Nahum 1:2–8

The Lord Is Angry With Nineveh

²The Lord is a jealous God who punishes people.

He pays them back for the evil things they do.

His anger burns against them.

The Lord punishes his enemies.

He holds his anger back

until the right time to use it.

³The Lord is slow to get angry.

He is very powerful.

The Lord will not let guilty people go

without punishing them.

When he marches out, he stirs up winds and storms.

Clouds are the dust kicked up by his feet.

⁴He controls the seas. He dries them up.

He makes all of the rivers run dry.

Bashan and Mount Carmel dry up.

The flowers in Lebanon fade.

⁵He causes the mountains to shake.

The hills melt away.

The earth trembles because he is there.

So do the world and all those who live in it.

⁶Who can stand firm when his anger burns?

Who can live when he is angry?

His anger blazes out like fire.

He smashes the rocks to pieces.

⁷The Lord is good.

When people are in trouble,

they can go to him for safety.

He takes good care of those

who trust in him.

⁸But he will destroy Nineveh

with a powerful flood.

He will chase his enemies

into the darkness of punishment.