NAHUM
§ What do you plot against Yahweh?¤1 °1 Oracle
against Nineveh. This is the book of the vision which Nahum of Elkosh has
seen. °2 Yahweh is a jealous and avenging God, Yahweh
takes vengeance in his wrath; °3 Yahweh is slow to anger though
immense in power. He
does not overlook the evil. In
storm and whirlwind is his path; clouds
are the dust of his feet. °4 He rebukes the sea and dries it; he
drains rivers of their water. Bashan
and Carmel wither; the
blossoms of Lebanon fade. °5 Before him the mountains quake and
the hills melt; the
earth trembles and
all the peoples. °6 Who can stand before his fury? Who
can face his blazing anger? His
wrath is poured out like fire, and
the rocks are rent asunder. °7 Yahweh is good for those who hope; in
the day of trouble he shelters them. He
remembers those who trust in him °8 when the flood engulfs them. He
utterly destroys his adversaries and
pursues his foes into darkness. What
are you plotting against him? Yahweh
will bring it to an end, °9 oppression will not rise a second time. Yahweh
gives his foe no quarter, he
stores up fury for his enemy. °10 They will be entangled devoured
like thorns, and
be consumed like dry stubble. °11 Yahweh will take off Juda his enemy the
one who plots evil. °12 Thus Yahweh says to Judah: “Though
they be strong and many they
will be annihilated. Though
I had afflicted you, no
more shall I afflict you. °13 I will break their yoke from your neck and
tear away your shackles.” °14 To the people of Nineveh, here
is Yahweh’s decree. “No
descendants shall bear your name. I
will abolish from your temple the
carved image and the molten idol. I
will make your tomb an object of shame.” ¤2 °1 See,
there on the mountains, the feet of one who brings good news, one who
proclaims peace. Judah,
celebrate your feasts and
carry out your vows. For
the wicked have been destroyed, they
will not attack you any more. °3 Yahweh will now restore Jacob’s
magnificence, like Israel’s splendor. For
they had been plundered, laid
waste as a ravaged vineyard. § Nineveh shall fall°2 Against Nineveh a destroyer advances. Watch
the road, man the fortress; brace
yourselves, muster your forces. °4 The shields of his soldiers are red; his
warriors are crimson-clad. His
chariots gleam as if on fire when
mustered in battle array, while
prancing horses and frenzied horsemen wait
impatiently for bloody action. °5 As chariots storm through the streets and
dash madly through the squares, they
look like flashing torches or
darting lightning bolts. °6 The picked troops are called out; ranks
break at their charge. Having
set up the mantelet they
rushed toward the rampart. °7 The river gates are thrown open, and
the palace defense collapses. °8 The goddess is taken captive together
with all her handmaids, moaning
like doves and beating their breasts. °9 Nineveh looks like a pool with
its waters running away: All
flee: “Stop, stop!” but
no one comes back. °10 All kinds of wealth, gold and silver – it
is an endless treasure, a heap of the most precious things. °11 Waste and ruin, desolation and emptiness,
failing hearts and trembling knees, terror
and agony on all blanched faces! °12 Where now is the lion’s cave, the
den of the cubs where
the lion would bring his prey, and
the cubs lie down undisturbed? °13 The lion tore to pieces for his whelps, and
strangled for his mates; he
filled his caves with prey and
his dens with mangled flesh. °14 Yahweh Sabaoth speaks: I
have come against you. I
will send up your chariots in smoke, give
your cubs to the sword; wipe
the earth clear of your plunder, and
your envoys’ voices will be heard no more. § The city of blood¤3 °1 Woe to the bloody city, city of lies and booty, O
city of unending plunder! °2 But what! Crack of whips, rumble
of wheels and clatter of hoofs! °3 See the frenzied chargers, the
flashing swords and glittering spears, the
heaps of the wounded, the
dead and dying –
we trip over corpses! °4 The harlot is paying for her harlotries, her
deadly charms, her sorceries. She
traded nations with her prostitutions and
caught peoples by her spells. °5 “I am against you,” Yahweh Sabaoth says. “I
will lift your skirts over your face. I
will show the nations your nakedness and
the kingdoms your disgrace. °6 I will pelt you with filth, I
will treat you with contempt and
make of you a shameful show, °7 so that all who look on you will
turn their backs in disgust and
say: Nineveh – a city of lust – is in ruins. Who
will mourn for her? Where
can we find one to comfort her? °8 Are you any better than
Thebes by the Nile, surrounded
by water, her
rampart the river, and
the water her wall? °9 Ethiopia and Egypt were her stay, Put
and Libya were her allies, °10 yet she was carried away and
held captive among the exiles. Her
infants were dashed to pieces at
the head of every road; lots
were cast for her nobles, her
great men bound in chains. °11 You, too, shall drink of this: you
will also hide from your enemies. °12 Your fortresses are like fig trees laden
with early-ripening fruits which
fall, when shaken, into
the waiting mouths. °13 Look at your braves – they are like
women! Your
gates are wide open, the
bars consumed by fire, and
the enemies freely enter. °14 Brace yourselves for the siege: draw
water, strengthen
the bulwark, tread
the clay and the mortar and
repair the brickwork. °15 There the fire will devour you and
the sword will cut you down though
you were numerous as locusts, beyond
count like grasshoppers. °16 You had multiplied your merchants more than the stars of the sky; °17 like grasshoppers were your officials and your soldiers like swarms of locusts which settle on the walls on a cold day. But the sun appears, they fly away and they are gone, no one knows where. °18 O king of Assyria, your shepherds slumber, your nobles lie down fast asleep, while over the mountains your people scatter, and there is no one to gather them up. °19 Nothing can heal your wounds; your injury is fatal. All clap their hands when they hear about your fall. for who has not suffered constantly the
plague of your cruelty? The End. |