Nahum 3

1 Woe to the bloody city! Full of lies and plunder, without end is the spoil.

Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and rapine. The prey departs not.

2 Hear the crack of the whip, hear the rattle of wheels. Galloping horses, jolting chariots.

The noise of the whip, and the noise of the rattling of wheels, and prancing horses, and bounding chariots,

3 Horsemen charging, swords flashing, spears glittering, a multitude of slain, a heap of bodies, no end to the corpses over which people stumble!

the horseman mounting, and the flashing sword, and the glittering spear, and a multitude of slain, and a great heap of corpses, and there is no end of the bodies. They stumble upon their bodies,

4 ‘Because you acted like a whore, bewitching the nations, enticing the peoples,

because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the well-favored harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, who sells nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts.

5 I am against you, Nineveh’ the Lord of hosts declares. ‘I will strip your clothes and show the nations your nakedness, and the kingdoms your shame.

Behold, I am against thee, says Jehovah of hosts, and I will uncover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will show the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame.

6 ‘I will fling loathsome filth at you, and make you an object of contempt, a spectacle,

And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazing-stock.

7 so that everyone who sees you will flee from you and say: “Nineveh is laid waste, who will mourn for her?”

And it shall come to pass, that all those who look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste. Who will bemoan her? From where shall I seek comforters for thee?

8 ‘Are you any better than Thebes, which stood on the banks of the Nile, with waters around as a rampart, whose wall was the sea of waters?

Are thou better than No-amon, that was situated among the rivers, that had the waters round about her, whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was of the sea?

9 Her strength was Ethiopia and Egypt. The Libyans were her helpers, and Put with its countless people.

Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite. Put and Lubim were thy helpers.

10 Yet she was exiled and made captive. On all corners of the streets her infants were dashed to pieces. Lots were cast for her nobles, all her great ones were bound in chains.

Yet she was carried away. She went into captivity. Her young sons also were dashed in pieces at the head of all the streets. And they cast lots for her honorable men, and all her great men were bound in chains.

11 ‘You too, Nineveh, will be drunk with fear; you too will seek a place of escape from the foe.

Thou also shall be drunken. Thou shall be hid. Thou also shall seek a stronghold because of the enemy.

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

All thy fortresses shall be like fig trees with the first ripe figs. If they be shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater.

13 Your troops are weak as women before your foes; the gates of your land are wide open; your defenses burned down.

Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women. The gates of thy land are set wide open to thine enemies. The fire has devoured thy bars.

14 ‘Draw water for the siege, strengthen your forts. Go to the clay pits and tread the clay; take up the brick moulds.

Draw thee water for the siege. Strengthen thy fortresses. Go into the clay, and tread the mortar. Make strong the brick kiln.

15 There the fire will consume you, the sword will cut you down. Multiply like the locust or a swarm of grasshoppers.

There the fire shall devour thee. The sword shall cut thee off. It shall devour thee like the canker-worm. Make thyself many as the canker-worm. Make thyself many as the locust.

16 Increase the numbers of your merchants until they are more than the stars of heaven,

Thou have multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven. The canker-worm ravages, and flees away.

17 until your watchmen are locusts, and your scribes like grasshoppers, which swarm in the hedges on a cold day; but when the sun rises they fly away, no one knows where.

Thy rulers are as the locusts, and thy marshals as the swarms of grasshoppers, which encamp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun arises they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.

18 ‘King of Assyria: your princes slumber, your nobles sleep! Your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them!

Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria. Thy nobles are at rest. Thy people are scattered upon the mountains, and there is none to gather them.

19 There is no healing for your hurt, your wound is incurable. All who hear of your fate clap their hands in joy, for who has escaped your limitless cruelty?’

There is no assuaging of thy hurt. Thy wound is grievous. All who hear the report of thee clap their hands over thee, for upon whom has not thy wickedness passed continually?