Nahum 3
1 Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not;
O city of blood, wholly false, full of unrighteousness; the prey shall not be handled.
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.
The noise of whips, and the noise of the rumbling of wheels, and of the pursuing horse, and of the bounding chariot,
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 dead bodies; and there is no end of their bodies; they stumble upon their bodies:
and of the mounting rider, and of the glittering sword, and of the gleaming arms, and of a multitude of slain, and of heavy falling: and there was no end to her nations, but they shall be weak in their bodies
4 Because of the multitude of the harlotries of the wellfavoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her harlotries, and families through her witchcrafts.
because of the abundance of fornication: [she is] a fair harlot, and well-favoured, skilled in sorcery, that sells the nations by her fornication, and peoples by her sorceries.
5 Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts; and I will remove thy skirts upon thy face, and I will show the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame.
Behold, I am against you, says the Lord God Almighty, and I will uncover your skirts in your presence, and I will show the nations your shame, and the kingdoms your disgrace.
6 And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazingstock.
And I will cast abominable filth upon you according to your unclean ways, and will make you a public example.
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? Where shall I seek comforters for thee?
And it shall be [that] every one that sees you shall go down from you, and shall say, Wretched Nineve! who shall lament for her? whence shall I seek comfort for her?
8 Art thou better than populous No, that dwelt among the rivers, that had the waters around it, whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was from the sea?
Prepare you a portion, tune the chord, prepare a portion for Ammon: she that dwells amongst the rivers, water is round about her, whose dominion is the sea, and whose walls are water.
9 Cush and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite; Put and Lubim were thy helpers.
And Ethiopia is her strength, and Egypt; and there was no limit of the flight [of her enemies]; and the Libyans became her helpers.
10 Yet was she carried away, she went into captivity: her young children also were dashed in pieces at the head of all the streets: and they cast lots for her honourable men, and all her great men were bound in chains.
Yet she shall go as a prisoner into captivity, and they shall dash her infants against the ground at the top of all her ways: and they shall cast lots upon all her glorious [possessions], and all her nobles shall be bound in chains.
11 Thou also shalt be drunk: thou shalt be hidden, thou also shalt seek strength because of the enemy.
And you shall be drunken, and shall be overlooked; and you shall seek for yourself strength because of [your] enemies.
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.
All your strongholds are as fig-trees having watchers: if they be shaken, they shall 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 to thy enemies: the fire shall devour thy bars.
Behold, your people within you are as women: the gates of your land shall surely be opened to your enemies: the fire shall devour your bars.
14 Draw thee waters for the siege, fortify thy strong holds: go into clay, and tread the morter, make strong the brickkiln.
Draw you water for a siege, and well secure your strongholds: enter into the clay, and be you trodden in the chaff, make [the fortifications] stronger than brick.
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.
There the fire shall devour you; the sword shall utterly destroy you, it shall devour you as the locust, and you shall be pressed down as a palmerworm.
16 Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven: the cankerworm spoileth, and flieth away.
You have multiplied your merchandise beyond the stars of heaven: the palmerworm has attacked [it], and has flown away.
17 Thy princes are as the locusts, and thy captains as the great grasshoppers, which settle in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.
Your mixed [multitude] has suddenly departed as the grasshopper, as the locust perched on a hedge in a frosty day; the sun arises, and it flies off, and knows not its place: woe to them!
18 Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell in the dust: thy people are scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them.
Your shepherds have slumbered, the Assyrian king has laid low your mighty men: your people departed to the mountains, and there was none to receive [them].
19 There is no healing of thy bruise; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the report of thee shall clap the hands over thee: for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?
There is no healing for your bruise; your wound has rankled: all that hear the report of you shall clap their hands against you; for upon whom has not your wickedness passed continually?
