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The Lord’s Anger Against Nineveh
The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord takes vengeance and is filled with wrath. The Lord takes vengeance on his foes and vents his wrath against his enemies.
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The Lord is slow to anger but great in power; the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished. His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust of his feet.
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Who can withstand his indignation? Who can endure his fierce anger? His wrath is poured out like fire; the rocks are shattered before him.
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The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him,
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They will be entangled among thorns and drunk from their wine; they will be consumed like dry stubble.
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This is what the Lord says: “Although they have allies and are numerous, they will be destroyed and pass away. Although I have afflicted you, Judah, I will afflict you no more.
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The Lord will restore the splendor of Jacob like the splendor of Israel, though destroyers have laid them waste and have ruined their vines.
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The chariots storm through the streets, rushing back and forth through the squares. They look like flaming torches; they dart about like lightning.
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Nineveh summons her picked troops, yet they stumble on their way. They dash to the city wall; the protective shield is put in place.
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It is decreed that Nineveh be exiled and carried away. Her female slaves moan like doves and beat on their breasts.
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Nineveh is like a pool whose water is draining away. “Stop! Stop!” they cry, but no one turns back.
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Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold! The supply is endless, the wealth from all its treasures!
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She is pillaged, plundered, stripped! Hearts melt, knees give way, bodies tremble, every face grows pale.
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Where now is the lions’ den, the place where they fed their young, where the lion and lioness went, and the cubs, with nothing to fear?
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“I am against you,” declares the Lord Almighty. “I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show the nations your nakedness and the kingdoms your shame.
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All who see you will flee from you and say, ‘Nineveh is in ruins—who will mourn for her?’ Where can I find anyone to comfort you?”
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All your fortresses are like fig trees with their first ripe fruit; when they are shaken, the figs fall into the mouth of the eater.
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There the fire will consume you; the sword will cut you down— they will devour you like a swarm of locusts. Multiply like grasshoppers, multiply like locusts!
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You have increased the number of your merchants till they are more numerous than the stars in the sky, but like locusts they strip the land and then fly away.
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Your guards are like locusts, your officials like swarms of locusts that settle in the walls on a cold day— but when the sun appears they fly away, and no one knows where.
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Nothing can heal you; your wound is fatal. All who hear the news about you clap their hands at your fall, for who has not felt your endless cruelty?
