Font Size
Nahum 3
International Standard Version
Nahum 3
International Standard Version
The Coming Judgment of Nineveh
3 Woe to this city, contaminated with shed blood,
all full of lies and robberies—
it is[a] never without victims!
2 The crack of whips
and the clamor of wheels!
The galloping horses
and the bounding chariots!
3 The cavalry attacks—
the flashing sword
and the glittering spear!
Many are the slain—
so many casualties!—
No end to bodies,
and the soldiers[b] trip over the corpses.
4 Innumerable are the harlotries of this well-favored whore,
this mistress of witchcraft,
who enslaves nations through her fornication
and families through her sorcery.
God’s Decree against Nineveh
5 “Look, I am against you,” declares the Lord of the Heavenly Armies,
“so I will pull up your dress over your face.
I will show your nakedness to the nations,
and your disgrace to the kingdoms.
6 I will hurl abominable filth upon you,
making you look foolish,
and making an example of you.
7 It will be that everyone who looks at you will run away, saying,
‘Nineveh has been violently overthrown!
Who will mourn for her?
Where will I find anyone to comfort you?’”
Thebes: an Example of God’s Justice
8 “Are you any better than Thebes,[c]
which sits by the upper Nile, surrounded by water?
The sea was her defense,
the waters her wall of protection.[d]
9 Sudan[e] was her source of strength, along with Egypt—
there were no limits.
Put and the Libyans were her allies.
10 But she, too, was exiled—
she went into captivity!
Her young children were dashed to pieces
at every crossroad of their streets,
and her famous citizens were sold by lottery,
while all of her aristocrats were put in chains.
11 You will also become drunk.
You will disappear,
trying to hide from your enemies.
12 All your defenses are like fig trees with ripe early fruit—
when shaken, it falls right into the devourer’s mouth.
13 Look at your people—[f]
they are women!
Your borders stand wide open to your enemies,
while fire consumes the bars of your gates.”
The Futility of Avoiding God’s Judgment
14 “Draw water, because a siege is coming![g]
Strengthen your fortresses!
Make the clay good and strong!
Mix the mortar!
Go get your brick molds![h]
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.
17 Your imperial guards are like the swarming grasshopper;
your marshals are like hordes of grasshoppers,
settling in the stone walls on a chilly day.
The sun rises, and they flee away;
no one knows where they went.
18 Hey king of Assyria! Your shepherds are asleep
and your nobles are lying down!
Your people lie scattered on the mountains,
and there is no one to gather them together.
19 There is no healing for your injury—
your wound is fatal.
Everyone who hears about you will applaud,
because who hasn’t escaped your endless evil?”
Footnotes
- Nahum 3:1 The Heb. lacks it is
- Nahum 3:3 Lit. They
- Nahum 3:8 Lit. than No-Amon; i.e. Thebes, capital of southern Egypt (cf. Jer 46.25)
- Nahum 3:8 The Heb. lacks of protection
- Nahum 3:9 Lit. Cush
- Nahum 3:13 I.e. Nineveh’s army
- Nahum 3:14 The Heb. lacks coming
- Nahum 3:14 I.e. this verse appears to be affirming the uselessness of constructing a defense against God’s coming judgment.
Nahum 3
New International Version
Nahum 3
New International Version
Woe to Nineveh
3 Woe to the city of blood,(A)
full of lies,(B)
full of plunder,
never without victims!
2 The crack of whips,
the clatter of wheels,
galloping horses
and jolting chariots!
3 Charging cavalry,
flashing swords
and glittering spears!
Many casualties,
piles of dead,
bodies without number,
people stumbling over the corpses(C)—
4 all because of the wanton lust of a prostitute,
alluring, the mistress of sorceries,(D)
who enslaved nations by her prostitution(E)
and peoples by her witchcraft.
5 “I am against(F) you,” declares the Lord Almighty.
“I will lift your skirts(G) over your face.
I will show the nations your nakedness(H)
and the kingdoms your shame.
6 I will pelt you with filth,(I)
I will treat you with contempt(J)
and make you a spectacle.(K)
7 All who see you will flee(L) from you and say,
‘Nineveh(M) is in ruins(N)—who will mourn for her?’(O)
Where can I find anyone to comfort(P) you?”
8 Are you better than(Q) Thebes,(R)
situated on the Nile,(S)
with water around her?
The river was her defense,
the waters her wall.
9 Cush[a](T) and Egypt were her boundless strength;
Put(U) and Libya(V) were among her allies.
10 Yet she was taken captive(W)
and went into exile.
Her infants were dashed(X) to pieces
at every street corner.
Lots(Y) were cast for her nobles,
and all her great men were put in chains.(Z)
11 You too will become drunk;(AA)
you will go into hiding(AB)
and seek refuge from the enemy.
12 All your fortresses are like fig trees
with their first ripe fruit;(AC)
when they are shaken,
the figs(AD) fall into the mouth of the eater.
13 Look at your troops—
they are all weaklings.(AE)
The gates(AF) of your land
are wide open to your enemies;
fire has consumed the bars of your gates.(AG)
14 Draw water for the siege,(AH)
strengthen your defenses!(AI)
Work the clay,
tread the mortar,
repair the brickwork!
15 There the fire(AJ) will consume you;
the sword(AK) will cut you down—
they will devour you like a swarm of locusts.
Multiply like grasshoppers,
multiply like locusts!(AL)
16 You have increased the number of your merchants
till they are more numerous than the stars in the sky,
but like locusts(AM) they strip the land
and then fly away.
17 Your guards are like locusts,(AN)
your officials like swarms of locusts
that settle in the walls on a cold day—
but when the sun appears they fly away,
and no one knows where.
18 King of Assyria, your shepherds[b] slumber;(AO)
your nobles lie down to rest.(AP)
Your people are scattered(AQ) on the mountains
with no one to gather them.
19 Nothing can heal you;(AR)
your wound is fatal.
All who hear the news about you
clap their hands(AS) at your fall,
for who has not felt
your endless cruelty?(AT)
Footnotes
- Nahum 3:9 That is, the upper Nile region
- Nahum 3:18 That is, rulers
International Standard Version (ISV) 
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.