Bible in 90 Days
Restoration of Israel
11 On that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen, and I will repair its breaches and will raise up its ruins and will build it like the days of old. 12 Thus they may take possession of the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name,”[a] declares[b] Yahweh, who does this. 13 “Look, days are coming,” declares[c] Yahweh, “when the one who plows will overtake the one who reaps, the one who treads grapes will catch up with the one who sows the seed. And the mountains will drip sweet wine and all of the hills will flow with it. 14 And I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they will rebuild the desolated cities and will inhabit them. And they will plant vineyards and will drink their wine, and they will make gardens and will eat their fruit. 15 And I will plant them on their land and they will not be uprooted again from their land that I have given to them,” says Yahweh your God.
God’s Judgment on Edom
1 The vision of Obadiah. Thus says my Lord Yahweh concerning Edom:
Edom’s Approaching Destruction
We have heard a report from Yahweh, and a messenger has been sent among the nations: “Rise up and let us rise against it[d] for battle.” 2 “Look, I will[e] make you insignificant among the nations. You will be utterly despised! 3 The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of a rock, the heights of its dwelling, you who say in your heart: ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’ 4 Even if you soar like the eagle, even if your nest is set among the stars, from there I will bring you down!” declares[f] Yahweh: 5 “If thieves came to you, if plunderers of the night—How you have been destroyed!—would they not steal what they wanted?[g] If grape gatherers came, would they not leave gleanings? 6 How Esau has been pillaged; his treasures have been ransacked! 7 All of your allies[h] have driven you up to the boundary; your confederates[i] have deceived you and have prevailed against you. Those who eat your bread have set an ambush for you, there is no[j] understanding of it.[k] 8 On that day,” declares[l] Yahweh, “will I not destroy the wise men from Edom, and understanding from the mountain of Esau? 9 And your warriors will be shattered, O Teman, so that everyone[m] from the mountain of Esau will be cut off because of the slaughter!
Edom’s Treachery against Judah
10 “Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame will cover you and you will be cut off forever. 11 On the day you stood nearby,[n] on the day strangers took[o] his wealth, and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots over Jerusalem, you were also like one of them. 12 But you should not have gloated[p] over your brother’s day, on the day of his misfortune, and you should not have rejoiced over the people[q] of Judah on the day of their perishing, and you should not have opened your mouth wide on the day of distress. 13 You should not have entered the gate of my people on the day of their disaster. You also should not have gloated over his misery on the day of his disaster, and you should not have stretched out your hands on the day of his disaster. 14 And you should not have stood at the crossroads to cut off his fugitives and you should not have handed over his survivors on the day of distress.
Future Judgment of the Nations
15 “For the day of Yahweh is near against all the nations! Just as you have done, it will be done to you. Your deeds will return on your own head. 16 For just as you have drunk on my holy mountain,[r] all the nations will drink continually. They will drink and they will slurp, and they will be as if they had never been. 17 But on Mount Zion there will be an escape, and it will be holy, and the house of Jacob will take possession of their dispossessors. 18 And the house of Jacob will be a fire and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau stubble; and they will set them on fire and will consume them. And there will not be a survivor for the house of Esau,” for Yahweh has spoken.
Future Blessing for Israel
19 Those of the Negev will take possession of the mountain of Esau, and those of the Shephelah will possess the land of the Philistines, and they shall take possession of the territory of Ephraim and the territory of Samaria, and Benjamin will take possession of Gilead. 20 And the exiles[s] of this army of the people of Israel will possess Canaan up to Zarephath, and the exiles[t] of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad will take possession of the cities of the Negev. 21 And those who have been saved will go up on Mount Zion to rule the mountain of Esau. And the kingdom will belong to[u] Yahweh.
Jonah Disobeys Yahweh
1 And the word of Yahweh came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Get up! Go to the great city Nineveh and cry out against her, because their evil has come up before me.”[v] 3 But Jonah set out to flee toward Tarshish from the presence of[w] Yahweh. And he went down to Joppa and found a merchant ship going to Tarshish, and paid her fare, and went on board her to go with them toward Tarshish from the presence of[x] Yahweh.
4 And Yahweh hurled a great wind upon the sea, and it was a great storm on the sea, and the merchant ship was in danger of breaking up.[y] 5 And the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they threw the contents[z] that were in the merchant ship into the sea to lighten it for them. And meanwhile Jonah went down into the hold of the vessel and lay down and fell asleep. 6 And the captain[aa] of the ship approached him and said to him, “Why are you sound asleep?[ab] Get up! Call on your god! Perhaps your god[ac] will take notice of us and we won’t perish!” 7 And they said to one another,[ad] “Come, let us cast lots so that we may know on whose account this disaster has come on us!” And they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 So they said to him, “Please tell us whoever is responsible that this disaster has come upon us! What is your occupation? And from where do you come? What is your country? And from which people are you?” 9 And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear Yahweh, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” 10 Then the men were greatly afraid,[ae] and they said to him, “What is this you have done?” because they[af] knew that he was fleeing from the presence of[ag] Yahweh (because he had told them). 11 So they said to him, “What shall we do to you so that the sea may quiet down for us?” because the sea was growing more and more tempestuous.[ah] 12 And he said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea so that the sea may quiet down for you, because I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you all.” 13 But the men rowed hard to bring the ship[ai] back to the dry land, and they could not do so because the sea was growing more and more tempestuous[aj] against them. 14 So they cried out to Yahweh, and they said, “O Yahweh! Please do not let us perish because of this man’s life, and do not make us guilty of innocent blood,[ak] because you, O Yahweh, did what you wanted.” 15 And they picked Jonah up and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. 16 So the men feared Yahweh greatly,[al] and they offered a sacrifice to Yahweh and made[am] vows.
Jonah Is Swallowed by a Fish and Prays to Yahweh
17 [an] And Yahweh provided a large fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
2 And Jonah prayed to Yahweh his God from the belly of the fish 2 and said,
“I called from my distress[ao] to Yahweh,
and he answered me;
from the belly of Sheol[ap] I cried for help—
you heard my voice.
3 And you threw me into the deep,
into the heart of the seas,
and the sea currents surrounded me;
all your breakers and your surging waves
passed over me.
4 And I said, ‘I am banished[aq]
from your sight;
how[ar] will I continue to look[as]
on your holy temple?’[at]
5 The waters encompassed me up to my neck;
the deep surrounded me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.
6 I went down to the foundations of the mountains;
the Underworld—its bars were around me forever.
But you brought up my life from the pit,
Yahweh my God.
7 When my life was ebbing away from me,
I remembered Yahweh,
and my prayer came to you,
to your holy temple.[au]
8 Those who worship vain idols
forsake their loyal love.[av]
9 But I, with a voice of thanksgiving,
will sacrifice to you;
I will fulfill what I have vowed.
Deliverance[aw] belongs to Yahweh!”
10 And Yahweh spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out on the dry land.
The People of Nineveh Repent at Jonah’s Proclamation
3 And the word of Yahweh came to Jonah a second time, saying, 2 “Get up! Go to Nineveh, the great city, and proclaim to it the message that I am telling you.” 3 So Jonah got up[ax] and went to Nineveh according to the word of Yahweh. Now Nineveh was an extraordinarily great city[ay]—a journey of three days across.[az] 4 And Jonah began to go into the city a journey of one day, and he cried out and said, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be demolished!”[ba] 5 And the people of Nineveh believed in God, and they proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth—from the greatest of them to the least important.[bb]
The King’s Proclamation
6 And the news reached the king of Nineveh, and he rose from his throne and removed his royal robe, put on sackcloth, and sat in the ashes. 7 And he had a proclamation made, and said,
“In Nineveh, by a decree of the king and his nobles:
“No human being or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything! They must not eat, and they must not drink water! 8 And the human beings and the animals must be covered with sackcloth! And they must call forcefully to God, and each must turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his[bc] hands. 9 Who knows? God may relent and change his mind and turn from his blazing anger[bd] so that[be] we will not perish.”
10 And God saw their deeds—that they turned from their evil ways—and God changed his mind about the evil that he had said he would bring upon them, and he did not do it.[bf]
Jonah Is Angry at Yahweh’s Compassion
4 And this[bg] was greatly displeasing[bh] to Jonah, and he became furious.[bi] 2 And he prayed to Yahweh and said, “O Yahweh, was this not what I said[bj] while I was in my homeland? Therefore I originally fled[bk] to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and having great steadfast love,[bl] and one who relents concerning calamity.[bm] 3 And so then, Yahweh, please take my life from me, because for me death is better than life!” 4 And Yahweh said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”[bn]
5 And Jonah went out from the city and sat down east of the city, and he made for himself a shelter there. And he sat under it in the shade, waiting to see[bo] what would happen with the city. 6 And Yahweh God appointed a plant,[bp] and he made it grow up over Jonah to be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. And Jonah was very glad[bq] about the plant. 7 So God appointed a worm at daybreak[br] the next day, and it attacked the plant, and it withered. 8 And when the sun rose,[bs] God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head and he grew faint. And he asked that he could die[bt] and said, “My death is better than my life!” 9 So God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry[bu] about the plant?” And he said, “It is right for me to be angry enough to die!”[bv]
10 But Yahweh said, “You are troubled about the plant, for which you did not labor nor cause it to grow. It grew up in a night and it perished in a night![bw] 11 And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, the great city, in which there are[bx] more than one hundred and twenty thousand[by] people who do not know right from left,[bz] plus many animals?”
The Impending Doom of Samaria and Jerusalem
1 The word of Yahweh that came to Micah the Morashtite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, the kings of Judah, that he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem:
2 Hear, all you peoples;
give heed, O earth and its fullness.
And let the Lord Yahweh be against you as a witness,
the Lord from his holy temple.[ca]
3 For behold, Yahweh is coming out from his place,
and he will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth.
4 The mountains will melt under him
and the valleys will burst open,
like wax before the fire,
like water rushing down a slope.
5 All this is for the rebellion of Jacob,
and for the sins of the house of Israel.
What is the rebellion of Jacob?
Is it not Samaria?
And what are the high places of Judah?
Are they not Jerusalem?
6 So I will make Samaria as a heap of rubble in the field,
a place for planting a vineyard.
And I will pour down her stones into the valley
and uncover her foundations.
7 Then all her idols will be broken in pieces,
and all her prostitution wages will be burned in the fire,
and all her idols I will make a desolation,
For from the wage of a prostitute she gathered them,
and to the wage of a prostitute they will return.
8 On account of this I will lament and wail.
I will go about barefoot and naked.
I will make a lamentation like the jackals,
and a mourning ceremony like the ostriches.[cb]
9 For her wounds are incurable,
because it has come to Judah.
It has reached to the gate of my people, to Jerusalem.
10 Do not tell it in Gath;
you must not weep at all.
In Beth-le-Aphrah
roll yourself in dust.
11 Pass on, you inhabitants of Shaphir,
in naked shame.
The inhabitants of Zaanan do not come forth;
the wailing of Beth-ha-Ezel will take its protection from you.
12 For the inhabitants of Maroth
writhed for good,
because disaster has come down from Yahweh
to the gate of Jerusalem.
13 Harness the chariot to the team of horses,
O inhabitants of Lachish;
it is the beginning of sin
for the daughter of Zion,
for the transgressions of Israel
were found in you.
14 Therefore you will give parting gifts
to Moresheth-Gath;
the houses of Achzib will be a deception
to the kings of Israel.
15 I will again bring the conqueror upon you,
O inhabitants of Mareshah;
the glory of Israel
will come to Adullam.
16 Make yourselves bald
and cut off your hair
for the children of your pleasure.
Expand your baldness as the eagle,
for they will go into exile away from you.
Woe to the Oppressors of God’s People
2 Woe to those who plan wickedness
and evil deeds upon their beds!
In the light of the morning they did it,
because they have power in their hands.
2 They covet fields and seize them,
and houses, and they take them away.
They oppress a man and his house;
a man and his inheritance.
3 Therefore, thus says Yahweh: Look! I am planning disaster against this family from which you will not be able to remove your necks. You will not walk proudly, for it is a time of disaster.
4 In that day they will raise a proverb against you,
and will wail a bitter wailing, saying,
“We are utterly ruined;
he exchanges the portion of my people.
How he removes it from me;
he apportions our field to an apostate.”
5 Therefore you will have no one casting a line by lot
in the assembly of Yahweh.
6 “Do not preach!” they are preaching.
They should not preach to these;
disgrace will not overtake us.
7 Should this be said, O house of Jacob?
Is the patience[cc] of Yahweh shortened?
Are these his deeds?
Are my words not pleasing
to him who walks upright?
8 But recently[cd] my people have risen up as an enemy;
from before the cloak you strip off the robe
from those passing by in confidence,
returning from war.
9 You have driven out the women of my people
from the houses of their[ce] pleasure.
From their[cf] children you have taken away
my glory forever.
10 Arise and go,
for this is no resting place,
on account of uncleanness that destroys
with painful destruction.
11 If a man walks about in a spirit of deception and lies,
saying “I will preach to you of wine and strong drink,”
then he would be a preacher for this people!
12 I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob;
I will surely gather together the remainder of Israel.
I will set them like sheep of Bozrah.
Like a herd in the midst of their pasture
they will be in tumult from people.
13 The one who breaks out before them goes up;
they break through and pass the gate,
going out through it.
Their king passes before them,
Yahweh at their head.
Israel’s Leaders Denounced
3 And I said,
“Listen, O heads of Jacob
and leaders of the house of Israel!
Is it not for you to know justice?
2 Those of you who are haters of good
and lovers of evil,
who tear their skin from them
and their flesh from their bones,
3 and who eat the flesh of my people,
and strip their skin from them,
and break their bones,
and chop them like meat in the pot,
and like flesh in the midst of a cooking pot.”
4 Then they will cry to Yahweh,
but he will not answer them.
He will hide his face from them at that time,
when they have made their deeds evil.
5 Thus says Yahweh concerning the prophets
who are leading my people astray,
who are biting with their teeth
and proclaim, “Peace,”
but whoever puts nothing into their mouths
they declare war against.
6 Therefore it will be as night to you, without vision,
and darkness to you, without divination.
And the sun will set on the prophets,
and the day will grow dark over them.
7 Then the seers will be disgraced,
and those practicing divination will be put to shame.
All of them will cover their lips,
for there is no reply from God.
8 But I, I am filled with power,
with the Spirit of Yahweh,
and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob his rebellion,
and to Israel his sin.
9 Hear this, O rulers of the house of Jacob
and leaders of the house of Israel,
those detesting justice
and perverting all that is right,
10 he who builds Zion with blood
and Jerusalem with wickedness.
11 Its rulers judge for a bribe;
its priests teach for a price;
its prophets practice divination for money.
But they lean on Yahweh, saying,
“Is not Yahweh in our midst?
Disaster will not come upon us.”
12 Therefore on account of you
Zion will be plowed as a field,
and Jerusalem will be a heap of rubble,
and the temple mount[cg] as a high place in a forest.
The Mountain of Yahweh
4 And it will be that at the end of those days,
the mountain of Yahweh
will be established as the highest of the mountains,
and it will be lifted up above the hills,
and people will stream to it.
2 And many nations will come and say,
“Come! Let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh,
and to the temple[ch] of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways,
and that we may walk in his paths,”
for the law will go out from Zion,
and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem.
3 And he will judge between many peoples
and will arbitrate for strong nations far away;
and they will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation will not lift up a sword against a nation,
and they will no longer learn war.
4 But they will sit, each under his vine
and under his fig tree,
and no one will make them afraid,
for the mouth of Yahweh of hosts has spoken.
5 For all the nations walk,
each in the name of its god,
but we will walk in the name of Yahweh our God,
forever and ever.
Yahweh Will Deliver Zion
6 “In that day,” declares Yahweh,[ci]
“I will assemble the one who limps,
and I will gather the one who has been scattered,
and those whom I have mistreated.
7 And I will make the one who limps a remnant,
and the one driven far away a strong nation,
and Yahweh will reign over them on Mount Zion
from now to forever.
8 And you, O Migdal-Eder,[cj]
hill of the daughter of Zion,
to you it will come,
and the former dominion will come,
the reign of the daughter of Jerusalem.
9 So then, why do you shout a loud shout?
Is there no king in you?
Has your counselor perished
that pangs like a woman in labor have seized you?
10 Writhe and groan, O daughter of Zion,
like a woman in labor.
For now you will go forth from the city,
and you will camp in the field;
you will go to Babylon.
There you will be rescued;
there Yahweh will redeem you
from the hand of your enemies.
11 And now, many nations are gathered against you
who are saying, ‘Let her be defiled,
and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.’
12 But they do not know the thoughts of Yahweh,
and they do not understand his plan,
that he has gathered them as sheaves
to his threshing floor.
13 Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion,
for your horn I will make as iron
and your hooves as bronze.
And you will break many peoples in pieces,
and their gain you will devote to destruction to Yahweh,
and their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth.”
A Ruler from Bethlehem
5 [ck] Now muster troops, O daughter of troops;
a siege he puts against us.
They strike the ruler of Israel
with a rod on the cheek.
2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
too small to be among the clans of Judah,
from you one will go out for me,
to be ruler in Israel;
and his origins are from of old,
from ancient days.
3 Therefore he will give them up
until the time of she who is with child has given birth.
And the rest of his brothers will return
to the children of Israel.
4 And he will stand and shepherd his flock
in the strength of Yahweh,
in the majesty of the name of Yahweh his God.
And they will live,
for now he will be great unto the ends of the earth.
5 And this one will be peace.
As for the Assyrian,[cl] when he comes into our land
and when he treads on our fortresses,
then we will raise up against him seven shepherds
and eight leaders of men.
6 And they will shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword,
and the land of Nimrod at its entrances.
And he will rescue us from the Assyrian[cm]
when he comes into our land,
and when they tread upon our border.
A Remnant Delivered
7 And the remnant of Jacob will be
in the midst of many nations,
like dew from Yahweh,
like showers upon the grass
which does not wait for a man,
nor delays for the children of humankind.
8 And the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations,
in the midst of many peoples,
like a lion among the wild animals of the forest,
like a young lion among the herds of sheep
which, when it passes through and treads down
and tears in pieces, there is none who can deliver.
9 Your hand will be lifted high over your enemies,
and all your foes will be cut off.
10 “And it will happen that in that day,” declares[cn] Yahweh,
“then I will cut off your horses from among you,
and I will destroy your chariots.
11 And I will cut off the cities of your land,
and I will demolish all your fortifications.
12 And I will cut off sorceries from your hand,
and you will not have soothsayers.
13 And I will cut off your idols
and your stone pillars from among you,
and you will no longer bow down
to the work of your hands.
14 And I will uproot your Asherahs from among you,
and I will destroy your cities.
15 And in anger and in wrath I will execute vengeance
on the nations who did not obey.”
Yahweh Brings a Charge against Israel
6 Hear now what Yahweh says:
“Arise! Plead your case with the mountains,
and let the hills hear your voice.”
2 Hear, O mountains, the indictment of Yahweh,
and you eternal foundations of the earth,
for Yahweh has an indictment against his people,
and against Israel he contends.
3 “O my people, what have I done to you,
and how have I wearied you? Answer me!
4 For I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
and from the house of slavery I redeemed you.
And I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam before you.
5 O my people, remember what Balak the king of Moab devised,
and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,
and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,
so that you might know the righteous acts of Yahweh.”
What Does Yahweh Require?
6 With what shall I approach Yahweh,
and bow down to God on high?
Shall I approach him with burnt offerings,
with bull calves a year old?
7 Will Yahweh be pleased with thousands of rams,
with myriads of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good,
and what does Yahweh ask from you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
The Destruction of the Wicked
9 The voice of Yahweh calls to the city
(it is sound judgment to fear your name):
“Hear, O staff![co] Now who has appointed it?
10 Is there any longer a man in the house of the wicked
treasures of wickedness,
and the ephah of scarcity which is accursed?[cp]
11 Shall I regard as pure the one with scales of wickedness,
and with a bag of deceitful weights?
12 Because her rich are full of violence,
and her inhabitants speak lies,
and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
13 And I also have made you sick by striking you down,[cq]
making you desolate because of your sins.
14 You yourself will eat but not be satisfied;
your hunger will be in your midst,
and you will put away, but you will not save,
and what you save I will hand over to the sword.
15 You yourself will sow, but you will not reap;
you will tread olives, but you will not anoint yourself with oil;
you will tread grapes, but you will not drink wine.
16 For you have observed the regulations of Omri
and all the works of the house of Ahab.
And you have walked in their counsels,
so that I am making you a desolation
and your inhabitants an object of scorn.
So you will bear the scorn of my people.
Wait Upon Yahweh
7 Woe is me! For I have become
like the gatherings of summer,
like the gleanings of the grape harvest,
when there is no cluster of grapes to eat
or early ripened fruit that my soul desires.
2 The faithful person has perished from the land,
and there is none who is upright among humankind.
All of them lie in wait;
each hunts his brother with a net.
3 Their hands are upon evil, to do it well;
the official and the judge ask for the bribe,
and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul;
and they weave it together.
4 The best of them is like a brier;
the most upright worse than a thorn hedge.
The day of your watchman, your punishment, has come;
now their confusion will come.
5 Do not put faith in a friend;
put no trust in a close friend.
Guard the doorways of your mouth
from the one who lies in your lap.
6 For a son treats a father with contempt;
a daughter rises up against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
the enemies of a man are the men of his own house.
7 But as for me, I will look to Yahweh;
I will wait for the God of my salvation.
My God will hear me.
8 You should not rejoice over me, O my enemy!
When I fall I will stand up;
when I sit in darkness
Yahweh will be a light for me.
9 I will bear the rage of Yahweh,
for I have sinned against him,
until he pleads my cause
and executes my justice.
He will bring me out to the light;
I will see his righteousness.
10 Then my enemy will see,
and shame will cover her who said to me,
“Where is Yahweh your God?”
My eyes will look upon her;
now she will become a trampling place,
like mud in the streets.
11 A day for building your walls;
on that day he will extend your boundary.
12 On that day he will come to you
from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
and from Egypt to the River,
and from sea to sea
and mountain to mountain.
13 But the earth will be a desolation
because of its inhabitants,
for the fruit of their deeds.
14 Shepherd your people with your staff,
the flock of your inheritance,
those dwelling alone in a forest
in the midst of Carmel.
Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead,
as in the days of old.
15 As in the days when you came out
from the land of Egypt
I will show him wondrous things.
16 The nations will see and be ashamed
because of all their might.
They will lay the hand on the mouth;
their ears will be deaf.
17 They will lick the dust like the serpent,
like the crawling things of the earth.
They will come trembling from their strongholds
to Yahweh our God.
Let them fear and be afraid of you.
18 Who is a God like you, forgiving sin
and passing over rebellion for the remnant of his inheritance?
He does not retain his anger forever,
for he delights in loyal love.
19 He will again have compassion[cr] on us;
he will trample our iniquities.
And you will hurl all their sins
in the depths of the sea.
20 You will show faithfulness to Jacob,
and loyal love to Abraham,
as you have sworn to our ancestors[cs]
from the days of old.
Superscription
1 The oracle concerning Nineveh—
the scroll of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite:
Half-Acrostic: Yahweh Takes Vengeance against His Enemies
2 Yahweh is a jealous God and avenging;
Yahweh is avenging and full of wrath.[ct]
Yahweh takes vengeance against his enemies;
he rages against his adversaries.
3 Yahweh is slow to anger but great in power;
he will certainly not allow the guilty to go unpunished.
He marches[cu] in storm wind and in gale;
storm clouds are the dust of his feet.
4 He rebukes the sea and he dries up the rivers;
he makes all the rivers run dry.
Bashan and Carmel wither;[cv]
the blossom of Lebanon languishes.
5 Mountains quake before him;
the hills shake apart.[cw]
The earth heaves before him—
the world and all her inhabitants.
6 His indignation—who can stand before it?
Who can endure his fierce anger?[cx]
His wrath is poured out like fire;
rocks are shattered before[cy] him.
7 Yahweh is good—a refuge in the day of distress;
he knows those who take refuge in him.
8 But with a rushing torrent he will bring Nineveh to an end;
he will chase his enemies into darkness.
Yahweh Will Destroy Nineveh
9 What[cz] do you plot against Yahweh?
He will completely destroy it;[da]
trouble will not rise up a second time!
10 For like entangled thorns,
and like their drink which is drunk,
they will be consumed like fully dry chaff.
11 From you goes out one who plots evil against Yahweh,
one who plans wickedness.
Yahweh Will Deliver Judah and Destroy Nineveh
12 Yahweh says this:
“Even though they are powerful and likewise many,
even so they will be cut off and pass away.
Though I have afflicted you,[db]
I will afflict you[dc] no longer.
13 And now, I will break his yoke from upon you;
I will snap your bonds.”
14 Yahweh has commanded concerning you:
“Your name will no longer be sown.
I will cut off the idols and images[dd] from the temple[de] of your gods;
I will send you to the grave[df] because you are worthless.”
15 [dg] Look! On the mountains!
The feet of the one who brings good tidings,
the one who proclaims peace!
“Celebrate a festival, O Judah,
Fulfill your vows!
For he will not invade you again;
the wicked one is cut off completely!”
The Divine Warrior Will Attack Nineveh
2 One who shatters[dh] has come up against you!
Guard the fortification!
Watch the road![di]
Gird your loins!
Muster[dj] all your strength!
2 For Yahweh will restore the majesty of Jacob
like the majesty of Israel;
for ravagers have ravaged them
and ruined their branches.
The Enemy Army Conquers the City of Nineveh
3 The shields of his warriors are dyed red;
The powerful men are dressed in scarlet.
The metal of the chariots[dk] shines like fire on the day of battle,[dl]
and their spears quiver.
4 The chariots[dm] race madly through the streets;
they rush back and forth in the public squares.
Their appearance like lightning bolts,
they dart about like flashes of lightning.
5 He calls his officers;
they stumble as they march;
they rush to her wall;
they set the covering[dn] in place.
6 The gates of the river are opened;
the palace trembles.
7 Her goddess is taken out and taken into exile;[do]
her maidservants moan like doves;
they beat on their breasts.
8 Nineveh is like a pool of water without its water.[dp]
As they flee,[dq] she cries, “Stop! Stop!”
But there is no one who turns back.
9 Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold!
There is no end to the spoils,[dr]
an abundance of everything one could want![ds]
10 Emptiness and plundering and devastation!
Their hearts faint and their knees tremble,[dt]
All their loins shake[du] and all their faces turn[dv] pale.
The Divine Warrior Will Hunt down the Mighty Lions
11 Where now is the den of the lions
and the cave of the fierce lions?
There the lioness, the cub, and the lion once prowled,[dw]
and no one disturbed them.[dx]
12 The lion tore apart enough prey for his cubs,
he strangled prey for his lioness;
he filled his lair[dy] with prey
and his den with mangled carcass.
13 “Look! I am against you!” declares[dz] Yahweh of hosts.
“I will burn her chariots with fire;[ea]
the sword will devour fierce lions.
I will cut off your prey from the earth;
the voice of your messengers will no longer be heard.”
The Doom of the Wicked City is Certain
3 Woe to the city that has shed much blood![eb]
She is a deceiver,[ec]
She is filled with plunder,
She has hoarded her spoils of war.[ed]
2 The crack of the whip!
The rumbling of the chariot wheel!
The galloping of the horse!
The racing of the chariot!
3 Chariots charge!
Swords flash!
Spears glitter!
Many corpses are piled high![ee]
There is no end to the slain!
They stumble over their dead!
Harlot Nineveh Will Get What She Deserves
4 “Because of the many idolatries of the prostitute,
the beautiful charm of a mistress of witchcraft,
she who enslaves nations by her harlotries,
and peoples by her sorceries,
5 “Look! I am against you!” declares[ef]Yahweh.
“I will strip up your skirts over your face;
I will let nations look at your nakedness and your shame.
6 “I will throw filth upon you,
I will treat you with contempt,
I will make you a spectacle.
7 “And it will be that everyone who sees you will flee from you,
And they[eg] will say, ‘Nineveh is destroyed!’
Who will mourn for her?
From whence shall I seek comforters for you?”
Nineveh Will Suffer the Same Fate She Inflicted on Thebes
8 Are you better than Thebes?[eh]
She who sits at the Nile, surrounded by her waters,
her rampart was the sea and water was her wall.
9 Cush was her strength, Egypt without end;
Put and Libya were among your allies.[ei]
10 Yet she went into captivity as an exile;
her children were dashed to pieces at the head of the streets;
they cast lots for all of her nobles;
all of her dignitaries were bound with chains.
11 You also will behave like a drunkard;
You also will hide yourself;
You also will seek refuge from the enemy.
Nineveh’s Defenses Will Fail
12 All of your fortifications are like fig trees with ripe firstfruits—
if they are shaken, they will fall into the mouth of the eater.
13 Look! Your troops are like women in your midst.
The gates of your land are wide open to your enemies;
fire will consume the bars of your gates.
14 Draw water for a siege!
Strengthen your fortifications!
Go to the mud pit!
Trample the clay!
Grasp the brick mold!
15 There fire will consume you;
the sword will cut you off.
It will consume you like the locust.
Nineveh’s Defenders Will Flee
Multiply yourself like the locust!
Multiply yourself like the grasshopper!
16 You have increased your merchants more than the stars of heaven;
like the locust they will shed their skin and fly away.
17 Your officials are like locusts;
your commanders are like a swarm of locusts.
They encamp on the walls on a cold day;
when the sun rises, they fly away—
no one knows where they have gone.
Nineveh Will Come to an End
18 Your shepherds are sleeping, O king of Assyria!
Your nobles slumber.
Your people are scattered on the mountains;
no one can gather them.
19 There is no healing for your wound;
your injury is fatal.
All who hear the report of you will clap their hands for joy concerning you,
For who has not suffered at the hands of your endless cruelty?[ej]
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