< Nahum Propheta 3 >
1 Væ civitas sanguinum, universa mendacii dilaceratione plena! non recedet a te rapina.
Terrible things will happen to [Nineveh], that city [that is full of people who] murder [MTY] and lie. [The city is] full of things that were seized [from other countries by their soldiers]; [their armies] continually [LIT] have acted brutally towards people whom they conquered.
2 Vox flagelli, et vox impetus rotæ, et equi frementis, et quadrigæ ferventis, et equitis ascendentis,
But [now listen to the enemy soldiers coming to attack Nineveh]; [listen to them] cracking their whips, and [listen to the] rattle of [their chariot] wheels! [Listen to] their galloping horses and their chariots as they bounce along!
3 et micantis gladii, et fulgurantis hastæ, et multitudinis interfectæ, et gravis ruinæ; nec est finis cadaverum, et corruent in corporibus suis.
[Look at their] flashing swords and glittering spears as the horsemen race forward! Many [people of Nineveh will be] killed; [there will be] piles of corpses, [with the result that] people will stumble over them.
4 Propter multitudinem fornicationum meretricis speciosæ, et gratæ, et habentis maleficia, quæ vendidit gentes in fornicationibus suis, et familias in maleficiis suis.
All [that will happen] because [Nineveh is like] [MET] a beautiful prostitute [who lures men to where they will be ruined]; [Nineveh is a beautiful city] which has attracted/enticed [people of] other nations [to come there]. [The people of Nineveh] taught those people [of other nations rituals of] magic, and caused them to become their slaves.
5 Ecce ego ad te, dicit Dominus exercituum, et revelabo pudenda tua in facie tua; et ostendam gentibus nuditatem tuam, et regnis ignominiam tuam.
[So] the Commander of the armies of angels says to [the people of Nineveh]: “I am your enemy, and I will [cause the people in other] nations to see you [completely] humiliated like [MET] [women who have committed adultery are humiliated by] having their skirts lifted high, [with the result that] people can see their naked [bodies].
6 Et projiciam super te abominationes, et contumeliis te afficiam, et ponam te in exemplum.
I will cause rubbish/garbage to be thrown at you; I will show [others] that I despise you very much, and I will cause you to be publicly ridiculed.
7 Et erit: omnis qui viderit te resiliet a te, et dicet: Vastata est Ninive. Quis commovebit super te caput? unde quæram consolatorem tibi?
All those who see you will turn their backs to you and say, ‘Nineveh is ruined, but absolutely no one [RHQ] will mourn for it.’ No one will regret Nineveh being destroyed!”
8 Numquid melior es Alexandria populorum, quæ habitat in fluminibus? aquæ in circuitu ejus; cujus divitiæ, mare; aquæ, muri ejus.
Your city is certainly [RHQ] no safer than Thebes [city] was. [Thebes was an important city] beside the Nile [River]; the river was [like] [SIM] a wall that protected the city [DOU].
9 Æthiopia fortitudo ejus, et Ægyptus, et non est finis; Africa et Libyes fuerunt in auxilio tuo.
[The rulers of] Ethiopia and Egypt helped Thebes; there was no limit to their power. [The governments of the nearby countries of] Put and Libya were also allies of Thebes.
10 Sed et ipsa in transmigrationem ducta est in captivitatem: parvuli ejus elisi sunt in capite omnium viarum, et super inclytos ejus miserunt sortem, et omnes optimates ejus confixi sunt in compedibus.
But Thebes was captured, and [its people were] (exiled/forced to go to other countries). Their babies were dashed to pieces in the streets [of the city]. [Enemy soldiers] (cast lots/threw small marked stones) to decide who would get each official in Thebes [to become his slave]. All the leaders of Thebes were fastened/tied by chains.
11 Et tu ergo inebriaberis, et eris despecta: et tu quæres auxilium ab inimico.
You [people of Nineveh] will similarly become dazed and drunk, and you will search for places to hide [to escape] from your enemies.
12 Omnes munitiones tuæ sicut ficus cum grossis suis: si concussæ fuerint, cadent in os comedentis.
[Your enemies will cause] the walls around your city to fall down like [SIM] the first figs that fall from fig trees [each year]. [Your city will be captured easily, like] [MET] [figs that fall] into the mouths [HYP] of those who shake the fig trees.
13 Ecce populus tuus mulieres in medio tui: inimicis tuis adapertione pandentur portæ terræ tuæ, devorabit ignis vectes tuos.
Look at your soldiers! They will be [as weak/helpless as] [MET] women! The gates of your city will be opened wide [to allow] your enemies [to enter them], [and then] the bars of those gates will be burned.
14 Aquam propter obsidionem hauri tibi: exstrue munitiones tuas, intra in lutum, et calca, subigens tene laterem.
Store up water [now to use when] your enemies surround the city! Repair the forts! Dig up clay and trample it [to make it soft], and put it into molds to make bricks [to repair the walls]!
15 Ibi comedet te ignis, peribis gladio, devorabit te ut bruchus: congregare ut bruchus, multiplicare ut locusta.
[Nevertheless, your enemies] will burn your [city]; they will kill you with their swords; they will kill you like [SIM] locusts [destroy crops].
16 Plures fecisti negotiationes tuas quam stellæ sint cæli; bruchus expansus est, et avolavit.
In your [city] there are now very many merchants; [it seems that] there are more of them than there are stars. But [when your city is being destroyed, those merchants will take the valuable things and disappear] [like] [SIM] locusts that strip the leaves from plants and [then] fly away.
17 Custodes tui quasi locustæ, et parvuli tui quasi locustæ locustarum, quæ considunt in sepibus in die frigoris: sol ortus est, et avolaverunt, et non est cognitus locus earum ubi fuerint.
Your leaders are [also] like a swarm of [SIM] locusts [DOU] that crowd together on the stone fences/walls on a cold day, and [then] fly away when the sun comes up, and no one knows where they have gone.
18 Dormitaverunt pastores tui, rex Assur, sepelientur principes tui: latitavit populus tuus in montibus, et non est qui congreget.
O King of Assyria, your officials will [all] be dead [EUP]; your important people will lie down and rest [forever]. Your people will be scattered over the mountains, and there will no one to gather them [together].
19 Non est obscura contritio tua; pessima est plaga tua. Omnes qui audierunt auditionem tuam compresserunt manum super te: quia super quem non transiit malitia tua semper?
You [are like someone who] has a wound that cannot be healed; [it will be] a wound that causes him to die. And all those who hear about what has happened to you will clap their hands [joyfully]. [They will say, ] “Everyone has [RHQ] suffered because he continually was [very] cruel to us.”