Nahum
I am Nahum, from {the village of} Elkosh. This is a message about {the city of} Nineveh, a message {that Yahweh gave me} in a vision.
Yahweh our God tolerates no rival gods to himself.
Yahweh is very angry with those who worship other gods, and he punishes them.
He continues to be angry with those who oppose him.
Yahweh does not quickly become angry;
but he is very powerful,
and he will certainly punish {those who have done evil things}.
Wherever Yahweh walks, there are whirlwinds and storms,
and the clouds are like dust around his feet.
When he commands oceans and rivers to become dry, they dry up.
He causes the grass to wither
in the fields in the region of Bashan and on the slopes of Mount Carmel,
and he causes the flowers in Lebanon to fade.
When he appears, it is as though the mountains quake and the hills melt;
the earth quakes before him, and all the people on the earth {tremble}.
There is no one who can resist him when he becomes extremely angry;
there is no one who can survive when Yahweh is angry with him.
When he is very angry, it is as though fire blazes out from him;
it is as though mountains explode into pieces before him.
Yahweh is good;
he protects us, his people, when we experience troubles.
He takes care of those who trust in him.
But he will completely destroy Nineveh with an overwhelming flood.
Wherever his enemies go,
terrible things will happen to them. So it is useless for you people of Nineveh to plot against Yahweh.
He will destroy your plan quickly;
he will not need to strike you two times.
The Ninevites will be like tangled thorn-bushes or dry stubble {in a fire};
they will be like the wine in their own cups.
All of those things disappear quickly and completely.
Yes, in the city of Nineveh there are people who advise and plan evil deeds against Yahweh. But this is what Yahweh says {to the people of Judah}:
“Although the nation of Assyria has very many people
and {its army} is very powerful,
Nevertheless I will shear them {like helpless sheep} and destroy those who plan evil deeds.
Although I have punished you,
I will not punish you again.
Now I will cause the people of Assyria to no longer enslave you; it will be as though I will break off the chains on your hands and feet.”
And this is what Yahweh also declares about the people of Nineveh:
“The people of Nineveh will not have any descendants who will continue to have their family names.
And I will destroy all the wooden and metal idols
that are in their temples.
I will cause them to be killed and sent to their graves, because they are vile!”
You people of Judah, look to the mountains! A messenger will come from there,
and he will bring good news to you.
He will declare that you will now have peace.
So keep your festivals, and do what you solemnly promised Yahweh that you would do.
You can do this because your wicked enemies will not invade your country again,
because I will destroy them completely.
You people of Nineveh, your enemies are coming to attack you. So place guards on the tops of the walls around the city! Guard the roads into the city! Get ready to fight! Gather all of your troops together! Even though soldiers have pillaged the people of Jacob and destroyed their vineyards, Yahweh will cause other nations to honor them again. Yes, Jacob and Israel will be majestic again. The shields of Yahweh’s soldiers are red,
and they will wear bright red uniforms.
The metal of their chariot wheels will flash like fire when they prepare them for battle.
The spears will look like {a forest of} quivering cypress trees {as the soldiers raise them}.
Their chariots dash through the streets of Nineveh
and rush furiously through the plazas.
Appearing to move as quickly as lightning,
they look like flaming torches.
The {attacking} commander calls to his officers
and they come to him so quickly that they stumble.
They run up to the city wall {to attack it};
they set up a large wooden shield {above the soldiers to protect them}.
Soldiers open the floodgates that hold back the rivers,
and the palace collapses.
Yahweh decrees that soldiers will take the inhabitants of Nineveh away as captives.
The women of Nineveh moan like doves
and beat their breasts {to show that they are very sad}. The people of Nineveh used to be as calm as a pool of water,
but now they are running away.
{The officials shout,} “Stop! Stop!”
But the people will not even look back {as they run away}.
{The attackers say to each other,}
“Seize the silver!
Grab the gold!
There is a huge amount {of very valuable things in the city};
there are many wonderful things of all kinds!”
Soldiers have completely looted and destroyed {the city of Nineveh}. The people of Nineveh are afraid, trembling, and deeply sorrowful. Their faces have all become pale {with fear}.
{After that happens, people will say,}
“Nineveh used to be full of great and powerful people!
It was like a den full of lions,
where the male and female lions lived with their cubs, where they fed the young ones, where the inhabitants were afraid of nothing.
The officials in Nineveh were like lions that killed animals for their cubs, strangled others for their lionesses, and kept killing more to fill their dens with prey.” Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, says to the people of Nineveh,
“I am your enemy;
I will burn up your chariots.
I will cause soldiers to kill your young men.
I will make sure that your soldiers will never again conquer other nations and seize their valuable possessions.
Your messengers will never again disturb the people of other nations.”
Terrible things will happen to Nineveh,
that city that is full of people who continually murder {people} and lie {to others} and steal {valuable things from people in other countries}.
Their armies constantly bring to the city the people and things that they have stolen. {But now listen as the enemy soldiers come to attack Nineveh!} Listen to them cracking their whips, and listen to the rattle of their {chariot} wheels!
Listen to their galloping horses and their chariots as they bounce along! Look at their flashing swords and glittering spears as the horsemen race forward!
The enemy soldiers will kill many people of Nineveh.
There will be piles of corpses, so many dead bodies that people will stumble over them. All of that will happen because Nineveh is like a beautiful prostitute
who attracts many men and destroys them,
and who practices witchcraft.
The people of Nineveh teach people of other nations to worship Nineveh’s idols.
They control other people through witchcraft
and cause them to become their slaves.
So Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, says to the people of Nineveh:
“I am your enemy, and I will completely humiliate you
in the sight of the people of other nations,
just as people humiliate a woman who has committed adultery
by lifting her skirt over her head so that people can see her naked body.
People of other nations will be ashamed of you.
It will be as though I am throwing garbage on you;
I will show others that I despise you very much,
and I will cause everyone to publicly ridicule you.
All those who see you will run away from you and say,
‘Nineveh lies in ruins,
but absolutely no one will mourn for it.’
People of Nineveh, no one will want to comfort you.”
Nineveh is not stronger than the city of Thebes was.
Thebes was an important city beside the Nile River;
deep water protected Thebes on all sides.
The rulers of Cush and Egypt helped Thebes; together they were very strong.
The governments of the nearby countries of Put and Libya
were also allies of Thebes.
Nevertheless, enemies conquered Thebes
and took its people as captives.
The enemies smashed the babies of Thebes to death in the streets.
The enemies used marked stones to choose
which officials they would take as slaves.
The enemies led all of the leaders of Thebes away in chains.
You people of Nineveh will similarly become confused.
You will search for places to hide
from your enemies as they did.
When people want to eat the first figs, all they have to do is shake the fig tree and the figs fall into their mouths.
Your enemies will capture your fortresses that quickly and easily.
Look at your soldiers!
They are as weak as women!
The gates of your cities will be wide open
to allow your enemies to enter them,
and your enemies will burn the beams {of those gates}.
{People of Nineveh,} store up water now to use when your enemies surround the city!
Make your defensive buildings stronger!
Dig up clay and trample it {to make it soft};
put it into molds to make bricks {to strengthen the walls}!
Nevertheless, your enemies will burn your city;
they will kill you with their swords;
they will kill you as locusts destroy crops.
Increase your population like grasshoppers and swarms of locusts! In your city there are now very many merchants;
almost more than one could count.
But {when your city is being destroyed,}
they will take all the valuable things and quickly leave,
like locusts that strip the leaves from plants and then fly away.
Your leaders are also like a swarm of locusts
that crowd together on the stone walls on a cold day.
When the sun shines, they fly away,
and no one knows where they have gone.
King of Assyria, all of your important people will die.
Your people will scatter to many different places in the mountains,
and there will be no one to gather them together. Nothing can help you now.
You are like someone who has a fatal wound.
All of those who hear about what has happened to you will {joyfully} clap their hands about it.
They will do this because all of them have suffered from your continual evil actions.
