Nahum, 3

1. Woe to the bloody city, all lies, full of plunder, whose looting never stops!

1. Disaster to the city of blood, packed throughout with lies, stuffed with booty, where plundering has no end!

2. The crack of the whip, the rumbling sounds of wheels; horses a-gallop, chariots bounding,

2. The crack of the whip! The rumble of wheels! Galloping horse, jolting chariot,

3. Cavalry charging, The flame of the sword, the flash of the spear, the many slain, the heaping corpses, the endless bodies to stumble upon!

3. charging cavalry, flashing swords, gleaming spears, a mass of wounded, hosts of dead, countless corpses; they stumble over corpses-

4. For the many debaucheries of the harlot, fair and charming, a mistress of witchcraft, Who enslaved nations with her harlotries, and peoples by her witchcraft:

4. because of the countless whorings of the harlot, the graceful beauty, the cunning witch, who enslaved nations by her harlotries and tribes by her spells.

5. I am come against you, and I will strip your skirt from you; I will show your nakedness to the nations, to the kingdoms your shame!

5. Look, I am against you!- declares Yahweh Sabaoth- I shall lift your skirts as high as your face and show your nakedness to the nations, your shame to the kingdoms.

6. I will cast filth upon you, disgrace you and put you to shame;

6. I shall pelt you with filth, I shall shame you and put you in the pillory.

7. Till everyone who sees you runs from you, saying, "Nineveh is destroyed; who can pity her? Where can one find any to console her?"

7. Then all who look at you will shrink from you and say, 'Nineveh has been ruined!' Who will mourn for her? Where would I find people to comfort you?

8. Are you better than No-amon that was set among the streams, Surrounded by waters, with the flood for her rampart and water her wall?

8. Are you better off than No-Amon situated among rivers, her defences the seas, her rampart the waters?

9. Ethiopia was her strength, and Egypt, and others without end; Put and the Libyans were her auxiliaries.

9. In Ethiopia and Egypt lay her strength, and it was boundless; Put and the Libyans served in her army.

10. Yet even she went captive into exile, even her little ones were dashed to pieces at the corner of every street; For her nobles they cast lots, and all her great men were put into chains.

10. But she too went into exile, into captivity; her little ones too were dashed to pieces at every crossroad; lots were drawn for her nobles, all her great men were put in chains.

11. You too, shall drink of this till you faint away; you, too, shall seek a refuge from the foe.

11. You too will become drunk, you will go into hiding; you too will have to search for a refuge from the enemy.

12. All your fortresses are but fig trees, bearing early figs That fall, when shaken, into the hungry mouth.

12. Your fortifications are all fig trees, with early ripening figs: as soon as they are shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater.

13. See, the troops are women in your midst; to your foes the gates of your land are open wide, fire has consumed their bars.

13. Look at your people: you are a nation of women! The gates of your country gape open to your enemies; fire has devoured their bars!

14. Draw water for the siege, strengthen your fortresses; Go down into the mud and tread the clay, take hold of the brick mold!

14. Draw yourselves water for the siege, strengthen your fortifications! Into the mud with you, puddle the clay, repair the brick-kiln!

15. There the fire shall consume you, the sword shall cut you down. Multiply like the grasshoppers, multiply like the locusts!

15. There the fire will burn you up, the sword will cut you down. Make yourselves as numerous as locusts, make yourselves as numerous as the hoppers,

16. Make your couriers more numerous than the stars,

16. let your commercial agents outnumber the stars of heaven,

17. your garrisons as many as grasshoppers, And your scribes as locust swarms gathered on the rubble fences on a cold day! Yet when the sun warms them, the grasshoppers will spread their wings and fly, and vanish, no one knows where.

17. your garrisons, like locusts, and your marshals, like swarms of hoppers! They settle on the walls when the day is cold. The sun appears, the locusts spread their wings, they fly away,away they fly, no one knows where. Alas,

18. Alas! how your shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria, your nobles have gone to rest; Your people are scattered upon the mountains, with none to gather them.

18. your shepherds are asleep, king of Assyria, your bravest men slumber; your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them.

19. There is no healing for your hurt, your wound is mortal. All who hear this news of you clap their hands over you; For who has not been overwhelmed, steadily, by your malice?

19. There is no remedy for your wound, your injury is past healing. All who hear the news of you clap their hands at your downfall. For who has not felt your unrelenting cruelty?