Nahum

3 Alas for the city of bloodshed! All of it deceit, of violence full, none releaseth prey!

2 The sound of the whip, And the sound of the rushing wheel,—And horse galloping, And dancing chariot rattling along.

3 Horsemen uplifting both the flashing sword and the lightning spear, Aye A mass of slain and A weight of dead bodies,—and No end of corpses, So that they stumble upon their corpses.

4 Because of the multitude of the unchaste doings of the unchaste one, Fair in grace, mistress of secret arts,—Who hath been selling Nations by her unchaste doings, Families by her secret arts

5 Behold me! against thee, Declareth Yahweh of hosts, Therefore will I remove thy skirts over thy face,—And let nations see thy nakedness, and kingdoms thy shame;

6 And I will cast upon thee abominable filth and treat thee as foolish,—and set thee as a gazing-stock.

7 And it shall come to pass that all who see thee shall flee from thee, And shall say, Destroyed is Nineveh! Who will bemoan her? Whence shall I seek any to comfort thee?

8 Art thou better than No-amon, Who sat among the Nile-streams, Waters round about her,—Whose fortress was the sea, From the sea her wall.

9 Ethiopia was her strength and Egypt—Yea without end,—Pût and Lubim were among thy helpers.

10 Yet she was given up to exile, She went into captivity, Even her babes were dashed to the ground at the head of all the streets,—And for her honourable men cast they lots, And all her great men were bound together in chains.

11 Thou too shalt be drunken, Thou shalt hide thyself,—Thou too shalt seek shelter from the foe:

12 All thy fortresses shall be fig-trees with first-ripe figs: If they be shaken then shall [the fruit] fall on the mouth of the eater.

13 Lo! thy people are women in thy midst, To thy foes have been set wide open the gates of thy land,—A fire hath devoured thy bars.

14 Siege-water draw for thyself, Strengthen thy fortresses,—Go into the clay And tread thou the mortar, Make strong the brick.

15 There shall a fire devour thee, The sword shall cut thee off, It shall devour thee like the grass locust,—Make thyself numerous like the grass locust, Make thyself numerous as the swarming locust:

16 Though thou have multiplied thy foot-soldiers beyond the stars of the heavens The grass locust hath stript itself and flown away!

17 Thy mercenary crowds are like the swarming locust, And thy mixed multitudes like locusts—swarms of locusts,—Which settle in the hedges on a cold day, The sun hath broken forth and they are in flight, And unknown is the place where they are!

18 Asleep are thy shepherds, O king of Assyria, Thy nobles must needs rest. Scattered are thy people upon the mountains And there is none to gather them.

19 No lessening of thine injury, Grievous is thy wound,—All who have heard the report of thee Have clapped their hands over thee, For upon whom hath not thy cruelty passed without ceasing?