THE BOOK OF NAHUM
King James Version
1 ¶ The burden of Nineveh. The book of
the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
2 ¶ God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth,
and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he
reserveth wrath for his enemies.
3 The LORD is
slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm,
and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
4 He rebuketh the
sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and
Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.
5 The mountains
quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein.
6 Who can stand
before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his
fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him.
7 The LORD is
good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in
him.
8
But with an overrunning flood he will make an utter end of the place
thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies.
9 ¶ What do ye imagine against the LORD? he will make an
utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time.
10 For while they
be folden together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards,
they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry.
11 There is one
come out of thee, that imagineth evil against the LORD, a wicked counsellor.
12 Thus saith the
LORD; Though they be quiet, and likewise many, yet thus shall they be cut down,
when he shall pass through. Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more.
13 For now will I
break his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds in sunder.
14 And the LORD
hath given a commandment concerning thee, that no more of thy name be sown: out
of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image and the molten image:
I will make thy grave; for thou art vile.
15
Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings,
that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for
the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.
1 ¶ He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face:
keep the munition, watch the way, make thy loins strong,
fortify thy power mightily.
2 For the LORD hath
turned away the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel: for the
emptiers have emptied them out, and marred their vine branches.
3 The shield of
his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet: the chariots shall be
with flaming torches in the day of his preparation, and the fir trees shall be terribly shaken.
4 The chariots
shall rage in the streets, they shall justle one against another in the broad
ways: they shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightnings.
5 He shall
recount his worthies: they shall stumble in their walk; they shall make haste
to the wall thereof, and the defence shall be prepared.
6
The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall be
dissolved.
7 And Huzzab
shall be led away captive, she shall be brought up, and her maids shall lead
her as with the voice of doves, tabering upon their breasts.
8 But Nineveh is
of old like a pool of water: yet they shall flee away. Stand, stand, shall they
cry; but none shall look back.
9
Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold: for there is none
end of the store and glory out of all the pleasant furniture.
10 She is empty,
and void, and waste: and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and
much pain is in all loins, and the faces of them all gather blackness.
11 ¶ Where is the dwelling of the lions, and the
feedingplace of the young lions, where the lion, even the
old lion, walked, and the lion's whelp, and none made them afraid?
12 The lion did
tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and
filled his holes with prey, and his dens with ravin.
13 Behold, I am
against thee, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions: and
I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall
no more be heard.
1 ¶ Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and
robbery; the prey departeth not;
2 The noise of a
whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the pransing
horses, and of the jumping chariots.
3 The horseman
lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear: and there is a
multitude of slain, and a great number of carcases; and there is none end of
their corpses; they stumble upon their corpses:
4 Because of the
multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, the mistress
of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families
through her witchcrafts.
5 Behold, I am
against thee, saith the LORD of hosts; and I will discover thy skirts upon thy
face, and I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame.
6
And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will
set thee as a gazingstock.
7 And it shall
come to pass, that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say,
Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek comforters for
thee?
8 ¶ Art thou better than populous No,
that was situate among the rivers, that had the waters round about it, whose
rampart was the sea, and her wall was from the sea?
9 Ethiopia and
Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite; Put and Lubim were thy helpers.
10
Yet was she carried away, she went into captivity: her young children
also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets: and they cast lots
for her honourable men, and all her great men were bound in chains.
11 Thou also
shalt be drunken: thou shalt be hid, thou also shalt seek strength because of
the enemy.
12
All thy strong holds shall be like fig trees with the firstripe figs: if
they be shaken, they shall even fall into the mouth of the eater.
13 Behold, thy people
in the midst of thee are women: the gates of thy land shall be set wide open
unto thine enemies: the fire shall devour thy bars.
14 Draw thee
waters for the siege, fortify thy strong holds: go into clay, and tread the morter, make strong the brickkiln.
15 There shall
the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off, it shall eat thee up like
the cankerworm: make thyself many as the cankerworm, make thyself many as the
locusts.
16 Thou hast
multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven: the cankerworm spoileth, and flieth away.
17 Thy crowned
are as the locusts, and thy captains as the great grasshoppers, which camp in
the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their
place is not known where they are.
18 Thy shepherds
slumber, O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell in the dust: thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth
them.
19 There is no
healing of thy bruise; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the bruit of thee
shall clap the hands over thee: for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed
continually?