Nahum 3

Nineveh’s Downfall

¹Woe to the city of blood, ^a

totally deceitful,

full of plunder,

never without prey. ^b

²The crack of the whip

and rumble of the wheel,

galloping horse

and jolting chariot! ^c

³Charging horseman,

flashing sword,

shining spear;

heaps of slain,

mounds of corpses, ^d

dead bodies without end ^e —

they stumble over their dead.

⁴Because of the continual prostitution of the prostitute,

the attractive mistress of sorcery,

who treats nations and clans like merchandise

by her prostitution and sorcery, ^f

⁵I am against you. ^g

This is the declaration of the Lord of Armies.

I will lift your skirts over your face

and display your nakedness to nations,

your shame to kingdoms. ^h

⁶I will throw filth on you

and treat you with contempt; ⁱ

I will make a spectacle of you.

⁷Then all who see you will recoil from you, saying, ^j

“Nineveh is devastated;

who will show sympathy to her? ”

Where can I find anyone to comfort you?

⁸Are you better than Thebes ^k,^l

that sat along the Nile

with water surrounding her,

whose rampart was the sea,

the river ^m,ⁿ her wall?

⁹Cush and Egypt were her endless source of strength;

Put and Libya were among her ^o allies.

¹⁰Yet she became an exile;

she went into captivity.

Her children were also dashed to pieces ^p

at the head of every street.

They cast lots for her dignitaries, ^q

and all her nobles were bound in chains.

¹¹You ^r also will become drunk;

you will hide. ^s

You also will seek refuge from the enemy.

¹²All your fortresses are fig trees

with figs that ripened first;

when shaken, they fall —

right into the mouth of the eater!

¹³Look, your troops are like women among you;

your land’s city gates

are wide open to your enemies.

Fire will devour the bars of your gates.

¹⁴Draw water for the siege;

strengthen your fortresses.

Step into the clay and tread the mortar;

take hold of the brick-mold!

¹⁵The fire will devour you there;

the sword will cut you down.

It will devour you like the young locust. ^t

Multiply yourselves like the young locust;

multiply like the swarming locust!

¹⁶You have made your merchants ^u

more numerous than the stars of the sky.

The young locust strips ^v the land

and flies away.

¹⁷Your court officials are like the swarming locust,

and your scribes like clouds of locusts,

which settle on the walls on a cold day;

when the sun rises, they take off,

and no one knows where they are.

¹⁸King of Assyria, your shepherds slumber; ^w

your officers sleep.

Your people are scattered across the mountains ^x

with no one to gather them together. ^y

¹⁹There is no remedy for your injury;

your wound is severe. ^z

All who hear the news about you

will clap their hands because of you, ^aa

for who has not experienced

your constant cruelty?