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

1 Woe to the bloody City, it is all full of lyes and robberie, the pray departeth not.

2 The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheeles, and of the praunsing horses, and of the iumping charets.

3 The horseman lifteth vp both the bright sword, & the glittering speare, and there is a multitude of slaine, and a great number of carkeises: and there is none ende of their corpses: they stumble vpon their corpses,

4 Because of the multitude of the whoredomes of the wel-fauoured harlot, the mistresse of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredomes, and families through her witchcrafts.

5 Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hostes, and I will discouer thy skirtes vpon thy face, and I will shew the nations thy nakednesse, and the kingdomes thy shame.

6 And I will cast abominable filth vpon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazing stocke.

7 And it shall come to passe, that all they that looke vpon thee, shall flee from thee, and say; Nineueh is layde waste, who will bemoane her? whence shall I seeke comforters for thee?

8 Art thou better then populous No, that was scituate among the riuers 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 infinit, Put and Lubim were thy helpers.

10 Yet was she caried away, she went into captiuitie: her yong children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streetes: and they cast lots for her honourable men, and all her great men were bound in chaines.

11 Thou also shalt be drunken: thou shalt bee hid, thou also shalt seeke strength because of the enemie.

12 All thy strong holds shall be like fig trees with the first ripe figs: if they bee shaken, they shall euen fall into the mouth of the eater.

13 Beholde, thy people in the midst of thee are women: the gates of thy land shall be set wide open vnto thine enemies, the fire shall deuoure thy barres.

14 Draw thee waters for the siege: fortifie thy strong holdes, goe into clay, and tread the morter: make strong the bricke-kill.

15 There shall the fire deuoure thee: the sword shall cut thee off: it shall eate thee vp like the cankerworme: make thy selfe many as the cankerworme, make thy selfe many as the locusts.

16 Thou hast multiplied thy merchants aboue the starres of heauen; the cankerworme spoileth & flieth away.

17 The crowned are as the locusts, and thy captains as the great grashoppers which campe in the hedges in the cold day: but when the Sunne ariseth, they flee away, and their place is not knowen where they are.

18 Thy shepheards slumber, O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell in the dust: thy people is scattered vpon the mountaines, & no man gathereth them.

19 There is no healing of thy bruise: thy wound is grieuous: all that heare the bruit of thee, shall clap the hands ouer thee; for vpon whom hath not thy wickednesse passed continually?

I == Ezek 22:2-3 ; 24:6 , 9 ; Hab 2:12

II == Jer 47:3

 

 

 

 

 

 

IV == Isa 47:9 , 12 ; Rev 18: 2-3

 

 

 

V == Isa 47:2-3 ; Jer 13:2 , 26 ; Ezek 16:37 ; Mic 1:11 ; Nah 2:13 ; Hab 2:16

 

VI == Mal 2:9 ; Heb 10:33

 

VII == Jer 15:5 ; Rev 18:10

 

 

VIII == Jer 46:25-26 ; Ezek 30:14-16 ; Amos 6:2

 

 

 

 

X == Ps 137:9 ; Isa 13:16 ; Lam 2:19 ; Hos 13:16 ; Joel 3:3 ; Obad 1:11

 

 

XI == Jer 25:17 , 27 ; Nah 1:10

 

XII == Rev 6:13

 

 

 

XIII Ps 147:13 ; Jer 50:37 ; 51:30

 

XIV == Nah 2:1

 

 

XV == Joel 1:4

 

 

 

 

 

XVII == Rev 9:7

 

 

 

 

 

XVIII == Ex 15:16 ; 1st Kings 22:17 ; Ps 76:6 ; Jer 50:18 ; Ezek 31:3

 

XIX == Isa 14:8 ; Lam 2:15

 

 

1 Woe to the bloody city, all lies, full of plunder, whose looting never stops!

2 The crack of the whip, the rumbling sounds of wheels; horses a-gallop, chariots bounding,

3 Cavalry charging, The flame of the sword, the flash of the spear, the many slain, the heaping corpses, the endless bodies to stumble upon!

4 For the many debaucheries of the harlot, fair and charming, a mistress of witchcraft, Who enslaved nations with her harlotries, and peoples by her witchcraft:

5 I am come against you, and I will strip your skirt from you; I will show your nakedness to the nations, to the kingdoms your shame!

6 I will cast filth upon you, disgrace you and put you to shame;

7 Till everyone who sees you runs from you, saying, "Nineveh is destroyed; who can pity her? Where can one find any to console her?"

8 Are you better than No-amon that was set among the streams, Surrounded by waters, with the flood for her rampart and water her wall?

9 Ethiopia was her strength, and Egypt, and others without end; Put and the Libyans were her auxiliaries.

10 Yet even she went captive into exile, even her little ones were dashed to pieces at the corner of every street; For her nobles they cast lots, and all her great men were put into chains.

11 You too, shall drink of this till you faint away; you, too, shall seek a refuge from the foe.

12 All your fortresses are but fig trees, bearing early figs That fall, when shaken, into the hungry mouth.

13 See, the troops are women in your midst; to your foes the gates of your land are open wide, fire has consumed their bars.

14 Draw water for the siege, strengthen your fortresses; Go down into the mud and tread the clay, take hold of the brick mold!

15 There the fire shall consume you, the sword shall cut you down. Multiply like the grasshoppers, multiply like the locusts!

16 Make your couriers more numerous than the stars,

17 your garrisons as many as grasshoppers, And your scribes as locust swarms gathered on the rubble fences on a cold day! Yet when the sun warms them, the grasshoppers will spread their wings and fly, and vanish, no one knows where.

18 Alas! how your shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria, your nobles have gone to rest; Your people are scattered upon the mountains, with none to gather them.

19 There is no healing for your hurt, your wound is mortal. All who hear this news of you clap their hands over you; For who has not been overwhelmed, steadily, by your malice?

v 1. See 1:1. Bloody city was a correct title. Plundering, the cutting off of head and any extremities of the bodies, impaling and skinning them while still alive was common. A city wall was covered with the skins of victims.

v 2-4. This describes the battle, and the cruelty done to others is done to them. Assyria had lusted for power as a harlot, and ruled and lived by the occult.

 

 

v 5-7. Assyria’s shameless actions would be exposed showing her to be so filthy and vile that there would be no one to take pity or comfort.

 

 

 

v 8. Southern Egypt’s capitol, Thebes was called by Hebrews No-amon, city of the god of Amun. It was surrounded by canals and moats, well protected like Ninevah. Assyria had defeated Thebes at some time past and was used as a precedent. Thebes fell to Nebuchadnezzar later.

v 9. Thebes had surrounding allies who could not help, but Ninevah had none.

v 10. Assyrians had ruthlessly massacred infants in the street rather than take them captive, and they cast lots for nobility to be used as slaves.

v 11. A drunken recklessness instead of watchfulness contributed to Ninevah’s defeat. Also people trying to escape were as confused as a drunken person.

v 12. As a ripe fig falls at a touch, Ninevah would fall to the combined forces, of Medes, Scythians and Babylonia.

v 13. The defenders would be helpless as the river undermined their defensive positions and the invaders burned the gates for others to flock in.

v 14. Again in mockery, Nahum tells them to have clean water prepared for the siege and new bricks ready to repair or throw up a new defense wall.

v 15-17. The enemy would come in like a swarm of grasshoppers, burning and destroying, so Ninevah should try to increase in number to defend themselves. The merchants and leaders would be frightened and try to flee away in the night.

v 18,19. Those not captured or killed would be so scattered that the empire would be totally destroyed, never to rise or be rebuilt. Israel and others oppressed by cruelty of the Assyrians would find comfort in their destruction. God’s vengeance is delayed, but if people don’t repent, His vengeance will ultimately come.