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The Futility of Avoiding God’s Judgment

14 “Draw water, because a siege is coming![a]
    Strengthen your fortresses!
Make the clay good and strong!
    Mix the mortar!
        Go get your brick molds![b]
15 In that place fire will consume you,
    the sword will cut you down,
        consuming you as locusts do.
Multiply yourself like locusts,
    increase like swarming grasshoppers.
16 You added to your inventory of businessmen—
    they number more than the stars of heaven.
The creeping locust sheds its skin and flies away.

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Footnotes

  1. Nahum 3:14 The Heb. lacks coming
  2. Nahum 3:14 I.e. this verse appears to be affirming the uselessness of constructing a defense against God’s coming judgment.

14 Draw water for the siege,(A)
    strengthen your defenses!(B)
Work the clay,
    tread the mortar,
    repair the brickwork!
15 There the fire(C) will consume you;
    the sword(D) will cut you down—
    they will devour you like a swarm of locusts.
Multiply like grasshoppers,
    multiply like locusts!(E)
16 You have increased the number of your merchants
    till they are more numerous than the stars in the sky,
but like locusts(F) they strip the land
    and then fly away.

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