Naum 3
1 O city of blood, wholly false, full of unrighteousness; the prey shall not be handled.
Woe to the city of blood! She is all full of deceit and robbery; She ceaseth not from plunder.
2 The noise of whips, and the noise of the rumbling of wheels, and of the pursuing horse, and of the bounding chariot,
[[Hark!]] The noise of the whip! The noise of the rattling of the wheels, And of the prancing horses, And of the bounding chariots!
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
The horseman lifteth up the flame of the sword, And the lightning of the spear; There is a multitude of the slain; heaps of dead bodies; There is no end to the carcasses; they stumble over the carcasses.
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.
It is because of the many whoredoms of the harlot, The graceful beauty, the mistress of enchantments, That sold nations by her whoredoms, And kingdoms by her enchantments.
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, I am against thee, saith Jehovah of host, And I will lift up thy trail over thy face, And I will show the nations thy nakedness, And the 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 abominable filth upon thee, And I will dishonor thee, and make thee 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 all 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?”
8 Prepare you a portion, tune the chord, prepare a portion for Ammon: she that dwells among the rivers, water is round about her, whose dominion is the sea, and whose walls are water.
Art thou better than No-Ammon, That dwelt by the rivers, That had the waters round about her, Whose fortress was the sea, And whose wall was from the waters?
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 and Egypt were her strength, a countless multitude; Phut and Lybia were 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 was she carried away; she went into captivity; Her children were dashed in pieces at the head of all the streets; For her honorable men they cast lots, And all her great men were bound in chains.
11 And you shall be drunken, and shall be overlooked; and you shall seek for yourself strength because of [your] enemies.
Thou also shalt drink to the full; Thou, too, shalt be hidden; Thou shalt seek a refuge from the enemy!
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 strong-holds shall be like fig-trees with the first ripe figs; If they be shaken, they fall into 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.
Behold, thy people shall be women in the midst of thee; The gates of thy land shall be set wide open to thine enemies; The fire shall devour 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.
Draw thee water for the siege, Fortify thy strongholds. Go into the clay, and tread the mortar; Repair the brick-kiln!
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.
Then shall the fire devour thee; The sword shall cut thee off, It shall devour thee like the locust; Though thou art increased like the locusts, Though thou art increased like the thick locusts.
16 You have multiplied your merchandise beyond the stars of heaven: the palmerworm has attacked [it], and has flown away.
Thy merchants have been more numerous than the stars of heaven; The locusts spread themselves and fly 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 princes are like locusts, And thy captains like swarms of locusts, Which encamp in the hedges in the time of cold; But when the sun ariseth, they flee away, And the place is not known 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].
Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria! Thy nobles take their rest, Thy people are scattered on the mountains, and none gathereth 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?
Thy bruise is incurable; Thy wound is mortal. All that hear of thee shall clap their hands over thee; For upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?
