Nahum 3
1 Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies [and] violence; the prey departeth not.
Wo to the citee of bloodis, al of leesyng, ful of to-reendyng; raueyn shal not go awei fro thee.
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!
Vois of scourge, and vois of bire of wheel, and of hors makynge noise, and of foure horsid carte brennynge, and of kniyt stiynge vp,
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.
and of schynynge swerd, and glesenynge spere, and of slayn multitude, and of greuouse fallyng, nether ther is eende of careyns. And thei schulen falle togidere in her bodies,
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,
for the multitude of fornicaciouns of the hoore fair and plesaunt, and hauynge witchecraftis; which seelde folkis in her fornicaciouns, and meynees in her enchauntementis, ether sorceries.
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.
Lo! Y to thee, seith the Lord God of oostis; and Y schal schewe thi schameful thingis in thi face; and Y schal schewe to folkis thi nakidnesse, and to rewmes thin yuel fame.
6 And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazing stock.
And Y schal cast out on thee thin abhomynaciouns, and Y schal punysche thee with dispitis, and Y schal putte thee in to ensaumple.
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?
And it schal be, ech man that schal se thee, schal skippe awei fro thee, and schal seie, Nynyue is distried. Who schal moue heed on thee? wherof schal Y seke to thee a coumfortour?
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?
Whether thou art betere than Alisaundre of puplis, that dwellith in floodis? Watris ben in cumpas therof, whos richessis is the see, watris ben wallis therof.
9 Ethiopia was her strength, and Egypt, and it was infinite; Phut and the Libyans were her helpers.
Ethiope is strengthe therof, and Egipt, and there is noon ende; Affrik and Libie weren in help therof.
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.
But and it in `passyng ouer is led in to caitifte; the litle children therof ben hurtlid doun in the heed of alle weies. And on the noble men therof thei kesten lot, and alle grete men therof ben set togidere in gyues.
11 Thou also shalt be drunken: thou shalt be hid; thou also shalt seek a refuge from the enemy.
And thou therfor schalt be drunkun, and schalt be dispisid, and thou schalt seke helpe of enemye.
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.
Al thi strengthis as a fige tree, with hise figis vnripe; if thei schulen be schakun, thei schulen falle in to the mouth of the etere.
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.
Lo! thi puple ben wymmen in the myddil of thee; the yatis of thi lond schulen be schewid to openyng to thin enemyes; fier schal deuoure thin herris.
14 Draw thee water for the siege, strengthen thy fortresses; go into the clay, and tread the mortar, make strong the brick-kiln.
Drawe vp to thee water for asegyng, bilde thi strengthis; entre in fen, and trede, thou vndurgoynge holde a tiel stoon.
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 fier schal ete thee, thou schalt perische bi swerd, it schal deuoure thee, as bruke doith; be thou gaderid togidere as a bruke, be thou multiplied as a locuste.
16 Thou hast multiplied thy merchants more than the stars of the heavens; the cankerworm spreadeth himself out and flieth away.
Thou madist thi marchaundises mo than ben sterris of heuene; a bruke is spred abrood, and flei awei.
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.
Thi keperis ben as locustis, and thi litle children ben as locustis of locustis, whiche sitten togidere in heggis in the dai of coold; the sun is risun, and thei fledden awei, and the place of hem is not knowun, where thei weren.
18 Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria; thy nobles lie still; thy people are scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them.
Thi scheepherdis napten, thou kyng Assur, thi princes schulen be biried; thi puple ofte was hid in hillis, and ther is not that schal gadere.
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?
Thi sorewe is not priuy, thi wounde is worst; alle men that herden thin heryng, pressiden togidere hond on thee, for on whom passide not thi malice euermore?
