Nahum

Old Testament · 3 chapters · 47 verses.

Chapter 1

1:1The oracle concerning Nineveh. The Book of the Vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
1:2The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD takes vengeance and is wrathful. The LORD takes vengeance on His adversaries and holds wrath for His enemies.
1:3The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and the LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet.
1:4He rebukes the sea and dries it up; He makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel languish, and the blossom of Lebanon withers.
1:5The mountains quake before Him, and the hills melt; the earth heaves at His presence—the world and all who dwell in it.
1:6Who can stand before His indignation? Who can endure the heat of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are shattered before Him.
1:7The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of distress; and He knows those who take refuge in Him.
1:8But with an overwhelming flood He will make a complete end of her place, and darkness will pursue His enemies.
1:9What do you devise against the LORD? He will make a complete end; distress will not arise twice.
1:10Though they are tangled together like thorns and drunk with their drink, they will be consumed like fully dried stubble.
1:11From you came one who devised evil against the LORD, a worthless counselor.
1:12Thus says the LORD: “Though they are at full strength and many, even so they will be cut down and pass away. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more.
1:13And now I will break his yoke from upon you and tear away your bonds.”
1:14And the LORD has commanded concerning you: “Your name will be carried on no longer. I will cut off carved and cast images from the house of your gods; I will prepare your grave, for you are contemptible.”

Chapter 2

2:1Behold, upon the mountains are the feet of one who brings good tidings, who proclaims peace. Celebrate your festivals, O Judah; fulfill your vows. For the worthless one will pass through you no more; he has been utterly cut off.
2:2One who scatters has come up against you. Guard the bulwark; watch the road. Strengthen your loins; summon all your power.
2:3For the LORD is restoring the majesty of Jacob like the majesty of Israel, though plunderers have plundered them and ruined their vine branches.
2:4The shields of his mighty men are red; the men of valor are clothed in scarlet. The chariots flash with steel on the day of his preparation, and the cypress spears are brandished.
2:5The chariots rage through the streets; they rush to and fro through the city squares. Their appearance is like torches; they dart like lightning.
2:6He summons his nobles; they stumble in their march. They hasten to the wall, and the siege shelter is set in place.
2:7The river gates are opened, and the palace melts away.
2:8It is decreed: she is exposed and carried away; her maidservants moan like doves, beating upon their breasts.
2:9Nineveh has been like a pool of water from days of old, yet now they flee. “Stand! Stand!” But no one turns back.
2:10Plunder the silver; plunder the gold. There is no end to the treasure, an abundance of every precious vessel.
2:11She is empty, emptied, and laid waste. Hearts melt, knees tremble, anguish grips every loin, and every face grows pale.
2:12Where is the den of lions, the feeding place of young lions, where the lion walked—the lion and the lion’s cub—with none to make them afraid?
2:13The lion tore enough prey for his cubs and strangled prey for his lionesses; he filled his dens with prey and his lairs with torn flesh.
2:14“Behold, I am against you,” declares the LORD of Hosts, “and I will burn your chariots in smoke, and the sword will consume your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the land, and the voice of your messengers will be heard no more.”

Chapter 3

3:1Woe to the city of blood, full of lies and plunder; prey never leaves it.
3:2The crack of the whip, the clatter of wheels, the galloping horse, and the bounding chariot;
3:3the charging horseman, the flashing sword, and the glittering spear; a multitude of slain, heaps of corpses—there is no end to the bodies, and they stumble over the dead.
3:4Because of the countless prostitutions of the alluring prostitute, the mistress of sorceries, who sells nations through her prostitution and families through her sorceries:
3:5“Behold, I am against you,” declares the LORD of Hosts, “and I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show the nations your nakedness and the kingdoms your shame.
3:6I will cast filth upon you, dishonor you, and make you a spectacle.
3:7And everyone who sees you will flee from you and say, ‘Nineveh is laid waste; who will mourn for her?’ Where shall I seek comforters for you?”
3:8Are you better than Thebes, who dwelt among the Nile channels, with waters around her, whose rampart was the sea and whose wall was water?
3:9Cush and Egypt were her boundless strength; Put and the Libyans were among her allies.
3:10Yet she also went into exile; she went into captivity. Even her children were dashed to pieces at every street corner. They cast lots for her honored men, and all her great men were bound in chains.
3:11You also will become drunk; you will hide yourself. You also will seek a stronghold against the enemy.
3:12All your fortifications are fig trees with first-ripe figs; when shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater.
3:13Behold, your people are women in your midst. The gates of your land stand wide open to your enemies; fire has consumed your bars.
3:14Draw water for the siege; strengthen your fortifications. Tread the mortar and work the clay; take hold of the brick mold.
3:15There the fire will consume you; the sword will cut you down. It will devour you like the young locust. Multiply yourself like the young locust; multiply yourself like the locust.
3:16You have multiplied your merchants beyond the stars of the heavens; the young locust strips bare and flies away.
3:17Your crowned ones are like locusts, and your scribes like swarms of grasshoppers that settle in the hedges on a cold day. When the sun rises, they flee away, and no one knows where they are.
3:18Your shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria; your nobles lie at rest. Your people are scattered upon the mountains, and there is no one to gather them.
3:19There is no relief for your fracture; your wound is incurable. All who hear the report of you clap their hands over you, for who has not suffered from your continual wickedness?