AFV2020 - Nahum

Chapter 1

1:1  The burden against Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.

1:2  God is jealous, and an avenging LORD; the LORD is avenging and full of wrath. The LORD takes vengeance against His foes, and He keeps wrath against His enemies.

1:3  The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power. And He does not by any means acquit the wicked. The LORD has His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet.

1:4  He rebukes the sea and makes it dry, and dries up all the rivers; Bashan languishes and Carmel and the flower of Lebanon withers.

1:5  The mountains quake from Him, and the hills melt, and the earth is decimated at His presence, yea the world and all who dwell in it.

1:6  Who can stand before His fury? And who can stand up in the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken asunder because of Him.

1:7  The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him.

1:8  But with an overflowing flood He will make an utter end, and darkness shall pursue His enemies.

1:9  What do you imagine against the LORD? He will make an utter end of it; affliction shall not rise up the second time,

1:10  For as thorns are woven together, and as their drunkards are drunken, they shall be devoured like fully dry stubble.

1:11  One who devises evil against the LORD has come forth from you, a wicked counselor.

1:12  Thus says the LORD, "Though they be secure and likewise many, yet they shall be cut down, then he shall pass away. And though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more,

1:13  For now I will break his yoke off you, and will burst your bonds asunder."

1:14  And the LORD has commanded concerning you, "Your name shall not be perpetuated any more; I will cut off the graven image and the molten image out of the house of your gods. I will make your grave; for you are worthless."

1:15  Behold upon the mountains the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace! O Judah, keep your appointed feasts, fulfill your vows; for the wicked shall pass through you no more; he is completely cut off.

Chapter 2

2:1  The destroying one has come up against you. Guard the rampart. Watch the way, make your loins strong, fortify your power mightily,

2:2  For the LORD will restore the glory of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel, for the plunderers have plundered them, and have ravaged their vine branches.

2:3  The shields of his mighty ones are dyed red; the mighty men are in scarlet; the chariots flame like iron torches in the day of battle preparation. And the cypress spears are made to quiver.

2:4  The chariots race madly in the streets; they jostle against each other in the open squares. Their appearance is like torches; they run to and fro like lightning.

2:5  He shall remember his nobles; they shall stumble in their walking; they shall make haste to its wall, and the defense shall be prepared.

2:6  The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall be helpless.

2:7  And the queen is uncovered and she is carried away. And her slave women are moaning like the sound of doves, as they beat their breast.

2:8  But Nineveh from old is like a pool of water; yet they shall flee away. "Stand, Stand!" they shall cry, but none looks back.

2:9  Seize the silver; seize the gold; for there is no end to the treasures; rich with all precious vessels.

2:10  She is empty and void and waste; and the heart melts, and the knees tremble, and much pain is in all the loins; and all their faces gather blackness.

2:11  Where is the den of the lions, and the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion and the lioness walked, and the lion's cub, and no one made them afraid?

2:12  The lion tears in pieces enough for his cubs, and strangles for his lionesses, and fills his caves with prey, and his dens with torn flesh.

2:13  "Behold, I am against you," says the LORD of hosts, "and I will consume her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers shall be heard no more.

Chapter 3

3:1  Woe to the bloody city! It is steeped in lies, and full of plunder; the victim never departs.

3:2  The sound of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of a wheel, and of a galloping horse, and of a bounding chariot.

3:3  The horseman lifts up both the bright sword and the glittering spear. And many are slain, and there are masses of dead bodies, and no end of corpses; they stumble over the dead bodies,

3:4  Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the well-favored harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts who sells nations by her whoredoms, and families by her witchcrafts.

3:5  "Behold, I am against you," says the LORD of hosts; "and I will lift your skirts over your face. And I will cause the nations to see your nakedness, and the kingdoms your shame.

3:6  And I will cast abominable filth upon you, and will make you vile, and will set you as a gazing stock.

3:7  And it shall be that all those who look upon you shall flee from you, and say, 'Nineveh is laid waste; who will weep for her?' From where shall I seek comforters for you?"

3:8  Are you better than No Amon, that dwelt among the Nile branches, that had waters all around her, whose rampart was the sea, the waters her wall?

3:9  Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, yea, without end. Put and Lubim were among your helpers.

3:10  Yet she went into exile; she went into captivity, and her young children also were dashed to 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.

3:11  You also shall be drunken; you shall be hidden, you also shall seek protection from the enemy.

3:12  All your strongholds shall be like fig trees with the first fruits; if they are shaken, they shall even fall into the mouth of the eater.

3:13  Behold, your people in your midst are women. The gates of your land shall surely be opened to your enemies; the fire shall devour your bars.

3:14  Draw waters for the siege; fortify your strongholds; go into the clay, and tread the mortar; make the brick mold strong.

3:15  There fire shall devour you; the sword shall cut you off, it shall eat you up like the locust. Make yourself as many as the larvae, multiply yourself like the locusts.

3:16  You have multiplied your merchants above the stars of heaven; the locust larvae shall strip and fly away.

3:17  Your rulers are like the locusts, and your officials are a swarm of locusts that camp in the hedges in the cold day; the sun rises, and they flee, and the place where they are is not known.

3:18  Your shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria. Your nobles are at rest in the dust; your people are scattered upon the mountains, and no one is gathering them.

3:19  There is no healing of your bruise; your wound is grievous; all who hear the news of you shall clap their hands over you; for upon whom has your wickedness not passed continually?