For other versions of this work, see Nahum (Bible).
The Burden against Nineveh
(Jonah 1:1–3)
1 This is the burden against Nineveh, the book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite:
- 2 The LORD is a jealous and avenging God;
- the LORD is avenging and full of wrath.
- The LORD takes vengeance on His foes
- and reserves wrath for His enemies.
- 3 The LORD is slow to anger
- and great in power;
- the LORD will by no means
- leave the guilty unpunished.
- His path is in the whirlwind and storm,
- and clouds are the dust beneath His feet.
- 4 He rebukes the sea and dries it up;
- He makes all the rivers run dry.
- Bashan and Carmel wither,
- and the flower of Lebanon wilts.
- 5 The mountains quake before Him,
- and the hills melt away;
- the earth trembles at His presence—
- the world and all its dwellers.
- 6 Who can withstand His indignation?
- Who can endure His burning anger?
- His wrath is poured out like fire;
- even rocks are shattered before Him.
- 7 The LORD is good,
- a stronghold in the day of distress;
- He cares for those who trust in Him.
- 8 But with an overwhelming flood
- He will make an end of Nineveh [1]
- and pursue His enemies into darkness.
- 9 Whatever you plot against the LORD,
- He will bring to an end.
- Affliction will not rise up
- a second time.
- 10 For they will be entangled as with thorns
- and consumed like the drink of a drunkard—
- like stubble that is fully dry.
- 11 From you, O Nineveh, comes forth
- a plotter of evil against the LORD,
- a counselor of wickedness.
12 This is what the LORD says:
- “Though they are allied and numerous,
- yet they will be cut down and pass away.
- Though I have afflicted you, O Judah,
- I will afflict you no longer.
- 13 For I will now break their yoke from your neck
- and tear away your shackles.”
14 The LORD has issued a command concerning you, O Nineveh:
- “There will be no descendants
- to carry on your name.
- I will cut off the carved image and cast idol
- from the house of your gods;
- I will prepare your grave,
- for you are contemptible.”
- 15 Look to the mountains—
- the feet of one who brings good news,
- who proclaims peace!
- Celebrate your feasts, O Judah;
- fulfill your vows.
- For the wicked will never again march through you;
- they will be utterly cut off.
The Overthrow of Nineveh
- 2 One who scatters advances
- against you, O Nineveh.
- Guard the fortress!
- Watch the road!
- Brace yourselves![2]
- Summon all your strength!
- 2 For the LORD will restore the splendor of Jacob
- like the splendor of Israel,
- though destroyers have laid them waste
- and ruined the branches of their vine.
- 3 The shields of his mighty men are red;
- the valiant warriors are dressed in scarlet.
- The fittings of the chariots flash like fire
- on the day they are prepared,
- and the spears of cypress
- have been brandished.[3]
- 4 The chariots dash through the streets;
- they rush around the plazas,
- appearing like torches,
- darting about like lightning.
- 5 He summons his nobles;
- they stumble as they advance.
- They race to its wall;
- the protective shield is set in place.
- 6 The river gates are thrown open
- and the palace collapses.
- 7 It is decreed that the city be exiled
- and carried away;
- her maidservants moan like doves,
- and beat upon their breasts.
- 8 Nineveh has been like a pool of water
- throughout her days,
- but now it is draining away.
- “Stop! Stop!” they cry,
- but no one turns back.
- 9 “Plunder the silver!
- Plunder the gold!”
- There is no end to the treasure,
- an abundance of every precious thing.
- 10 She is emptied!
- Yes, she is desolate and laid waste!
- Hearts melt, knees knock,
- bodies tremble, and every face grows pale!
- 11 Where is the lions’ lair
- or the feeding ground of the young lions,
- where the lion and lioness prowled with their cubs,
- with nothing to frighten them away?
- 12 The lion mauled enough for its cubs
- and strangled prey for the lioness.
- It filled its dens with the kill,
- and its lairs with mauled prey.
- 13 “Behold, I am against you,”
- declares the LORD of Hosts.
- “I will send your chariots up in smoke,
- and the sword will devour your young lions.
- I will cut off your prey from the earth,
- and the voices of your messengers
- will no longer be heard.”
Judgment on Nineveh
- 3 Woe to the city of blood,
- full of lies,
- full of plunder,
- never without prey.
- 2 The crack of the whip,
- the rumble of the wheel,
- galloping horse
- and bounding chariot!
- 3 Charging horseman,
- flashing sword,
- shining spear;
- heaps of slain,
- mounds of corpses,
- dead bodies without end—
- they stumble over their dead—
- 4 because of the many harlotries of the harlot,
- the seductive mistress of sorcery,
- who betrays nations by her prostitution
- and clans by her witchcraft.
- 5 “Behold, I am against you,”
- declares the LORD of Hosts.
- “I will lift your skirts over your face.
- I will show your nakedness to the nations
- and your shame to the kingdoms.
- 6 I will pelt you with filth
- and treat you with contempt;
- I will make a spectacle of you.
- 7 Then all who see you
- will recoil from you and say,
- ‘Nineveh is devastated;
- who will grieve for her?’
- Where can I find
- comforters for you?”
- 8 Are you better than Thebes,[4]
- stationed by the Nile with water around her,
- whose rampart was the sea,
- whose wall was the water?
- 9 Cush [5] and Egypt were her boundless strength;
- Put and Libya were her allies.
- 10 Yet she became an exile;
- she went into captivity.
- Her infants were dashed to pieces
- at the head of every street.
- They cast lots for her dignitaries,
- and all her nobles were bound in chains.
- 11 You too will become drunk;
- you will go into hiding
- and seek refuge from the enemy.
- 12 All your fortresses are fig trees
- with the first ripe figs;
- when shaken, they fall
- into the mouth of the eater!
- 13 Look at your troops—
- they are like your women!
- The gates of your land
- are wide open to your enemies;
- fire consumes their bars.
- 14 Draw your water for the siege;
- strengthen your fortresses.
- Work the clay and tread the mortar;
- repair the brick kiln!
- 15 There the fire will devour you;
- the sword will cut you down
- and consume you like a young locust.
- Make yourself many like the young locust;
- make yourself many like the swarming locust!
- 16 You have multiplied your merchants
- more than the stars of the sky.
- The young locust strips the land
- and flies away.
- 17 Your guards [6] are like the swarming locust,
- and your scribes [7] like clouds of locusts
- that settle on the walls on a cold day.
- When the sun rises, they fly away,
- and no one knows where.
- 18 O king of Assyria, your shepherds slumber;
- your officers sleep.
- Your people are scattered on the mountains
- with no one to gather them.
- 19 There is no healing for your injury;
- your wound is severe.
- All who hear the news of you
- applaud your downfall,
- for who has not experienced
- your constant cruelty?
Footnotes edit
- ↑ 1:8 Literally of her place
- ↑ 2:1 Hebrew Strengthen your loins!
- ↑ 2:3 Hebrew; alternately, the spears may be of pine or juniper or fir; LXX and Syriac they are prepared, and the horsemen rush to and fro.
- ↑ 3:8 Hebrew No-amon
- ↑ 3:9 That is, the upper Nile region
- ↑ 3:17 Or princes
- ↑ 3:17 Or marshals