Nahum 1

Chapter 1

God Is Awesome

¹The ^1aoracle of ^bNineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.

²A ^ajealous and avenging God is the Lord;

The Lord is ^bavenging and ¹wrathful.

The Lord takes ^cvengeance on His adversaries,

And He reserves wrath for His enemies.

³The Lord is ^aslow to anger and great in power,

And the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.

In ^bwhirlwind and storm is His way,

And ^cclouds are the dust beneath His feet.

⁴He ^arebukes the sea and makes it dry;

He dries up all the rivers.

^bBashan and Carmel wither;

The blossoms of Lebanon wither.

⁵Mountains ^aquake because of Him

And the hills ^bdissolve;

Indeed the earth is ^cupheaved by His presence,

The ^dworld and all the inhabitants in it.

^6aWho can stand before His indignation?

Who can endure the ^bburning of His anger?

His ^cwrath is poured out like fire

And the ^drocks are broken up by Him.

⁷The Lord is ^agood,

A stronghold in the day of trouble,

And ^bHe knows those who take refuge in Him.

⁸But with an ^aoverflowing flood

He will make a complete end of ¹its site,

And will pursue His enemies into ^bdarkness.

⁹Whatever you ^adevise against the Lord,

He will make a ^bcomplete end of it.

Distress will not rise up twice.

¹⁰Like tangled ^athorns,

And like those who are ^bdrunken with their drink,

They are ^cconsumed

As stubble completely withered.

¹¹From you has gone forth

One who ^aplotted evil against the Lord,

A ^1bwicked counselor.

¹²Thus says the Lord,

“Though they are at full strength and likewise many,

Even so, they will be ^acut off and pass away.

Though I have afflicted you,

I will afflict you ^bno longer.

¹³“So now, I will ^abreak his yoke bar from upon you,

And I will tear off your shackles.”

¹⁴The Lord has issued a command concerning ¹you:

“²Your name will ^ano longer be perpetuated.

I will cut off ^3bidol and ⁴image

From the house of your gods.

I will prepare your ^cgrave,

For you are contemptible.”

¹⁵¹Behold, ^aon the mountains the feet of him who brings good news,

Who announces peace!

^bCelebrate your feasts, O Judah;

Pay your vows.

For ^cnever again will the ²wicked one pass through you;

He is ^dcut off completely.