< Nahum 3 >

1 Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without prey.
Væ civitas sanguinum, universa mendacii dilaceratione plena: non recedet a te rapina.
2 The crack of the whip, the rumble of the wheel, galloping horse and bounding chariot!
Vox flagelli, et vox impetus rotæ, et equi frementis, et quadrigæ ferventis, et equitis ascendentis:
3 Charging horseman, flashing sword, shining spear; heaps of slain, mounds of corpses, dead bodies without end— they stumble over their dead—
et micantis gladii, et fulgurantis hastæ, et multitudinis interfectæ, et gravis ruinæ: nec est finis cadaverum, et corruent in corporibus suis.
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.
Propter multitudinem fornicationum meretricis speciosæ, et gratæ, et habentis maleficia, quæ vendidit gentes in fornicationibus suis, et familias in maleficiis suis:
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.
Ecce ego ad te, dicit Dominus exercituum, et revelabo pudenda tua in facie tua, et ostendam Gentibus nuditatem tuam, et regnis ignominiam tuam.
6 I will pelt you with filth and treat you with contempt; I will make a spectacle of you.
Et proiiciam super te abominationes, et contumeliis te afficiam, et ponam te in exemplum.
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?”
Et erit: omnis, qui viderit te, resiliet a te, et dicet: Vastata est Ninive: quis commovebit super te caput? unde quæram consolatorem tibi?
8 Are you better than Thebes, stationed by the Nile with water around her, whose rampart was the sea, whose wall was the water?
Numquid melior es Alexandria populorum, quæ habitat in fluminibus? aquæ in circuti eius: cuius divitiæ, mare: aquæ muri eius.
9 Cush and Egypt were her boundless strength; Put and Libya were her allies.
Æthiopia fortitudo eius, et Ægyptus, et non est finis: Africa, et Libyes fuerunt in auxilio tuo.
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.
Sed et ipsa in transmigrationem ducta est in captivitatem: parvuli eius elisi sunt in capite omnium viarum, et super inclytos eius miserunt sortem, et omnes optimates eius confixi sunt in compedibus.
11 You too will become drunk; you will go into hiding and seek refuge from the enemy.
Et tu ergo inebriaberis, et eris despecta: et tu quæres auxilium ab inimico.
12 All your fortresses are fig trees with the first ripe figs; when shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater!
Omnes munitiones tuæ sicut ficus cum grossis suis: si concussæ fuerint, cadent in os comedentis.
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.
Ecce populus tuus mulieres in medio tui: inimicis tuis adapertione pandentur portæ terræ tuæ, devorabit ignis vectes tuos.
14 Draw your water for the siege; strengthen your fortresses. Work the clay and tread the mortar; repair the brick kiln!
Aquam propter obsidionem hauri tibi, extrue munitiones tuas: intra in lutum, et calca, subigens tene laterem.
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!
Ibi comedet te ignis: peribis gladio, devorabit te ut bruchus: congregare ut bruchus: multiplicare ut locusta.
16 You have multiplied your merchants more than the stars of the sky. The young locust strips the land and flies away.
Plures fecisti negotiationes tuas quam stellæ sint cæli: bruchus expansus est, et avolavit.
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.
Custodes tui quasi locustæ: et parvuli tui quasi locustæ locustarum, quæ considunt in sepibus in die frigoris: sol ortus est, et avolaverunt, et non est cognitus locus earum ubi fuerint.
18 O king of Assyria, your shepherds slumber; your officers sleep. Your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them.
Dormitaverunt pastores tui, rex Assur: sepelientur principes tui: latitavit populus tuus in montibus, et non est qui congreget.
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?
Non est obscura contritio tua, pessima est plaga tua: omnes qui audierunt auditionem tuam, compresserunt manum super te: quia super quem non transiit malitia tua semper?

< Nahum 3 >