Chronological
Yahweh’s Wrath Against Nineveh
1 The [a](A)oracle of (B)Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
Aleph
2 A (C)jealous and avenging God is [b]Yahweh;
Yahweh is (D)avenging and [c]wrathful.
Yahweh is (E)avenging against His adversaries,
And He keeps His anger for His enemies.
3 Yahweh is (F)slow to anger and great in power,
And Yahweh will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.
Beth
Gimel
4 He (I)rebukes the sea and makes it dry;
He dries up all the rivers.
(J)Bashan and Carmel languish;
The blossoms of Lebanon languish.
He
5 Mountains (K)quake because of Him,
Vav
And the hills (L)melt;
Indeed the earth is (M)upheaved by His presence,
The (N)world and all the inhabitants in it.
Zayin
Heth
Teth
7 Yahweh is (S)good,
A strong defense in the day of distress,
Yodh
Kaph
9 Whatever you (W)devise against Yahweh,
He will make a (X)complete destruction of it.
Distress will not rise up twice.
10 Like tangled (Y)thorns,
And like those who are (Z)drunken with their drink,
They are (AA)consumed
As stubble fully dried up.
11 From you has gone forth
One who (AB)devised evil against Yahweh,
A [e](AC)vile counselor.
12 Thus says Yahweh,
“Though they are at full strength and likewise many,
Even so, they will be (AD)cut off and pass away.
Though I have afflicted you,
I will afflict you (AE)no longer.
13 So now, I will (AF)break his yoke bar from upon you,
And I will break your bands apart.”
14 And Yahweh has commanded concerning [f]you:
“[g]There will (AG)no longer be seed from your name.
From the house of your gods,
I will cut off (AH)graven image and molten image.
I will prepare your (AI)grave,
For you are contemptible.”
15 [h]Behold, (AJ)on the mountains the feet of him who proclaims good news,
Who [i]announces peace!
(AK)Celebrate your feasts, O Judah;
Pay your vows.
For (AL)never again will the [j]vile one pass through you;
He is (AM)cut off completely.
Yahweh’s Destruction of Nineveh
2 [k]The one who (AN)scatters has come up against [l]you.
Guard the fortification, watch the road;
Strengthen your loins, [m]instill your power with exceeding courage.
2 For Yahweh will restore the (AO)majesty of Jacob
(AP)Like the majesty of Israel,
Even though those who empty them have emptied them to destruction
And (AQ)ruined their vine branches.
3 The shields of [n]his mighty men are colored red,
The valiant men are dressed in (AR)[o]scarlet,
The chariots are enveloped in [p]flashing steel
[q]When he is set up to march,
And the cypress (AS)spears are brandished.
4 The (AT)chariots race madly in the streets;
They rush wildly in the [r]squares;
Their appearance is like torches;
They dash to and fro like lightning flashes.
5 He remembers his (AU)mighty ones;
They (AV)stumble in their march;
They hurry to her wall,
And the [s]mantelet is set up.
6 The gates of the rivers are opened,
And the palace is melted away.
7 So it stands fixed:
She is exiled, she is carried away,
And her maidservants are (AW)moaning like the sound of doves,
(AX)Beating on their hearts.
8 Though Nineveh was like a pool of water throughout her days,
Now they are fleeing;
“Stand! Stand!”
But (AY)no one [t]turns back.
9 Plunder the silver!
Plunder the (AZ)gold!
And there is no limit to the treasure—
[u]Wealth from every kind of desirable object.
10 She is (BA)emptied! Yes, she is emptied out and eviscerated!
(BB)Hearts are melting and knees knocking!
Also anguish is in all their loins,
And all their (BC)faces [v]turn pale!
11 Where is the den of the lions
And the feeding place of the (BD)young lions,
Where the lion, lioness, and lion’s cub prowled,
With nothing to make them tremble?
12 The lion tore enough for its cubs
And strangled enough for its lionesses
And filled its lairs with torn up prey
And its dens with torn up flesh.
13 “Behold, (BE)I am against you,” declares Yahweh of hosts. “And I will (BF)burn up her chariots in smoke, and a sword will devour your young lions; and I will (BG)cut off your prey from the land, and no longer will the voice of your messengers be heard.”
Woe to Nineveh
3 (BH)Woe to the city of [w]bloodshed, completely full of deception and pillage;
Her prey never departs.
2 The (BI)sound of the whip,
And the sound of the rumbling of the wheel,
Galloping horses,
And [x]bounding chariots!
3 Horsemen charging,
And swords flaming, and (BJ)spears flashing,
(BK)Many slain, a mass of corpses,
And (BL)there is no end to dead bodies—
They stumble over [y]the dead bodies!
4 All because of the (BM)many harlotries of the harlot,
The charming one, the (BN)mistress of sorceries,
Who (BO)sells nations by her harlotries
And families by her sorceries.
5 “Behold, (BP)I am against you,” declares Yahweh of hosts;
“And I will (BQ)uncover your skirts over your face
And (BR)show to the nations your nakedness
And to the kingdoms your disgrace.
6 I will (BS)throw detestable filth on you
And (BT)display you as a wicked fool
And set you up as a (BU)spectacle.
7 And it will be that all who see you
Will flee from you and say,
‘Nineveh is devastated!
(BV)Who will console her?’
Where will I seek comforters for you?”
8 Are you better than [z](BW)No-amon,
Which sits along the (BX)waters of the Nile,
With water surrounding her,
Whose rampart was [aa]the sea,
Whose wall consisted of [ab]the sea?
9 [ac](BY)Ethiopia was her might,
And Egypt too, without end.
(BZ)Put and (CA)Lubim were among [ad]her helpers.
10 Yet she (CB)became an exile;
She went into captivity;
Also her (CC)infants were dashed to pieces
(CD)At the head of every street;
They (CE)cast lots for her honorable men,
And all her great men were bound with fetters.
11 You too will become (CF)drunk;
You will be (CG)hidden.
You too will search for a strong defense from the enemy.
12 All your fortifications are (CH)fig trees with [ae](CI)ripe fruit—
When shaken, they fall into the eater’s mouth.
13 Behold, your people are (CJ)women in your midst!
The gates of your land are (CK)opened wide to your enemies;
Fire consumes your gate bars.
14 (CL)Draw for yourself water for the siege!
(CM)Strengthen your fortifications!
Go into the clay and tread the mortar!
[af]Take hold of the brick mold!
15 There, (CN)fire will consume you;
The sword will cut you down;
It will (CO)consume you as the locust does.
Multiply yourself like the creeping locust,
Multiply yourself like the swarming locust.
16 You have increased your (CP)traders more than the stars of heaven—
The creeping locust [ag]strips and flies away.
17 Your [ah](CQ)guardsmen are like the swarming locust.
Your (CR)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 (CS)sleeping, O (CT)king of Assyria;
Your (CU)mighty ones are [ai]lying down.
Your people are (CV)scattered on the mountains,
And there is no one to regather them.
19 There is (CW)no relief for your breakdown,
Your (CX)wound is incurable.
All who hear the report about you
Will (CY)clap their hands over you,
For on whom has not your evil passed continually?
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