尼尼微的灾祸
3 充满血腥的尼尼微有祸了！
城中充满诡诈和暴力，
害人的事从未止息。
2 鞭声啪啪，车轮隆隆，
战马奔腾，战车疾驰，
3 骑士冲锋，刀光闪闪，矛枪生辉；
被杀者众多，尸骨成堆，
人们被遍地的尸体绊倒。
4 这全是因为尼尼微像妖媚的妓女大肆淫乱，
惯行邪术，
以淫行诱惑列国，
靠邪术欺骗各族。
5 万军之耶和华说：
“我要与你为敌。
我要把你的衣裙掀到你脸上，
使列国看见你的裸体，
使列邦看见你的羞耻。
6 我要把可憎之物抛在你身上，
侮辱你，
让众人观看。
7 凡看见你的都要逃避，说，
‘尼尼微毁灭了！
谁会为她悲伤呢？’
我到哪里去寻找安慰你的人呢？”
8 你能强过底比斯[a]吗？
底比斯位于尼罗河上，
四面环水，
水是她的屏障，
又是她的城墙。
9 古实和埃及是她无穷的力量，
弗人和利比亚人是她的帮手。
10 可是，她却被掳到远方，
她的婴孩被摔死在各个街头。
她的官长被抽签瓜分，
她所有的首领都被锁链锁着。
11 尼尼微啊，
你也必像醉汉一样，
你必寻找藏身之处躲避敌人。
12 你所有的堡垒都像无花果树上的初熟果子，
一摇树，果子就掉进吃的人口中。
13 看啊，
你的军队就像柔弱的女人，
你境内的关口向敌人敞开，
你的门闩被火烧毁。
14 你要蓄水以防围困，
要加强防御！
要走进土坑踩泥，
拿起砖模造砖！
15 但在那里，火要吞噬你，
刀剑要杀戮你，
要像蝗虫吞没你。
你只管像蝗虫一样繁殖，
如蚱蜢一般增多吧！
16 你的商贾多过天上的繁星，
但他们像吃光后飞去的蝗虫。
17 你的臣仆像蝗虫，
你的将领像成群的蚱蜢。
它们寒日聚集在墙上，
太阳一出来就飞走了，
无人知道它们的行踪。
18 亚述王啊！
你的牧人沉睡，贵族酣眠，
你的百姓分散在群山上，
无人招聚他们。
19 你的创伤无法救治，
你的伤势极其严重。
听见这消息的人必鼓掌欢呼，
因为谁没受过你无休止的暴虐呢？
Footnotes
- 3:8 “底比斯”希伯来文是“挪亚们”。
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Chinese Contemporary Bible Copyright © 1979, 2005, 2007, 2011 by Biblica® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.