< Nahum 3 >

1 What a disaster is coming upon this murderous city with all its treachery! It is full of wealth it has robbed, and always has plenty of victims.
Madichon pou lavil ki renmen fè san koule a! Se manti ase l'ap mache bay. Li plen richès li vòlò nan fè mètdam. Li chaje ak byen li piye kay lòt.
2 Listen to the noise: whips crack, wheels clatter, horses gallop, chariots rattle!
Koute bri fwèt kach yo, bri wou cha yo k'ap woule vini. Koute bri chwal yo k'ap galope, bri cha lagè yo k'ap kouri vini.
3 Horsemen charge, swords flash, spears glitter! Many dead, piles of corpses, countless bodies—so many that people stumble over them.
Kavalye yo ap zeponnen chwal yo. Nepe yo klere kou fèman nan solèy. Lans yo, ou ta di zèklè. Moun tonbe kou mouch. Kadav yo fè pil sou pil. Ou pa ka konte yo. Moun ap bite sou moun mouri.
4 All this happens because the repeated prostitution of Nineveh the prostitute, the beautiful mistress with her deadly charms who seduces nations into slavery by her prostitution and her witchcraft.
Y'ap pini lavil Niniv, manman jennès la. Y'ap pini l' pou tout dezòd li fè yo. Li te bèl, li te fò nan pawòl dous! Li fè yo pran plezi kont kò yo ak li. Li fè nasyon yo pèdi tèt yo. Lèfini, li pran yo, li fè trafik ak yo!
5 Watch out! For I am against you, declares the Lord Almighty. I will lift your skirts over your face and let the nations see your nakedness, and kingdoms see your shame.
Men sa Seyè ki gen tout pouvwa a di: Se mwen menm k'ap regle ak ou! Mwen pral leve rad ou anlè jouk nan tèt. Mwen pral mete ou toutouni pou tout nasyon yo ka wè ou, pou tout peyi ka wè jan ou san wont.
6 I will throw filth at you. I will treat you with contempt, and make a spectacle of you.
Mwen pral kouvri ou ak salte. Mwen pral avili ou, pou tout moun ka wè jan ou pa bon.
7 Then everyone who sees you will shun you saying, “Nineveh is ruined! But who is going to mourn your loss?” Where should I look to find anyone to comfort you?
Tout moun ki va wè ou va kouri byen lwen. Y'a di: Lavil Niniv fini! Ki moun ki va gen pitye pou li? Pa gen pesonn ka vle vin kenbe rèl la avè l'.
8 Are you any better than the city of Thebes on the River Nile, surrounded by water? Water was its defense, water was its wall.
Ou menm lavil Niniv, ou pa pi bon pase lavil Tèb. Atout li chita nan mitan gwo larivyè Nil la, ak dlo toupatou tankou yon ranpa, tankou yon glasi pou pwoteje l',
9 The city ruled Egypt and Ethiopia. Put and Libya were its allies.
atout li te anvayi peyi Letiopi ak peyi Lejip kifè pa t' gen limit pou pouvwa li ankò, atout moun peyi Pout yo ak moun peyi Libi yo te mache ansanm avè l',
10 Yet its people were also taken away into exile, into captivity. Their babies were dashed to pieces in every street. Their nobles were bound in chains and taken away as servants, chosen by lot.
yo fè moun li yo prizonye, yo depòte yo nan lòt peyi. Nan tout kalfou, yo kraze pitit li yo jouk yo mouri. Yo mare grannèg li yo nan chenn kou esklav. Yo separe yo, yo tire osò pou bay chak moun pa yo.
11 You too will behave like a drunk. You will hide in fear, trying to find a place safe from the enemy.
Ou menm tou, lavil Niniv, ou pral sou. Tèt ou pral vire. Ou menm tou, ou pral chache kote pou ou kache pou lènmi ou yo.
12 All your fortresses are like fig trees ripe with fruit—they fall when they are shaken into the mouth of the one eating.
Fò ou yo tankou yon pye fig frans chaje fig mi: ou annik souke l', epi fig yo tonbe nan bouch k'ap tann pou manje yo.
13 Look! Your soldiers are women among you. The gates of your land are wide open to your enemies; the bars of the gates will be set on fire.
Sòlda ou yo, ou ta di yon bann fanm! Peyi a ap san defans devan lènmi ou yo, dife boule ba ki fèmen pòtay ou yo. Yo rete gran louvri.
14 Store water to prepare for a siege! Strengthen your fortresses! Go to the clay pits to tread it well, mix the cement, get your brick molds ready!
Al pran dlo mete la, paske yo pral sènen ou anndan lakay ou. Repare miray fò ou yo! Al bat tè ak pye ou pou fè brik! Pare fòm pou fè brik.
15 But even so, there the fire will consume you, you will be cut down by the sword. You will be destroyed as if you were devoured by a swarm of locusts. So multiply yourselves like locusts, like a swarm of locusts.
Ou te mèt peple tankou chini, ou te mèt peple tankou krikèt, dife pral boule ou nèt ale. Lagè pral fini avè ou.
16 You increased your merchants so that there are more of them than the stars of heaven. But like locusts they strip everything and then fly away.
Ou te gen plis moun k'ap fè kòmès pase gen zetwal nan syèl la. Koulye a, yo pati tankou krikèt ki louvri zèl yo vole ale.
17 Your leaders are like locusts, your officials like a swarm of locusts. They rest on walls on a cold day, but when the sun rises they fly away, and no one knows where they've gone.
Sòlda ou yo ak moun k'ap travay pou ou yo pral tankou yon bann krikèt ki poze sou raje lè fredi. Leve solèy la leve, y' ale. Pesonn pa konnen kote yo fè.
18 King of Assyria, your shepherds are asleep, your princes are slumbering. Your people are scattered across the mountains and no one can gather them.
Ou menm wa peyi Lasiri a, faksyonnè ou yo ap dòmi. Chèf lame ou yo mouri. Moun ou yo gaye nan tout mòn. Pa gen pesonn pou fè yo tounen lakay yo ankò.
19 There is no way to heal your injuries, you are too badly wounded. Everyone who hears this news will applaud what has happened to you, for was there anyone who escaped your continuous cruelty?
Pa gen renmèd pou ou pou jan ou donmaje a. Pa gen gerizon pou malenng ou a. Tout moun ki va pran nouvèl la va kontan, y'a bat men. Paske, ak tout mechanste ou yo, pa gen moun ou pa t' fè pase mizè.

< Nahum 3 >