Pronouncements against Nineveh
Chapter 1
1A pronouncement on Nineveh: The Book of the Prophecy of Nahum the Elkoshite.
2The Lord is a passionate, avenging God;
The Lord is vengeful and fierce in wrath.
The Lord takes vengeance on His enemies,
He rages against His foes.
3The Lord is slow to anger and of great forbearance,
But the Lord does not remit all punishment. [ . . . ]
Chapter 3
1Ah, city of crime,
Utterly treacherous,
Full of violence,
Where killing never stops!
2Crack of whip
And rattle of wheel,
Galloping steed
And bounding chariot!
3Charging horsemen,
Flashing swords,
And glittering spears!
Hosts of slain
And heaps of corpses,
Dead bodies without number—
They stumble over bodies.
4Because of the countless harlotries of the harlot,
The winsome mistress of sorcery,
Who ensnared nations with her harlotries
And peoples with her sorcery,
5I am going to deal with you
—declares the Lord of Hosts.
I will lift up your skirts over your face
And display your nakedness to the nations
And your shame to kingdoms.
6I will throw loathsome things over you
And disfigure you
And make a spectacle of you.
7All who see you will recoil from you
And will say,
“Nineveh has been ravaged!”
Who will console her?
Where shall I look for
Anyone to comfort you? [ . . . ]
13Truly, the troops within you are women;
The gates of your land have opened themselves
To your enemies;
Fire has consumed your gate bars.
14Draw water for the siege,
Strengthen your forts;
Tread the clay,
Trample the mud,
Grasp the brick mold!
15There fire will devour you,
The sword will put an end to you;
It will devour you like the grub.
Multiply like grubs,
Multiply like locusts! [ . . . ]
18Your shepherds are slumbering,
O king of Assyria;
Your sheepmasters are lying inert;
Your people are scattered over the hills,
And there is none to gather them.
19There is no healing for your injury;
Your wound is grievous.
All who hear the news about you
Clap their hands over you.
For who has not suffered
From your constant malice?
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Credits
Reprinted from Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures by permission of the University of Nebraska Press. Copyright 1985 by the Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 1.
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