Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and rapine; the prey departeth not.
The noise of the whip, and the noise of the rattling of wheels, and prancing horses, and bounding chariots,
the horseman {Or, charging}mounting, and the flashing sword, and the glittering spear, and a multitude of slain, and a great heap of corpses, and there is no end of the bodies; they stumble upon their bodies;—
because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the well-favored harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts.
Behold, I am against thee, saith Jehovah of hosts, and I will uncover thy skirts {Or, before}upon thy face; and I will show the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame.
And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazing-stock.
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?
Art thou better than No-amon, that was situate among the {Or, canals See Exodus 7:19.}rivers, that had the waters round about her; whose rampart was {That is, the Nile.}the sea, and her wall was of the sea?
Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite; Put and Lubim were thy helpers.
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.
Thou also shalt be drunken; thou shalt be hid; thou also shalt seek {Or, a defence against}a stronghold because of the enemy.
All thy fortresses shall be like fig-trees with the first-ripe figs: if they be shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater.
Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women; the gates of thy land are set wide open unto thine enemies: the fire hath devoured thy bars.
Draw thee water for the siege; strengthen thy fortresses; go into the clay, and tread the mortar; {Or, lay hold of the brick-mould.}make strong the brickkiln.
There shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off; it shall devour thee like the canker-worm: make thyself many as the canker-worm; make thyself many as the locust.
Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven: the canker-worm {Or, spreadeth himself}ravageth, and fleeth away.
Thy princes are as the locusts, and thy {Or, scribes}marshals as the swarms of grasshoppers, which encamp in the {Or, walls}hedges in the cold day, but when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.
Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria; thy nobles are at rest; thy people are scattered upon the mountains, and there is none to gather them.
There is no assuaging of thy hurt: thy wound is grievous: all that hear the report of thee clap their hands over thee; for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?
Querverweise zu Nahum 3,7 Nah 3,7
And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them; for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up.
Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold; for there is no end of the store, the {Or, wealth}glory of all goodly furniture.
These two things are befallen thee, who shall bemoan thee? desolation and destruction, and the famine and the sword; how shall I comfort thee?
We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country; for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.
She is empty, and void, and waste; and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and anguish is in all loins, and the faces of them all are waxed pale.
For who will have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? or who will bemoan thee? or who will turn aside to ask of thy welfare?
standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
How is Sheshach taken! and the praise of the whole earth seized! how is Babylon become {Or, an astonishment}a desolation among the nations!
The sea is come up upon Babylon; she is covered with the {Or, tumult}multitude of the waves thereof.
Her cities are become {Or, an astonishment}a desolation, a dry land, and a desert, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby.
What shall I {Or, take to witness for thee}testify unto thee? what shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem?What shall I compare to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion?For thy breach is great like the sea: who can heal thee?
saying, Woe, woe, the great city, she that was arrayed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and {Greek: gilded.}decked with gold and precious stone and pearl!
for in one hour so great riches is made desolate. And every shipmaster, and every one that saileth any whither, and mariners, and as many as {Greek: work the sea.}gain their living by sea, stood afar off,
and cried out as they looked upon the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like the great city?
And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and mourning, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, wherein all that had their ships in the sea were made rich by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.