Nahum 3

Woe to Nineveh

1  Woe to a the bloody city,
all full of lies and plunder—
b no end to the prey!
 2 The crack of the whip, and c rumble of the wheel,
d galloping horse and e bounding chariot!
 3 Horsemen charging,
flashing sword and f glittering spear,
g hosts of slain,
heaps of corpses,
dead bodies without end—
they stumble over the bodies!
 4 And all for the countless whorings of the h prostitute,
i graceful and of deadly charms,
who betrays nations with her whorings,
and peoples with her charms.
 5  j Behold, I am against you,
declares the  Lord of hosts,
and k will lift up your skirts over your face;
and I will make nations look at l your nakedness
and kingdoms at your shame.
 6 I will throw filth at you
and m treat you with contempt
and make you n a spectacle.
 7 And all who look at you o will shrink from you and say,
“Wasted is p Nineveh; q who will grieve for her?”
r Where shall I seek comforters for you?
 8  s Are you better than t Thebes ▼
▼ Hebrew No-amon

that sat v by the Nile,
with water around her,
her rampart a sea,
and water her wall?
 9  w Cush was her strength;
Egypt too, and that without limit;
x Put and the y Libyans were her ▼
▼ Hebrew your
 helpers.
 10  aa Yet she became an exile;
she went into captivity;
ab her infants were dashed in pieces
at the head of every street;
for her honored men ac lots were cast,
ad and all her great men were bound in chains.
 11  ae You also will be drunken;
you will go into hiding;
af you will seek a refuge from the enemy.
 12 All your fortresses are ag like fig trees
with first-ripe figs—
if shaken they fall
into the mouth of the eater.
 13 Behold, your troops
ah are women in your midst.
The gates of your land
are wide open to your enemies;
fire has devoured your bars.
 14  ai Draw water for the siege;
aj strengthen your forts;
go into the clay;
tread the mortar;
take hold of the brick mold!
 15 There will the fire devour you;
the sword will cut you off.
It will ak devour you al like the locust.
Multiply yourselves am like the locust;
multiply an like the grasshopper!
 16 You increased ao your merchants
more than the stars of the heavens.
ap The locust spreads its wings and flies away.
 17  Your aq princes are ar like grasshoppers,
as your scribes ▼
▼ Or marshals
 like clouds of locusts
settling on the fences
in a day of cold—
when the sun rises, they fly away;
no one knows where they are.
 18  Your shepherds au are asleep,
O king of Assyria;
av your nobles slumber.
Your people aw are scattered on the mountains
with none to gather them.
 19 There is no easing your hurt;
ax your wound is grievous.
All who hear the news about you
ay clap their hands over you.
For az upon whom has not come
your unceasing evil?
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