Nahum 1-3

New International Version

1 A prophecy^(A) concerning Nineveh.^(B) The book of the vision^(C) of Nahum the Elkoshite.

The Lord’s Anger Against Nineveh

²The Lord is a jealous^(D) and avenging God;
    the Lord takes vengeance^(E) and is filled with wrath.
The Lord takes vengeance on his foes
    and vents his wrath against his enemies.^(F)
³The Lord is slow to anger^(G) but great in power;
    the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished.^(H)
His way is in the whirlwind^(I) and the storm,^(J)
    and clouds^(K) are the dust of his feet.
⁴He rebukes^(L) the sea and dries it up;^(M)
    he makes all the rivers run dry.
Bashan and Carmel^(N) wither
    and the blossoms of Lebanon fade.
⁵The mountains quake^(O) before him
    and the hills melt away.^(P)
The earth trembles^(Q) at his presence,
    the world and all who live in it.^(R)
⁶Who can withstand^(S) his indignation?
    Who can endure^(T) his fierce anger?^(U)
His wrath is poured out like fire;^(V)
    the rocks are shattered^(W) before him.

⁷The Lord is good,^(X)
    a refuge in times of trouble.^(Y)
He cares for^(Z) those who trust in him,^(AA)
⁸    but with an overwhelming flood^(AB)
he will make an end of Nineveh;
    he will pursue his foes into the realm of darkness.

⁹Whatever they plot^(AC) against the Lord
    he will bring^[a] to an end;
    trouble will not come a second time.
¹⁰They will be entangled among thorns^(AD)
    and drunk^(AE) from their wine;
    they will be consumed like dry stubble.^[b]^(AF)
¹¹From you, Nineveh, has one come forth
    who plots evil against the Lord
    and devises wicked plans.

¹²This is what the Lord says:

“Although they have allies and are numerous,
    they will be destroyed^(AG) and pass away.
Although I have afflicted you, Judah,
    I will afflict you no more.^(AH)
¹³Now I will break their yoke^(AI) from your neck
    and tear your shackles away.”^(AJ)

¹⁴The Lord has given a command concerning you, Nineveh:
    “You will have no descendants to bear your name.^(AK)
I will destroy the images^(AL) and idols
    that are in the temple of your gods.
I will prepare your grave,^(AM)
    for you are vile.”

¹⁵Look, there on the mountains,
    the feet of one who brings good news,^(AN)
    who proclaims peace!^(AO)
Celebrate your festivals,^(AP) Judah,
    and fulfill your vows.
No more will the wicked invade you;^(AQ)
    they will be completely destroyed.^[c]

Nineveh to Fall

2 ^[d]An attacker^(AR) advances against you, Nineveh.
    Guard the fortress,
    watch the road,
    brace yourselves,
    marshal all your strength!

²The Lord will restore^(AS) the splendor^(AT) of Jacob
like the splendor of Israel,
though destroyers have laid them waste
and have ruined their vines.

³The shields of the soldiers are red;
    the warriors are clad in scarlet.^(AU)
The metal on the chariots flashes
    on the day they are made ready;
    the spears of juniper are brandished.^[e]
⁴The chariots^(AV) storm through the streets,
    rushing back and forth through the squares.
They look like flaming torches;
    they dart about like lightning.

⁵Nineveh summons her picked troops,
    yet they stumble^(AW) on their way.
They dash to the city wall;
    the protective shield is put in place.
⁶The river gates^(AX) are thrown open
    and the palace collapses.
⁷It is decreed^[f] that Nineveh
    be exiled and carried away.
Her female slaves moan^(AY) like doves
    and beat on their breasts.^(AZ)
⁸Nineveh is like a pool
    whose water is draining away.
“Stop! Stop!” they cry,
    but no one turns back.
⁹Plunder the silver!
    Plunder the gold!
The supply is endless,
    the wealth from all its treasures!
¹⁰She is pillaged, plundered, stripped!
    Hearts melt,^(BA) knees give way,
    bodies tremble, every face grows pale.^(BB)

¹¹Where now is the lions’ den,^(BC)
    the place where they fed their young,
where the lion and lioness went,
    and the cubs, with nothing to fear?
¹²The lion killed^(BD) enough for his cubs
    and strangled the prey for his mate,
filling his lairs^(BE) with the kill
    and his dens with the prey.^(BF)

¹³“I am against^(BG) you,”
    declares the Lord Almighty.
“I will burn up your chariots in smoke,^(BH)
    and the sword^(BI) will devour your young lions.
    I will leave you no prey on the earth.
The voices of your messengers
    will no longer be heard.”^(BJ)

Woe to Nineveh

3 Woe to the city of blood,^(BK)
    full of lies,^(BL)
full of plunder,
    never without victims!
²The crack of whips,
    the clatter of wheels,
galloping horses
    and jolting chariots!
³Charging cavalry,
    flashing swords
    and glittering spears!
Many casualties,
    piles of dead,
bodies without number,
    people stumbling over the corpses^(BM)—
⁴all because of the wanton lust of a prostitute,
    alluring, the mistress of sorceries,^(BN)
who enslaved nations by her prostitution^(BO)
    and peoples by her witchcraft.

⁵“I am against^(BP) you,” declares the Lord Almighty.
    “I will lift your skirts^(BQ) over your face.
I will show the nations your nakedness^(BR)
    and the kingdoms your shame.
⁶I will pelt you with filth,^(BS)
    I will treat you with contempt^(BT)
    and make you a spectacle.^(BU)
⁷All who see you will flee^(BV) from you and say,
    ‘Nineveh^(BW) is in ruins^(BX)—who will mourn for her?’^(BY)
    Where can I find anyone to comfort^(BZ) you?”

⁸Are you better than^(CA) Thebes,^(CB)
    situated on the Nile,^(CC)
    with water around her?
The river was her defense,
    the waters her wall.
⁹Cush^[g]^(CD) and Egypt were her boundless strength;
    Put^(CE) and Libya^(CF) were among her allies.
¹⁰Yet she was taken captive^(CG)
    and went into exile.
Her infants were dashed^(CH) to pieces
    at every street corner.
Lots^(CI) were cast for her nobles,
    and all her great men were put in chains.^(CJ)
¹¹You too will become drunk;^(CK)
    you will go into hiding^(CL)
    and seek refuge from the enemy.

¹²All your fortresses are like fig trees
    with their first ripe fruit;^(CM)
when they are shaken,
    the figs^(CN) fall into the mouth of the eater.
¹³Look at your troops—
    they are all weaklings.^(CO)
The gates^(CP) of your land
    are wide open to your enemies;
    fire has consumed the bars of your gates.^(CQ)

¹⁴Draw water for the siege,^(CR)
    strengthen your defenses!^(CS)
Work the clay,
    tread the mortar,
    repair the brickwork!
¹⁵There the fire^(CT) will consume you;
    the sword^(CU) will cut you down—
    they will devour you like a swarm of locusts.
Multiply like grasshoppers,
    multiply like locusts!^(CV)
¹⁶You have increased the number of your merchants
    till they are more numerous than the stars in the sky,
but like locusts^(CW) they strip the land
    and then fly away.
¹⁷Your guards are like locusts,^(CX)
    your officials like swarms of locusts
    that settle in the walls on a cold day—
but when the sun appears they fly away,
    and no one knows where.

¹⁸King of Assyria, your shepherds^[h] slumber;^(CY)
    your nobles lie down to rest.^(CZ)
Your people are scattered^(DA) on the mountains
    with no one to gather them.
¹⁹Nothing can heal you;^(DB)
    your wound is fatal.
All who hear the news about you
    clap their hands^(DC) at your fall,
for who has not felt
    your endless cruelty?^(DD)

Footnotes

Nahum 1:9 Or What do you foes plot against the Lord? / He will bring it
Nahum 1:10 The meaning of the Hebrew for this verse is uncertain.
Nahum 1:15 In Hebrew texts this verse (1:15) is numbered 2:1.
Nahum 2:1 In Hebrew texts 2:1-13 is numbered 2:2-14.
Nahum 2:3 Hebrew; Septuagint and Syriac ready; / the horsemen rush to and fro.
Nahum 2:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
Nahum 3:9 That is, the upper Nile region
Nahum 3:18 That is, rulers

John 5

New International Version

The Healing at the Pool

5 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. ²Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate^(A) a pool, which in Aramaic^(B) is called Bethesda^[a] and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. ³Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. ^[4]^[b] ⁵One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. ⁶When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

⁷“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

⁸Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”^(C) ⁹At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

The day on which this took place was a Sabbath,^(D) ¹⁰and so the Jewish leaders^(E) said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”^(F)

¹¹But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ”

¹²So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?”

¹³The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.

¹⁴Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning^(G) or something worse may happen to you.” ¹⁵The man went away and told the Jewish leaders^(H) that it was Jesus who had made him well.

The Authority of the Son

¹⁶So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. ¹⁷In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father^(I) is always at his work^(J) to this very day, and I too am working.” ¹⁸For this reason they tried all the more to kill him;^(K) not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.^(L)

¹⁹Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself;^(M) he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. ²⁰For the Father loves the Son^(N) and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these,^(O) so that you will be amazed. ²¹For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life,^(P) even so the Son gives life^(Q) to whom he is pleased to give it. ²²Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son,^(R) ²³that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.^(S)

²⁴“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me^(T) has eternal life^(U) and will not be judged^(V) but has crossed over from death to life.^(W) ²⁵Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come^(X) when the dead will hear^(Y) the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. ²⁶For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life^(Z) in himself. ²⁷And he has given him authority to judge^(AA) because he is the Son of Man.

²⁸“Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming^(AB) when all who are in their graves will hear his voice ²⁹and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.^(AC) ³⁰By myself I can do nothing;^(AD) I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just,^(AE) for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.^(AF)

Testimonies About Jesus

³¹“If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true.^(AG) ³²There is another who testifies in my favor,^(AH) and I know that his testimony about me is true.

³³“You have sent to John and he has testified^(AI) to the truth. ³⁴Not that I accept human testimony;^(AJ) but I mention it that you may be saved.^(AK) ³⁵John was a lamp that burned and gave light,^(AL) and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.

³⁶“I have testimony weightier than that of John.^(AM) For the works that the Father has given me to finish—the very works that I am doing^(AN)—testify that the Father has sent me.^(AO) ³⁷And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me.^(AP) You have never heard his voice nor seen his form,^(AQ) ³⁸nor does his word dwell in you,^(AR) for you do not believe^(AS) the one he sent.^(AT) ³⁹You study^[c] the Scriptures^(AU) diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life.^(AV) These are the very Scriptures that testify about me,^(AW) ⁴⁰yet you refuse to come to me^(AX) to have life.

⁴¹“I do not accept glory from human beings,^(AY) ⁴²but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. ⁴³I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. ⁴⁴How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God^[d]?^(AZ)

⁴⁵“But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses,^(BA) on whom your hopes are set.^(BB) ⁴⁶If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.^(BC) ⁴⁷But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?”^(BD)

Footnotes

John 5:2 Some manuscripts Bethzatha; other manuscripts Bethsaida
John 5:4 Some manuscripts include here, wholly or in part, paralyzed—and they waited for the moving of the waters. ⁴From time to time an angel of the Lord would come down and stir up the waters. The first one into the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whatever disease they had.
John 5:39 Or ³⁹Study
John 5:44 Some early manuscripts the Only One