Nahum 3

1 Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies [and] violence; the prey departeth not.

Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without prey.

2 The crack of the whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the prancing horses, and of the bounding chariots!

The crack of the whip, the rumble of the wheel, galloping horse and bounding chariot!

3 The horseman springing up, and the glitter of the sword, and the flash of the spear, and a multitude of slain, and a mass of carcases, and no end of corpses: they stumble over their corpses.

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 multitude of the fornications of the well-favoured harlot, mistress of sorceries, that selleth nations through her fornications, and families through her sorceries,

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 thee, saith Jehovah of hosts; and I will uncover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame.

“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 And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazing stock.

I will pelt you with filth and treat you with contempt; I will make a spectacle of you.

7 And it shall come to pass, [that] all they that see thee shall flee from thee, and shall say, Nineveh is laid waste! Who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek comforters for thee?

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 Art thou better than No-Amon, that was situate among the rivers, [that had] the waters round about her, whose rampart was the sea, [and] of the sea was her wall?

Are you better than Thebes, stationed by the Nile with water around her, whose rampart was the sea, whose wall was the water?

9 Ethiopia was her strength, and Egypt, and it was infinite; Phut and the Libyans were her helpers.

Cush and Egypt were her boundless strength; Put and Libya were her allies.

10 She too was carried away, she went into captivity: her infants also were dashed in pieces, at the top of all the streets; and they cast lots for her honourable men, and all her great men were bound with chains.

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 Thou also shalt be drunken: thou shalt be hid; thou also shalt seek a refuge from the enemy.

You too will become drunk; you will go into hiding and seek refuge from the enemy.

12 All thy strongholds are [like] fig-trees with the first-ripe figs: if they be shaken, they even fall into the mouth of the eater.

All your fortresses are fig trees with the first ripe figs; when shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater!

13 Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are [as] women: the gates of thy land are set wide open unto thine enemies; the fire devoureth thy bars.

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 thee water for the siege, strengthen thy fortresses; go into the clay, and tread the mortar, make strong the brick-kiln.

Draw your water for the siege; strengthen your fortresses. Work the clay and tread the mortar; repair the brick kiln!

15 There shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off; it shall devour thee like the cankerworm. Make thyself many as the cankerworm, make thyself many as the locust.

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 Thou hast multiplied thy merchants more than the stars of the heavens; the cankerworm spreadeth himself out and flieth away.

You have multiplied your merchants more than the stars of the sky. The young locust strips the land and flies away.

17 Thy chosen men are as the locusts, and thy captains as swarms of grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day: when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.

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.

18 Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria; thy nobles lie still; thy people are scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them.

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 of thy breach; thy wound is grievous; all that hear the report of thee clap the hands over thee; for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?

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?