# Bible (Berean Standard)/Nahum

The Burden against Nineveh
(Jonah 1:1–3)
1 This is the burden against Nineveh, the book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite:
    $^2$ The LORD is a jealous and avenging God;
       the LORD is avenging and full of wrath.
    The LORD takes vengeance on His foes
       and reserves wrath for His enemies.
    $^3$ The LORD is slow to anger
       and great in power;
    the LORD will by no means
       leave the guilty unpunished.
    His path is in the whirlwind and storm,
       and clouds are the dust beneath His feet.
    $^4$ He rebukes the sea and dries it up;
       He makes all the rivers run dry.
    Bashan and Carmel wither,
       and the flower of Lebanon wilts.
    $^5$ The mountains quake before Him,
       and the hills melt away;
    the earth trembles at His presence—
       the world and all its dwellers.
    $^6$ Who can withstand His indignation?
       Who can endure His burning anger?
    His wrath is poured out like fire;
       even rocks are shattered before Him.
    $^7$ The LORD is good,
       a stronghold in the day of distress;
       He cares for those who trust in Him.
    $^8$ But with an overwhelming flood
       He will make an end of Nineveh
       and pursue His enemies into darkness.
    $^9$ Whatever you plot against the LORD,
       He will bring to an end.
    Affliction will not rise up
       a second time.
    $^{10}$ For they will be entangled as with thorns
       and consumed like the drink of a drunkard—
       like stubble that is fully dry.
    $^{11}$ From you, O Nineveh, comes forth
       a plotter of evil against the LORD,
       a counselor of wickedness.
$^{12}$ This is what the LORD says:
    “Though they are allied and numerous,
       yet they will be cut down and pass away.
    Though I have afflicted you, O Judah,
       I will afflict you no longer.
    $^{13}$ For I will now break their yoke from your neck
       and tear away your shackles.”
$^{14}$ The LORD has issued a command concerning you, O Nineveh:
    “There will be no descendants
       to carry on your name.
    I will cut off the carved image and cast idol
       from the house of your gods;
    I will prepare your grave,
       for you are contemptible.”
    $^{15}$ Look to the mountains—
       the feet of one who brings good news,
       who proclaims peace!
    Celebrate your feasts, O Judah;
       fulfill your vows.
    For the wicked will never again march through you;
       they will be utterly cut off.
The Overthrow of Nineveh
    2 One who scatters advances
       against you, O Nineveh.
    Guard the fortress!
       Watch the road!
    Brace yourselves!
       Summon all your strength!
    $^2$ For the LORD will restore the splendor of Jacob
       like the splendor of Israel,
    though destroyers have laid them waste
       and ruined the branches of their vine.
    $^3$ The shields of his mighty men are red;
       the valiant warriors are dressed in scarlet.
    The fittings of the chariots flash like fire
       on the day they are prepared,
    and the spears of cypress
       have been brandished.
    $^4$ The chariots dash through the streets;
       they rush around the plazas,
    appearing like torches,
       darting about like lightning.
    $^5$ He summons his nobles;
       they stumble as they advance.
    They race to its wall;
       the protective shield is set in place.
    $^6$ The river gates are thrown open
       and the palace collapses.
    $^7$ It is decreed that the city be exiled
       and carried away;
    her maidservants moan like doves,
       and beat upon their breasts.
    $^8$ Nineveh has been like a pool of water
       throughout her days,
       but now it is draining away.
    “Stop! Stop!” they cry,
       but no one turns back.
    $^9$ “Plunder the silver!
       Plunder the gold!”
    There is no end to the treasure,
       an abundance of every precious thing.
    $^{10}$ She is emptied!
       Yes, she is desolate and laid waste!
    Hearts melt, knees knock,
       bodies tremble, and every face grows pale!
    $^{11}$ Where is the lions’ lair
       or the feeding ground of the young lions,
    where the lion and lioness prowled with their cubs,
       with nothing to frighten them away?
    $^{12}$ The lion mauled enough for its cubs
       and strangled prey for the lioness.
    It filled its dens with the kill,
       and its lairs with mauled prey.
    $^{13}$ “Behold, I am against you,”
       declares the LORD of Hosts.
    “I will send your chariots up in smoke,
       and the sword will devour your young lions.
    I will cut off your prey from the earth,
       and the voices of your messengers
       will no longer be heard.”
Judgment on Nineveh
    3 Woe to the city of blood,
       full of lies,
    full of plunder,
       never without prey.
    $^2$ The crack of the whip,
       the rumble of the wheel,
    galloping horse
       and bounding chariot!
    $^3$ Charging horseman,
       flashing sword,
       shining spear;
    heaps of slain,
       mounds of corpses,
    dead bodies without end—
       they stumble over their dead—
    $^4$ because of the many harlotries of the harlot,
       the seductive mistress of sorcery,
    who betrays nations by her prostitution
       and clans by her witchcraft.
    $^5$ “Behold, I am against you,”
       declares the LORD of Hosts.
    “I will lift your skirts over your face.
       I will show your nakedness to the nations
       and your shame to the kingdoms.
    $^6$ I will pelt you with filth
       and treat you with contempt;
       I will make a spectacle of you.
    $^7$ Then all who see you
       will recoil from you and say,
    ‘Nineveh is devastated;
       who will grieve for her?’
    Where can I find
       comforters for you?”
    $^8$ Are you better than Thebes,
       stationed by the Nile with water around her,
    whose rampart was the sea,
       whose wall was the water?
    $^9$ Cush and Egypt were her boundless strength;
       Put and Libya were her allies.
    $^{10}$ Yet she became an exile;
       she went into captivity.
    Her infants were dashed to pieces
       at the head of every street.
    They cast lots for her dignitaries,
       and all her nobles were bound in chains.
    $^{11}$ You too will become drunk;
       you will go into hiding
       and seek refuge from the enemy.
    $^{12}$ All your fortresses are fig trees
       with the first ripe figs;
    when shaken, they fall
       into the mouth of the eater!
    $^{13}$ Look at your troops—
       they are like your women!
    The gates of your land
       are wide open to your enemies;
       fire consumes their bars.
    $^{14}$ Draw your water for the siege;
       strengthen your fortresses.
    Work the clay and tread the mortar;
       repair the brick kiln!
    $^{15}$ There the fire will devour you;
       the sword will cut you down
       and consume you like a young locust.
    Make yourself many like the young locust;
       make yourself many like the swarming locust!
    $^{16}$ You have multiplied your merchants
       more than the stars of the sky.
    The young locust strips the land
       and flies away.
    $^{17}$ Your guards are like the swarming locust,
       and your scribes like clouds of locusts
       that settle on the walls on a cold day.
    When the sun rises, they fly away,
       and no one knows where.
    $^{18}$ O king of Assyria, your shepherds slumber;
       your officers sleep.
    Your people are scattered on the mountains
       with no one to gather them.
    $^{19}$ There is no healing for your injury;
       your wound is severe.
    All who hear the news of you
       applaud your downfall,
    for who has not experienced
       your constant cruelty?

## Footnotes

* ↑ 1:8 Literally of her place
* ↑ 2:1 Hebrew Strengthen your loins!
* ↑ 2:3 Hebrew; alternately, the spears may be of pine or juniper or fir; LXX and Syriac they are prepared, and the horsemen rush to and fro.
* ↑ 3:8 Hebrew No-amon
* ↑ 3:9 That is, the upper Nile region
* ↑ 3:17 Or princes
* ↑ 3:17 Or marshals
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