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 3,14 Nah 3,14
he took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the fountains which were without the city; and they helped him.
He that dasheth in pieces is come up against thee: keep the fortress, watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily.
So there was gathered much people together, and they stopped all the fountains, and the brook that flowed through the midst of the land, saying, Why should the kings of Assyria come, and find much water?
{Or, Break, O ye}Make an uproar, O ye peoples, and be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and be broken in pieces.
Doth not Hezekiah persuade you, to give you over to die by famine and by thirst, saying, Jehovah our God will deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
Prepare ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle.
And ye saw the breaches of the city of David, that they were many; and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool;
and ye numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and ye brake down the houses to fortify the wall;
ye made also a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But ye looked not unto {Or, the maker thereof}him that had done this, neither had ye respect unto him that purposed it long ago.
Harness the horses, and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, put on the coats of mail.
I have digged and drunk water, and with the sole of my feet will I dry up all the rivers of {Or, defence Hebrew: Mazor.}Egypt.
Go up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men go forth: Cush and Put, that handle the shield; and the Ludim, that handle and bend the bow.
Proclaim ye this among the nations; {Hebrew: sanctify.}prepare war; stir up the mighty men; let all the men of war draw near, let them come up.
Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.
{Or, Assemble yourselves}Haste ye, and come, all ye nations round about, and gather yourselves together: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Jehovah.