Nahum 1:1-2:9

English Standard Version

1 ^(A)An oracle concerning ^(B)Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh.

God's Wrath Against Nineveh

²^(C)The Lord is a jealous and avenging God;
    the Lord is avenging and wrathful;
^(D)the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries
    and ^(E)keeps wrath for his enemies.
³^(F)The Lord is slow to anger and ^(G)great in power,
    and ^(H)the Lord will by no means clear the guilty.
^(I)His way is in whirlwind and storm,
    and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
⁴^(J)He rebukes the sea and makes it dry;
    he dries up all the rivers;
^(K)Bashan and ^(L)Carmel wither;
    the bloom of ^(M)Lebanon withers.
⁵^(N)The mountains quake before him;
    ^(O)the hills melt;
the earth heaves before him,
    ^(P)the world and all who dwell in it.

⁶^(Q)Who can stand before his indignation?
    Who can endure the heat of his anger?
His wrath ^(R)is poured out like fire,
    and ^(S)the rocks are broken into pieces by him.
⁷^(T)The Lord is good,
    ^(U)a stronghold in the day of trouble;
^(V)he knows those who take refuge in him.
⁸    But ^(W)with an overflowing flood
he will make a complete end of the adversaries,^[a]
    and ^(X)will pursue his enemies into darkness.
⁹What ^(Y)do you plot against the Lord?
    ^(Z)He will make a complete end;
    trouble will not rise up a second time.
¹⁰For they are ^(AA)like entangled thorns,
    like drunkards as they drink;
    ^(AB)they are consumed like stubble fully dried.
¹¹From you came one
    ^(AC)who plotted evil against the Lord,
    a worthless counselor.

¹²Thus says the Lord,
“Though they are at full strength and many,
    ^(AD)they will be cut down and pass away.
^(AE)Though I have afflicted you,
    I will afflict you no more.
¹³And now ^(AF)I will break his yoke from off you
    and will burst your bonds apart.”

¹⁴The Lord has given commandment about you:
^(AG)“No more shall your name be perpetuated;
from ^(AH)the house of your gods I will cut off
the carved image and the metal image.
^(AI)I will make your grave, ^(AJ)for you are vile.”

¹⁵^[b] ^(AK)Behold, upon the mountains, ^(AL)the feet of him
    who brings good news,
    who publishes peace!
^(AM)Keep your feasts, O Judah;
    ^(AN)fulfill your vows,
^(AO)for never again shall the worthless pass through you;
    he is utterly cut off.

The Destruction of Nineveh

2 ^(AP)The scatterer has come up against you.
    ^(AQ)Man the ramparts;
    watch the road;
dress for battle;^[c]
    collect all your strength.

²For ^(AR)the Lord is restoring the majesty of Jacob
as the majesty of Israel,
for plunderers have plundered them
and ^(AS)ruined their branches.

³The shield of his mighty men is red;
    ^(AT)his soldiers are clothed in scarlet.
The chariots come with flashing metal
    on the day he musters them;
    the cypress spears are brandished.
⁴^(AU)The chariots race madly through the streets;
    they rush to and fro through the squares;
they gleam like torches;
    they dart like lightning.
⁵He remembers ^(AV)his officers;
    ^(AW)they stumble as they go,
they hasten to the wall;
    the siege tower^[d] is set up.
⁶^(AX)The river gates are opened;
    the palace ^(AY)melts away;
⁷its mistress^[e] is ^(AZ)stripped;^[f] she is carried off,
    her slave girls ^(BA)lamenting,
moaning like doves
    and beating their breasts.
⁸^(BB)Nineveh is like a pool
    whose waters run away.^[g]
“Halt! Halt!” they cry,
    but ^(BC)none turns back.
⁹Plunder the silver,
    plunder the gold!
There is no end of the treasure
    or of the wealth of all precious things.