The Destruction of Nineveh

Nahum 2

1 o The scatterer has come up against you.
p Man the ramparts;
watch the road;
dress for battle; 1
collect all your strength.

2 For q the Lord is restoring the majesty of Jacob
as the majesty of Israel,
for plunderers have plundered them
and r ruined their branches.

3 The shield of his mighty men is red;
s his soldiers are clothed in scarlet.
The chariots come with flashing metal
on the day he musters them;
the cypress spears are brandished.
 4 t The chariots race madly through the streets;
they rush to and fro through the squares;
they gleam like torches;
they dart like lightning.
 5 He remembers u his officers;
v they stumble as they go,
they hasten to the wall;
the siege tower 2 is set up.
 6 w The river gates are opened;
the palace x melts away;
 7 its mistress 3 is y stripped; 4 she is carried off,
her slave girls z lamenting,
moaning like doves
and beating their breasts.
 8 b Nineveh is like a pool
whose waters run away. 5
"Halt! Halt!" they cry,
but c none turns back.
 9 Plunder the silver,
plunder the gold!
There is no end of the treasure
or of the wealth of all precious things.

10 d Desolate! Desolation and ruin!
e Hearts melt and f knees tremble;
g anguish is in all loins;
h all faces grow pale!
 11 Where is the lions' den,
the feeding place of i the young lions,
where the lion and lioness went,
where his cubs were, with j none to disturb?
 12 k The lion tore enough for his cubs
and l strangled prey for his lionesses;
he filled his caves with prey
and his dens with torn flesh.

13 m Behold, I am against you, declares the Lord of hosts, and n I will burn your 6 chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and o the voice of your messengers shall no longer be heard.

  1. Cross References
    Jeremiah 51:20
    You are my hammer and weapon of war: with you I break nations in pieces; with you I destroy kingdoms.
  2. Cross References
    Jeremiah 51:12
    Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon; make the watch strong; set up watchmen; prepare the ambushes; for the Lord has both planned and done what he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
  3. Cross References
    Isaiah 37:31
    And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward.
  4. Cross References
    Psalms 80:8 - 13
    You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it.
    Isaiah 5:1 - 7
    Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.
  5. Cross References
    Ezekiel 23:14 - 15
    But she carried her whoring further. She saw men portrayed on the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion.
  6. Cross References
    Nahum 3:2
    The crack of the whip, and rumble of the wheel, galloping horse and bounding chariot!
  7. Cross References
    Nahum 3:18
    Your shepherds are asleep, O king of Assyria; your nobles slumber. Your people are scattered on the mountains with none to gather them.
  8. Cross References
    Jeremiah 46:12
    The nations have heard of your shame, and the earth is full of your cry; for warrior has stumbled against warrior; they have both fallen together.
  9. Cross References
    Isaiah 45:1
    Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed:
  10. Cross References
    Isaiah 14:31
    Wail, O gate; cry out, O city; melt in fear, O Philistia, all of you! For smoke comes out of the north, and there is no straggler in his ranks.
  11. Cross References
    Isaiah 22:8
    He has taken away the covering of Judah. In that day you looked to the weapons of the House of the Forest.
  12. Cross References
    Isaiah 38:14
    Like a swallow or a crane I chirp; I moan like a dove. My eyes are weary with looking upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; be my pledge of safety!
  13. Cross References
    Nahum 1:1
    An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh.
  14. Cross References
    Jeremiah 46:5
    Why have I seen it? They are dismayed and have turned backward. Their warriors are beaten down and have fled in haste; they look not back - terror on every side! declares the Lord.
  15. Cross References
    Zephaniah 2:13 - 15
    And he will stretch out his hand against the north and destroy Assyria, and he will make Nineveh a desolation, a dry waste like the desert.
  16. Cross References
    Psalms 22:14
    I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast.
    Isaiah 13:7
    Therefore all hands will be feeble, and every human heart will melt.
  17. Cross References
    Daniel 5:6
    Then the king's color changed, and his thoughts alarmed him; his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together.
  18. Cross References
    Isaiah 21:3
    Therefore my loins are filled with anguish; pangs have seized me, like the pangs of a woman in labor; I am bowed down so that I cannot hear; I am dismayed so that I cannot see.
  19. Cross References
    Joel 2:6
    Before them peoples are in anguish; all faces grow pale.
  20. Cross References
    Isaiah 5:29
    Their roaring is like a lion, like young lions they roar; they growl and seize their prey; they carry it off, and none can rescue.
    Jeremiah 2:15
    The lions have roared against him; they have roared loudly. They have made his land a waste; his cities are in ruins, without inhabitant.
  21. Cross References
    Isaiah 17:2
    The cities of Aroer are deserted; they will be for flocks, which will lie down, and none will make them afraid.
  22. Cross References
    Ezekiel 19:3
    And she brought up one of her cubs; he became a young lion, and he learned to catch prey; he devoured men.
  23. Cross References
    Nahum 2:9
    Plunder the silver, plunder the gold! There is no end of the treasure or of the wealth of all precious things.
    Nahum 3:1
    Woe to the bloody city, all full of lies and plunder - no end to the prey!
  24. Cross References
    Nahum 3:5
    Behold, I am against you, declares the Lord of hosts, and will lift up your skirts over your face; and I will make nations look at your nakedness and kingdoms at your shame.
    Zephaniah 2:5
    Woe to you inhabitants of the seacoast, you nation of the Cherethites! The word of the Lord is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines; and I will destroy you until no inhabitant is left.
    Ezekiel 13:8
    Therefore thus says the Lord God : "Because you have uttered falsehood and seen lying visions, therefore behold, I am against you, declares the Lord God.
  25. Cross References
    Psalms 46:9
    He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire.
  26. Cross References
    2 Kings 19:9
    Now the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, "Behold, he has set out to fight against you." So he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying.
    2 Kings 19:23
    By your messengers you have mocked the Lord, and you have said, 'With my many chariots I have gone up the heights of the mountains, to the far recesses of Lebanon; I felled its tallest cedars, its choicest cypresses; I entered its farthest lodging place, its most fruitful forest.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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