Nahum 3

1 Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without prey.

2 The crack of the whip, the rumble of the wheel, galloping horse and bounding chariot!

3 Charging horseman, flashing sword, shining spear; heaps of slain, mounds of corpses, dead bodies without end—they stumble over their dead—

4 because of the many harlotries of the harlot, the seductive mistress of sorcery, who betrays nations by her prostitution and clans by her witchcraft.

5 “Behold, I am against you,” declares the LORD of Hosts. “I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show your nakedness to the nations and your shame to the kingdoms.

6 I will pelt you with filth and treat you with contempt; I will make a spectacle of you.

7 Then all who see you will recoil from you and say, ‘Nineveh is devastated; who will grieve for her?’ Where can I find comforters for you?”

8 Are you better than Thebes, stationed by the Nile with water around her, whose rampart was the sea, whose wall was the water?

9 Cush and Egypt were her boundless strength; Put and Libya were her allies.

10 Yet she became an exile; she went into captivity. Her infants were dashed to pieces at the head of every street. They cast lots for her dignitaries, and all her nobles were bound in chains.

11 You too will become drunk; you will go into hiding and seek refuge from the enemy.

12 All your fortresses are fig trees with the first ripe figs; when shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater!

13 Look at your troops—they are like your women! The gates of your land are wide open to your enemies; fire consumes their bars.

14 Draw your water for the siege; strengthen your fortresses. Work the clay and tread the mortar; repair the brick kiln!

15 There the fire will devour you; the sword will cut you down and consume you like a young locust. Make yourself many like the young locust; make yourself many like the swarming locust!

16 You have multiplied your merchants more than the stars of the sky. The young locust strips the land and flies away.

17 Your guards are like the swarming locust, and your scribes like clouds of locusts that settle on the walls on a cold day. When the sun rises, they fly away, and no one knows where.

18 O king of Assyria, your shepherds slumber; your officers sleep. Your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them.

19 There is no healing for your injury; your wound is severe. All who hear the news of you applaud your downfall, for who has not experienced your constant cruelty?

1 ¶ Woe to the bloody city! it [is] all full of lies [and] robbery; the prey departeth not;

2 The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the pransing horses, and of the jumping chariots.

3 The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear: and [there is] a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcases; and [there is] none end of [their] corpses; they stumble upon their corpses:

4 Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts.

5 Behold, I [am] against thee, saith the LORD of hosts; and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame.

6 And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazingstock.

7 And it shall come to pass, [that] all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek comforters for thee?

8 ¶ Art thou better than populous No, that was situate among the rivers, [that had] the waters round about it, whose rampart [was] the sea, [and] her wall [was] from the sea?

9 Ethiopia and Egypt [were] her strength, and [it was] infinite; Put and Lubim were thy helpers.

10 Yet [was] she carried away, she went into captivity: her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets: and they cast lots for her honourable men, and all her great men were bound in chains.

11 Thou also shalt be drunken: thou shalt be hid, thou also shalt seek strength because of the enemy.

12 All thy strong holds [shall be like] fig trees with the firstripe figs: if they be shaken, they shall even fall into the mouth of the eater.

13 Behold, thy people in the midst of thee [are] women: the gates of thy land shall be set wide open unto thine enemies: the fire shall devour thy bars.

14 Draw thee waters for the siege, fortify thy strong holds: go into clay, and tread the morter, make strong the brickkiln.

15 There shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off, it shall eat thee up like the cankerworm: make thyself many as the cankerworm, make thyself many as the locusts.

16 Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven: the cankerworm spoileth, and flieth away.

17 Thy crowned [are] as the locusts, and thy captains as the great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day, [but] when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where they [are].

18 Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell [in the dust]: thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth [them].

19 [There is] no healing of thy bruise; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the bruit of thee shall clap the hands over thee: for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?

2 For then shall the scourges be heard to clatter, and the wheels to rattle, and the horses to cry, and the chariots to roll.

3 He bringeth up horsemen with shining swords, and with shining spears. There lie many slain, and great heaps of dead bodies, so that there is no number of them, and one must fall over their dead bodies.

4 All this for the sake of the great whoredom of the beautiful whore of love, which dealeth in sorcery, which by her whoredom hath bought the heathen, and by her sorcery the land and the people.

5 Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts. I will uncover thy righteousness under thy face; and I will shew thy nakedness unto the heathen, and thy shame unto the kingdoms.

6 I will make thee all abominable, and will ravish thee, and make thee an abomination,

7 That all they which see thee should flee from thee, and say: Nineveh is desolate: who shall have compassion on her? and where shall I seek comfort for thee?

8 Thinkest thou that thou art better than the city of No of the rulers, which was by the waters, and had waters round about, whose walls and strong holds were the sea?

9 Moors and Egypt was their innumerable power, Put and Libya were thy help.

10 And she was driven out, and went away captive, and her children were slain in every street; and the lot was cast for her nobles, and all her mighty men were put in chains and fetters.

11 So shalt thou also be drunken, and hide thyself, and seek a stronghold from the enemy.

12 All thy strong cities are as fig trees with ripe figs, when they are shaken to fall into the mouth of him that will eat them.

13 Behold, thy people shall become women within thee, and the gates of thy land shall be opened unto thine enemies; and the fire shall devour thy bars.

14 Draw thee water, for thou shalt be besieged; improve thy strongholds; go into the clay, and tread the glue, and make strong bricks.

15 But the fire shall devour thee, and the sword shall slay thee: it shall devour thee as the beetle, it shall overtake thee as the beetle, it shall attack thee as the locust;

16 Thou hast more merchants than there are stars in heaven: but now they shall spread themselves out like beetles, and fly away.

17 Thy lords are as grasshoppers, and thy captains as beetles, which lie down by the fence in the cold days: but when the sun riseth, they are lifted up, and it is not known where they abide.

18 Thy shepherds shall sleep, O king of Assyria; thy mighty men shall lie down; thy people shall be scattered upon the mountains, and none shall gather them together.

19 No man shall mourn for thy hurt, nor be grieved for thy plague: but all they that hear these things of thee shall clap their hands at thee. For upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed without ceasing?