Nahum 2

New King James Version

The Destruction of Nineveh

2 He^[a] who scatters has come up before your face.
Man the fort!
Watch the road!
Strengthen your flanks!
Fortify your power mightily.

²For the Lord will restore the excellence of Jacob
Like the excellence of Israel,
For the emptiers have emptied them out
And ruined their vine branches.

³The shields of his mighty men are made red,
The valiant men are in scarlet.
The chariots come with flaming torches
In the day of his preparation,
And ^[b]the spears are brandished.
⁴The chariots rage in the streets,
They jostle one another in the broad roads;
They seem like torches,
They run like lightning.

⁵He remembers his nobles;
They stumble in their walk;
They make haste to her walls,
And the defense is prepared.
⁶The gates of the rivers are opened,
And the palace is dissolved.
⁷^[c]It is decreed:
She shall be led away captive,
She shall be brought up;
And her maidservants shall lead her as with the voice of doves,
Beating their breasts.

⁸Though Nineveh of old was like a pool of water,
Now they flee away.
^[d]“Halt! Halt!” they cry;
But no one turns back.
⁹^[e]Take spoil of silver!
Take spoil of ^(A)gold!
There is no end of treasure,
Or wealth of every desirable prize.
¹⁰She is empty, desolate, and waste!
The heart melts, and the knees shake;
Much pain is in every side,
And all their faces ^[f]are drained of color.

¹¹Where is the dwelling of the ^(B)lions,
And the feeding place of the young lions,
Where the lion walked, the lioness and lion’s cub,
And no one made them afraid?
¹²The lion tore in pieces enough for his cubs,
^[g]Killed for his lionesses,
^(C)Filled his caves with prey,
And his dens with ^[h]flesh.

¹³“Behold, ^(D)I am against you,” says the Lord of hosts, “I will burn ^[i]your chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions; I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your ^(E)messengers shall be heard no more.”

Footnotes

Nahum 2:1 Vg. He who destroys
Nahum 2:3 Lit. the cypresses are shaken; LXX, Syr. the horses rush about; Vg. the drivers are stupefied
Nahum 2:7 Heb. Huzzab
Nahum 2:8 Lit. Stand
Nahum 2:9 Plunder
Nahum 2:10 LXX, Tg., Vg. gather blackness; Joel 2:6
Nahum 2:12 Lit. Strangled
Nahum 2:12 Torn flesh
Nahum 2:13 Lit. her

1 John 4:7-21

New King James Version

Knowing God Through Love^(A)

⁷^(B)Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who ^(C)loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹^(D)In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten ^(E)Son into the world, that we might live through Him. ¹⁰In this is love, ^(F)not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son ^(G)to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹Beloved, ^(H)if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Seeing God Through Love

¹²^(I)No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. ¹³^(J)By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. ¹⁴And ^(K)we have seen and testify that ^(L)the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. ¹⁵^(M)Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. ¹⁶And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and ^(N)he who abides in love abides in God, and God ^(O)in him.

The Consummation of Love

¹⁷Love has been perfected among us in this: that ^(P)we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. ¹⁸There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. ¹⁹^(Q)We love ^[a]Him because He first loved us.

Obedience by Faith

²⁰^(R)If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, ^[b]how can he love God ^(S)whom he has not seen? ²¹And ^(T)this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.