Nahum 3

¹Woe to the city of blood! She is all full of deceit and robbery; She ceaseth not from plunder.

²[Hark!] The noise of the whip! The noise of the rattling of the wheels, And of the prancing horses, And of the bounding chariots!

³The horseman lifteth up the flame of the sword, And the lightning of the spear; There is a multitude of the slain; heaps of dead bodies; There is no end to the carcasses; they stumble over the carcasses.

⁴It is because of the many whoredoms of the harlot, The graceful beauty, the mistress of enchantments, That sold nations by her whoredoms, And kingdoms by her enchantments.

⁵Behold, I am against thee, saith Jehovah of host, And I will lift up thy trail over thy face, And I will show the nations thy nakedness, And the kingdoms thy shame.

⁶And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, And I will dishonor thee, and make thee a gazing-stock,

⁷And all that see thee shall flee from thee, And shall say, "Nineveh is laid waste; Who will bemoan her? Whence shall I seek comforters for thee?"

⁸Art thou better than No-Ammon, That dwelt by the rivers, That had the waters round about her, Whose fortress was the sea, And whose wall was from the waters?

⁹Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, a countless multitude; Phut and Lybia were thy helpers!

¹⁰Yet was she carried away; she went into captivity; Her children were dashed in pieces at the head of all the streets; For her honorable men they cast lots, And all her great men were bound in chains.

¹¹Thou also shalt drink to the full; Thou, too, shalt be hidden; Thou shalt seek a refuge from the enemy!

¹²All thy strong-holds shall be like fig-trees with the first ripe figs; If they be shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater.

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

¹⁴Draw thee water for the siege, Fortify thy strongholds. Go into the clay, and tread the mortar; Repair the brick-kiln!

¹⁵Then shall the fire devour thee; The sword shall cut thee off, It shall devour thee like the locust; Though thou art increased like the locusts, Though thou art increased like the thick locusts.

¹⁶Thy merchants have been more numerous than the stars of heaven; The locusts spread themselves and fly away.

¹⁷Thy princes are like locusts, And thy captains like swarms of locusts, Which encamp in the hedges in the time of cold; But when the sun ariseth, they flee away, And the place is not known where they are.

¹⁸Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria! Thy nobles take their rest, Thy people are scattered on the mountains, and none gathereth them.

¹⁹Thy bruise is incurable; Thy wound is mortal. All that hear of thee shall clap their hands over thee; For upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?

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?