Ναούμ 2

1 ἀνέβη ἐμφυσῶν εἰς πρόσωπόν σου ἐξαιρούμενος ἐκ θλίψεως σκόπευσον ὁδόν κράτησον ὀσφύος ἄνδρισαι τῇ ἰσχύι σφόδρα

He who dashes in pieces has come up against you. Keep the fortress! Watch the way! Strengthen your waist! Fortify your power mightily!

2 διότι ἀπέστρεψεν κύριος τὴν ὕβριν Ιακωβ καθὼς ὕβριν τοῦ Ισραηλ διότι ἐκτινάσσοντες ἐξετίναξαν αὐτοὺς καὶ τὰ κλήματα αὐτῶν διέφθειραν

For Yahweh restores the excellency of Jacob as the excellency of Israel, for the destroyers have destroyed them and ruined their vine branches.

3 ὅπλα δυναστείας αὐτῶν ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἄνδρας δυνατοὺς ἐμπαίζοντας ἐν πυρί αἱ ἡνίαι τῶν ἁρμάτων αὐτῶν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ἑτοιμασίας αὐτοῦ καὶ οἱ ἱππεῖς θορυβηθήσονται

The shield of his mighty men is made red. The valiant men are in scarlet. The chariots flash with steel in the day of his preparation, and the pine spears are brandished.

4 ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς καὶ συγχυθήσονται τὰ ἅρματα καὶ συμπλακήσονται ἐν ταῖς πλατείαις ἡ ὅρασις αὐτῶν ὡς λαμπάδες πυρὸς καὶ ὡς ἀστραπαὶ διατρέχουσαι

The chariots rage in the streets. They rush back and forth in the wide ways. Their appearance is like torches. They run like the lightnings.

5 καὶ μνησθήσονται οἱ μεγιστᾶνες αὐτῶν καὶ φεύξονται ἡμέρας καὶ ἀσθενήσουσιν ἐν τῇ πορείᾳ αὐτῶν καὶ σπεύσουσιν ἐπὶ τὰ τείχη καὶ ἑτοιμάσουσιν τὰς προφυλακὰς αὐτῶν

He summons his picked troops. They stumble on their way. They dash to its wall, and the protective shield is put in place.

6 πύλαι τῶν ποταμῶν διηνοίχθησαν καὶ τὰ βασίλεια διέπεσεν

The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved.

7 καὶ ἡ ὑπόστασις ἀπεκαλύφθη καὶ αὕτη ἀνέβαινεν καὶ αἱ δοῦλαι αὐτῆς ἤγοντο καθὼς περιστεραὶ φθεγγόμεναι ἐν καρδίαις αὐτῶν

It is decreed: she is uncovered, she is carried away; and her servants moan as with the voice of doves, beating on their breasts.

8 καὶ Νινευη ὡς κολυμβήθρα ὕδατος τὰ ὕδατα αὐτῆς καὶ αὐτοὶ φεύγοντες οὐκ ἔστησαν καὶ οὐκ ἦν ὁ ἐπιβλέπων

But Nineveh has been from of old like a pool of water, yet they flee away. “Stop! Stop!” they cry, but no one looks back.

9 διήρπαζον τὸ ἀργύριον διήρπαζον τὸ χρυσίον καὶ οὐκ ἦν πέρας τοῦ κόσμου αὐτῆς βεβάρυνται ὑπὲρ πάντα τὰ σκεύη τὰ ἐπιθυμητὰ αὐτῆς

Take the plunder of silver. Take the plunder of gold, for there is no end of treasure, an abundance of every precious thing.

10 ἐκτιναγμὸς καὶ ἀνατιναγμὸς καὶ ἐκβρασμὸς καὶ καρδίας θραυσμὸς καὶ ὑπόλυσις γονάτων καὶ ὠδῖνες ἐπὶ πᾶσαν ὀσφύν καὶ τὸ πρόσωπον πάντων ὡς πρόσκαυμα χύτρας

She is empty, void, and waste. The heart melts, the knees knock together, their bodies and faces have grown pale.

11 ποῦ ἐστιν τὸ κατοικητήριον τῶν λεόντων καὶ ἡ νομὴ ἡ οὖσα τοῖς σκύμνοις οὗ ἐπορεύθη λέων τοῦ εἰσελθεῖν ἐκεῖ σκύμνος λέοντος καὶ οὐκ ἦν ὁ ἐκφοβῶν

Where is the den of the lions, and the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion and the lioness walked with the lion’s cubs, and no one made them afraid?

12 λέων ἥρπασεν τὰ ἱκανὰ τοῖς σκύμνοις αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀπέπνιξεν τοῖς λέουσιν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἔπλησεν θήρας νοσσιὰν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ κατοικητήριον αὐτοῦ ἁρπαγῆς

The lion tore in pieces enough for his cubs, and strangled prey for his lionesses, and filled his caves with the kill and his dens with prey.

13 ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἐπὶ σέ λέγει κύριος παντοκράτωρ καὶ ἐκκαύσω ἐν καπνῷ πλῆθός σου καὶ τοὺς λέοντάς σου καταφάγεται ῥομφαία καὶ ἐξολεθρεύσω ἐκ τῆς γῆς τὴν θήραν σου καὶ οὐ μὴ ἀκουσθῇ οὐκέτι τὰ ἔργα σου

“Behold, I am against you,” says Yahweh of Armies, “and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions; and I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers will no longer be heard.”