Nahum 3

¹Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not;

²The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the pransing horses, and of the jumping chariots.

³The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear: and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcases; and there is none end of their corpses; they stumble upon their corpses:

⁴Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts.

⁵Behold, 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.

⁶And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazingstock.

⁷And 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?

⁸Art thou better than populous No, that was situate among the rivers, that had the waters round about it, whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was from the sea?

⁹Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite; Put and Lubim were thy helpers.

¹⁰Yet 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.

¹¹Thou also shalt be drunken: thou shalt be hid, thou also shalt seek strength because of the enemy.

¹²All 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.

¹³Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women: the gates of thy land shall be set wide open unto thine enemies: the fire shall devour thy bars.

¹⁴Draw thee waters for the siege, fortify thy strong holds: go into clay, and tread the morter, make strong the brickkiln.

¹⁵There 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.

¹⁶Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven: the cankerworm spoileth, and flieth away.

¹⁷Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy captains as the great 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.

¹⁸Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell in the dust: thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them.

¹⁹There is no healing of thy bruise; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the bruit of thee shall clap the hands over thee: for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?

Nahum 3

¹Woe to thee, O city of blood, all full of lies and violence: rapine shall not depart from thee.

²The noise of the whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the neighing horse; and of the running chariot, and of the horsemen coming up,

³And of the shining sword, and of the glittering spear, and of a multitude slain, and of a grievous destruction: and there is no end of carcasses, and they shall fall down on their dead bodies.

⁴Because of the multitude of the fornications of the harlot that was beautiful and agreeable, and that made use of witchcraft, that sold nations through her fornications, and families through her witchcrafts.

⁵Behold I come against thee, saith the Lord of hosts: and I will discover thy shame to thy face, and will shew thy nakedness to the nations, and thy shame to kingdoms.

⁶And I will cast abominations upon thee, and will disgrace thee, and will make an example of thee.

⁷And it shall come to pass that every one that shall see thee, shall flee from thee, and shall say: Ninive is laid waste: who shall bemoan thee? whence shall I seek a comforter for thee?

⁸Art thou better than the populous Alexandria, that dwelleth among the rivers? waters are round about it: the sea is its riches: the waters are its walls.

⁹Ethiopia and Egypt were the strength thereof, and there is no end: Africa and the Libyans were thy helpers.

¹⁰Yet she also was removed and carried into captivity: her young children were dashed in pieces at the top of every street, and they cast lots upon her nobles, and all her great men were bound in fetters.

¹¹Therefore thou also shalt be made drunk, and shalt be despised: and thou shalt seek help from the enemies.

¹²All thy strong holds shall be like fig trees with their green figs: if they be shaken, they shall fall into the mouth of the eater.

¹³Behold 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.

¹⁴Draw thee water for the siege, build up thy bulwarks: go into the clay, and tread, work it and make brick.

¹⁵There shall the fire devour thee: thou shalt perish by the sword, it shall devour thee like the bruchus: assemble together like the bruchus, make thyself many like the locust.

¹⁶Thou hast multiplied thy merchandises above the stars of heaven: the bruchus hath spread himself and flown away.

¹⁷Thy guards are like the locusts: and thy little ones like the locusts of locusts which swarm on the hedges in the day of cold: the sun arose, and they flew away, and their place was not known where they were.

¹⁸Thy shepherds have slumbered, O king of Assyria, thy princes shall be buried: thy people are hid in the mountains, and there is none to gather them.

¹⁹Thy destruction is not hidden, thy wound is grievous: all that have heard the fame of thee, have clapped their hands over thee: for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?