Nahum 3
1 Woe to the bloody city! Full of lies and plunder, without end is the spoil.
Woe to thee, O city of blood, all full of lies and violence: rapine shall not depart from thee.
2 Hear the crack of the whip, hear the rattle of wheels. Galloping horses, jolting chariots.
The noise of the whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the neighing horse, and of the running chariot, and of the horsemen coming up,
3 Horsemen charging, swords flashing, spears glittering, a multitude of slain, a heap of bodies, no end to the corpses over which people stumble!
And of the shining sword, and of the glittering spear, and of a multitude slain, and of a grievous destruction: and there is no end of carcasses, and they shall fall down on their dead bodies.
4 “Because you acted like a whore, bewitching the nations, enticing the peoples,
Because of the multitude of the fornications of the harlot that was beautiful and agreeable, and that made use of witchcraft, that sold nations through her fornications, and families through her witchcrafts.
5 I am against you, Nineveh” the Lord of hosts declares. “I will strip your clothes and show the nations your nakedness, and the kingdoms your shame.
Behold I come against thee, saith the Lord of hosts: and I will discover thy shame to thy face, and will shew thy nakedness to the nations, and thy shame to kingdoms.
6 “I will fling loathsome filth at you, and make you an object of contempt, a spectacle,
And I will cast abominations upon thee, and will disgrace thee, and will make an example of thee.
7 so that everyone who sees you will flee from you and say: ‘Nineveh is laid waste, who will mourn for her?’
And it shall come to pass that every one that shall see thee, shall flee from thee, and shall say: Ninive is laid waste: who shall bemoan thee? whence shall I seek a comforter for thee?
8 “Are you any better than Thebes, which stood on the banks of the Nile, with waters around as a rampart, whose wall was the sea of waters?
Art thou better than the populous Alexandria, that dwelleth among the rivers? waters are round about it: the sea is its riches, the waters are its walls.
9 Her strength was Ethiopia and Egypt. The Libyans were her helpers, and Put with its countless people.
Ethiopia and Egypt were the strength thereof, and there is no end: Africa and the Libyans were thy helpers.
10 Yet she was exiled and made captive. On all corners of the streets her infants were dashed to pieces. Lots were cast for her nobles, all her great ones were bound in chains.
Yet she also was removed and carried into captivity: her young children were dashed in pieces at the top of every street, and they cast lots upon her nobles, and all her great men were bound in fetters.
11 “You too, Nineveh, will be drunk with fear; you too will seek a place of escape from the foe.
Therefore thou also shalt be made drunk, and shalt be despised: and thou shalt seek help from the enemy.
12 All your fortresses are fig trees with the first ripe figs; if shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater!
All thy strong holds shall be like fig trees with their green figs: if they be shaken, they shall fall into the mouth of the eater.
13 Your troops are weak as women before your foes; the gates of your land are wide open; your defenses burned down.
Behold thy people in the midst of thee are women: the gates of thy land shall be set wide open to thy enemies, the fire shall devour thy bars.
14 “Draw water for the siege, strengthen your forts. Go to the clay pits and tread the clay; take up the brick moulds.
Draw thee water for the siege, build up thy bulwarks: go into the clay, and tread, work it and make brick.
15 There the fire will consume you, the sword will cut you down. Multiply like the locust or a swarm of grasshoppers.
There shall the fire devour thee: thou shalt perish by the sword, it shall devour thee like the bruchus: assemble together like the bruchus, make thyself many like the locust.
16 Increase the numbers of your merchants until they are more than the stars of heaven,
Thou hast multiplied thy merchandises above the stars of heaven: the bruchus hath spread himself and flown away.
17 until your watchmen are locusts, and your scribes like grasshoppers, which swarm in the hedges on a cold day; but when the sun rises they fly away, no one knows where.
Thy guards are like the locusts: and thy little ones like the locusts of locusts which swarm on the hedges in the day of cold: the sun arose, and they flew away, and their place was not known where they were.
18 “King of Assyria: your princes slumber, your nobles sleep! Your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them!
Thy shepherds have slumbered, O king of Assyria, thy princes shall be buried: thy people are hid in the mountains, and there is none to gather them together.
19 There is no healing for your hurt, your wound is incurable. All who hear of your fate clap their hands in joy, for who has escaped your limitless cruelty?”
Thy destruction is not hidden, thy wound is grievous: all that have heard the fame of thee, have clapped their hands over thee: for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?
