Naum 3
1 O city of blood, wholly false, full of unrighteousness; the prey shall not be handled.
Alas for the city of bloodshed! All of it, deceit, of violence full, none releaseth prey!
2 The noise of whips, and the noise of the rumbling of wheels, and of the pursuing horse, and of the bounding chariot,
The sound of the whip, and the sound of the rushing wheel, —and horse galloping, and dancing chariot rattling along.
3 and of the mounting rider, and of the glittering sword, and of the gleaming arms, and of a multitude of slain, and of heavy falling: and there was no end to her nations, but they shall be weak in their bodies
Horsemen uplifting both the flashing sword, and the lightning spear, Aye, a mass of slain, and a weight of dead bridles, —and no end of corpses, so that they stumble upon their corpses.
4 because of the abundance of fornication: [she is] a fair harlot, and well-favoured, skilled in sorcery, that sells the nations by her fornication, and peoples by her sorceries.
Because of the multitude of the unchaste doings of the unchaste one, fair in grace, mistress of secret arts, —who hath been selling nations by her unchaste doings, families by her secret arts,
5 Behold, I am against you, says the Lord God Almighty, and I will uncover your skirts in your presence, and I will show the nations your shame, and the kingdoms your disgrace.
Behold me! against thee, Declareth Yahweh of hosts, Therefore will I remove thy shirts over thy face, —and let, nations, see thy nakedness, and, kingdoms, thy shame;
6 And I will cast abominable filth upon you according to your unclean ways, and will make you a public example.
And I will cast upon thee abominable filth, and treat thee as foolish, —and set thee as a gazing-stock.
7 And it shall be [that] every one that sees you shall go down from you, and shall say, Wretched Nineve! who shall lament for her? whence shall I seek comfort for her?
And it shall come to pass that, all who see thee, shall flee from thee, and shall say, Destroyed is Nineveh! Who will bemoan her?—Whence shall I seek any to comfort thee?
8 Prepare you a portion, tune the chord, prepare a portion for Ammon: she that dwells amongst the rivers, water is round about her, whose dominion is the sea, and whose walls are water.
Art thou better than No-amon, who sat among the Nile-streams, waters round about her, —whose fortress was the sea, from the sea, her wall.
9 And Ethiopia is her strength, and Egypt; and there was no limit of the flight [of her enemies]; and the Libyans became her helpers.
Ethiopia, was her strength, and Egypt—Yea, without end, —Put and Lubim, were among thy helpers.
10 Yet she shall go as a prisoner into captivity, and they shall dash her infants against the ground at the top of all her ways: and they shall cast lots upon all her glorious [possessions], and all her nobles shall be bound in chains.
Yet, she, was given up to exile, she went into captivity, even her babes, were dashed to the ground, at the head of all the streets, —and, for her honourable men, cast they lots, and, all her great men, were bound together in chains.
11 And you shall be drunken, and shall be overlooked; and you shall seek for yourself strength because of [your] enemies.
Thou too, shalt be drunken, thou shalt hide thyself, —thou too, shalt seek shelter from the foe:
12 All your strongholds are as fig-trees having watchers: if they be shaken, they shall fall into the mouth of the eater.
All thy fortresses, shall be fig-trees with first-ripe figs: if thy be shaken, then shall [the fruit] fall on the mouth of the eater.
13 Behold, your people within you are as women: the gates of your land shall surely be opened to your enemies: the fire shall devour your bars.
Lo! thy people, are women, in thy midst, to thy foes, have been set wide open the gates of thy and, —a fire, hath devoured, thy bars.
14 Draw you water for a siege, and well secure your strongholds: enter into the clay, and be you trodden in the chaff, make [the fortifications] stronger than brick.
Siege-water, draw for thyself, strengthen thy fortresses, —go into the clay, and tread thou the mortar, make strong the brick.
15 There the fire shall devour you; the sword shall utterly destroy you, it shall devour you as the locust, and you shall be pressed down as a palmerworm.
There, shall a fire devour thee, the sword, shall cut thee off, it shall devour thee like the grass locust, make thyself numerous like the grass locust, make thyself numerous as the swarming locust:
16 You have multiplied your merchandise beyond the stars of heaven: the palmerworm has attacked [it], and has flown away.
Though thou have multiplied thy foot-soldiers beyond the stars of the heavens, the grass locust, hath stript itself and flown away!
17 Your mixed [multitude] has suddenly departed as the grasshopper, as the locust perched on a hedge in a frosty day; the sun arises, and it flies off, and knows not its place: woe to them!
Thy mercenary crowds, are like the swarming locust, and, thy mixed multitudes, like locusts—swarms of locusts, —which settle in the hedges on a cold day, the sun, hath broken forth, and they are in flight, and unknown is the place where they are!
18 Your shepherds have slumbered, the Assyrian king has laid low your mighty men: your people departed to the mountains, and there was none to receive [them].
Asleep are thy shepherds, O king of Assyria, thy nobles, must needs rest. Scattered are thy people upon the mountains, and there is none to gather them.
19 There is no healing for your bruise; your wound has rankled: all that hear the report of you shall clap their hands against you; for upon whom has not your wickedness passed continually?
No lessening of thine injury, grievous is thy wound, —all who have heard the report of thee, have clapped their hands over thee, for, upon whom, hath not thy cruelty passed without ceasing?
