Nahum 1.vv.1-15, and 2.vv.1-131 An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh.
2 A jealous and avenging God is the Lord, the Lord is avenging and wrathful; the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries and rages against his enemies.
3 The Lord is slow to anger but great in power, and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
4 He rebukes the sea and makes it dry, and he dries up all the rivers; Bashan and Carmel wither, and the bloom of Lebanon fades.
5 The mountains quake before him, and the hills melt; the earth heaves before him, the world and all who live in it. 6 Who can stand before his indignation?
Who can endure the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and by him the rocks are broken in pieces.
7 The Lord is good, a stronghold in a day of trouble; he protects those who take refuge in him,
8 even in a rushing flood. He will make a full end of his adversaries, and will pursue his enemies into darkness.
9 Why do you plot against the Lord? He will make an end; no adversary will rise up twice.
10 Like thorns they are entangled, like drunkards they are drunk; they are consumed like dry straw.
11 From you one has gone out who plots evil against the Lord, who counsels wickedness.
12 Thus says the Lord, "Though they are at full strength and many, they will be cut off and pass away. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more.
13 And now I will break off his yoke from you and snap the bonds that bind you."
14 The Lord has commanded concerning you: "Your name shall be perpetuated no longer; from the house of your gods I will cut off the carved image and the cast image. I will make your grave, for you are worthless."
15 Look! On the mountains the feet of one who brings good tidings, who proclaims peace! Celebrate your festivals, O Judah, fulfil your vows, for never again shall the wicked invade you; they are utterly cut off.2 A shatterer has come up against you. Guard the ramparts; watch the road; gird your loins; collect all your strength.
2 (For the Lord is restoring the majesty of Jacob, as well as the majesty of Israel, though ravagers have ravaged them and ruined their branches.)
3 The shields of his warriors are red; his soldiers are clothed in crimson. The metal on the chariots flashes on the day when he musters them; the chargers prance.
4 The chariots race madly through the streets, they rush to and fro through the squares; their appearance is like torches, they dart like lightning.
5 He calls his officers; they stumble as they come forward; they hasten to the wall, and the mantelet is set up.
6 The river gates are opened, the palace trembles.
7 It is decreed that the city be exiled, its slave women led away, moaning like doves and beating their breasts.
8 Nineveh is like a pool whose waters run away. "Halt! Halt!"- but no one turns back.
9 "Plunder the silver, plunder the gold! There is no end of treasure! An abundance of every precious thing!"
10 Devastation, desolation, and destruction! Hearts faint and knees tremble, all loins quake, all faces grow pale!
11 What became of the lions' den, the cave of the young lions, where the lion goes, and the lion's cubs, with no one to disturb them? 12 The lion has torn enough for his whelps
and strangled prey for his lionesses; he has filled his caves with prey and his dens with torn flesh.
13 See, I am against you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will burn your chariots in 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.