1 Nahum lives in Elkosh and this is his prophecy about the people in Nineveh. 2 God is angry with the people in Nineveh. The LORD loves his people. But he is very angry with his enemies. He is so angry with them that he must punish them. He will be angry until he has killed his enemies.
3 The LORD will punish those who do wrong things. But he does not get angry quickly. He is a powerful God. The LORD does not get angry quickly. But he gets angry when people do wrong things. Then he punishes those people. 4 He can cause the sea and the rivers to become dry by one word. The fertile places of Bashan and Carmel become dry and the green forests of Lebanon die too.
5 He causes the mountains to shake and he causes the hills to become flat. The earth and all the people in the world are afraid of God.
6 Nobody can fight God when he is very angry. The LORD pours his anger out like fire and he breaks the rocks in his path.
7 The LORD loves those who believe him. When they are in trouble, they can put their hope in God.
8 But the people in Nineveh are his enemies and he will kill them.
9 The LORD will stop their plans against him at once.
10 He will kill them. And then it will be like when thorny bushes have caught people. Or it will be like they have drunk too much alcohol. It will be like when someone burns very dry stubble.
11 The LORD tells the king of Nineveh that he has done bad things against God. And the king has told his people that they should do wrong things.
12 The LORD has said, ‘The people in Nineveh are many. And they think that they are safe. But I will kill them. I have punished you, my people, before now but now I will stop punishing you.
13 Now I will make you free from the people from Nineveh. And I will break the things that are holding you like iron.’
14 Nineveh, the LORD has said what will happen to you. He has said, ‘You will have no children and your family name will have an end. I will destroy the statues that you made out of wood and metal. You worship those statues in your temples. There I will make graves for you because you are bad.’
15 People in Judah, look at the mountains. You will see the feet of the person who will bring good news. He causes peace. You can have religious parties now. And now you can do what you promised to me. The bad people will not win a war against you because I have killed them. 1 An enemy is going to attack you, people in Nineveh. Watch the fortress. Prepare your army to defend the city. Watch the road. Get ready.
2 Armies have destroyed the countries called Israel and Jacob. They have destroyed their grape plants. But, the LORD will make Israel and Jacob great again. 3 The soldiers have red shields and bright red clothes. The soldiers move their spears in their hands very fast. The metal on their chariots is very bright.
4 When the soldiers are ready for war they move fast through the streets. Their chariots move like torches with fire and lightning.
5 The king of Nineveh chooses his best soldiers but they fall on the way. They hurry to their city wall to prepare their defences.
6 But their enemies open the river gates. Then the water goes into the city and it destroys the palace.
7 The enemy tells its soldiers that they must take the idol from Nineveh. Her women cry like doves and they hit their breasts. 8 Nineveh is like a pool. Its people run like water that is going away. ‘Stop, stop!’ they shout, but nobody comes back.
9 Take the silver. Take the gold. The city has so many valuable things. 10 They take the valuable things from the city. They take everything that they can. And they destroy everything else. The people are very sad. Their knees and their bodies shake. Their faces become white because they are afraid.
11 The home of the lions has gone. The place where they fed their young lions has gone. This was the place where the lion and the lioness went. It is here where their young lions were not afraid.
12 The lion killed to give enough food to his young lions and he strangled animals to feed his female lion. He filled his home with the animals that he had killed.
13 The LORD says, ‘I am against you. I will burn your chariots and the sword will kill your young lions. I will take away all the animals that you attack. Nobody will hear the voices of your messengers.’ 1 You will have many troubles Nineveh, city of blood, full of lies and stolen valuable things.
2 Listen to the loud noises of the whips, the chariots, the wheels and the feet of the horses. The chariots are moving fast towards Nineveh.
3 See the bright swords and spears in the hands of the horses’ riders. There are dead bodies that are lying in the streets. It is like mountains of dead bodies everywhere. There are so many dead bodies that men fall over the bodies.
4 This is because Nineveh has sold herself to the enemies of God. She is like a beautiful prostitute. She uses her body and her bad magic to make all the people in other countries her slaves. 5 This is why I am against you, says the great LORD. I will make you like a woman whose skirt is up over her face. I will show the countries that you are like that woman. You will be like a woman who is not wearing any clothes.
6 I will throw garbage at you. I will do with you like you were nothing. And I will make everyone ashamed of you.
7 When people see you, they will run away. And they will say, ‘They have destroyed Nineveh. Nobody will be sad.’ There will be nobody to help you.
8 Remember the city called Thebes that was near the River Nile. It had water on all sides and it had the river like a wall. Nineveh is not better than Thebes was.
9 The countries called Cush and Egypt were strong friends. And Put and Libya were strong friends too.
10 But the enemies of Thebes took its people away and they made them slaves. They cut their babies to pieces in every street. They played games with the great men from Thebes and they put them in iron chains.
11 You will be like a man who has drunk too much alcohol. And you will try to hide. You will try to get help from your enemy.
12 All your fortresses are like fig trees. They will fall very easily when the enemies shake them. And your valuable things will be like figs that fall into people’s mouths.
13 Look at your soldiers, they are all like women! Your enemies have burned your gates and they have pushed them wide open.
14 Take as much water as you can for the attack. Make your defences strong. Do repairs to your buildings.
15 The fire will burn you. The sword will cut you and it will kill you like grasshoppers. Grow in number like the grasshoppers and locusts.
16 You welcomed sellers into your city until there were more than all the stars in the sky. But they are like locusts. They take everything from the land and then they fly away.
17 Your army and officials are so many that they are like locusts. Locusts stay on the walls on a cold day. But when the sun comes out, they fly away. And then nobody knows where they go.
18 King of Assyria, the people who keep your people safe are asleep. Also, your powerful men are lying down to rest. Your people have run away to the mountains with nobody to get them together.
19 Your wounds will kill you. They are too bad to make better. People have heard about what happened to you. Everyone who has heard about it is very happy. They are so happy that they clap their hands. This is because you have done bad things to all of them.2
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