Nahum 3

¹A curse is on the town of blood; it is full of deceit and violent acts; and there is no end to the taking of life.

²The noise of the whip, and the noise of thundering wheels; horses rushing and war-carriages jumping,

³Horsemen driving forward, and the shining sword and the bright spear: and a great number of wounded, and masses of dead bodies; they are falling over the bodies of the dead:

⁴Because of all the false ways of the loose woman, expert in attraction and wise in secret arts, who takes nations in the net of her false ways, and families through her secret arts.

⁵See, I am against you, says the Lord of armies, and I will have your skirts pulled over your face, and let the nations see you unclothed, and the kingdoms your shame.

⁶I will make you completely disgusting and full of shame, and will put you up to be looked at by all.

⁷And it will come about that all who see you will go in flight from you and say, Nineveh is made waste: who will be weeping for her? where am I to get comforters for her?

⁸Are you better than No-amon, seated on the Nile streams, with waters all round her; whose wall was the sea and her earthwork the waters?

⁹Ethiopia was her strength and Egyptians without number; Put and Lubim were her helpers.

¹⁰But even she has been taken away, she has gone away as a prisoner: even her young children are smashed to bits at the top of all the streets: the fate of her honoured men is put to the decision of chance, and all her great men are put in chains.

¹¹And you will be overcome with wine, you will become feeble; you will be looking for a safe place from those who are fighting against you.

¹²All your walled places will be like fig-trees and your people like the first figs, falling at a shake into the mouth which is open for them.

¹³See, the people who are in you are women; the doorways of your land are wide open to your attackers: the locks of your doors have been burned away in the fire.

¹⁴Get water for the time when you are shut in, make strong your towns: go into the potter's earth, stamping it down with your feet, make strong the brickworks.

¹⁵There the fire will make you waste; you will be cut off by the sword: make yourself as great in number as the worms, as great in number as the locusts.

¹⁶Let your traders be increased more than the stars of heaven:

¹⁷Your crowned ones are like the locusts, and your scribes like the clouds of insects which take cover in the walls on a cold day, but when the sun comes up they go in flight, and are seen no longer in their place.

¹⁸Sorrow! how are the keepers of your flock sleeping, O king of Assyria! your strong men are at rest; your people are wandering on the mountains, and there is no one to get them together.

¹⁹Your pain may not be made better; you are wounded to death: all those hearing the news about you will be waving their hands in joy over you: for who has not undergone the weight of your evil-doing again and again?

Nahum 3

¹Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery. The prey doesn't depart.

²The noise of the whip, the noise of the rattling of wheels, prancing horses, and bounding chariots,

³the horseman mounting, and the flashing sword, the glittering spear, and a multitude of slain, and a great heap of corpses, and there is no end of the bodies. They stumble on their bodies,

⁴because of the multitude of the prostitution of the alluring prostitute, the mistress of witchcraft, who sells nations through her prostitution, and families through her witchcraft.

⁵"Behold, I am against you," says the Lord of hosts, "and I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show the nations your nakedness, and the kingdoms your shame.

⁶I will throw abominable filth on you, and make you vile, and will set you a spectacle.

⁷It will happen that all those who look at you will flee from you, and say, 'Nineveh is laid waste! Who will mourn for her?' Where will I seek comforters for you?"

⁸Are you better than No-Amon, who was situated among the rivers, who had the waters around her; whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was of the sea?

⁹Cush and Egypt were her boundless strength. Put and Libya were her helpers.

¹⁰Yet 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 honorable men, and all her great men were bound in chains.

¹¹You also will be drunken. You will be hidden. You also will seek a stronghold because of the enemy.

¹²All your fortresses will be like fig trees with the first-ripe figs: if they are shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater.

¹³Behold, your troops in your midst are women. The gates of your land are set wide open to your enemies. The fire has devoured your bars.

¹⁴Draw water for the siege. Strengthen your fortresses. Go into the clay, and tread the mortar. Make the brick kiln strong.

¹⁵There the fire will devour you. The sword will cut you off. It will devour you like the grasshopper. Multiply like grasshoppers. Multiply like the locust.

¹⁶You have increased your merchants more than the stars of the skies. The grasshopper strips, and flees away.

¹⁷Your guards are like the locusts, and your officials like the swarms of locusts, which settle on the walls on a cold day, but when the sun appears, they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.

¹⁸Your shepherds slumber, king of Assyria. Your nobles lie down. Your people are scattered on the mountains, and there is no one to gather them.

¹⁹There is no healing your wound, for your injury is fatal. All who hear the report of you clap their hands over you; for who hasn't felt your endless cruelty?