Nah 3 | NASB1995 | STEP | Woe to the bloody city , completely full of lies and pillage ; Her prey never departs .

Nahum 3

Nineveh’s Complete Ruin

1 ^aWoe to the bloody city, completely full of lies and pillage;
Her prey never departs.
2 The ^bnoise of the whip,
The noise of the rattling of the wheel,
Galloping horses
And ^{▼▼ Lit skipping}bounding chariots!
3 Horsemen charging,
Swords flashing, ^dspears gleaming,
^eMany slain, a mass of corpses,
And ^{▼▼ Lit there is no end to
,} ^gcountless dead bodies—
They stumble over ^{▼▼ Lit their}the dead bodies!
4 All because of the ⁱmany harlotries of the harlot,
The charming one, the ^jmistress of sorceries,
Who ^ksells nations by her harlotries
And families by her sorceries.
5 “Behold, ^lI am against you,” declares the Lord of hosts;
“And I will ^{▼▼ Lit uncover your
,} ⁿlift up your skirts over your face,
And ^oshow to the nations your nakedness
And to the kingdoms your disgrace.
6 “I will ^pthrow ^{▼▼ Lit detestable things}filth on you
And ^rmake you vile,
And set you up as a ^sspectacle.
7 “And it will come about that all who see you
Will ^{▼▼ Lit flee}shrink from you and say,
‘Nineveh is devastated!
^uWho will grieve for her?’
Where will I seek comforters for you?”

8 Are you better than ^{▼▼ I.e. the city of Amon: Thebes
,} ^wNo-amon,
Which was situated by the ^xwaters of the Nile,
With water surrounding her,
Whose rampart was ^{▼▼ I.e. the Nile}the sea,
Whose wall consisted of ^{▼▼ I.e. the Nile}the sea?
9 ^aaEthiopia was her might,
And Egypt too, without limits.
^abPut and ^acLubim were among ^{▼▼ Lit your}her helpers.
10 Yet she ^aebecame an exile,
She went into captivity;
Also her ^afsmall children were dashed to pieces
^agAt the head of every street;
They ^ahcast lots for her honorable men,
And all her great men were bound with fetters.
11 You too will become ^aidrunk,
You will be ^ajhidden.
You too will search for a refuge from the enemy.
12 All your fortifications are ^akfig trees with ^{▼▼ Lit first fruits
,} ^amripe fruit—
When shaken, they fall into the eater’s mouth.
13 Behold, your people are ^anwomen in your midst!
The gates of your land are ^aoopened wide to your enemies;
Fire consumes your gate bars.
14 ^apDraw for yourself water for the siege!
^aqStrengthen your fortifications!
Go into the clay and tread the mortar!
Take hold of the brick mold!
15 There ^arfire will consume you,
The sword will cut you down;
It will ^asconsume you as the locust does.
Multiply yourself like the creeping locust,
Multiply yourself like the swarming locust.
16 You have increased your ^attraders more than the stars of heaven—
The creeping locust ^{▼▼ I.e. strips vegetation; or molts}strips and flies away.
17 Your ^{▼▼ Or officials
,} ^awguardsmen are like the swarming locust.
Your ^axmarshals are like hordes of grasshoppers
Settling in the stone walls on a cold day.
The sun rises and they flee,
And the place where they are is not known.
18 Your shepherds are ^aysleeping, O ^azking of Assyria;
Your ^banobles are lying down.
Your people are ^bbscattered on the mountains
And there is no one to regather them.
19 There is ^bcno relief for your breakdown,
Your ^bdwound is incurable.
All who hear ^{▼▼ Lit your report}about you
Will ^bfclap their hands over you,
For on whom has not your evil passed continually?