Nahum 3
1 Alas for the city of bloodshed! All of it, deceit, of violence full, none releaseth prey!
Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies [and] violence; the prey departeth not.
2 The sound of the whip, and the sound of the rushing wheel, —and horse galloping, and dancing chariot rattling along.
The crack of the whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the prancing horses, and of the bounding chariots!
3 Horsemen uplifting both the flashing sword, and the lightning spear, Aye, a mass of slain, and a weight of dead bridles, —and no end of corpses, so that they stumble upon their corpses.
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.
4 Because of the multitude of the unchaste doings of the unchaste one, fair in grace, mistress of secret arts, —who hath been selling nations by her unchaste doings, families by her secret arts,
— 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,
5 Behold me! against thee, Declareth Yahweh of hosts, Therefore will I remove thy shirts over thy face, —and let, nations, see thy nakedness, and, kingdoms, thy shame;
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.
6 And I will cast upon thee abominable filth, and treat thee as foolish, —and set thee as a gazing-stock.
And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazing stock.
7 And it shall come to pass that, all who see thee, shall flee from thee, and shall say, Destroyed is Nineveh! Who will bemoan her?—Whence shall I seek any to comfort thee?
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?
8 Art thou better than No-amon, who sat among the Nile-streams, waters round about her, —whose fortress was the sea, from the sea, her wall.
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?
9 Ethiopia, was her strength, and Egypt—Yea, without end, —Put and Lubim, were among thy helpers.
Ethiopia was her strength, and Egypt, and it was infinite; Phut and the Libyans were her helpers.
10 Yet, she, was given up to exile, she went into captivity, even her babes, were dashed to the ground, at the head of all the streets, —and, for her honourable men, cast they lots, and, all her great men, were bound together in chains.
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.
11 Thou too, shalt be drunken, thou shalt hide thyself, —thou too, shalt seek shelter from the foe:
Thou also shalt be drunken: thou shalt be hid; thou also shalt seek a refuge from the enemy.
12 All thy fortresses, shall be fig-trees with first-ripe figs: if thy be shaken, then shall [the fruit] fall on the mouth of the eater.
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.
13 Lo! thy people, are women, in thy midst, to thy foes, have been set wide open the gates of thy and, —a fire, hath devoured, thy bars.
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.
14 Siege-water, draw for thyself, strengthen thy fortresses, —go into the clay, and tread thou the mortar, make strong the brick.
Draw thee water for the siege, strengthen thy fortresses; go into the clay, and tread the mortar, make strong the brick-kiln.
15 There, shall a fire devour thee, the sword, shall cut thee off, it shall devour thee like the grass locust, make thyself numerous like the grass locust, make thyself numerous as the swarming locust:
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.
16 Though thou have multiplied thy foot-soldiers beyond the stars of the heavens, the grass locust, hath stript itself and flown away!
Thou hast multiplied thy merchants more than the stars of the heavens; the cankerworm spreadeth himself out and flieth away.
17 Thy mercenary crowds, are like the swarming locust, and, thy mixed multitudes, like locusts—swarms of locusts, —which settle in the hedges on a cold day, the sun, hath broken forth, and they are in flight, and unknown is the place where they are!
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.
18 Asleep are thy shepherds, O king of Assyria, thy nobles, must needs rest. Scattered are thy people upon the mountains, and there is none to gather them.
Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria; thy nobles lie still; thy people are scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them.
19 No lessening of thine injury, grievous is thy wound, —all who have heard the report of thee, have clapped their hands over thee, for, upon whom, hath not thy cruelty passed without ceasing?
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?
