Nahum Propheta 3
1 vae civitas sanguinum universa mendacii dilaceratione plena non recedet a te rapina
Woe to the bloody city! Full of lies and plunder, without end is the spoil.
2 vox flagelli et vox impetus rotae et equi frementis et quadrigae ferventis equitis ascendentis
Hear the crack of the whip, hear the rattle of wheels. Galloping horses, jolting chariots.
3 et micantis gladii et fulgurantis hastae et multitudinis interfectae et gravis ruinae nec est finis cadaverum et corruent in corporibus suis
Horsemen charging, swords flashing, spears glittering, a multitude of slain, a heap of bodies, no end to the corpses over which people stumble!
4 propter multitudinem fornicationum meretricis speciosae et gratae et habentis maleficia quae vendidit gentes in fornicationibus suis et familias in maleficiis suis
“Because you acted like a whore, bewitching the nations, enticing the peoples,
5 ecce ego ad te dicit Dominus exercituum et revelabo pudenda tua in facie tua et ostendam gentibus nuditatem tuam et regnis ignominiam tuam
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.
6 et proiciam super te abominationes et contumeliis te adficiam et ponam te in exemplum
“I will fling loathsome filth at you, and make you an object of contempt, a spectacle,
7 et erit omnis qui viderit te resiliet a te et dicet vastata est Nineve quis commovebit super te caput unde quaeram consolatorem tibi
so that everyone who sees you will flee from you and say: ‘Nineveh is laid waste, who will mourn for her?’
8 numquid melior es ab Alexandria populorum quae habitat in fluminibus aqua in circuitu eius cuius divitiae mare aquae muri eius
“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?
9 Aethiopia fortitudo et Aegyptus et non est finis Africa et Lybies fuerunt in auxilio tuo
Her strength was Ethiopia and Egypt. The Libyans were her helpers, and Put with its countless people.
10 sed et ipsa in transmigrationem ducta est in captivitatem parvuli eius elisi sunt in capite omnium viarum et super inclitos eius miserunt sortem et omnes optimates eius confixi sunt in conpedibus
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.
11 et tu ergo inebriaberis eris despecta et tu quaeres auxilium ab inimico
“You too, Nineveh, will be drunk with fear; you too will seek a place of escape from the foe.
12 omnes munitiones tuae sicuti ficus cum grossis suis si concussae fuerint cadent in os comedentis
All your fortresses are fig trees with the first ripe figs; if shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater!
13 ecce populus tuus mulieres in medio tui inimicis tuis adapertione pandentur portae terrae tuae devorabit ignis vectes tuos
Your troops are weak as women before your foes; the gates of your land are wide open; your defenses burned down.
14 aquam propter obsidionem hauri tibi extrue munitiones tuas intra in lutum et calca subigens tene laterem
“Draw water for the siege, strengthen your forts. Go to the clay pits and tread the clay; take up the brick moulds.
15 ibi comedet te ignis peribis gladio devorabit te ut bruchus congregare ut bruchus multiplicare ut lucusta
There the fire will consume you, the sword will cut you down. Multiply like the locust or a swarm of grasshoppers.
16 plures fecisti negotiationes tuas quam stellae sunt caeli bruchus expansus est et avolavit
Increase the numbers of your merchants until they are more than the stars of heaven,
17 custodes tui quasi lucustae et parvuli tui quasi lucustae lucustarum quae considunt in sepibus in die frigoris sol ortus est et avolaverunt et non est cognitus locus earum ubi fuerint
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.
18 dormitaverunt pastores tui rex Assur sepelientur principes tui latitavit populus tuus in montibus et non est qui congreget
“King of Assyria: your princes slumber, your nobles sleep! Your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them!
19 non est obscura contritio tua pessima est plaga tua omnes qui audierunt auditionem tuam conpresserunt manum super te quia super quem non transiit malitia tua semper
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?”
