Nahum 3
1 Alas for the city of bloodshed! All of it, deceit, of violence full, none releaseth prey!
Woe to the bloody city! Full of lies and plunder, without end is the spoil.
2 The sound of the whip, and the sound of the rushing wheel, —and horse galloping, and dancing chariot rattling along.
Hear the crack of the whip, hear the rattle of wheels. Galloping horses, jolting 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.
Horsemen charging, swords flashing, spears glittering, a multitude of slain, a heap of bodies, no end to the corpses over which people stumble!
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 you acted like a whore, bewitching the nations, enticing the peoples,
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;
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.
6 And I will cast upon thee abominable filth, and treat thee as foolish, —and set thee as a gazing-stock.
“I will fling loathsome filth at you, and make you an object of contempt, a spectacle,
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?
so that everyone who sees you will flee from you and say: ‘Nineveh is laid waste, who will mourn for her?’
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.
“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?
9 Ethiopia, was her strength, and Egypt—Yea, without end, —Put and Lubim, were among thy helpers.
Her strength was Ethiopia and Egypt. The Libyans were her helpers, and Put with its countless people.
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.
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.
11 Thou too, shalt be drunken, thou shalt hide thyself, —thou too, shalt seek shelter from the foe:
“You too, Nineveh, will be drunk with fear; you too will seek a place of escape from the foe.
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 your fortresses are fig trees with the first ripe figs; if shaken, they 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.
Your troops are weak as women before your foes; the gates of your land are wide open; your defenses burned down.
14 Siege-water, draw for thyself, strengthen thy fortresses, —go into the clay, and tread thou the mortar, make strong the brick.
“Draw water for the siege, strengthen your forts. Go to the clay pits and tread the clay; take up the brick moulds.
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 the fire will consume you, the sword will cut you down. Multiply like the locust or a swarm of grasshoppers.
16 Though thou have multiplied thy foot-soldiers beyond the stars of the heavens, the grass locust, hath stript itself and flown away!
Increase the numbers of your merchants until they are more than the stars of heaven,
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!
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.
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.
“King of Assyria: your princes slumber, your nobles sleep! Your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather 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 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?”
