d Septuagint and Syriac read “soil”; cf. v. 5.
e I.e., Assyria.
f-f Emendation yields “with drawn blades”; cf. Ps. 37.14; 55.22.
g Emendation yields “idols.”
h Emendation yields “arrogant.”
a-a Emendation yields “Give ear, you.”
b I.e., the crossing of the Jordan; see Josh. 3.1, 14—4.19.
c-c Or “It is prudent to serve your God.”
d-d Emendation yields “And it is worthwhile to revere His name.”
e-e Meaning of Heb. Uncertain.
f Taking ish as from nashah “to forget”; cf. Deut. 32.18.
g Cf. Amos 8.4–5.
h Heb. “I”; change of vocalization yields “Will I acquit him.”
i This verse would read well after “city” in v. 9.
j Lit. “new wine.”
k-k Heb. “is kept.”
l-l I.e., those of the city of v. 9, apparently Samaria.
m See note at Jer. 18.16.
n Heb. “My people.”
a The speaker is feminine (cf. ’elohayikh, v. 10), probably Samaria personified; cf. note l-l at 6.16.
b-b Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
c Heb. feminine, apparently referring to Damascus.
d To keep out tramplers (end of preceding verse); cf. Isa. 5.5; Ps. 80.13–14.
e Heb. “the.”
f-f I.e., the land west of the Jordan, which is represented as far less fertile than adjacent regions.
g Emendation yields “possess.”
h-h Emendation yields “Show us.”
i Heb. “their.”
Nahum
1 A pronouncement on Nineveh: The Book of the Prophecy of Nahum the Elkoshite.
2The LORD is a passionate, avenging God;
The LORD is vengeful and fierce in wrath.
The LORD takes vengeance on His enemies,
He rages against His foes.
3The LORD is slow to anger and of great forbearance,
But the LORD does not remit all punishment.
He travels in whirlwind and storm,
And clouds are the dust on His feet.
4He rebukes the sea and dries it up,
And He makes all rivers fail;
Bashan and Carmel languish,
And the blossomsa of Lebanon wither.
5The mountains quake because of Him,
And the hills melt.
The earth heavesb before Him,
The world and all that dwell therein.
6Who can stand before His wrath?
Who can resist His fury?
His anger pours out like fire,
And rocks are shattered because of Him.
7The LORD is good to [those who hope in Him],
A haven on a day of distress;
He is mindful of those who seek refuge in Him.
8And with a sweeping flood
He makes an end of c-her place,-c
And chases His enemies into darkness.
9Why will you plot against the LORD?
He wreaks utter destruction:
No adversaryd opposes Him twice!
10b-For like men besotted with drink,
They are burned up like tangled thorns,
Like straw that is thoroughly dried.-b
11eThe base plotter
Who designed evil against the LORD
Has left you.
12Thus said the LORD:
b-“Even as theyf were full and many,
Even so are they over and gone;
As surely as I afflicted you,
I will afflict you no more.”-b
13And now
I will break off his yoke bar from you
And burst your cords apart.
14The LORD has commanded concerning him:g
b-No posterity shall continue your name.-b
I will do away with
The carved and graven images
In the temples of your gods;
I will make your grave
b-Accord with your worthlessness.-b
2 Behold on the hills
The footsteps of a herald
Announcing good fortune!
“Celebrate your festivals, O Judah,
Fulfill your vows.
Never again shall scoundrels invade you,
They have totally vanished.”
2aA shatterer has come up against you.
Man the guard posts,
Watch the road;
Steady your loins,
Brace all your strength!
3For the LORD has restored b-the Pridec of Jacob
As well as the Pridec of Israel,-b
Though marauders have laid them waste
And ravaged their branches.
4His warriors’ shields are painted red,
And the soldiers are clothed in crimson;
The chariots are like flaming torches,d
On the day they are made ready.
e-The [arrows of] cypress wood are poisoned,-e
5The chariots dash about frenzied in the fields,
They rush through the meadows.
They appear like torches,
They race like streaks of lightning.
6f-He commands his burly men;
They stumble as they advance,
They hasten up to her wall,
Where g-wheeled shelters-g are set up.-f
7h-The floodgates are opened,
And the palace is deluged.-h
8i-And Huzzab is exiled and carried away,-i
While her handmaidens j-escort [her]-j
As with the voices of doves,
Beating their breasts.
9Nineveh has been like a [placid] pool of water
regarded as the remnant of Israel after the fall of the northern kingdom (cf. Mic. 1.13–15).
f-From earliest times;-f
Now they flee.
“Stop! Stop!”—
But none can turn them back.
10“Plunder silver! Plunder gold!”
There is no limit to the treasure;
It is a hoard of all precious objects.
11Desolation, devastation, and destruction!
Spirits sink,
Knees buckle,
All loins tremble,
All faces k-turn ashen.-k
12What has become of that lions’ den,
That pasturel of great beasts,
Where lion and lion’s breed walked,
And lion’s cub—with none to disturb them?
13[Where is] the lion that tore victims for his cubs
And strangled for his lionesses,
And filled his lairs with prey
And his dens with mangled flesh?
14I am going to deal with you
—declares the LORD of Hosts:
I will burn down m-her chariots in smoke,-m
And the sword shall devour your great beasts;
I will stamp out your killings from the earth,
And the sound of your messengersn
Shall be heard no more.
3
Ah, city of crime,
Utterly treacherous,
Full of violence,
Where killing never stops!
2Crack of whip
And rattle of wheel,
Galloping steed
And bounding chariot!
3Charging horsemen,
Flashing swords,
And glittering spears!
Hosts of slain
And heaps of corpses,
Dead bodies without number—
They stumble over bodies.
4Because of the countless harlotries of the harlot,
The winsome mistress of sorcery,
Who ensnareda nations with her harlotries
And peoples with her sorcery,
5I am going to deal with you
—declares the LORD of Hosts.
I will lift up your skirts over your face
And display your nakedness to the nations
And your shame to kingdoms.
6I will throw loathsome things over you
And disfigure you
And make a spectacle of you.
7All who see you will recoil from you
And will say,
“Nineveh has been ravaged!”
Who will console her?
Where shall I look for
Anyone to comfort you?
8Were you any better than No-amon,b
Which sat by the Nile,
Surrounded by water—
Its rampart a river,c
Its wall d-consisting of sea?-d
9Populous Nubia
And teeming Egypt,
Put and the Libyans—
They were here helpers.
10Yet even she was exiled,
She went into captivity.
Her babes, too, were dashed in pieces
At every street corner.
Lots were cast for her honored men,
And all her nobles were bound in chains.
11You too shall be drunk
And utterly overcome;a
You too shall seek
A refuge from the enemy.
12All your forts are fig trees
Withf ripe fruit;
If shaken they will fall
Into the mouths of devourers.
13Truly, the troops within you are women;
The gates of your land have opened themselves
To your enemies;
Fire has consumed your gate bars.
14Draw water for the siege,
Strengthen your forts;
Tread the clay,
Trample the mud,
Grasp the brick mold!
15There fire will devour you,
The sword will put an end to you;
It will devour you like the grub.
a-Multiply like grubs,
Multiply like locusts!-a
16You had more traders
Than the sky has stars—
The grubs cast their skins and fly away.
17Your guards were like locusts,
Your marshals like piles of hoppers
Which settle on the stone fences
On a chilly day;
When the sun comes out, they fly away,
And where they are nobody knows.
18Your shepherds are slumbering,
O king of Assyria;
Your sheepmasters are g-lying inert;-g
Your people are scattereda over the hills,
And there is none to gather them.
19There is no healingh for your injury;
Your wound is grievous.
All who hear the news about you
Clap their hands over you.
For who has not suffered
From your constant malice?
a Lit. “bud.”
b Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
c-c Meaning of Heb. uncertain; emendation yields “those who oppose Him.”
d Cf. Ugaritic srt.
e Vv. 11–14 would read well after 2.1.
f I.e., the days of your affliction.
g Heb. “you.”
a This verse would read well after v. 3.
b-b “Jacob” refers to the northern kingdom (cf. Amos 6.8; 8.7); Israel refers to the southern kingdom,
c Emendation yields “vine.”
d Understanding peladoth as equivalent to lappidoth.
e-e Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Emendation yields “The horsemen charge”; cf. 3.3.
f-f Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
g-g To protect the crews that swung the battering rams.
h-h I.e., the walls are breached and the palace is overrun.
i-i Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Emendation yields “And its mistress is led out and exiled.”
j-j Emendation yields “moan.”
k-k Meaning of Heb. uncertain; cf. note at Joel 2.6.
l Emendation yields “cave.”
m-m Emendation yields “your thicket in fire.”
n Emendation yields “devouring.”
a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b Amon was the tutelary deity of No (Thebes; cf. Jer. 46.25), which the Assyrians had sacked in 663 B.C.E.
c Heb. “sea.”
d-d Change of vocalization yields “water.”
e Heb. “your.”
f Emendation yields “Your troops are”; cf. next verse.
g-g Lit. “dwelling”; emendation yields “asleep.”
h Heb. kehah, a varient of gehah; see Prov. 17.22.
Habakkuk
1 The pronouncement made by the prophet Habakkuk.
2How long, O LORD, shall I cry out
And You not listen,
Shall I shout to You, “Violence!”
And You not save?
3Why do You make me see iniquity
a-[Why] do You look-a upon wrong?—
Raiding and violence are before me,
Strife continues and contention b-goes on.-b
4That is why decision fails
And justice never emerges;
For the villain hedges in the just man—
Therefore judgment emerges deformed.
5“Look among the nations,
Observe well and be utterly astounded;
For a work is being wrought in your days
Which you would not believe if it were told.
6For lo, I am raising up the Chaldeans,
That fierce, impetuous nation,
Who cross the earth’s wide spaces
To seize homes not their own.
7They are terrible, dreadful;
c-They make their own laws and rules.-c
8Their horses are swifter than leopards,
Fleeter than wolves of the steppe.d
Their steeds gallop—e-their steeds-e
Come flying from afar.
Like vultures rushing toward food,
9They all come, bent on rapine.
The thrustb of their van is forward,
And they amass captives like sand.
10Kings they hold in derision,
And princes are a joke to them;
They laugh at every fortress,
They pile up earth and capture it.
11b-Then they pass on like the wind,
They transgress and incur guilt,
For they ascribe their might to their god.”-b
12You, O LORD, are from everlasting;
My holy God, Youf never die.
O LORD, You have made them a subject of contention;
O Rock, You have made them a cause for complaint.
13You whose eyes are too pure to look upon evil,
Who cannot countenance wrongdoing,
Why do You countenance treachery,
And stand by idle
While the one in the wrong devours
The one in the right?
14You have made mankind like the fish of the sea,
Like creeping things g-that have no ruler.-g
15He has fished them all up with a line,
Pulled them up in his trawl,
And gathered them in his net.
That is why he rejoices and is glad.
16That is why he sacrifices to his trawl
And makes offerings to his net;
For through them his portionh is rich
And his nourishment fat.
17Shall he then keep i-emptying his trawl,-i
And slaying
