Nahum 3
1 Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and rapine; the prey departeth not.
Wo to the citee of bloodis, al of leesyng, ful of to-reendyng; raueyn shal not go awei fro thee.
2 The noise of the whip, and the noise of the rattling of wheels; and pransing horses, and jumping chariots;
Vois of scourge, and vois of bire of wheel, and of hors makynge noise, and of foure horsid carte brennynge, and of kniyt stiynge vp,
3 the horseman mounting, and the flashing sword, and the glittering spear; and a multitude of slain, and a great heap of carcases: and there is none end of the corpses; they stumble upon their corpses:
and of schynynge swerd, and glesenynge spere, and of slayn multitude, and of greuouse fallyng, nether ther is eende of careyns. And thei schulen falle togidere in her bodies,
4 because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the well favoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts.
for the multitude of fornicaciouns of the hoore fair and plesaunt, and hauynge witchecraftis; which seelde folkis in her fornicaciouns, and meynees in her enchauntementis, ether sorceries.
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.
Lo! Y to thee, seith the Lord God of oostis; and Y schal schewe thi schameful thingis in thi face; and Y schal schewe to folkis thi nakidnesse, and to rewmes thin yuel fame.
6 And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazingstock.
And Y schal cast out on thee thin abhomynaciouns, and Y schal punysche thee with dispitis, and Y schal putte thee in to ensaumple.
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?
And it schal be, ech man that schal se thee, schal skippe awei fro thee, and schal seie, Nynyue is distried. Who schal moue heed on thee? wherof schal Y seke to thee a coumfortour?
8 Art thou better than No-amon, that was situate among the rivers, that had the waters round about her; whose rampart was the sea, [and] her wall was of the sea?
Whether thou art betere than Alisaundre of puplis, that dwellith in floodis? Watris ben in cumpas therof, whos richessis is the see, watris ben wallis therof.
9 Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite; Put and Lubim were thy helpers.
Ethiope is strengthe therof, and Egipt, and there is noon ende; Affrik and Libie weren in help therof.
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.
But and it in `passyng ouer is led in to caitifte; the litle children therof ben hurtlid doun in the heed of alle weies. And on the noble men therof thei kesten lot, and alle grete men therof ben set togidere in gyues.
11 Thou also shalt be drunken, thou shalt be hid; thou also shalt seek a strong hold because of the enemy.
And thou therfor schalt be drunkun, and schalt be dispisid, and thou schalt seke helpe of enemye.
12 All thy fortresses shall be [like] fig trees with the firstripe figs: if they be shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater.
Al thi strengthis as a fige tree, with hise figis vnripe; if thei schulen be schakun, thei schulen falle in to the mouth of the etere.
13 Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women; the gates of thy land are set wide open unto thine enemies: the fire hath devoured thy bars.
Lo! thi puple ben wymmen in the myddil of thee; the yatis of thi lond schulen be schewid to openyng to thin enemyes; fier schal deuoure thin herris.
14 Draw thee water for the siege, strengthen thy fortresses: go into the clay, and tread the mortar, make strong the brickkiln.
Drawe vp to thee water for asegyng, bilde thi strengthis; entre in fen, and trede, thou vndurgoynge holde a tiel stoon.
15 There shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off, it shall devour thee like the cankerworm: make thyself many as the cankerworm, make thyself many as the locust.
There fier schal ete thee, thou schalt perische bi swerd, it schal deuoure thee, as bruke doith; be thou gaderid togidere as a bruke, be thou multiplied as a locuste.
16 Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven: the cankerworm spoileth, and flieth away.
Thou madist thi marchaundises mo than ben sterris of heuene; a bruke is spred abrood, and flei awei.
17 Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy marshals as the swarms of 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.
Thi keperis ben as locustis, and thi litle children ben as locustis of locustis, whiche sitten togidere in heggis in the dai of coold; the sun is risun, and thei fledden awei, and the place of hem is not knowun, where thei weren.
18 Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy worthies are at rest: thy people are scattered upon the mountains, and there is none to gather them.
Thi scheepherdis napten, thou kyng Assur, thi princes schulen be biried; thi puple ofte was hid in hillis, and ther is not that schal gadere.
19 There is no assuaging of thy hurt; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the bruit of thee clap the hands over thee; for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?
Thi sorewe is not priuy, thi wounde is worst; alle men that herden thin heryng, pressiden togidere hond on thee, for on whom passide not thi malice euermore?
