Nahum 1:1–8

Superscription

1The oracle concerning Nineveh—

the scroll of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite:

Half-Acrostic: Yahweh Takes Vengeance against His Enemies

²Yahweh is a jealous God and avenging;

Yahweh is avenging and full of wrath.^a

Yahweh takes vengeance against his enemies;

he rages against his adversaries.

³Yahweh is slow to anger but great in power;

and Yahweh will certainly not allow the guilty to go unpunished.

He marches^b in storm wind and in gale;

storm clouds are the dust of his feet.

⁴He rebukes the sea and he dries up the rivers;

he makes all the rivers run dry.

Bashan and Carmel wither;^c

the blossom of Lebanon languishes.

⁵Mountains quake before him;

the hills shake apart.^d

The earth heaves before him—

the world and all her inhabitants.

⁶His indignation—who can stand before it?

Who can endure his fierce anger?^e

His wrath is poured out like fire;

rocks are shattered before^f him.

⁷Yahweh is good—a refuge in the day of distress;

he knows those who take refuge in him.

⁸But with a rushing torrent he will bring Nineveh to an end;

he will chase his enemies into darkness.