Nahum 1:9-2:13

English Standard Version

⁹What ^(A)do you plot against the Lord?
    ^(B)He will make a complete end;
    trouble will not rise up a second time.
¹⁰For they are ^(C)like entangled thorns,
    like drunkards as they drink;
    ^(D)they are consumed like stubble fully dried.
¹¹From you came one
    ^(E)who plotted evil against the Lord,
    a worthless counselor.

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

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

¹⁵^[a] ^(M)Behold, upon the mountains, ^(N)the feet of him
    who brings good news,
    who publishes peace!
^(O)Keep your feasts, O Judah;
    ^(P)fulfill your vows,
^(Q)for never again shall the worthless pass through you;
    he is utterly cut off.

The Destruction of Nineveh

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

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

³The shield of his mighty men is red;
    ^(V)his soldiers are clothed in scarlet.
The chariots come with flashing metal
    on the day he musters them;
    the cypress spears are brandished.
⁴^(W)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 ^(X)his officers;
    ^(Y)they stumble as they go,
they hasten to the wall;
    the siege tower^[c] is set up.
⁶^(Z)The river gates are opened;
    the palace ^(AA)melts away;
⁷its mistress^[d] is ^(AB)stripped;^[e] she is carried off,
    her slave girls ^(AC)lamenting,
moaning like doves
    and beating their breasts.
⁸^(AD)Nineveh is like a pool
    whose waters run away.^[f]
“Halt! Halt!” they cry,
    but ^(AE)none turns back.
⁹Plunder the silver,
    plunder the gold!
There is no end of the treasure
    or of the wealth of all precious things.

¹⁰^(AF)Desolate! Desolation and ruin!
    ^(AG)Hearts melt and ^(AH)knees tremble;
^(AI)anguish is in all loins;
    ^(AJ)all faces grow pale!
¹¹Where is the lions' den,
    the feeding place of ^(AK)the young lions,
where the lion and lioness went,
    where his cubs were, with ^(AL)none to disturb?
¹²^(AM)The lion tore enough for his cubs
    and ^(AN)strangled prey for his lionesses;
he filled his caves with prey
    and his dens with torn flesh.

¹³^(AO)Behold, I am against you, declares the Lord of hosts, and ^(AP)I will burn your^[g] chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and ^(AQ)the voice of your messengers shall no longer be heard.