Nineveh’s Complete Ruin
3 (A)Woe to the bloody city, completely full of lies and pillage;
Her prey never departs.
2 The (B)noise of the whip,
The noise of the rattling of the wheel,
Galloping horses
And [a]bounding chariots!
3 Horsemen charging,
Swords flashing, (C)spears gleaming,
(D)Many slain, a mass of corpses,
And [b](E)countless dead bodies—
They stumble over [c]the dead bodies!
4 All because of the (F)many harlotries of the harlot,
The charming one, the (G)mistress of sorceries,
Who (H)sells nations by her harlotries
And families by her sorceries.
5 “Behold, (I)I am against you,” declares the Lord of hosts;
“And I will [d](J)lift up your skirts over your face,
And (K)show to the nations your nakedness
And to the kingdoms your disgrace.
6 “I will (L)throw [e]filth on you
And (M)make you vile,
And set you up as a (N)spectacle.
7 “And it will come about that all who see you
Will [f]shrink from you and say,
‘Nineveh is devastated!
(O)Who will grieve for her?’
Where will I seek comforters for you?”
8 Are you better than [g](P)No-amon,
Which was situated by the (Q)waters of the Nile,
With water surrounding her,
Whose rampart was [h]the sea,
Whose wall consisted of [i]the sea?
9 (R)Ethiopia was her might,
And Egypt too, without limits.
(S)Put and (T)Lubim were among [j]her helpers.
10 Yet she (U)became an exile,
She went into captivity;
Also her (V)small children were dashed to pieces
(W)At the head of every street;
They (X)cast lots for her honorable men,
And all her great men were bound with fetters.
11 You too will become (Y)drunk,
You will be (Z)hidden.
You too will search for a refuge from the enemy.
12 All your fortifications are (AA)fig trees with [k](AB)ripe fruit—
When shaken, they fall into the eater’s mouth.
13 Behold, your people are (AC)women in your midst!
The gates of your land are (AD)opened wide to your enemies;
Fire consumes your gate bars.
14 (AE)Draw for yourself water for the siege!
(AF)Strengthen your fortifications!
Go into the clay and tread the mortar!
Take hold of the brick mold!
15 There (AG)fire will consume you,
The sword will cut you down;
It will (AH)consume you as the locust does.
Multiply yourself like the creeping locust,
Multiply yourself like the swarming locust.
16 You have increased your (AI)traders more than the stars of heaven—
The creeping locust [l]strips and flies away.
17 Your [m](AJ)guardsmen are like the swarming locust.
Your (AK)marshals are like hordes of grasshoppers
Settling in the stone walls on a cold day.
The sun rises and they flee,
And the place where they are is not known.
18 Your shepherds are (AL)sleeping, O (AM)king of Assyria;
Your (AN)nobles are lying down.
Your people are (AO)scattered on the mountains
And there is no one to regather them.
19 There is (AP)no relief for your breakdown,
Your (AQ)wound is incurable.
All who hear [n]about you
Will (AR)clap their hands over you,
For on whom has not your evil passed continually?
Footnotes
- Nahum 3:2 Lit skipping
- Nahum 3:3 Lit there is no end to
- Nahum 3:3 Lit their
- Nahum 3:5 Lit uncover your
- Nahum 3:6 Lit detestable things
- Nahum 3:7 Lit flee
- Nahum 3:8 I.e. the city of Amon: Thebes
- Nahum 3:8 I.e. the Nile
- Nahum 3:8 I.e. the Nile
- Nahum 3:9 Lit your
- Nahum 3:12 Lit first fruits
- Nahum 3:16 I.e. strips vegetation; or molts
- Nahum 3:17 Or officials
- Nahum 3:19 Lit your report
Cross references
- Nahum 3:1 : Ezek 24:6, 9
- Nahum 3:2 : Job 39:22-25; Jer 47:3; Nah 2:3, 4
- Nahum 3:3 : Hab 3:11
- Nahum 3:3 : Is 34:3; 66:16
- Nahum 3:3 : Is 37:36; Ezek 39:4
- Nahum 3:4 : Is 23:17; Ezek 16:25-29; Rev 17:1, 2
- Nahum 3:4 : Is 47:9, 12, 13
- Nahum 3:4 : Rev 18:3
- Nahum 3:5 : Jer 50:31; Ezek 26:3; Nah 2:13
- Nahum 3:5 : Is 47:2, 3; Jer 13:26
- Nahum 3:5 : Ezek 16:37
- Nahum 3:6 : Job 9:31
- Nahum 3:6 : Job 30:8; Mal 2:9
- Nahum 3:6 : Is 14:16; Jer 51:37
- Nahum 3:7 : Is 51:19; Jer 15:5
- Nahum 3:8 : Jer 46:25; Ezek 30:14-16
- Nahum 3:8 : Is 19:6-8
- Nahum 3:9 : Is 20:5
- Nahum 3:9 : Jer 46:9; Ezek 27:10; 30:5; 38:5
- Nahum 3:9 : 2 Chr 12:3; 16:8
- Nahum 3:10 : Is 19:4; 20:4
- Nahum 3:10 : Ps 137:9; Is 13:16; Hos 13:16
- Nahum 3:10 : Lam 2:19
- Nahum 3:10 : Joel 3:3; Obad 11
- Nahum 3:11 : Is 49:26; Jer 25:27; Nah 1:10
- Nahum 3:11 : Is 2:10, 19; Hos 10:8
- Nahum 3:12 : Rev 6:13
- Nahum 3:12 : Is 28:4
- Nahum 3:13 : Is 19:16; Jer 50:37; 51:30
- Nahum 3:13 : Is 45:1, 2; Nah 2:6
- Nahum 3:14 : 2 Chr 32:3, 4
- Nahum 3:14 : Nah 2:1
- Nahum 3:15 : Is 66:15, 16; Nah 2:13; 3:13
- Nahum 3:15 : Joel 1:4
- Nahum 3:16 : Is 23:8
- Nahum 3:17 : Rev 9:7
- Nahum 3:17 : Jer 51:27
- Nahum 3:18 : Ps 76:5, 6; Is 56:10; Jer 51:57
- Nahum 3:18 : Jer 50:18
- Nahum 3:18 : Nah 2:5
- Nahum 3:18 : 1 Kin 22:17; Is 13:14
- Nahum 3:19 : Jer 46:11; Mic 1:9
- Nahum 3:19 : Jer 30:12
- Nahum 3:19 : Job 27:23; Lam 2:15