There is not a cluster to eat,
Not a ripe fig I could desire.
2The pious are vanished from the land,
None upright are left among men;
All lie in wait to commit crimes,
One traps the other in his net.
3b-They are eager to do evil:
The magistrate makes demands,
And the judge [judges] for a fee;
The rich man makes his crooked plea,
And they grant it.-b
4The best of them is like a prickly shrub;
The [most] upright, worse than a barrier of thorns.
b-On the day you waited for,-b your doom has come—
Now their confusion shall come to pass.
5Trust no friend,
Rely on no intimate;
Be guarded in speech
With her who lies in your bosom.
6For son spurns father,
Daughter rises up against mother,
Daughter-in-law against mother-in-law—
A man’s own household
Are his enemies.
7Yet I will look to the LORD,
I will wait for the God who saves me,
My God will hear me.
8Do not rejoice over me,
O my enemy!c
Though I have fallen, I rise again;
Though I sit in darkness, the LORD is my light.
9I must bear the anger of the LORD,
Since I have sinned against Him,
Until He champions my cause
And upholds my claim.
He will let me out into the light;
I will enjoy vindication by Him.
10When my enemyc sees it,
She shall be covered with shame,
She who taunts me with “Where is He,
The LORD your God?”
My eyes shall behold her [downfall];
Lo, she shall be for trampling
Like mud in the streets.
11A day for mending your wallsd—
That is a far-off day.
12This is a rather a day when to you
[Tramplers] will come streaming
From Assyria and the towns of Egypt—
From [every land from] Egypt to the Euphrates,
From sea to sea and from mountain to mountain—
13And youre land shall become a desolation—
Because of those who dwell in it—
As the fruit of their misdeeds.
14Oh, shepherd Your people with Your staff,
Your very own flock.
May they who dwell isolated
f-In a woodland surrounded by farmland-f
Grazeg Bashan and Gilead
As in olden days.
15h-I will show him-h wondrous deeds
As in the days when You sallied forth from the land of Egypt.
16Let nations behold and be ashamed
Despite all their might;
Let them put hand to mouth;
Let their ears be deafened!
17Let them lick dust like snakes,
Like crawling things on the ground!
b-Let them come trembling out of their strongholds-b
To the LORD our God;
Let them fear and dread You!
18Who is a God like You,
Forgiving iniquity
And remitting transgression;
Who has not maintained His wrath forever
Against the remnant of His own people,
Because He loves graciousness!
19He will take us back in love;
He will cover up our iniquities,
You will hurl all ouri sins
Into the depths of the sea.
20You will keep faith with Jacob,
Loyalty to Abraham,
As You promised on oath to our fathers
In days gone by.
a Emendation yields “sins.”
b I.e., the nation’s.
c Meaning of much of vv. 10–13 uncertain. They may refer to the transfer of part of western Judah to Philistine rule by Sennacherib of Assyria in the year 701 B.C.E.
d So that enemies may not gloat; cf. 2 Sam. 1.20.
e Heb. ‘aphar, a play on Beth-leaphrah; vv. 10–15 contain several similar puns.
f-f Emendation yields “Fair Achzib is.”
g A common rite of mourning; cf. Jer. 7.29.
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b Emendation yields “ravager.”
c On a piece of land, thus acquiring title to it; cf. Josh. 18.6 and Ps. 16.6.
d-d Meaning of Heb. uncertain; emendation yields “you arise as enemies against.”
e-e Meaning of Heb. uncertain; emendation yields “off peaceful folk.”
f Vv. 12–13 may be an example of such “acceptable” preaching.
g-g Emendation yields “in a fold [Arabic s&ibar;rah].”
a Syntax of vv. 2–3 uncertain.
b-b Brought down from v. 2 for clarity.
c-c Meaning of Heb. uncertain; Septuagint and Syriac read “like flesh in.”
d As a sign of mourning; cf. Ezek. 24.17, 22; Lev. 13.45.
a For vv. 1–3 cf. Isa. 2.2–4.
b I.e., oracles will be obtainable.
c More exactly, the iron points with which wooden plows were tipped.
d Cf. Judg. 3.2.
e Meaning of Heb. uncertain; emendation yields “weaklings”; cf. Ezek. 34.4.
f Apparently near Bethlehem; see Gen. 35.19–21.
g-g Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
h-h Emendation yields “the House of Israel”; cf. 5.1–2.
i Heb. -ti serves here as the ending of the second-person singular feminine; cf. Judg. 5.7 and note; Jer. 2.20; etc.
a The clan to which the Bethlehemites belonged; see I Sam. 17.12; Ruth 1.2; 4.11.
b-b Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
c I.e., a ruler, shepherd (v.3), to deliver Israel from the Assyrians (vv. 4–5).
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,
