Nahum 1-3

New American Standard Bible

God Is Awesome

1 The ^(A)pronouncement of ^(B)Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite:

²A ^(C)jealous and avenging God is the Lord;
The Lord is ^(D)avenging and ^[a]wrathful.
The Lord takes ^(E)vengeance on His adversaries,
And He reserves wrath for His enemies.
³The Lord is ^(F)slow to anger and great in power,
And the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.
In the ^(G)gale and the storm is His way,
And ^(H)clouds are the dust beneath His feet.
⁴He ^(I)rebukes the sea and dries it up;
He dries up all the rivers.
^(J)Bashan and Carmel wither,
The blossoms of Lebanon wither.
⁵Mountains ^(K)quake because of Him,
And the hills ^(L)come apart;
Indeed the earth is ^(M)upheaved by His presence,
The ^(N)world and all the inhabitants in it.
⁶^(O)Who can stand before His indignation?
Who can endure the ^(P)burning of His anger?
His ^(Q)wrath gushes forth like fire,
And the ^(R)rocks are broken up by Him.
⁷The Lord is ^(S)good,
A stronghold in the day of trouble,
And ^(T)He knows those who take refuge in Him.
⁸But with an ^(U)overflowing flood
He will make a complete end of ^[b]its site,
And will pursue His enemies into ^(V)darkness.

⁹Whatever you ^(W)devise against the Lord,
He will make a ^(X)complete end of it.
Distress will not rise up twice.
¹⁰Like tangled ^(Y)thorns,
And like those who are ^(Z)drunken with their drink,
They are ^(AA)consumed
Like stubble completely dried up.
¹¹From you has gone out
One who ^(AB)plotted evil against the Lord,
A ^[c]^(AC)wicked counselor.

¹²This is what the Lord says:

“Though they are at full strength and so they are many,
So also they will be ^(AD)cut off and pass away.
Though I have afflicted you,
I will afflict you ^(AE)no longer.
¹³So now, I will ^(AF)break his yoke from upon you,
And I will tear your shackles to pieces.”

¹⁴The Lord has issued a command concerning ^[d]you:
“^[e]Your name will ^(AG)no longer be perpetuated.
I will eliminate the ^(AH)carved image and the cast metal image
From the house of your gods.
I will prepare your ^(AI)grave,
For you are contemptible.”

¹⁵^[f]Behold, ^(AJ)on the mountains, the feet of him who brings good news,
Who announces peace!
^(AK)Celebrate your feasts, Judah,
Pay your vows.
For ^(AL)never again will the ^[g]wicked one pass through you;
He is ^(AM)eliminated completely.

The Overthrow of Nineveh

2 ^[h]The one who ^(AN)scatters has come up against ^[i]you.
Keep watch over the fortress, watch the road;
^[j]Bind up your waist, ^[k]summon all your strength.
²For the Lord will restore the ^(AO)splendor of Jacob
^(AP)Like the splendor of Israel,
Even though destroyers have laid waste to them
And ^(AQ)ruined their vines.

³The shields of ^[l]his warriors are dyed red,
The warriors are dressed in ^(AR)scarlet,
The chariots are fitted with ^[m]flashing steel
^[n]When he is prepared to march,
And the juniper ^(AS)spears are brandished.
⁴The ^(AT)chariots drive wildly in the streets,
They rush around in the ^[o]public squares;
Their appearance is like torches,
They drive back and forth like lightning flashes.
⁵He remembers his ^(AU)officers;
They ^(AV)stumble in their advance,
They hurry to her wall,
And the ^[p]mantelet is set up.
⁶The gates of the rivers are opened
And the palace sways back and forth.
⁷It is set:
She is stripped, she is led away,
And her slave women are ^(AW)sobbing like the sound of doves,
^(AX)Beating their ^[q]breasts.

⁸Though Nineveh was like a pool of water throughout her days,
Yet they are fleeing;
“Stop, stop,”
But ^(AY)no one turns back.
⁹Plunder the silver,
Plunder the ^(AZ)gold!
For there is no end to the treasure—
Wealth from every kind of desirable object.
¹⁰She is ^(BA)emptied! Yes, she is desolate and waste!
^(BB)Hearts are melting and knees wobbling!
Also trembling is in ^[r]the entire body,
And all their ^(BC)faces have become pale!
¹¹Where is the den of the lions
And the feeding place of the ^(BD)young lions,
Where the lion, lioness, and lion’s cub went
With nothing to disturb them?
¹²The lion tore enough for his cubs,
^[s]Killed enough prey for his lionesses,
And filled his lairs with prey
And his dens with torn flesh.

¹³“Behold, ^(BE)I am against you,” declares the Lord of armies. “I will ^(BF)burn up her chariots in smoke, and a sword will devour your young lions; I will ^(BG)eliminate your prey from the land, and no longer will the voice of your messengers be heard.”

Nineveh’s Complete Ruin

3 ^(BH)Woe to the bloody city, completely full of lies and pillage;
Her prey does not leave.
²The ^(BI)sound of the whip,
The sound of the roar of the wheel,
Galloping horses
And ^[t]bounding chariots!
³Horsemen charging,
Swords flashing, ^(BJ)spears gleaming,
^(BK)Many killed, a mass of corpses,
And there is ^(BL)no end to the dead bodies—
They stumble over ^[u]the dead bodies!
⁴All because of the ^(BM)many sexual acts of the prostitute,
The charming one, the ^(BN)mistress of sorceries,
Who ^(BO)sells nations by her sexual acts,
And families by her sorceries.
⁵“Behold, ^(BP)I am against you,” declares the Lord of armies;
“And I will ^[v]^(BQ)lift up your skirts over your face,
And ^(BR)show the nations your nakedness,
And the kingdoms your shame.
⁶I will ^(BS)throw filth on you
And ^(BT)declare you worthless,
And set you up as a ^(BU)spectacle.
⁷And it will come about that all who see you
Will ^[w]shrink from you and say,
‘Nineveh is devastated!
^(BV)Who will have sympathy for her?’
Where shall I seek comforters for you?”

⁸Are you better than ^[x]^(BW)No-amon,
Which was situated by the ^(BX)canals of the Nile,
With water surrounding her,
Whose rampart was ^[y]the sea,
Whose wall consisted of ^[z]the sea?
⁹^(BY)Ethiopia was her might,
Egypt too, without limits.
^(BZ)Put and ^(CA)Lubim were among ^[aa]her helpers.
¹⁰Yet she ^(CB)became an exile,
She went into captivity;
Also her ^(CC)small children were smashed to pieces
^(CD)At the head of every street;
They ^(CE)cast lots for her honorable men,
And all her great men were bound with shackles.
¹¹You too will become ^(CF)drunk,
You will be ^(CG)hidden.
You too will search for a refuge from the enemy.
¹²All your fortifications are ^(CH)fig trees with ^[ab]^(CI)ripe fruit—
When shaken, they fall into the eater’s mouth.
¹³Behold, your people are ^(CJ)women in your midst!
The gates of your land are ^(CK)opened wide to your enemies;
Fire consumes your gate bars.
¹⁴^(CL)Draw for yourself water for a siege!
^(CM)Strengthen your fortifications!
Go into the clay and tread the mortar!
Take hold of the brick mold!
¹⁵There ^(CN)fire will consume you,
The sword will cut you down;
It will ^(CO)consume you as the creeping locust consumes a crop.
Multiply yourself like the creeping locust,
Multiply yourself like the migratory locust.
¹⁶You have made your ^(CP)traders more numerous than the stars of heaven—
The creeping locust sheds its skin and flies away.
¹⁷Your ^(CQ)courtiers are like the migratory locust.
Your ^(CR)officials are like a swarm of locusts
Settling in the stone shelters on a cold day.
The sun rises and they flee,
And the place where they are is not known.
¹⁸Your shepherds are ^(CS)sleeping, O ^(CT)king of Assyria;
Your ^(CU)officers are lying down.
Your people are ^(CV)scattered on the mountains
And there is no one to gather them.
¹⁹There is ^(CW)no relief for your collapse,
Your ^(CX)wound is incurable.
All who hear ^[ac]about you
Will ^(CY)clap their hands over you,
For upon whom has your evil not come continually?