Nahum 1–2

¹An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh.^*

The Consuming Wrath of God

²A jealous and avenging God is the Lord;

the Lord is avenging and wrathful;

the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries

and prolongs it against his enemies.^*

³The Lord is slow to anger but great in power,

and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty.

His way is in whirlwind and storm,

and the clouds are the dust of his feet.^*

⁴He rebukes the sea and makes it dry,

and he dries up all the rivers;

Bashan and Carmel wither,

and the bloom of Lebanon fades.

⁵The mountains quake before him,

and the hills melt;

the earth heaves before him,

the world and all who live in it.^*

⁶Who can stand before his indignation?

Who can endure the heat of his anger?

His wrath is poured out like fire,

and by him the rocks are broken in pieces.^*

⁷The Lord is good,

a stronghold in a day of trouble;

he protects those who take refuge in him,

⁸even in a rushing flood.

He will make a full end of his adversaries^a

and will pursue his enemies into darkness.^*

⁹Why do you plot against the Lord?

He will make an end;

no adversary will rise up twice.^*

¹⁰Like thorns they are entangled;

like drunkards they are drunk;

they are consumed like dry straw.^*

¹¹From you one has gone out

who plots evil against the Lord,

one who counsels wickedness.^*

Good News for Judah

¹²Thus says the Lord:

Though they are at full strength and many,^b

they will be cut off and pass away.

Though I have afflicted you,

I will afflict you no more.^*

¹³And now I will break off his yoke from you

and snap the bonds that bind you.^*

¹⁴The Lord has commanded concerning you:

Your name shall be perpetuated no longer;

from the house of your gods I will cut off

the carved image and the cast image.

I will prepare your grave, for you are worthless.^*

^15cLook! On the mountains the feet of one

who brings good tidings,

who proclaims peace!

Celebrate your festivals, O Judah;

fulfill your vows,

for never again shall the wicked invade you;

they are utterly cut off.^*

The Destruction of the Wicked City

²A scatterer has come up against you.

Guard the ramparts;

watch the road;

gird your loins;

collect all your strength.^*

²(For the Lord is restoring the majesty of Jacob,

as well as the majesty of Israel,

though ravagers have ravaged them

and ruined their branches.)^*

³The shields of his warriors are red;

his soldiers are clothed in crimson.

The metal on the chariots flashes

on the day when he musters them;

the chargers^d prance.^*

⁴The chariots race madly through the streets;

they rush to and fro through the squares;

their appearance is like torches;

they dart like lightning.^*

⁵He calls his officers;

they stumble as they come forward;

they hasten to the wall,

and the screen^e is set up.

⁶The river gates are opened;

the palace trembles.

⁷It is decreed^f that the city^g be exiled,

its slave women led away,

moaning like doves

and beating their breasts.^*

⁸Nineveh is like a pool

whose waters^h run away.

“Halt! Halt!”—

but no one turns back.^*

⁹“Plunder the silver;

plunder the gold!

There is no end of treasure!

An abundance of every precious thing!”

¹⁰Devastation, desolation, and destruction!

Hearts faint and knees tremble;

all loins quake;

all faces grow pale!^*

¹¹What became of the lions’ den,

the cave of the young lions,

where the lion goes,

and the lion’s cubs, with no one to disturb them?^*

¹²The lion has torn enough for his whelps

and strangled prey for his lionesses;

he has filled his caves with prey

and his dens with torn flesh.^*

¹³See, I am against you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will burn yourⁱ chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions; I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers shall be heard no more.^*