1   The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite,

2    ^noteGod is ^note jealous, and the Lord avengeth; the Lord avengeth, and ^note is furious; the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.

3   The Lord ^note 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, even the world, and all that dwell therein.

6   Who can stand before his indignation? and who can ^note 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 ^note strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.

8   But with an over-running 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 are folded 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, ^note a wicked counselor.

12   Thus saith the Lord; ^note Though they are quiet, and likewise many, yet thus shall they be ^note cut down, when he shall pass through. Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more.

13   For now I will break his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds asunder.

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 ^note mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, ^note keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for ^note the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off. CHAP. II. The fearful and victorious armies of God against Nineveh.

1    ^noteHe 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    ^noteFor the Lord hath turned away ^note the excellence of Jacob, as the excellence 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 ^note in scarlet: the chariots shall be with ^note 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 jostle one against another in the broad ways: ^note they shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightnings.

Before CHRIST, 713.

5   He shall recount his ^note worthies: they shall stumble in their walk; they shall make haste to the wall thereof, and the ^note defense shall be prepared.

6   The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall be ^note dissolved.

7   And ^note Huzzab shall be ^note 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 ^note of old like a pool of water: yet they shall flee away. Stand, stand, shall they cry; but none shall ^note look back.

9   Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold: ^note for there is no end of the store and glory out of all the ^note pleasant furniture.

10   She is empty, and void, and waste: and the ^note 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 feeding-place 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 tore 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. CHAP. III. The miserable ruin of Nineveh.

1   Woe to the ^{note note} bloody city! it is all full of lies and robberies; the prey departeth not;

2   The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the prancing horses, and of the bounding chariots.

3   The horseman lifteth up both ^note the bright sword, and the glittering spear: and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcasses; and there is no end of their corpses; they stumble upon their corpses:

4   Because of the multitude of the lewd deeds of the well-favored harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her lewd deeds, and familes through her witchcrafts.

5   Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts; and ^note I will remove thy skirts upon thy face, and I will show 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 gazing-stock.

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 see comforters for thee?

8   Art thou better than ^{note note} populous No, that was situated among the rivers, that had the waters around it, whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was from the sea?

9   Cush and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite; Put and Lubim were ^note thy helpers.

10   Yet was she carried away, she went into captivity: her young children also were dashed in pieces at the head of all the streets: and they cast lots for her honorable men, and all her great men were bound in chains.

11   Thou also shalt be ^note 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 first ripe 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 to thy enemies: the fire shall devour thy bars.

14   Draw thee waters for the siege, fortify thy strong holds: go into clay, and tread the mortar, make strong the brick-kiln.

15   There shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off, it shall eat thee up like the canker-worm: make thyself many as the canker-worm, make thyself many as the locusts.

16   Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven: the canker-worm ^note spoileth, and flieth away.

17   Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy captains as the great grasshoppers, which settle 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 shepsherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy ^note nobles shall dwell in the dust: thy people are scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them.

19   There is no ^note healing of thy bruise; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the fame of thee shall clap the hands over thee: for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?

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