Nahum 3
1 Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without prey.
Woe to the bloody city! Full of lies and plunder, without end is the spoil.
2 The crack of the whip, the rumble of the wheel, galloping horse and bounding chariot!
Hear the crack of the whip, hear the rattle of wheels. Galloping horses, jolting chariots.
3 Charging horseman, flashing sword, shining spear; heaps of slain, mounds of corpses, dead bodies without end— they stumble over their dead—
Horsemen charging, swords flashing, spears glittering, a multitude of slain, a heap of bodies, no end to the corpses over which people stumble!
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.
“Because you acted like a whore, bewitching the nations, enticing the peoples,
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.
I am against you, Nineveh” the Lord of hosts declares. “I will strip your clothes and show the nations your nakedness, and the kingdoms your shame.
6 I will pelt you with filth and treat you with contempt; I will make a spectacle of you.
“I will fling loathsome filth at you, and make you an object of contempt, a spectacle,
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?”
so that everyone who sees you will flee from you and say: ‘Nineveh is laid waste, who will mourn for her?’
8 Are you better than Thebes, stationed by the Nile with water around her, whose rampart was the sea, whose wall was the water?
“Are you any better than Thebes, which stood on the banks of the Nile, with waters around as a rampart, whose wall was the sea of waters?
9 Cush and Egypt were her boundless strength; Put and Libya were her allies.
Her strength was Ethiopia and Egypt. The Libyans were her helpers, and Put with its countless people.
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.
Yet she was exiled and made captive. On all corners of the streets her infants were dashed to pieces. Lots were cast for her nobles, all her great ones were bound in chains.
11 You too will become drunk; you will go into hiding and seek refuge from the enemy.
“You too, Nineveh, will be drunk with fear; you too will seek a place of escape from the foe.
12 All your fortresses are fig trees with the first ripe figs; when shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater!
All your fortresses are fig trees with the first ripe figs; if 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.
Your troops are weak as women before your foes; the gates of your land are wide open; your defenses burned down.
14 Draw your water for the siege; strengthen your fortresses. Work the clay and tread the mortar; repair the brick kiln!
“Draw water for the siege, strengthen your forts. Go to the clay pits and tread the clay; take up the brick moulds.
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!
There the fire will consume you, the sword will cut you down. Multiply like the locust or a swarm of grasshoppers.
16 You have multiplied your merchants more than the stars of the sky. The young locust strips the land and flies away.
Increase the numbers of your merchants until they are more than the stars of heaven,
17 Your guards are like the swarming locust, and your scribes 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.
until your watchmen are locusts, and your scribes like grasshoppers, which swarm in the hedges on a cold day; but when the sun rises they fly away, 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.
“King of Assyria: your princes slumber, your nobles 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?
There is no healing for your hurt, your wound is incurable. All who hear of your fate clap their hands in joy, for who has escaped your limitless cruelty?”
